Free Western Red Cedar

[jimcrook]

My neighbor is taking down a massive western red cedar as I write this. I asked the tree-cutters for wood and they were all too happy to start throwing it over the fence into my yard. Should I take it ALL? There's a couple of cords of rounds and fat limbs in my yard and they still haven't even started on the main trunk of the tree! That's a ton of wood. I've read a few threads here saying it's not bad once seasoned. I'm a completely new burner who just got my first stove last spring.

I also kinda want to learn to use a maul and froe and make some rustic shingles too...maybe build a woodshed with my free wood.

 

[begreen]

Sure. Free firewood is good. It splits easily and smells great. Split it somewhat thicker to slow down the burn.

 

[Couv]

I love it! Some seems to show up in every load that my wood guy brings. I set it aside and bring it in one piece at a time to make the house smell good. When the smell dies down in it goes and another piece is brought in.

 

[kennyp2339]

Take a section of fence down and let them roll the bigger rounds in

 

[shortys7777]

I would literally take any fresh cut wood that was being given to me especially if its already bucked and being put in my back yard for me.

 

[jimcrook]

It's weird. The tree looked like a less-droopy-than-usual WRC, with basically identical foliage and bark. But the wood itself is more of a blonde color, even on the big chunks. Could it be that this is some cultivar of Port Orford Cedar that someone planted here 50 years ago? (I'm in Olympia, WA, outside of the Port Orford range). I split a piece and it looks kind of like any old lodgepole pine. Fragrant like cedar though.

 

[jimcrook]

Take a section of fence down and let them roll the bigger rounds in

Yeah, my neighbor wasn't so keen on that idea. I had to give up the big rounds. Oh well, got a lot of wood out of that tree.

 

[johneh]

Looks like Eastern White Cedar

 

[jimcrook]

Looks like Eastern White Cedar

My friend who knows about trees says it was more likely a big Leyland cypress. Not considered the best firewood, but from what I'm reading and hearing here from others is that it's fine if seasoned well. Guess I have a lot of splittin' to do.

 

[jimcrook]

As it turned out, this tree was definitely not a western red cedar. I guess I'm not so great at ID-ing trees. Pretty sure it was a Port Orford, or, more likely, a very large Leyland cypress (leylandii). Folks in the UK seem to like burning the stuff, so I guess I'll channel my inner Brit and see how it goes.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

If I recall from splitting it, Port Orford cedar smells like ginger.

 

[jimcrook]

If I recall from splitting it, Port Orford cedar smells like ginger.

Yeah, this doesn't smell like ginger to me. Smells good, but not gingery. Does smell a tiny bit lemony, which I think is how Monterrey cypress (parent of Leylandii hybrid) smells.

 

[LondonNeil]

I've split and burnt a lot of Leylandii, its common in hedges and garden in UK cities. Smells nice enough, strong turpentine/piney smell. I've had some so strong it made my eyes water to walk near the stack weeks later. Leylandii is decent firewood, excellent for a softwood. splits ok and is about as dense as softood gets. If its Lawson cypress or Monterey those aren't so dense once dry. It'll dry in one summer, light fast, burn very hot and leave little ash. I like to have a fair amount in the stacks, its good for getting s stove going.

 

[Purodude]

Just picked up some cypress for free. Can’t wait to start splitting it and stacking it.

 

[jimcrook]

Just picked up some cypress for free. Can’t wait to start splitting it and stacking it.

Right on! Good score. I've got most of mine split. I'm also using a bunch of the big branches for some landscaping (garden beds/edging). Why not, it was free. Hopefully by this time next year we'll have firsthand experience as to this stuff's value as firewood.

 

[jimcrook]

My neighbor is taking down a massive western red cedar as I write this. I asked the tree-cutters for wood and they were all too happy to start throwing it over the fence into my yard. Should I take it ALL? There's a couple of cords of rounds and fat limbs in my yard and they still haven't even started on the main trunk of the tree! That's a ton of wood. I've read a few threads here saying it's not bad once seasoned. I'm a completely new burner who just got my first stove last spring.

I also kinda want to learn to use a maul and froe and make some rustic shingles too...maybe build a woodshed with my free wood.

Just following up on this thread to say that this leyland cypress stuff burns great. I find that mixing it in with other species gives me the best results, but it can be burned on its own as well with no issues (other than that it smothers itself slightly in its own ash; not a dealbreaker though). So if you see someone giving away leylandii, go for it!

 

[bikedennis]

My firewood is fir, pine, and cedar. I'm not picky.