TOO MUCH WOOD?

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DavidV

New Member
Nov 20, 2005
792
Richmond VA
I posted this earlier...or so I thought. must have failed to post properly.
I have more wood than I am likely to burn this season. Likely to have wood left over that I stacked 2 years ago. I think at this point I still have 5-6 cords stacked. I will continue to gather, split, and stack wood since I get it free and you never know what the next heating season will be like. But let's assume I keep going and I have 10 or 15 cords (10 likely..... 15 not likely) set up by next winter. At some point I will lose wood to bugs. As it stands now I am seeing some wood that is bug eaten....most of it still goes in the stove unless it's moist. Also there appears to be some fungus loss or something like that. I have noticed that on some of the older oak, the growth ring seams to be very soft like cork and very light in color. There is also some large lichen growing on the outside of the wood. The environement is moist in the summer but riight now it's bone dry. The wood still burns great so I keep burning it...... B but lets assume I have more than I need next season....andd more than I can use without experiencing some serious rot and loss. Find a needy older person and do a good deed? how many of you have run into this issue before?
 
I don't have too much wood but when I need to give something away, I post it on the local Freecycle website (www.freecycle.org). This year there have been several postings of people wanting wood and people giving wood away.
 
This weekend I filled my pickup up with standing dead oak trees, they were dead more than a few years . I split it up and both stoves are running it now ( snowing outside). I think you have to rotate your piles. Can you get some southern exposure?
Is the problem oak on the bottom of the pile? You need sun and air circulation and moisture control. Some of my wood is 5 years old and not rotting. Softer wood Maple and black birch has to be used up within 3 years or sooner. If re stacking knock off as much bark as possible the bark holds in the moisture. In you enviorment maybe you can only store 3 years ahead.
 
I never had too much wood, but I would put an ad in the paper and sell some or give it away if I did.

My neighbor has a full wood shed next to his garage. He never burns wood except a few times in the summer in his outdoor fire pit. Some of the wood has been in there for 10 years and is really punky and light as a feather. What a waste!
 
It's stacked on the back edge of the property line. Woods. I have a couple oak trees standing over it, and then there is 40+ acres of mostly hardwood so it gets little direct sunshine. That's part of my reason for making a wood shed this year. But I still think Iwill end up with a ton of wood. I wouldn't mind finding an elderly person in need and taking the boys over there to stack it up for them. But I tend to have issues on giving things to people. I guess my idea of need doesn't match up to most folks idea of need. If you have hungry kids and it's because you mismanaged your money or chose not to work 7 days a week (part time jobs are everywhere), then I will do what I have to to keep you kids from starving.....and I will be pissed about it the whole time. I hear too many hard luck stories these days from people who havn't really tried. Sheesh. forget I said that. I don't want this thread taking that kind of turn. Yeah...I guess I can stack the wood and it will keep for several years and I won't have to do much to keep it the way I need it. I suppose if I end up with more than I need I can just ask my neighbor who is active in the church to find someone who needs it.
 
The life of a chunk of wood depends on way too many variables to predict, but I try to anticipate which of my wood is close to going over to the dark side and I try to burn it first. You've already put so much work into getting ready to burn, might as well get some heat out of it.

I think giving away excess wood is a great idea. Personally, if I have as much wood left over at the end of the winter as I think, I'll probably lay some on the neighbors for putting up with my smoke, non-stop splitting and other compulsive wood-cutting and wood-burning behavior. They've probably earned it.
 
If you live near tourist campgrounds just put by the hi-way on the honor system with a strong box for the money.
Just get your money everyday and smile when some yo yo steals from you.
You will find 99% of people are great and you have provided a service to them.
As for the crooks well you know "what goes around comes around"
 
Giving it away to someone truly in need sounds like a great idea. You will feel great and that person will be warm when they need it. You also should try to sell a bit of it - you deserve it for your efforts. I personally have tried to find someone near me who will let me come pick up what I want (log length, type, etc) and everybody just wants to deliver a truck load or nothing. Even if it is just $25 bucks you could spend it something truly satisfying like an evening at the movies with your kids.
 
If you can use it or sell it - GREAT!
But I think it is a wonderful thing ,if you think it's gonna go bad before you can use it , to give it to someone who's in need of it . Or even sell it at a resonable price for your labor.

There are certainly enough people out there OVER-charging for wood, or who would never think twice about doing a good deed when their cup runneth over.
I think it's cool that you even thought about donating it to someone, even if you end up keeping it to use for yourself.

The only crime would be if it goes to waste.
 
I don't really want to be in the wood selling business. I have enough on my plate. and I don't want to listen to someone complain about the way I deliver something. I'm thinking that I will more likely find an older person or someone who's spouse is away in the military and give them the wood. That is, or course, assuming I have an abundance. I anticipate that I will. I don't golf or fish. I spend my time with family, real estate, and my wood pile.
 
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