Burning "down" wood

[Kenster]

I have about three acres of very thick woods and access to the neighbors land which is just like mine. I keep a pretty good supply of firewood from trees that are downed in storms. But there is also a lot of older wood out there. Some of it totally rotten but some feels pretty solid. I'm sure it's burnable but what sort of heat/efficiency would I expect from dead and down wood? Would it be all "flash and burn" producing little heat? Is it worth the trouble?

Another question... I cut a storm downed tree into stove lengths but didn't get around to splitting it for almost a year. Now, the wood is stone. It's nearly impossible to split. My pointed, cone shaped wedge hardly makes a dent in it when slammed by a ten pound sledge. It's red oak. The few pieces I've been able to split do a slow very hot burn that burns for hours. The question is: Is it always better to split the wood as soon as you cut it? Seems like it would be easier to split once the wood is dry,not still green.

 

[hareball]

I recently split red oak rounds that sat for 3 years. Had to use a hydro splitter.

Today I split red oak from a dead standing tree and it split very nice.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I have about three acres of very thick woods and access to the neighbors land which is just like mine. I keep a pretty good supply of firewood from trees that are downed in storms. But there is also a lot of older wood out there. Some of it totally rotten but some feels pretty solid. I'm sure it's burnable but what sort of heat/efficiency would I expect from dead and down wood? Would it be all "flash and burn" producing little heat? Is it worth the trouble?

Another question... I cut a storm downed tree into stove lengths but didn't get around to splitting it for almost a year. Now, the wood is stone. It's nearly impossible to split. My pointed, cone shaped wedge hardly makes a dent in it when slammed by a ten pound sledge. It's red oak. The few pieces I've been able to split do a slow very hot burn that burns for hours. The question is: Is it always better to split the wood as soon as you cut it? Seems like it would be easier to split once the wood is dry,not still green.

No idea. How 'bout you cut some of it and let us know, Eh?

 

[Jeff S]

In the process of cleaning up my 5 acres of woods I have burned a lot of this downed(solid) wood in the last couple of years.Since it is my desire to have a woods that I can walk through without tripping I find it just as easy to cut ,split and stack this wood on pallets in the woods ready for the next year as it would be to throw it in a brush pile.Eventually I will have the woods cleaned up from all dead-fall and dead standing trees ,then I will turn my attention to wind damage a culling of trees for my firewood.With proper management I should never run out of wood.Since I am limited to 5 acres and have no desire to scrounge all over, I burn all usable wood regardless of its BTU value.

 

[Wood Duck]

i leave the older down wood in the woods. Lots of things live in or around down wood and I don't want to sanitize my two acres. I can find plenty of fresher wood scrounging around the area, so unless it needs to be moved, old woods stays where it fell. If you are going to cut and stack older dead wood, you might need to cover the top. old wood often has a layer of punk on the outside that will absorb rainwater and keep the wood wet.

 

[savageactor7]

We have a lot of campfires so rather than burn good wood I cut a lot of DEAD crap wood ...soaken wet punky laying on the ground trash. When it's split up and stacked off the ground its dry dry in less than a month and all insect life leaves it. Now it makes good shoulder season wood that I've come to appreciate. On a cold may/june morning we can fire up the stove and by 1000 when our friend the sun kicks in the fire is stone cold. Now if that wood was buggy when dry I'd never bring it in doors...that would be a Texas consideration.

Standing dead can be more often good wood to me and is handled differently but around here the top third or so of the tree can be burned asap.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

As to how much heat to expect, that all depends. If it is punky, leave it. If it is red oak it might be punky just on the outer edge maybe 1-2" of it. But what if it is popple or soft maple or any number of other woods? As stated, it all depends.

Chances are though that if this wood has been laying directly on the ground, it is best to just leave it. If it is off the ground then perhaps some of it is good.

How much heat? Probably not nearly what you would expect with good wood.

Sometimes some things are best left to the woods and the wildlife.

 

[tcassavaugh]

i love standing dead wood gotten from a swamp or bog...most of the time the bark is even off of it for you. its just hard to get to it a lot of times. often it can go from the stump to the stove immediately after cutting into desired lengths. i hate the storm damage from ice storms....had a big one run through here a few years back...they sure mess up the woods, tops all over the place.

cass

 

[firefighterjake]

I have about three acres of very thick woods and access to the neighbors land which is just like mine. I keep a pretty good supply of firewood from trees that are downed in storms. But there is also a lot of older wood out there. Some of it totally rotten but some feels pretty solid. I'm sure it's burnable but what sort of heat/efficiency would I expect from dead and down wood? Would it be all "flash and burn" producing little heat? Is it worth the trouble?

Another question... I cut a storm downed tree into stove lengths but didn't get around to splitting it for almost a year. Now, the wood is stone. It's nearly impossible to split. My pointed, cone shaped wedge hardly makes a dent in it when slammed by a ten pound sledge. It's red oak. The few pieces I've been able to split do a slow very hot burn that burns for hours. The question is: Is it always better to split the wood as soon as you cut it? Seems like it would be easier to split once the wood is dry,not still green.

The answer to the first question is a solid "Depends" . . . if the wood is not rotten, punky or water-logged it may be fine to burn . . . once it is bucked, split and stacked and left to season . . . a lot depends on the wood species (some species will rot very quickly, others less so), how long has it been down, what are the soil conditions (i.e. rocky and/or gravel for good drainage vs. rich loam or clay), how much of the tree is touching the ground, are there any low-lying depressions that would cause the tree to lie in water after a storm, etc. And so, the answer as to if you could burn this wood and how would it burn is a depends . . . it could burn as good as any other wood, it could burn wicked fast if punky or it could be so water-logged or rotten that you could not get the wood lit even with a 5-gallon can of gas (not that I would recommend trying this.)

Second question: I only split by hand for "fun" or stress relief so I can't give any good advice as to how to split this wood . . . the one thing I do recommend though is to split sooner, rather than later . . . whether it be freshly cut wood or downed trees . . . but this advice is not based on how easy the wood may split . . . rather it is my belief that you are almost always better off splitting and stacking the wood sooner rather than later for maximum seasoning.