What a difference dry wood makes!

[Hatrackr]

So the couple of fires I've done have been with less than stellar wood, around the mid 20's on the meter. A couple weeks ago I cut a huge ash tree up that washed down the river at my father in-laws place. We hauled it out of the river in early summer and before he knew what it was I asked if I could have it I was surprised he said yes as he heats exclusively with wood and burns 3-5 cords a year. I ran the saw into it not knowing if it was rotten and was pleasantly surprised it was in great shape. So as I split I took moisture readings and had about 20% right off the splitter which surprised me cause the big rounds were 24"+ in diameter, after a week I split a large piece and got 18% and the ends are already checking. The temps are in the low 30's tonight so I thought I would try some out, I've never had the secondaries firing like this and the stove is the hottest it's ever been at 500 ( I have the air shut all the way and it's still climbing hopefully it will level off shortly!) hopefully my other wood will dry enough by the time I get to it in a few months until the. I'm gong to enjoy burning this stuff while scrounging all the ash I can find for next year!

 

[Woody Stover]

Yep, I really like how 18% and under burns. Rare to find a tree that dry when you cut low on the trunk. I wonder what the story on it was? Long time standing dead on the bank and finally fell in the river? Any bark on it?

 

[Hatrackr]

No bark except for a small piece on one of the limbs, it had been dead for a while and got caught in the spring floods I was surprised how good of shape it was in for coming out of the river, I know ash dries quick but I never expected it to be ready that fast, I could tell when I split it that it was pretty dry, it made a hollow sound when I tossed it into the pile

 

[weatherguy]

If you have the EAB in your area try and get all the ash you can.

 

[Hatrackr]

We do have eab I have to beat my father inlaw to it though! He loves ash and I see why if he had known that's what it was I never would have gotten it. I got just a little over a cord out of that tree bringing me to just over 3 cords CSS he's up to 9 CSS hopefully he'll leave me some!

 

[Simonkenton]

A beautiful sight. A wood stove cranked up on a cool autumn night.

 

[cleary524]

Ash splits and burns amazing. I had the pleasure of burning an entire Ash tree last winter that about 20" round prior to splitting. I had it in a barn drying late summer and all fall before I burned it in Feb/March. It burned amazing and I was getting moisture readings in the low teens. The log had been laying off the ground dry for two years, so it was pretty dry right from the split.

I look for Ash any chance I can get. It is just so easy to cut and split.

Enjoy.

 

[weatherguy]

I love ash too, burned 1 1/2 cords last year, saved 1/2 cord for this year, the EAB has moved into our area so it may be more prevalent in the future as firewood.

 

[Knots]

I've had more than one person complain to me about the performance of their stove. I gave them an arm load of dry wood. They were amazed.

 

[Huntindog1]

Yes if your wood has some moisture when the smoke gases goes up to the burn tubes or manifold the moisture is cooling things instead of the smoke igniting into secondary flames.

 

[Sconnie Burner]

If your other wood is iffy I would mix the ash in with it for this year, to get the overall moisture content in the fire box a little lower to begin with. The ash will burn hotter and help cook the moisture off the less than favorable faster.