Como said:Re: wet aspen, I dont burn it I pile it until dry then burn it. Some peices take 2-3 years to dry out or longer. Log form un split 48" long. I have approx 10 cords in this form now busy drying. I typically burn 20-23 cords of dry deadfall each season.
Re: wicking up moisture. Here not so much unless in contact with ground. Very low MC in the air here compared to most ppl that are great lakes eastern seabord states. Think Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico etc, just not as hot.
I am in Colorado so pretty much the same conditions, very different to most on this site I think.
I may be wrong, but it may be much more helpful to think of wood better in terms of weight. Just got to shift a lot more of it.
However Boilers are not designed for our conditions.
I agree, my available species wont change & to be honest I don't know if I could handle a piece of oak 16" in diam x 48" long. Probably break my back/rip out my spleen. Either way not good. I also view wood by weight, esp when deciding if a piece has too much moisture to burn. After 9 years of loading I feel that I can judge MC of a piece of wood by how it feels in my hands.
That's right they don't design boilers for our conditions, we need bigger fireboxes due to species we have available to feed in. Thanks