BIG Beech Score!

[bigbarf48]

A few weeks ago I got some sweetgum from a tree crew across the street, I gave the guy my name and # and told him to call if he ever had more wood to get rid of.

Well I get a call this morning from him, saying he had a load of beech and a load of white oak for me!

He dropped it off and I got to work cutting. Heres the pile, and some shots of it mostly bucked up



Heres my wall o' beech, all ready to get split



And heres the bigger beech pieces I havent gotten to, along with the white oak load. The oak was standing dead, and has a little punk but the inside should be good to go




So how long am I looking at for the beech to season? I split a few pieces and it was harder than oak, but definitely not bad

 

[weatherguy]

Son of a beech, nice score, I think beech seasons faster than oak but I've never had any so I'm not sure.

 

[bigbarf48]

I haven't either, I love getting new wood I've never worked with before!

The long logs are easier to move around in the pile than oak because the bark is so slick, I liked that

 

[bigbarf48]

The best part is he's coming back tomorrow with a load of red oak

 

[Wodburner]

Nice score there bigbarf48 !! I hope you have a splitter or a really strong back.....or both.

 

[bigbarf48]

Nice score there bigbarf48 !! I hope you have a splitter or a really strong back.....or both.

For better or worse, only the latter

Most of the rounds are small-ish, and I popped a couple open with the monster maul pretty easily. After that the axe did fine. I'll get it all done eventually

 

[bigbarf48]

Im thinking all of these big loads may help me justify the purchase of a bigger badder chainsaw

 

[Paulywalnut]

Very nice! He probably felt sorry for you giving you that sweet gum first.
That's a good guy to know.

 

[Clyde S. Dale]

Im thinking all of these big loads may help me justify the purchase of a bigger badder chainsaw

Ready to step up to the MS180 are ya?!?

I've burned beech after 1 year but 2 would be much better.

 

[tsquini]

Your score looks good. Beech is a hard wood. It should take 2-3 years to season depending on conditions.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Man Barf you're really going to town lately-great score! Beech is really good stuff, burns with a nice lively flame and throws good heat; always reminds me of elephant skin......burning a few pieces myself lately-it is around here in PA. but I don't have the chance to get it much for fuelwood but when I do I grab it!

Keep up the good work....

 

[bigbarf48]

Very nice! He probably felt sorry for you giving you that sweet gum first.
That's a good guy to know.

I was hoping the gum would open me up to better stuff from him. It was the "gateway load"

Ready to step up to the MS180 are ya?!?

I've burned beech after 1 year but 2 would be much better.

Yeah maybe thatd do the trick Ive been looking at the 271, 291, and 311

 

[bigbarf48]

Man Barf you're really going to town lately-great score! Beech is really good stuff, burns with a nice lively flame and throws good heat; always reminds me of elephant skin......burning a few pieces myself lately-it is around here in PA. but I don't have the chance to get it much for fuelwood but when I do I grab it!

Keep up the good work....

Thank you sir

 

[Wilhelm911]

Nice score! I just got 3 pickup loads of beech, my first time with this wood and I love it. It reminds me of red oak. Splits easily with the fiskars. I've been making nice square splits with ease.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Tell him to keep it comin'. Can't have enough firewood supply.

 

[Richie]

I had some beech that cut c/s/s in Nov of 12 and I burned it in Dec of 13. It burned real good but I thought it could have used another 6 months to bring it to perfection. Not complaining because it still burned good and no sizzle.

 

[bigbarf48]

Thanks for the info Richie

Pauly- I agree completely! I'm going on a little day trip to a ski place tomorrow , I'm hoping there'll be a nice pile of red oak when I get back

 

[1750]

I've really struggled to split beech by hand. Even with a wedge and maul it tends to "break" and not split. Maybe when it dries a little it will be easier to work with, but my experience with red and white oak cut at the same time was much, much easier than with the beech.

It's too bad, too, because I've got a ton of big beech splits available, but I can only move them if I can split them where they are lying and put them into the car. The big splits weigh a couple hundred pounds, and I can't do much with them until they are busted up.

Good luck to you -- it sounds like you've got a good thing going on!

 

[bigbarf48]

Im hoping the bigger rounds aren't like that, but the smaller ones really weren't bad. They certainly weren't straight easy splitters like red or white oak, but not terrible. You can tell though by looking at the grain that its a little twisty. It does "tear" a bit

 

[jeffesonm]

Good score... I've had good luck splitting beech and I love the thin bark.

 

[Applesister]

Can you post pics of your White Oak, Bigbarf?
I wanna see.
Great tree guy you got. Beech really isnt a yard type species. I think if you hurry up and get it split you can have it for next January. I had beech in the stove a few nights back when the temps dropped to -14° with the wind chills at -24° and it held its own quite nicely.
Is GA Georgia?

 

[embers aplenty]

Hey Bigbarf, Tell that tree guy to have his friend that lives in East Tennessee to start dropping lots of hardwood in my yard.

You'll do good with that beech. I've had some over the years. I got a good red oak score today from a friends house. The post powder beatles got to the outside of it pretty good but well worth getting. It splits easy with a Fiskars. I may not even get the gas splitter out this time.

Keep taking that wood. People will see it and think your either crazy or in the wood business like they do me.

 

[nrford]

18 months is plenty of time to season beech.

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Hey Barf, you might wanna think about beer and pizza for the tree crew when they show up again! Makes for happiness all round!

 

[bigbarf48]

Thanks all for the info. I'll keep taking loads as long as he's bringing them

Apple- Yes GA is I Georgia, and ill get some pics up of the white oak for you sometime