Hows slab wood for burning

[weatherguy]

I ran into a guy that has a sawmill, says I can take as many truckloads as I want at $25 per, its all hardwood. I dont have experience with slab wood, should I load up on it? No splitting, just have to cut it to length.
I only have 3 seasoned cords for next year so I need to come up with at least one more cord that will be ready next burning season to be on the safe side. If this stuff is good maybe Ill get 3 cords or so.

 

[-PB-]

weatherguy,
I remember hearing alot of people burning slab with good luck. I remember them using slab to supplement their supply which I think you were implying. I think if you mix it you will be fine.
My question to you is how in the hell does a Boston Terrier do it with a Ridgeback????

 

[Wood Heat Stoves]

Sounds like great wood and the no splitting sounds even better (I was just out splitting wood by hand). I would go for it.

 

[weatherguy]

weatherguy,
I remember hearing alot of people burning slab with good luck. I remember them using slab to supplement their supply which I think you were implying. I think if you mix it you will be fine.
My question to you is how in the hell does a Boston Terrier do it with a Ridgeback????

I have no idea, I was'nt there, lol, but this is the end result

 

[CTYank]

IMHO the big problem is safely and efficiently cutting it to length. Others have experimented and posted. Seems to me that the trick is to wrap a bundle up on a sawbuck or other support, then slicing off layers with chainsaw. Lotsa pieces involved.

Mill slabs are off the log exterior; unless the logs are debarked, the slabs will have LOTS of bark.

Bark does:
seal water in/out
when dry, burn hot with all the waxes within
leave lots of ash.

Potentially good kindling, shoulder-season fuel. At the price, who's quibbling?

 

[firefighterjake]

I ran into a guy that has a sawmill, says I can take as many truckloads as I want at $25 per, its all hardwood. I dont have experience with slab wood, should I load up on it? No splitting, just have to cut it to length.
I only have 3 seasoned cords for next year so I need to come up with at least one more cord that will be ready next burning season to be on the safe side. If this stuff is good maybe Ill get 3 cords or so.

I like slabs . . . but I don't know if I would pay a whole lot . . . well anything . . . for slabs. Of course, around here we mostly have slabs from softwoods which I find are fantastic for using as kindling and for the shoulder seasons. The advantage is they season pretty quickly . . . disadvantage is they burn up pretty quickly.

I don't know if I would count on slabs for that extra cord of wood you need . . . but it might be decent wood for burning in the shoulder seasons to "save" your good wood for when you're burning more regularly . . . a lot will also depend on the thickness of the slabs. Some slabwood is nothing more like kindling and others can have a fair amount of "meat" on them.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I've known many who heat with only slab wood. The only caution is to be careful you don't over fire the stove. Cutting it is not that big of a problem. It is a cheap way to heat for the winter.

 

[yooperdave]

slabs..good price...good wood...no heavy lifting or splitting,for sure...but it's gopher wood.
through a piece of wood in the stove, then gopher another.