ready to go (hopefully)

[bobbys]

Another newbie on board. This will be my first year of heating exclusivly with wood. After many years of being held hostage by the oil industry, I figured it was time. I am blessed with 10 acres of of land made up of 60% sugar maple, 30% mostly oak, beech, hornbeam, birch and 10% pine. After 20 years and four financial advisors in the stock market with little or no gain, this is one sure investment that will pay off.
I've been reading this site for six months and have learned a lot as well as been entertained. It's my turn now to face the first year wood supply problem. Most all of my six cord consisting of above species has been cut and split since early March 2010 and I'm hoping it's ready to go for this fall.(except the red oak) We've had a hot, dry, sunny and windy summer here so I think I have an outside shot of burning this stuff, at least in the second half of winter. I do have someone who'll sell me well seasoned wood to get going if need be. I'll start cutting 2011/12 wood in Sept.
Can't help staring at that woodpile, and judge the days weather as good for wood drying or not. Am I addicted already?

Husky 455 Rancher 18" and 20" bars
wood shed/ boiler house under construction
e-classic 2300 (I know, I know)
F-350 (skidder)
02 H.D. Lowrider (not used in firewood operations)

 

[SolarAndWood]

Welcome to the addiction. Can you get away with less than perfect fuel in the e-classic?

 

[djlarson77]

Do you have any of the wood covered? I thought I would be ready with at least a cord this year (I'm just starting out this year too) but the moisture content in my wood seems to be going up. It's been wetter than normal here in the upper midwest and I haven't covered my piles yet. I'm planning on covering just the tops of them, but I'm waiting for a week-long dry stretch before I do that. I'm also wondering if all this humid weather is having an affect - the splits acting like a sponge - and that the process will reverse as the air drys out this fall/winter.

 

[oldspark]

Do you have any of the wood covered? I thought I would be ready with at least a cord this year (I'm just starting out this year too) but the moisture content in my wood seems to be going up. It's been wetter than normal here in the upper midwest and I haven't covered my piles yet. I'm planning on covering just the tops of them, but I'm waiting for a week-long dry stretch before I do that. I'm also wondering if all this humid weather is having an affect - the splits acting like a sponge - and that the process will reverse as the air drys out this fall/winter.

Well I am just south of you and I never cover my wood until October and the wood does not sponge up the water unless it is punky.

 

[Uper]

Are there any dead standing or down wood that you can cut up and use? That's what we did last year and I didn't get much in the way of creosote buildup. If not, you might also consider mixing in a piece of seasoned wood with a piece that you are seasoning now when you load the stove. I also cleaned my chimney during the January thaw last year and again in May so I could see what I would get. It turned out very well for me, but I didn't have a lot of green wood to deal with. Anyway, I hope it works out well for you and welcome to the forum!

 

[djlarson77]

[/quote] Well I am just south of you and I never cover my wood until October and the wood does not sponge up the water unless it is punky.[/quote]


Punky may be the issue for some of it - a lot of the first wood I was cutting (b4 I was planning on buying a wood stove) Fall '08 and '09 was dead stuff. Most of it seemed solid, but I know some of it had larvae holes and had a green color just on the outside. Maybe I have more fire pit wood than I was thinking.

 

[djlarson77]

I'm still trying to figure out the Quote thing. Can somebody help me with instructions on how to pull out just a piece of text and have it show up as a shaded quote.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Hit the quote button, delete what you don't want.

 

[smokinj]

Beech drys fast thats where I would start then birch and on to the sugar mable.

 

[bobbys]

Welcome to the addiction. Can you get away with less than perfect fuel in the e-classic?

From what a friend with an e-classic tells me, it really needs well seasoned wood along with closely following manufacturers instructions and regular maint. to be trouble free.
My wood has been uncovered all summer and is drying well in the sun, despite unusually high humidity around here for long stretches. I'm going to move it into the shed sometime in late Sept. or early Oct.
I will take your advice on the beech then birch then sugar maple order of burning. Thank you!

 

[Battenkiller]

Beech drys fast thats where I would start then birch and on to the sugar mable.

+1 on the beech. Get a bunch cut and split now, you won't be disappointed.

 

[iceman]

resplit your oak into smaller pieces and pray, try to make them all same size and you will be able to burn it ....say Jan-feb it won't be perfect but will burn better smaller if its not ready

 

[Battenkiller]

I'm still trying to figure out the Quote thing. Can somebody help me with instructions on how to pull out just a piece of text and have it show up as a shaded quote.

Highlight the text you want to remove with your mouse cursor (it shows up green in Firefox on my Mac), then hit the delete key.
Type your comments here, below the area enclosed with brackets.

You can add other quote boxes just by clicking where you want them to appear in the text box, then clicking on the "quote" button in the BBCode menu bar above the text box. Paste or type your quote between the two sets of quote brackets.


Click on "Preview" at the bottom to see that you got it correct.

 

[cmonSTART]

Welcome Hockey Guy!

Sun and wind are your friends when it comes to drying firewood.

 

[rdust]

If you're using an outdoor boiler I think the wood cut/split in March will burn pretty well for you. I'd bet dollars to donuts you'll be in better shape then most the people who use outdoor boilers.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum Hockey Guy and good luck on your first year of wood burning.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Do you have any of the wood covered? I thought I would be ready with at least a cord this year (I'm just starting out this year too) but the moisture content in my wood seems to be going up. It's been wetter than normal here in the upper midwest and I haven't covered my piles yet. I'm planning on covering just the tops of them, but I'm waiting for a week-long dry stretch before I do that. I'm also wondering if all this humid weather is having an affect - the splits acting like a sponge - and that the process will reverse as the air drys out this fall/winter.

All this humid weather has little effect on the wood. As for covering the tops of the stacks, look at quads, who lives in Wisconsin. He never covers his wood.

We do the splitting of wood in March/April and then stack it immediately after the splitting is done. We stack it off the ground (on saplings we cut), stack it 4' high (4.5' which dries down to 4'), leave the wood uncovered until the following fall or winter. Usually we cover around Dec. 1 and then cover the tops only.

Someone mentioned the sponge effect. Wood is not a sponge....unless it is punky and then may as well be thrown out anyway rather than taking up room in a wood pile. Following rain, it takes only a few hours for that moisture to dry from the wood.

 

[bobbys]

Thanks for all the words of encouragement and advice.
Slab for woodshed has been poured and thermopex from woodshed to house is buried. We'll begin framing the woodshed the week of 8/9/10. I'll post some pictures as we progress.
Does anybody recomend any specific type of framing and siding wood as far as bug resistance or am I putting too much thought into this? Maybe standard pine is the norm. As is usually the case, my rustic looking woodshed in the country has now turned into this L.L. Bean looking structure with white horizontal drop siding and 5 foot sliding doors at each end. Slab is 15 by 18.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Clear Cedar I just bought 1x10s for a job and it was a mere $5.15/linear foot. Check out your local mills for rough cut hemlock.

 

[bobbys]

Clear Cedar I just bought 1x10s for a job and it was a mere $5.15/linear foot. Check out your local mills for rough cut hemlock.

Will do! Thank you

 

[maplewood]

If you're using an outdoor boiler I think the wood cut/split in March will burn pretty well for you. I'd bet dollars to donuts you'll be in better shape then most the people who use outdoor boilers.

+1.

You'll do okay. I burned wood dried for only one summer for a few dozen years.
But now I know better, and let it dry for 18+ months - it burns better and cleaner.
You're very fortunate to have such a great supply on your own property. My 6 acres is 95% softwood.
Happy burning!

 

[bobbys]

If you're using an outdoor boiler I think the wood cut/split in March will burn pretty well for you. I'd bet dollars to donuts you'll be in better shape then most the people who use outdoor boilers.

+1.

You'll do okay. I burned wood dried for only one summer for a few dozen years.
But now I know better, and let it dry for 18+ months - it burns better and cleaner.
You're very fortunate to have such a great supply on your own property. My 6 acres is 95% softwood.
Happy burning!

Went through my piles yesterday and re-split some of the larger pieces of sugar maple. Drying seems to be going very well. Although I didn't use a m.m., I was surprised how easily pieces split with a decent blow from the maul. Back when it was first cut in Feb. 2010, it took 5 or 6 hits with a wedge to split. Also noticed a few loose pieces of bark.
Already have my eyes on trees to be cut next month for 2011/12 so I don't have to go through this again. Eventually hope to join the ranks of the people who are 2 or 3 years ahead!