Woodpile question

[Darl Bundren]

Hey, all. I am moving some white oak firewood to a more optimal spot to dry it, and some of the wood I'm moving is pretty old and, in some places, rotten. On some sticks, the rot is only on part of it, so I've been hacking that off with a hatchet and moving the good wood remnant. If there are a few minor traces of the punky parts on there, will this affect the burn in any significant way?

And, I have the back row stacked about as high as I want to go and am going to start on the front soon. How far in front of the first row do you recommend stacking the next row? I don't want to cut down on air circulation.

Those questions being asked, I am happy to have started on my first real woodpile. There's some good wood in with the mixed, and that pleases me. And as I work, I'm guesstimating the equivalent of fuel oil the stack represents, and that's kind of fun.

 

[jtp10181]

I suggest to put the rotting pieces aside. Get your fire going with the good wood and then you can toss in the rotting ones later. You will get less energy out of it and lower stack temps. If burning purely rotting (punky) wood you will get a lot of smoke and creosote usually.

 

[Darl Bundren]

jtp, I chunked a bunch of the worst stuff down the hill and kept all sound wood. I figured out it was too much messing for too little return to hack off the punky stuff; plus, my son thought it was fun to throw stuff down the hill. Whee!