Free shoulder season wood... that I use in the dead of winter!

[gdk84]

Im in the process of my anual cutting and splitting my "shoulder" season wood that I get for free. It contains poplar, hemlock, some pine, and any tree that i can get. I dont know about some of you, but i seperate these from the good stuff. I burn it all winter. I find this stuff great for when I get home from work at 530PM I load it up with my less than desirable wood, and by almost bedtime its ready for a reload with the good stuff for a good overnite burn. Works great! Ill take all i can get! Like many people on here, if its a tree ill burn it!

 

[Wood Duck]

I like to have my wood mixed, and I too burn 'shoulder' wood all winter. I like to start a fire with lighter stuff like Red Maple, Red Cedar, maybe pine ( I don't have much pine) so it burns hot fast. Oak is great for long burns, but it is good to have a choice.

 

[thewoodlands]

Im in the process of my anual cutting and splitting my "shoulder" season wood that I get for free. It contains poplar, hemlock, some pine, and any tree that i can get. I dont know about some of you, but i seperate these from the good stuff. I burn it all winter. I find this stuff great for when I get home from work at 530PM I load it up with my less than desirable wood, and by almost bedtime its ready for a reload with the good stuff for a good overnite burn. Works great! Ill take all i can get! Like many people on here, if its a tree ill burn it!

This year we will burn in this order.... popple for the shoulder season over 2 cord.......cherry after the popple........sugar maple and beech for the colder months and overnight burns...............all stacked separate.



Zap

 

[jeff_t]

I just made my last separate stack today. It's oak for '13-'14. I'm now far enough ahead that it's all getting stacked together.

And yeah, I like to burn soft maple all winter long. Just depends on how big the splits are.

 

[Mt Ski Bum]

I thow everything in one pile... but then again the wood around here probably doesn't vary much in burn time- pine (mainly Lodgepole, some Limber, White-Bark, & maybe Ponderosa mixed in) , spruce (Engelmann), fir (mostly Subalpine, some Douglas), aspen, & the occasional chuck of cottonwood or other low-land wood are all pretty similar in burn time etc...

 

[snowleopard]

Last year, I heated with poplar--it was all I had, and I was grateful for it. This year I've got birch seasoning--my goal is 15 cords, and I've got five split and stacked already. Hoping that some of it will be ready to burn by nov/dec. That's not considered good wood in some parts of L48, but there is speculation that the birch that grows up north grows a little differently, because it's what we use for our overnight burns. (I know someone here has lived in the Fairbanks area and is down south burning now--WoodDuck?--would love to have input from him on this controversy.) My next goal is to get about five cords put up of standing dead aspen/poplar, and then to continue to add to my shoulder wood by at least a couple of cord a summer.

So, I'm a separate stacker, too. I've even got two under-deck areas where I plan to stack separately depending upon burning characteristics. Don't know what I'll do about mixing my warming-up/drying rack in the house. But that's a *good* problem to have.

 

[Cascade Failure]

I am slowly becoming a separate stacker. This year's wood is all mixed except for about a third of a cord of red cedar which I will use only for starting fires. Next year's wood is all red/white oak but I'll be adding some ash to that soon. It will probably be stacked separate.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Im in the process of my anual cutting and splitting my "shoulder" season wood that I get for free. It contains poplar, hemlock, some pine, and any tree that i can get. I dont know about some of you, but i seperate these from the good stuff. I burn it all winter. I find this stuff great for when I get home from work at 530PM I load it up with my less than desirable wood, and by almost bedtime its ready for a reload with the good stuff for a good overnite burn. Works great! Ill take all i can get! Like many people on here, if its a tree ill burn it!

I separate nothing

 

[PapaDave]

Most of my firewood is oak, but there is also maple and spruce. The spruce got cut at a different time, so is on top of the stacks in back. I also have about 1/3 cord in the woodshed of spruce that's separate, but again, only because it got done at a different time and wasn't dry.
Did that last year too, and ended up using it early in the year (Oct.), but I did find some throughout the winter mixed in with the rest of the wood.

 

[Woody Stover]

I like to start a fire with lighter stuff like Red Maple, Red Cedar, maybe pine ( I don't have much pine) so it burns hot fast.

I'm getting some Pine, and have access to Tulip Poplar and Red Maple. I know the Pine will burn fastest/hottest, not really sure how much of a difference there is between the other two...

I separate nothing

I was listening to the radio and these guys came on, saying that you gotta keep 'em separated...so I do.

 

[firefighterjake]

Most of my wood goes into the woodshed together . . . although I will separate it as I go . . . keeping the softwood and less desirable hardwoods to the side for use in re-starting the fire or for use during the day or evening when I don't mind reloading more often. That said, I do also toss some less desirable wood to the side when I move my seasoned wood from outside to the woodshed . . . and this is the wood I tend to use first in the Fall -- the punks, the chunks and the uglies . . . along with the lower BTU wood.

 

[snowleopard]

Good point, gents. I also separate by how fast wood is going to season. I have about a cord-and-a-half of March cut and split wood in one pile, and another cord-and-a-half of wood cut in March, but not split until later, and a couple of cords of summer-cut birch. I also stack in known quantities, for the most part, because I want to track my wood consumption by amount and by species so I'll have an idea of how much I'll need in years to come.

-- the punks, the chunks and the uglies . . .

Brilliant. Now I know what theme song will play in my head the next time I watch a youtube clip of someone running a splitter: "The Punks, the Chunks, and the Uglies", starring Clint Leastwood and Lee Van Cleave.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Im in the process of my anual cutting and splitting my "shoulder" season wood that I get for free. It contains poplar, hemlock, some pine, and any tree that i can get. I dont know about some of you, but i seperate these from the good stuff. I burn it all winter. I find this stuff great for when I get home from work at 530PM I load it up with my less than desirable wood, and by almost bedtime its ready for a reload with the good stuff for a good overnite burn. Works great! Ill take all i can get! Like many people on here, if its a tree ill burn it!

gdk84, that is a great thing to do. There is no reason you can't burn the lesser btu wood during the winter months and save the best for the coldest nights. As for separating, it all depends upon what we are cutting. Mostly ash now until it is all gone but we also cut a bit of oak this past winter. That oak does get stacked separately from the rest just because it takes so long to season. All others get thrown together.

 

[mecreature]

I had a big Cottonwood go down last Novermber.. I busted it up in good size chunks at first. little over 2 cord.
I have been mixing up small rounds...mulberry, locust, hickory... 3 inch or less with the cotton wood.

I hate the cotton wood and I hate those small rounds so I am going to burn that first, till it is gone.

all other wood is separate for now just because... I want to see how it all burns on its own too.

mulberry, locust, hickory, cherry, sugar maple

 

[firefighterjake]

Good point, gents. I also separate by how fast wood is going to season. I have about a cord-and-a-half of March cut and split wood in one pile, and another cord-and-a-half of wood cut in March, but not split until later, and a couple of cords of summer-cut birch. I also stack in known quantities, for the most part, because I want to track my wood consumption by amount and by species so I'll have an idea of how much I'll need in years to come.

-- the punks, the chunks and the uglies . . .

Brilliant. Now I know what theme song will play in my head the next time I watch a youtube clip of someone running a splitter: "The Punks, the Chunks, and the Uglies", starring Clint Leastwood and Lee Van Cleave.

Don't you mean starring FirefighterJake and Backwoods Savage and Snow Leopard . . . I'm not sure which one of us will be the punk, chunk or ugly . . . I suppose I could fit all three descriptions, although chunk would be perhaps the closest to describe me.

 

[lukem]

Next year my stuff will be pretty much the same quality. I have some slab wood for the first couple weeks, then it's a mixed bag of ash, elm, cherry, maple, and hackberry.

The year after that is all hedge and locust.

The year after that is all oak.

The year after that is all oak.

The year after that is all oak.

Then my woodpile will have run out. Better get cuttin

 

[snowleopard]

Don't you mean starring FirefighterJake and Backwoods Savage and Snow Leopard . . . I'm not sure which one of us will be the punk, chunk or ugly . . . I suppose I could fit all three descriptions, although chunk would be perhaps the closest to describe me.

hmm . . . punk or ugly . . . ugly or punk . . . will have to think on that one.

Meanwhile, I've found our soundtrack:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/979675/ukulele_orchestra_of_gb_the_good_bad_and_the_ugly/