Beech giving off thick black smoke!

[Matt Ruggeri]

Down to the end of my 5-year stockpile of seasoned stuff (gotta catch up on splitting and stacking!). Been burning the last of some 4-year seasoned Beech, which i had been burning on the real cold nights for my overnight burns. All oddball sized splits, and some slabs. It's definitely seasoned, random checks with Moisture Meter read 15-19%.
I noticed some splits randomly burn with a bright orange flame, and seem to give off a thick black creosote-like smoke, and others burn like they should. It almost looks like there is tar boiling off the bark. In the last hour, this one split has completely blackened the glass.. Can still see secondaries burning though. Trying to get a pic of it, but can't keep the door open long enough without the smell killing me.. I did check to see if there was maybe oil from the chainsaw, or even something spilled on them, but they look and smell like 4-year seasoned wood, meaning kinda old and musty (like me!)

 

[embers aplenty]

I've been burning some of the last of some beech I got last summer out of an older guys yard, just to get it out of the way. Some of it is nice and hollow sounding and some of it is kind of loamy like. Hadn't checked it with meter. Nearly all gone now.

Maybe the sap settled into one side of the trunk and stayed kind of trapped and was hard to get seasoned out good. I can kind of relate to what your experiencing. Maybe that tar stuff is what they put in "Beechnut chewing tobacco".

 

[Matt Ruggeri]

Maybe that tar stuff is what they put in "Beechnut chewing tobacco".

That explains a lot! I had a hunch (or a headache, not sure which), i decided to take a few splits outside and chip away the bark, and sure enough, FULL of grubs, or whatever those wood worms are... wonder if that's what it is.

 

[BrotherBart]

Tree sucked up something while it was growing. Got a big Beech in the backyard. 28 years ago I nailed a bug light bracket to it. Just the tip of the long end of the bracket is sticking out of it now. Tree has swallowed the whole thing.

 

[gyrfalcon]

That explains a lot! I had a hunch (or a headache, not sure which), i decided to take a few splits outside and chip away the bark, and sure enough, FULL of grubs, or whatever those wood worms are... wonder if that's what it is.

I burn a lot of beech and have never had your experience with black smoke, so I can't help on that. But... Beech goes punk and rots very quickly if it isn't cut, split and stacked off the ground. And yea, those hideous worms. Beech, though it's a dense hardwood, for some reason seasons a lot more quickly than you think it will. Combine those two tendencies, I wouldn't leave it for four years before burning it.

 

[begreen]

Tree sucked up something while it was growing. Got a big Beech in the backyard. 28 years ago I nailed a bug light bracket to it. Just the tip of the long end of the bracket is sticking out of it now. Tree has swallowed the whole thing.

Maybe it wrapped itself around a sneaker or some roofing?

 

[Matt Ruggeri]

Or all those bodies buried under it! Seriously though, I think I might save the few pieces left for the firepit outside. Like I say, Looks and Burns like it's well seasoned.. I did my 2 week check of the chimney, and after burning this stuff for a few days look what fell out -

Probably about a cup or so of it.. I'm calling for a real sweep this week anyways