Found out what I'm doing wrong

[Backwoods Savage]

Went past a fellow's place who sells some firewood. They've been doing this about 3 or 4 years now. I had noticed that I had never seen their splitter set in horizontal mode and they have two but usually only one running at a time. One is junk and the other is a Huskee maybe 3 years old. They were splitting ash and oak and just throwing it onto the truck; not stacking it. But there were 7 guys involved with this huge task! There were 3 at the splitter and 4 throwing wood in the truck. Sure wish I'd had a camera. What should have been a 2 man job took 7.

Oh yes, the oak was freshly cut too. Yes ma'am, that will burn just fine.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Now don't you wish you had figured that out decades ago? Think of the space on your property that would have been freed up, no unsightly wood piles ruining your vistas and much much longer burns from not using overly dried wood.

 

[Woody Stover]

Oh yes, the oak was freshly cut too. Yes ma'am, that will burn just fine.

Maybe they'll take the interstate on the way to deliver the wood. That should be enough wind to pretty much dry it out...especially the Ash. Is it sunny there today, too? :lol:

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Woody, methinks there is enough hot air around that place to do a lot of drying out of things.....

Solar, I think I'll just continue on with the way we've been doing things.

 

[DanCorcoran]

From the title of your thread, I thought you were just reminding us that you're married.

 

[cptoneleg]

Maybe our goverment is running that job.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That's good Dan, but I had found that out many moons ago.

 

[n3pro]

Maybe with the economy the way it is they are just trying to help with Jobs, Jobs, Jobs! I ran out of fingers counting how many people I heard that a dead tree = seasoned wood. I was at a friends house who has been burning for decades. Had 5 trees in the yard, which of coarse I asked about his firewood. He said " I'll cut those trees in a few weeks, they been cut down two years ago, should be good <face palm>. It can't get water if it ain't rooted in the ground I'm told.

I'm am so glad I found you guys and gals. Oh the bad examples I have.

 

[Thistle]

Maybe our goverment is running that job.

:lol: Precisely.

 

[willworkforwood]

.... But there were 7 guys involved with this huge task! What should have been a 2 man job took 7.

If I took you to work with me Dennis, you would see this happening all the time. They even gave it a name - it's called outsourcing.

 

[Woody Stover]

He said " I'll cut those trees in a few weeks, they been cut down two years ago, should be good <face palm>. It can't get water if it ain't rooted in the ground I'm told.

Luckily, I can find dead or down wood here that is dry enough to burn. That's what I'll be grabbing for the next several weeks.

 

[cptoneleg]

He said " I'll cut those trees in a few weeks, they been cut down two years ago, should be good <face palm>. It can't get water if it ain't rooted in the ground I'm told.

Luckily, I can find dead or down wood here that is dry enough to burn. That's what I'll be grabbing for the next several weeks.

In may I c/s/s an Oak that had been down for 2 yr just for the heck of it I checked moisture yesterday 34%, In my experiece wood does not start to dry until its split, unless your talking about sticks,

 

[chvymn99]

He said " I'll cut those trees in a few weeks, they been cut down two years ago, should be good <face palm>. It can't get water if it ain't rooted in the ground I'm told.

Luckily, I can find dead or down wood here that is dry enough to burn. That's what I'll be grabbing for the next several weeks.

In may I c/s/s an Oak that had been down for 2 yr just for the heck of it I checked moisture yesterday 34%, In my experiece wood does not start to dry until its split, unless your talking about sticks,

34% still? Wow, it doesn't give up moisture fast does it? No, wonder why it take 3 years to dry that stuff. Thanks for the info.

 

[SolarAndWood]

In may I c/s/s an Oak that had been down for 2 yr just for the heck of it I checked moisture yesterday 34%, In my experiece wood does not start to dry until its split, unless your talking about sticks,

How big are the splits?

 

[cptoneleg]

In may I c/s/s an Oak that had been down for 2 yr just for the heck of it I checked moisture yesterday 34%, In my experiece wood does not start to dry until its split, unless your talking about sticks,

How big are the splits?

18" long 6" widest part, I don't plan on burning it this year anyway, MM is just a toy to me, I just allways hear about the dead wood ready to burn and added my 2 cents worth. This was an Oak in a friends back yard, I helped a friend he gave me half, like I said been laying on the ground 2 years.

 

[oldspark]

That has not been my expeirence, I cut dead oak all the time and can get it down to 20% in one long summer, I have some now I will check later today and see what it is. It was split and stacked in March.

 

[onetracker]

He said " I'll cut those trees in a few weeks, they been cut down two years ago, should be good <face palm>. It can't get water if it ain't rooted in the ground I'm told.

Luckily, I can find dead or down wood here that is dry enough to burn. That's what I'll be grabbing for the next several weeks.

In may I c/s/s an Oak that had been down for 2 yr just for the heck of it I checked moisture yesterday 34%, In my experiece wood does not start to dry until its split, unless your talking about sticks,

34%. damn...that's depressing.
ok. i'm gonna get a miosture meter. what the heck... i can use it for checking bowstaves too.

i used to think i could drop a standing dead (i mean DEAD) tree and burn it. that strategy seems to work ok for the top limbs but the main trunk stays wet till its split.

OT

 

[PapaDave]

But, several % points will be lost pretty quickly once split and stacked. It's the last few that take the longest. :-S

 

[cptoneleg]

But, several % points will be lost pretty quickly once split and stacked. It's the last few that take the longest. :-S

It's been split and stacked since May, the reason I checked it yesterday I thought as it had been laying dead 2 yrs it may dry faster, it was around 38% when first split, so there is a few% in 3 1/2 months. Yes I was hoping it would dry faster, like I said this is just my 2 cents worth.

 

[woodchip]

just throwing it onto the truck; not stacking it. But there were 7 guys involved with this huge task! What should have been a 2 man job took 7.

Easy to pay 7 people to do 2 persons work when you are selling a truckload of mostly air gaps and water...... ;-)

 

[Battenkiller]

In may I c/s/s an Oak that had been down for 2 yr just for the heck of it I checked moisture yesterday 34%, In my experiece wood does not start to dry until its split, unless your talking about sticks,

Don't you think that's pretty darn good for logs that started out at about 80% MC? I'm actually quite surprised those logs got that far down in MC in only two years. Waiting for oak to go from 34% to 20% is nowhere near as bad as waiting for it to go from 80% to 20%. I don't doubt Old Spark with his standing dead oak, he has been at this a very long time.

 

[certified106]

Went past a fellow's place who sells some firewood. They've been doing this about 3 or 4 years now. I had noticed that I had never seen their splitter set in horizontal mode and they have two but usually only one running at a time. One is junk and the other is a Huskee maybe 3 years old. They were splitting ash and oak and just throwing it onto the truck; not stacking it. But there were 7 guys involved with this huge task! There were 3 at the splitter and 4 throwing wood in the truck. Sure wish I'd had a camera. What should have been a 2 man job took 7.

Oh yes, the oak was freshly cut too. Yes ma'am, that will burn just fine.

Lol, half the time all of that is a one man job around this place :lol:

 

[cptoneleg]

In may I c/s/s an Oak that had been down for 2 yr just for the heck of it I checked moisture yesterday 34%, In my experiece wood does not start to dry until its split, unless your talking about sticks,

Don't you think that's pretty darn good for logs that started out at about 80% MC? I'm actually quite surprised those logs got that far down in MC in only two years. Waiting for oak to go from 34% to 20% is nowhere near as bad as waiting for it to go from 80% to 20%. I don't doubt Old Spark with his standing dead oak, he has been at this a very long time.

I do the dead Oak has exactly the same M/C as the one cut and stacked that was alive MM only goes to 38%, I said I threw my 2 cents worth in because folks always talk about dead trees cut em up put em in the fire good to go

 

[cptoneleg]

anyway MM to me is just a toy my Oak dead or alive needs good 3 years to burn


Good Luck All Have A nice Day

 

[firefighterjake]

Went past a fellow's place who sells some firewood. They've been doing this about 3 or 4 years now. I had noticed that I had never seen their splitter set in horizontal mode and they have two but usually only one running at a time. One is junk and the other is a Huskee maybe 3 years old. They were splitting ash and oak and just throwing it onto the truck; not stacking it. But there were 7 guys involved with this huge task! There were 3 at the splitter and 4 throwing wood in the truck. Sure wish I'd had a camera. What should have been a 2 man job took 7.

Oh yes, the oak was freshly cut too. Yes ma'am, that will burn just fine.

So what were they doing wrong?

A) Running one splitter instead of two . . . to maximize their time?
B) Not stacking the wood . . . to get an accurate account of the wood they were selling?
C) Not stacking wood . . . to allow time for the wood to season?
D) Having too many people working . . . which allowed the boss to just sit back and drink beer as he "supervised?"
E) Breaking the most holy of holy cardinal sins . . . splitting the wood horizontally?