Just ran out... Now what?

[chazcarr]

I have a lot of wood, but it is all green as grass.
I am now all out of seasoned wood, and it has just started to snow.

I know this no longer happens to most people on here, but what did any of you do in this situation?

Buying wood is still cheaper than oil, but I have serious doubts I will be able to buy anything ready to burn.

Paying the price for underestimating my wood needs.

 

[StihlHead]

Usually there are dry cords to be had, look on CL.

I had to buy a cord two years ago to get through the winter here, and it worked out fine. I found a great guy near me that sold me 2 year old dry and split doug fir for $175 a full cord, delivered.

 

[Senatormofo]

Be sure to check the moisture content before paying a premium for so called "Seasoned Wood". There are a lot of crooks out there.

 

[jeff_t]

There's also the kiln dried and brick options.

 

[jdp1152]

I've got a few emails out to kiln dried suppliers. I have ample wood seasoning, but in very short supply on burnable wood for this year. The number of kiln dried suppliers up here has tripled since last year and some of the pricing is quite competitive given what a cord of 'seasoned' goes for. I've been putting my MC requirements of a fresh split in all my inquiries. Unfortunately the '2 year seasoned' cord I bought last year is still reading very high on MC so I'm paying for wood one more year it seems....albeit much less than previous year. People here are very right about taking your lumps the first year or two.

 

[Mr A]

You could go with pallets, they're usually very dry, many made of hard woods. Does wood season slower back east? High humidity summers? I have some valley oak, Quercus lobata that was cut just last previous fall, 2011, split is spring 2012- it's what I'm burning now. My HF moisture meter reads it at 18-24%. It burns well, doesn't hiss, lights to flame in seconds on hot coals. What genus is predominant on the east side of the country? I often wonder when I hear it takes two years to season firewood if that is referring to cut, split and stacked firewood, or just cut firewood rounds, unsplit.

 

[Beer Belly]

I'm likely going to be in the same boat. I bought some bricks from TSC back in November....haven't burned them yet, will try and throw one in later this week to see what I get before I throw in two or more...bought 6 bricks as a test

 

[MasterMech]

I often wonder when I hear it takes two years to season firewood if that is referring to cut, split and stacked firewood, or just cut firewood rounds, unsplit.​

Only the real super-dense woods actually take 2 years out here. Oak and Hickory are the slow ones. Maple, Ash, Locust and Elm are plentiful and burn well after 1 year or dry time.

 

[StihlHead]

You could go with pallets, they're usually very dry, many made of hard woods. Does wood season slower back east? High humidity summers? I have some valley oak, Quercus lobata that was cut just last previous fall, 2011, split is spring 2012- it's what I'm burning now. My HF moisture meter reads it at 18-24%. It burns well, doesn't hiss, lights to flame in seconds on hot coals. What genus is predominant on the east side of the country? I often wonder when I hear it takes two years to season firewood if that is referring to cut, split and stacked firewood, or just cut firewood rounds, unsplit.

That is another good idea. There are always free pallets in CL here. Usually all that you want. Many are made of oak or fir up here. I have burned a lot of old building wood this year, 2x4s and 2x6s from my garage remodel this summer. They have nails, but they burn. And they are dry.

Wood dried a lot faster when I was in CA than it does here in OR. Less rain there, and usually no rain from May though October. That was usually enough time to dry new wood from the year before. Here on the DEQ web site they say that most wood will dry enough to burn in 6 months. I am burning some cottonwood I cut 2 years ago, and it is still not quite dry. We did have 3 months w/o rain this summer, but it was not enough time to dry wood cut last winter/spring completely. I am working on covering a concrete patio here now for drying wood on this year. The rain has been relentless, and now it is snowing here most days.

 

[Mr A]

@StihlHead- I don't see how anything dries up there. I visited Portland on the 4th of July, it was raining! Not really a rain but a heavy mist enough to keep me wet and cold. Maybe you could put your stacks on wheels and moving them to the sunny spots that open between the clouds, like that recent Portlandia episode, that was some funny

 

[StihlHead]

Yah, it usually rains through the 4th. Last summer it rained through the 12th. I had a foot of rain in June, 2nd most rain in PDX history. It was bone dry from mid July to mid October, when the faucet opened up again. I have had a foot of rain or more in October, November, and December.

 

[maple1]

I have a lot of wood, but it is all green as grass.
I am now all out of seasoned wood, and it has just started to snow.

I know this no longer happens to most people on here, but what did any of you do in this situation?

Buying wood is still cheaper than oil, but I have serious doubts I will be able to buy anything ready to burn.

Paying the price for underestimating my wood needs.

How green is your wood? Is it really just cut - or has it had any seasoning time at all? I have had good luck when getting caught with wet wood before in re-splitting very fine, stacking loosely in a warm place inside (for me that was on top of a woodpile in my basement not far from the boiler), and running a big box fan on/through it on low speed for a few hours a day. It will dry suprisingly fast - you could have some of your wood ready to burn (maybe not optimal moisture, but usable) in a week or two. Then just keep cycling at it to get through the winter. Bonus is that it will also provide humidification.

 

[Danno77]

There's nothing illegal about burning wet wood. Burn what you got, but check the chimney often and be prepared to see less than fantastic burns.

 

[Woody Stover]

How green is your wood? Is it really just cut - or has it had any seasoning time at all? I have had good luck when getting caught with wet wood before in re-splitting very fine, stacking loosely in a warm place inside (for me that was on top of a woodpile in my basement not far from the boiler), and running a big box fan on/through it on low speed for a few hours a day. It will dry suprisingly fast - you could have some of your wood ready to burn (maybe not optimal moisture, but usable) in a week or two. Then just keep cycling at it to get through the winter. Bonus is that it will also provide humidification.

A couple of years ago I stacked half a cord of White Ash, split small, in the house with a fan blowing on it. Went from 25% down to 20% in a couple of weeks. Still hissed a bit, but it burned.

 

[chazcarr]

How green is your wood? Is it really just cut - or has it had any seasoning time at all? I have had good luck when getting caught with wet wood before in re-splitting very fine, stacking loosely in a warm place inside (for me that was on top of a woodpile in my basement not far from the boiler), and running a big box fan on/through it on low speed for a few hours a day. It will dry suprisingly fast - you could have some of your wood ready to burn (maybe not optimal moisture, but usable) in a week or two. Then just keep cycling at it to get through the winter. Bonus is that it will also provide humidification.

All my remaining wood was cut and split within the last 5 weeks.
I burn pallets occasionally, but cleaning the nails and such is a big hassle (clogs the ash vac, dumping, etc...) that I try not to burn too many.
I got a pack of Eco Blocks and they burn good, but no coals, so not very long lasting.

I am going to try CL one more time, I have been taken at least twice by people on there, but this time it is from a licensed tree company registered to the BBB, so perhaps they take their claims more seriously.

$250 a cord delivered, not stacked, so it sure is steep.

 

[Mr A]

All my remaining wood was cut and split within the last 5 weeks.
I burn pallets occasionally, but cleaning the nails and such is a big hassle (clogs the ash vac, dumping, etc...) that I try not to burn too many.
I got a pack of Eco Blocks and they burn good, but no coals, so not very long lasting.

I am going to try CL one more time, I have been taken at least twice by people on there, but this time it is from a licensed tree company registered to the BBB, so perhaps they take their claims more seriously.

$250 a cord delivered, not stacked, so it sure is steep.

I wouldn't pay for a unstacked pile. that's one of the oldest tricks in the book of scam. They just dump it off, get paid, and you get less than paid for.

 

[longboarder2]

CL. take a meter with you to check it first. if it's close, burn it. cheaper than oil. or look for folks who have those really old looking wood stacks in their yard that you know theyll never burn. offer em 50 bucks

 

[clemsonfor]

You could go with pallets, they're usually very dry, many made of hard woods. Does wood season slower back east? High humidity summers? I have some valley oak, Quercus lobata that was cut just last previous fall, 2011, split is spring 2012- it's what I'm burning now. My HF moisture meter reads it at 18-24%. It burns well, doesn't hiss, lights to flame in seconds on hot coals. What genus is predominant on the east side of the country? I often wonder when I hear it takes two years to season firewood if that is referring to cut, split and stacked firewood, or just cut firewood rounds, unsplit.

All oak is in the Quercus Genus?? If it wasent in that genus it would not be oak!!

 

[lukem]

Do you know anyone you could swap some green for seasoned?

 

[gzecc]

I did a quick search of your local CL ads, I would try this guy. Seems to have huge inventory. Some should be old.
http://hartford.craigslist.org/grq/3540293397.html

 

[jharkin]

Only the real super-dense woods actually take 2 years out here. Oak and Hickory are the slow ones. Maple, Ash, Locust and Elm are plentiful and burn well after 1 year or dry time.

Also depends on how its stacked and sun/wind exposure in your yard. I have one year CSS locust that I split big because of its fast dry reputation. Still at 28% now. Luckily I don't need it for another year.

 

[chazcarr]

I did a quick search of your local CL ads, I would try this guy. Seems to have huge inventory. Some should be old.
http://hartford.craigslist.org/grq/3540293397.html

Went with this one: He replied first. Was going to get BioBricks but the delivery charge ($50) just doesn't seem to make that worth it. A pallet of biobricks with delivery is $320. that is only 4x4x4.

As always, if he is good, I will let everyone here know. He seems to have a good greyish looking pile, and I told him I would be getting the moisture level and stack for payment. He agreed. The other guy I called hung up at that point.

If he doesn't meet the requirements, Hartford guy it will be next

 

[Mr A]

All oak is in the Quercus Genus?? If it wasent in that genus it would not be oak!!

True, but it isn't Lobata

 

[bluedogz]

There's nothing illegal about burning wet wood. Burn what you got, but check the chimney often and be prepared to see less than fantastic burns.

Another option is busting up the furniture.

 

[StihlHead]

Another option is busting up the furniture.

Hey, I actually do that. Not my furniture, but I raid the local free piles at a local furniture and cabinet shop here. I got 1/4 PU load of oak table legs that they tosses out last week. I cut them with the table saw and they are burning just fine here now. Free oak... they have metal female threaded inserts in them on one end, but they can be pulled out of the ashes with a magnet.