Can I burn this wood well in my wood stove?

[firegal]

Hi all -

I've been lurking as a guest for the last couple days since I just got a Hearthstone Homestead to (hopefully) use as primary heat for my 1200 sf house.

Today is the first day of a REAL fire (others were starter fires), and I'm amazed with the heat output ... my living room is 74 degrees, which it NEVER has been in the winter. I'm practically sweating, lol. And the upstairs is a balmy 69 degrees or so, which means I WILL be sweating tonight under the down comforter ....

Anyway, to the topic which I am posting about: When my land was cleared 2 years ago before I built this house, the contractors I hired left some of the trees for my use as firewood-- sort of 'toothpicks', no branches, and with tops cut off. There are white & black birch, maybe a few maples in there, also maybe maybe some ash ... not really positive exactly, I remember seeing mostly white & black birches. They are at the edge of some wetlands on the property. None of them are big monster trees or anything, no old growth.

I was talking to a friend tonight, and he seems to think the wood is seasoned and ready to be burnt. I didn't feel that it could be, since it's all stacked up on itself, not like each 'tree' is lying separately on the ground, and also being so close to the wetlands and under some other trees (and now covered with snow), I didn't think it would be.

What do you all think? Should I cut, split it & burn it this season? Will I end up with a boatload of creosote in my stove & chimney?

Incidentally, I am a newbie wood stove user, though the house I lived in before this one had a fireplace which I always enjoyed.

Thanks for reading my post.

 

[logmusic]

Well, depending upon ground contact, if you are going to use it for firewood, it should be sooner rather than later. That said, your luck with bucking it, splitting it and burning it immediately might not be that great...hard to determine moisture content from what you have described. If you can get to some stuff that is off of the ground, give it a go. the sugar maple will be a lot wetter than the rest, my best guess, use that on hot established fires only.

Good luck friend.

 

[logmusic]

I forgot: "Ash wood wet and Ash wood dry, a King (or Queen) can warm his slippers by". if you can get to the ash, that will start you fine as long as it is not saturated on the ground...2 years is a long time for ash to be off of the stump, burning wise.

 

[BrotherBart]

In a word. No. You will spend a bunch of time trying to get it to burn and most of the results will end up glued to the walls of your chimney liner.

 

[firegal]

Thanks Logmusic and BrotherBart for your opinions on this. I also think it would be best to wait till next season to burn this stuff, but my friend was very adamant that it would be ok for some reason.

I think the reason it came up is because with the installation of the stove and stovepipe, I spent more $$ (much more) than I had planned, and if I didn't need to buy wood at this point, it would be one less expenditure and one less headache.

But struggling with smoky, wet wood doesn't sound like fun either. I suppose I could try a few sticks of something that wasn't on the ground and see how it goes ... but it's sounding like I'll need to buy wood-- and SOON, too-- just have a small supply here at hand.

Thanks again for your input-- and if anyone else has an opinion, I'd certainly be happy to hear it.

 

[begreen]

It wouldn't hurt to try and cut up and split some of the wood that has been off the ground, especially if it's ash. This is where a moisture meter is very handy. But BB is likely right, usually wood needs to be split to dry well. And wood that has been lying on the ground can take a while to dry out. I wouldn't have high hopes, but it's worth checking.

If your friend is adamant, have him prove that the wood is good to burn now. It doesn't hurt to try. Maybe you'll get some free chopping and splitting ;-).

 

[Todd]

I would cut up a few rounds split them and see if they are dry enough. If some of the trees are small diameter and losing bark, they may be ok. If not use them next year. Good luck.

 

[jpl1nh]

If you can, I'd get to cutting, splitting and stacking. Stack as loosely as possible in the sunniest, windiest spot you have and top cover only. Towards the end of the winter, you may start to have some somewhat useable wood. You've got to cut split and stacke it sometime. Wood will season some even in the winter though nothing like it does in the warm weather. The birch will start to rot pretty quickly if you don't get it split, seasoned and covered. Like the others have said, the ash is your best bet right now though you may also have red maple which might not be too bad either. If you have sugar maple, it's awesome firewood but will definately need another year. I'm not sure if you are rfering to the white birch as black and white birch because of the black markings where the branches join the trunk or if you mean you actually have white birch and black birch. Black birch has a black trunk, and the twigs taste like wintergreen. http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/tabid/5338/default.aspx While white birch is a decent firewood, black birch is an excellent firewood.

 

[firegal]

Thanks BeGreen, Todd and jpl1nh.

I told my friend what BeGreen suggested, that he can go ahead and prove that it's burnable by cutting and splitting it himself and we'll throw it in the stove-- he did laugh. :lol:

jpl1nh, I have both white birch and black birch out there. I didn't know black birch was an excellent firewood, thanks for the tip.

Guess I'll try to find some ash in there and go for that. We (my friend and another friend with a bigger chain saw) are going to try cutting some of the wood on Sunday, may try splitting a few rounds as suggested.

Just had a cord of 'seasoned' wood deliveretodayd , though a lot of it has snow/ice on it. Brought a few pieces in and threw one on the fire, it did seem to sizzle for quite a while past where I would have thought any ice/snow had evaporated. Hmmm .... And it's burning slower than my other wood (which has been split/seasoned about 2 years now and is VERY dry). Wish I had that moisture meter BeGreen mentioned ....

firegal