Dead Wood

[pharmsaler]

Hey guys...looking for some help here. I had my chimney swept a few months ago and ordered 3 cords of wood. I found an add on craigslist for $150 a cord, the add said it was all hard wood and were tree tops from a forest that was thinned out last year. The wood is definitely dry. Type of wood I'm not sure..lots of maple and ash

BUT> when my wood burns down and I go to refill it is now hard for me to get it back up and running even though I have 3" of HOT chunky coals. I also notice that my insert is not pumping the heat out as it once did.

You guys have always taught me well in the fact "it is always about the fuel source", but I am stumped here

No smoking or smoke blow back when I open the door...Just seems a lot harder than last year! ANY ADVISE?

BTW...I still love my ENVIRO Boston

 

[BCC_Burner]

Your wood isn't as dry as you think. It can be dead standing for 10 years and not be fit to burn.

 

[Charles1981]

First thought is wood has high moisture content. Second thought possible blocked air intake.Third draft problem for any number of possible reasons.

Time to get a moisture reader. Purchase a load of kiln dried wood at the store. If the kiln dried stuff doesn't take off like a bat out of hell then its time to start searching for other problems. Get up on the roof or pull out the stove and make sure your sweep did a thorough job. Make sure the chimney cap isn't blocked.

 

[Lighting Up]

It's your wood...

 

[UncleJoe]

Your wood isn't as dry as you think. It can be dead standing for 10 years and not be fit to burn.

Agreed. I had an oak log I was saving for the mill. Well, one thing led to another and it sat for a little over 3 years. Finally decided to just cut it up and use it for firewood figuring I would burn it in the current heating season. When I started splitting it I was really taken by surprise when water started gushing out around the wedge. There was no way I would get this to burn with only 3 months to dry.

Now the following year it was great.

 

[Sprinter]

Not to pile on here, but all the above is right. I just cut a snag that was dead for several years. It was not only still at 35% MC but it had started to get punky. Wood can not dry with bark on it. It must be split open and stacked to the air. A few species like oak can take up to three years.

I agree with Charles above. Time to get a moisture meter and find out exactly what the moisture content is. You're aiming for 20% (ideal). 25 can work with some loss of efficiency. Above that needs supplementation at least. Push the pins of the meter into a freshly split face.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Hey guys...looking for some help here. I had my chimney swept a few months ago and ordered 3 cords of wood. I found an add on craigslist for $150 a cord, the add said it was all hard wood and were tree tops from a forest that was thinned out last year. The wood is definitely dry. Type of wood I'm not sure..lots of maple and ash

BUT> when my wood burns down and I go to refill it is now hard for me to get it back up and running even though I have 3" of HOT chunky coals. I also notice that my insert is not pumping the heat out as it once did.

You guys have always taught me well in the fact "it is always about the fuel source", but I am stumped here

No smoking or smoke blow back when I open the door...Just seems a lot harder than last year! ANY ADVISE?

BTW...I still love my ENVIRO Boston

Um.... We got some 10-12 year old white oak last winter. It was not dry.

If you want dry wood, never count as drying time until that wood has been split and stacked out in the wind. Those tree were cut a year ago but those tops will still have most if the moisture still in it. The moisture won't escape through all that bark so can get out only through the ends. That is a very slow process. So this is the real reason we split wood; so the moisture can escape. Of course it is also handy that splitting allows you to handle smaller pieces of wood...

 

[Sprinter]

I split 3" limbs on my little splitter so they can dry enough to burn. I just split some that were 2 years old and still too green even after cut in lengths back then.

 

[begreen]

I have 2 yr old soft maple that I stacked where the tree fell. Broke my own rule by not stacking it so the prevailing winds could blow through the stacks. It was covered, but as I pick at the pile a lot of the wood is damp. The bark is degrading into soil helped along by all sorts of bugs. There were even earthworms at the top of the dang stack? WTH? Fortunately I have dry wood in the shed but am cherry picking through this maple pipe because I don't want to move it again and I want the stack outta there.

 

[Sprinter]

Last year when I was just starting to collect wood ahead of time, I bought several cords of alder. One pile, about 1/2 cord, ended up getting neglected under a tree canopy. I finally got around to moving it this summer but what a mess. None of it was dry at all and the bottom layer was almost buried in dirt. It's moved and stacked now, but I wish I hadn't left it that way in a pile.