Bark

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

I am finding after one and a half seasons with an EPA stove, that bark is the cause of many of my wood moisture issues. So I've been removing as much as is practical. Wood dries much faster, and one gone, moisture retention is much lower.

I am piling it up and will run it through the chipper shredder once it's decomposed some, for the garden, except birch bark, that is saved for starting fires.

It's time consuming, but I enjoy it. The neighbors have one more reason to think I'm nuts.

Need to get a drawknife and better spud.

 

[Kelster]

Check out the book: Norwegian Wood by Lars Mytting. He talks about dropping small birch trees then debarking them with a chainsaw then leaving them to dry. I guess it's a common practice.

My friend's grandad was a stoker on a steam donkey and when they ran low on coal they'd use Fir Bark, so don't discount it entirely if you can get it dried out.

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[Babaganoosh]

What kind of wood?

 

[volunbeer]

Fir bark burns really well - I have a bunch saved from the splitter that I can use to start fires with some fatwood. On the really big rounds where the bark is very thick I usually knock it off with the splitter after letting the chunks set and dry for a bit before it is split.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Check out the book: Norwegian Wood by Lars Mytting. He talks about dropping small birch trees then debarking them with a chainsaw then leaving them to dry. I guess it's a common practice.

My friend's grandad was a stoker on a steam donkey and when they ran low on coal they'd use Fir Bark, so don't discount it entirely if you can get it dried out.

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I'm going to read that book one day.

I lost a lot of BTUs when I left rounds of white birch unsplit, and they rotted in about a year. Now I split all birch quickly, and if I can't get to it, I'll score it with the chainsaw.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

What kind of wood?

Tulip poplar, oak, walnut, birch, maple, spruce, Norway maple, pine, dogwood, sassafras, mulberry. They all stay wet under the bark.

Have not come across any beech or fir yet.

 

[red oak]

I keep oak bark to start fires with - once it dries out it does the job. I agree that taking the bark off helps the wood dry. With oak it will usually come off on its own as the wood dries.

 

[Prof]

Much like a couple others have noted, bark can be used as kindling. I rarely make kindling on purpose--mostly just use some bark or other scraps from the splitting process.

 

[jatoxico]

I agree with you Ed. Not all my wood is top covered and the barks traps the moisture and the bugs. I don't go out of my way but if its loose and falling off I take the time to remove it and run it through the chipper or burn it in the chiminea. Locust bark falls off easy and all of mine stock is barkless(?), oak and other hardwoods have been more hit and miss.

Any wood you decide is too small to split will dry much better if a strip of the bark is removed.

 

[English BoB]

ALERT..............."it is not good to burn wood with bark still on"............"your wood will not be dry and it will leave piles of ash in the stove"

BBBS..............Ban bark burning site.

Quick link..................BS

bob

 

[firefighterjake]

Have never had any issues with moisture due to the bark being left on . . . me . . . I have about a hundred bazillion things I would do with my time instead of debarking my firewood . . . but hey . . . it's all good, doesn't hurt anyone and if makes things better I say go for it.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

If my scavenged stuff has loose bark I peel it off.
Bark does the same job as human skin, keeps everything in.
Ash especially, dries very quickly debarked.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Have never had any issues with moisture due to the bark being left on . . . me . . . I have about a hundred bazillion things I would do with my time instead of debarking my firewood . . . but hey . . . it's all good, doesn't hurt anyone and if makes things better I say go for it.

I hear you, Jake. I have a hundred bazillion things that I need (as opposed to want) to do instead of the debarking, but find myself doing it anyway. I might stop once I have the woodshed up and running, and the seasoned stacks stay completely dry for months and months. On the other hand, then I'd have to go buy potting soil instead of using the decomposed bark (works great, by the way). In any event, I suppose there are far unhealthier compulsions that I could be coping with!

 

[TedyOH]

Have never had any issues with moisture due to the bark being left on . . . me . . . I have about a hundred bazillion things I would do with my time instead of debarking my firewood . . . but hey . . . it's all good, doesn't hurt anyone and if makes things better I say go for it.

Same here.....I'd say on 90% of my splits after a summer or 2 the bark is barely holding on anymore.

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