Free wood worth it?

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Yosef

Yosef

New Member
Feb 1, 2019
4
NC
I am living hand to mouth with wood this year. I have a Regency i2400 insert and have tons of split/stacked for next year but I'm frantically searching for DRY wood online. Do you guys think this would be worth my time? It's on the ground and in the round, but maybe the top layer is dry and seasoned enough to split/burn?

I can't get a response from local wood dealers after I say I want to test the splits with my moisture meter.

Thanks to you guys, I'm a wood snob but I'm desperate at this point.

I've learned a ton from this forum in the last couple of months, so thank you!
 

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Grab it up but it ain't dry.

My mom had about a cord of oak rounds sitting around just like that for 2-3 years before I got to them. All of it was still too wet to burn. They will rot before they dry in rounds.

However, if you can get some compressed "bio-bricks" and mix them in with the oak you can do it.
 
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Yosef said:
I am living hand to mouth with wood this year. I have a Regency i2400 insert and have tons of split/stacked for next year but I'm frantically searching for DRY wood online. Do you guys think this would be worth my time? It's on the ground and in the round, but maybe the top layer is dry and seasoned enough to split/burn?

I can't get a response from local wood dealers after I say I want to test the splits with my moisture meter.

Thanks to you guys, I'm a wood snob but I'm desperate at this point.

I've learned a ton from this forum in the last couple of months, so thank you!
Click to expand...
Why do people think it's good to describe themselves as a "wood snob"? It really does sound utterly ridiculous.

Good luck finding dry wood this year!
 
I do have some of those bio-bricks, looking at two burn right now... I will reach out to the guy and see if I can grab some.
 
ED 3000 said:
Why do people think it's good to describe themselves as a "wood snob"? It really does sound utterly ridiculous.

Good luck finding dry wood this year!
Click to expand...

I guess I have high standards after reading about what guys have stored up on here. Ha, I wish I would have known about this obsession a couple of years ago. There are tons of people giving away green cuts around me but I'm living fire to fire. I will probably end up burning mostly bio-logs this year.
 
Yosef said:
I am living hand to mouth with wood this year. I have a Regency i2400 insert and have tons of split/stacked for next year but I'm frantically searching for DRY wood online. Do you guys think this would be worth my time? It's on the ground and in the round, but maybe the top layer is dry and seasoned enough to split/burn?

I can't get a response from local wood dealers after I say I want to test the splits with my moisture meter.

Thanks to you guys, I'm a wood snob but I'm desperate at this point.

I've learned a ton from this forum in the last couple of months, so thank you!
Click to expand...
Free wood is good wood. If not for now, then for next season. Go for it.
 
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It’s hard to say from the photo if it’d be worth your time but if it’s not too far I’d go look at it and see if any of it can be salvaged if not for this year then another. It’s not going to be a lot of wood though but some here and some there it all adds up.
 
I would grab it unless it is rotten because:
1. it is oak
2. if the pile hasn't been moved the rounds on top might be dry enough.
3. wood in rounds seasons very slowly but not zero, get it split you might get lucky it finishes seasoning fast

biobricks, pallets, dead standing trees, even pine is better than nothing, cutoffs from dumpsters at stick built houses, it all burns, often rather well.
 
Personally, I burn scrap wood I get for free from a lumber yard or other commercial enterprises a few blocks from where I live. 2x4s, 2x6s, 4x4 posts and such are readily available to me ----and it's dry wood. I haul it home in my van and cut it to length will my table saw.
 
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Yosef said:
I guess I have high standards after reading about what guys have stored up on here. Ha, I wish I would have known about this obsession a couple of years ago. There are tons of people giving away green cuts around me but I'm living fire to fire. I will probably end up burning mostly bio-logs this year.
Click to expand...
I’d hazard a guess and say we were all there at some point. Good news is, you’ll be set up for next year and beyond if you keep after it
 
Its worth a look.. if.its starting to rot, walk away. If the top portion is good grab that.. free wood should never be turned down.. there always room to put it.. if you cant get wood then move to a bio brick or similar product.. I'm not recommending going the sarap route..
 
Dang hard to say.... if it's a hundred mile trip each way, might not be the stuff for you. Could be totally rotten...might not really be oak. (I've hit a 'free locust' ad only to find cottonwood...luckily only a few blocks away) Are you sure it's still there?...Your screen capture says '14 interested over a week ago'. 'a week' around here would loosely translate as 'it's gone'. If it's really only 3.2 miles from you, I wouldn't even post here and wait for a reply...go look! and Good Luck!
 
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