Newbie Orders 1st Cord...Gets Load of Garbage!

[jscs.moore]

I'm waiting for my wood burning insert to be installed in two weeks and ordered my first cord of wood as a newbie. Although I did get more than a cord of wood...about a third of it was knotty, rotten, old and probably not worth even trying to burn. After picking out every piece of wood that appeared to be decent and worth burning, I filled up a 50 gallon garbage can, two large lawn/leaf bags and a very large wheel barrow with all of the debris (i.e. rotten bark, rotten wood and overall crap). The wood supplier (Splitzwood in Doylestown, PA) was recommended and has a decent looking website promising only the best seasoned hardwoods (Oak, Maple, Walnut, Ash, etc.)...what a joke! I feel duped as a newbie to all of this, but I guess it's all a learning process
Any advice on how NOT to get burned next time? Thanks!

 

[Wisneaky]

Pictures are worth a thousand words.

 

[Seanm]

Any advice on how NOT to get burned next time?

Thats to bad. Sorry to hear you got burned. If it were me I would start scrounging and get set up for next year. You will find that most who sell wood will not supply you with truly dry wood (less than 20% moisture content) even if they claim it is. Just because it will burn doesn't mean its ready for the stove. Stay away from oak unless you want to purchase it this year and burn it in 3. Softer woods like silver maple, pine, hemlock and even white birch will be ready for next year if you tend to it properly. Do you have access to trees or live near the bush? If you can find some standing dead trees you may get lucky with some that are at or close to 20%. I found a few standing dead lodgepole pine trees the other day that I dropped. I c,s,s them and found that they were 18%-20% Welcome to Hearth!

 

[Seanm]

You could also be there when they drop it off so you can see if its suitable to pay for. If you let them know when you order that you will be inspecting what they bring everyone will know where they stand.

 

[D8Chumley]

Best way to make sure you have good wood is to get it and process it yourself that way you know exactly what you have. First year(s) suck, we have all been there. It will get better, welcome to the Hearth!

 

[Lockpicker]

Tons of wood sellers here in southeast Pa. are not truthful. 99% of them buck and split only months before they sell it as "seasoned". There is one guy in Quakertown that used to sell 1/4 cord baskets for 50 bucks that were decent, but even there you have to check them to get a good one. I think he still advertises on graigs list.

 

[CrufflerJJ]

I'm waiting for my wood burning insert to be installed in two weeks and ordered my first cord of wood as a newbie. Although I did get more than a cord of wood...about a third of it was knotty, rotten, old and probably not worth even trying to burn....<snip>...

What's wrong with knotty wood?

 

[TheRambler]

I agree, nothing wrong with knotty wood. That is as long as you have a splitter, haha. If many entire pieces were completely rotten then that would be an issue. But a few spots of rot here and there isn't a big deal IMO. I would venture to say that a good portion of firewood comes from a tree that had to be taken down due to damage or health issue in some form or fashion. I cant think of any loads I have had delivered that didn't have at least a few pieces with some rot on them.

How much of the load was rotted? If it really was a 1/3rd I would demand them bring more.

 

[DougA]

When I bought wood a few decades ago, the seller knew I was going to check out the wood before they got paid. CI don't know of anyone in our area selling truly dry wood.

I'd buy next year's supply now and you'll have a full year to dry it out. Even then, it may not be dry enough for great performance.

 

[kennyp2339]

The knotty stuff would burn great, I think you might have gotten a load of what we all call "uglies"

 

[Fred Wright]

I'm sorry to hear. Hope you didn't pay too much for it.

From what you describe I'd presume the seller got rid of a load of off-stuff that couldn't be sold as primo firewood. Anyone who sells a lot of firewood has loads of B-stock laying around, awaiting a home.

We have purchased several pickup loads of not-so-nice-looking rounds from a local wood dealer; it's knotty and sometimes a bit punky around the edges. He gives us a good deal on it. I'm there when they deliver it, they tried to unload a truckload of punky maple one day. I said nope... take that crap right back where it came from.

Tell the seller you want a clean hardwood mix, not B-grade. Be there when the loads are delivered and unloaded. Don't be shy about it ~ if it's not what you'd prefer, say so. The good stuff will cost more but if you're paying for it you should get it.

 

[xman23]

Surely let him know it's not the quality that you expected. Tell him to replace what you don't like. Check if it's actually a cord. If he wants to keep you as a customer he will drop off a pile of good wood.

All wood burns, knots are great, even the punky wet stuff. Just dry it out. The only real issue is it's a sponge so keep it dry and out of your stacks.

 

[zig]

Surely let him know it's not the quality that you expected. Tell him to replace what you don't like. Check if it's actually a cord. If he wants to keep you as a customer he will drop off a pile of good wood.

Right on the bullseye. He's not shy about telling you the price or cashing the check, tell them up front you expect what's advertised and nothing less. If so, the price has to reflect that.

 

[jrod770]

Pictures are worth a thousand words.

X 2

 

[edge-of-the-woods]

Surely let him know it's not the quality that you expected. Tell him to replace what you don't like. Check if it's actually a cord. If he wants to keep you as a customer he will drop off a pile of good wood.

All wood burns, knots are great, even the punky wet stuff. Just dry it out. The only real issue is it's a sponge so keep it dry and out of your stacks.

Definitely call and tell them it's not what you expected or paid for. If you speak up, you might get more wood for nothing, or some money back. If you don't ask, you don't get.

 

[jharkin]

A bit of rot in the mix is annoying but it does ahppen from time to time, as was said a lot of firewood comes from diseased trees that had to be taken down. If its a third of the load yeah I would complain. A few random peipces is no big deal.

the knots are no big deal... they are denser than straight grained wood and will burn a bit longer in fact. Just a pain to split without hydraulics as others mentioned. Matter of fact, if I got a load that was all straight grained walnut for example I would be shocked... that should be made into furniture, not firewood!

 

[Applesister]

I bought firewood for years from a guy who used a bucketloader to load his dump truck. I was crazy about the species of trees he got access to. But when he dumped the wood off I always got a yard &1/2 of sand and stone and wood chips.
It was really annoying because this crap got dumped on top of what was generally very clean firewood. You had to stack it right away before it rained.
Another thing, I gave my sister all my uglies one year because she commented that I stacked my wood too tight(yeah, okay), that I dont give the splits room to breath(so she can have them). So I gave her all the hard to stack knotty stuff. Black birch and Red oak. Which she still complains about, even though she asked for the Black birch. The crotches and knots are the densest wood. Especially Sugar maple.
So I read your post and think perhaps you got a fair load of wood, it just might not be picturesque.
As far as rot is concerned, I feel firewood should be culled trees not healthy trees. Otherwise it would be furniture as one guy said.

 

[ekg0477]

I have had good experience buying from local tree service companies. I always purchase my firewood in the spring so it sits all summer in the open air. You may want to call these guys http://www.wehrungs.com they are local and have about 10 pallets left of the enviroblocks. You may find mixing them with your not so seasoned wood may work best. I paid 297/ ton