free wood

[mattjm1017]

So I found a guy not to far from me that runs a saw mill and is giving away all of his scraps mostly its the outer skin of the tree. He says its all cut to stove length and just needs to be split. Right now all he has is pine which is fine my question is how long will pine last split and stacked. Ive seen pine stacked up before and after a year its getting rotten I would like to get a couple cords from him but worry about it getting rotten before its used. This would all be for next year and the next.

 

[BobUrban]

Stacked off the ground it should last as long as any wood - at least most any wood. Won't last like osage but I think osage may last longer than iron.

Get it up off the ground and in an area that gets some breeze and burn it next year - or the year after.

 

[Woody Stover]

Ah, good old slab wood.
I think that if you cover the top, it should be OK. I've got some Red Pine kindling that I've had stacked for a year and top-covered. No problem yet.
If you end up getting some Oak slab later, it's going to be a lot of sapwood and that'll punk out if it's not covered...

 

[billb3]

I've stacked pine slabs that were 8 feet long and they did rot in places .
So, I tried:
I kept a cover over them (top / roof) to keep them as dry as possible and then 6 months to a year later when the bark started falling off cut them to stove length. Just handling them was pretty much enough to have most of the bark fall off. Without that thick bark breaking down holding moisture in place like mulch they seemed to keep a lot better.
I did the same thing with oak slabs when I was getting them from someone with a small mill. Let them sit until handling them the bark would fall off to cut them to stove length. Being so thin getting the cut to length right away didn't seem to be important like with rounds.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Stacked off the ground it should last as long as any wood - at least most any wood. Won't last like osage but I think osage may last longer than iron.

Get it up off the ground and in an area that gets some breeze and burn it next year - or the year after.

Don't they pack iron in osage crates?

 

[ScotO]

Slab makes great wood, but oak slab (which consists of mostly bark and sapwood) should be top-covered or it will punk out pretty fast......

Go for it, that should be some good stuff, if nothing else for SS wood.....

 

[Backwoods Savage]

For sure. Stack it off the ground, top cover it and it won't rot.

Also, do not pack the stove tight with all slab wood or you may not like all the heat.

 

[mattjm1017]

Well I went and got some today the guy said he puts about 3-4 cords a day on the street and it goes fast. I got a trailer full of pine and will go back soon to get some more. There's some pretty decent pieces there just needs to be split. Im hoping that over the next couple months ill be able to get enough wood for the next two years.

 

[Seanm]

I picked up 1 1/2 cord of Lodgepole pine/larch last week from a vacant house that had it stored in the garage with low humidity and no light for what we think was 3-6 years, even the ends were white like they were cut yesterday. As long as its low moisture youre good to go! Burning it now...