I'm scrapping the bottom of this year's wood pile. Yesterday I needed a small fire in the evening so I went out and collected an ash bucket full of red/white oak junk leftover from splitting up about 6 cord back in November. It was some thin slab split, notch cut chunks, and general odds and ends. Nothing was thicker than 1" and had been sitting on the top of the stack for 4 1/2 months.
I added it to a few small coals. About 10 minutes later I opened the door on the stove and it was hissing. I thought for sure this would be pretty dry as small as it was. I should have went with my gut and raided next year's pile (the oak won't be burned for 2-3 more years) but then I thought "how bad could it really be"? Bad.
Unrelated ramble:
After Tuesday night, I may be done burning for the season. It was this week last year I quit too. Forecast looks pretty good (as of now) and I don't mind the house a little on the cool side...65 feels better than 78. I'm sure there will be a few nights where I'll build a small fire, but 24x7 ends this week. After burning almost 5 cord this winter I'm ready to be done.
This Saturday I'm returning to the woods to get started on '12/13 wood. Pretty excited about it. This winter has been a hard one and I need some outdoor stimuli. I'm also really looking forward to using the new (to me) 361 for more than cleaning up branches. My goal is to c/s/s 3 cord this spring and 3 cord this fall. Last year I processed 17 cord...so 6 in 6 months should be a cake walk.
'11/12 stack - 5 cord (mixed bag of oak, ash, elm, cherry, maple, hackberry, box elder, etc.) c/s/s March/April 2010 and October/November 2010
'12/13 stack - empty
'12/13 stack - 5 cord of 100% red/white oak c/s/s November 2010
'13/14 stack - 2.5 cord of 100% red/white oak c/s/s November 2010 - needs some more to top it off...but I've got some time on that
I added it to a few small coals. About 10 minutes later I opened the door on the stove and it was hissing. I thought for sure this would be pretty dry as small as it was. I should have went with my gut and raided next year's pile (the oak won't be burned for 2-3 more years) but then I thought "how bad could it really be"? Bad.
Unrelated ramble:
After Tuesday night, I may be done burning for the season. It was this week last year I quit too. Forecast looks pretty good (as of now) and I don't mind the house a little on the cool side...65 feels better than 78. I'm sure there will be a few nights where I'll build a small fire, but 24x7 ends this week. After burning almost 5 cord this winter I'm ready to be done.
This Saturday I'm returning to the woods to get started on '12/13 wood. Pretty excited about it. This winter has been a hard one and I need some outdoor stimuli. I'm also really looking forward to using the new (to me) 361 for more than cleaning up branches. My goal is to c/s/s 3 cord this spring and 3 cord this fall. Last year I processed 17 cord...so 6 in 6 months should be a cake walk.
'11/12 stack - 5 cord (mixed bag of oak, ash, elm, cherry, maple, hackberry, box elder, etc.) c/s/s March/April 2010 and October/November 2010
'12/13 stack - empty
'12/13 stack - 5 cord of 100% red/white oak c/s/s November 2010
'13/14 stack - 2.5 cord of 100% red/white oak c/s/s November 2010 - needs some more to top it off...but I've got some time on that