Free wood/lots of it/what should I get?

[nola mike]

Wow, looks like walnut is the winner. Only problem of course is that my wood ID knowledge consists of "pine" vs "not pine". As far as the "crew", it consists of me, a chainsaw, and my ranger-- splitting will have to wait till I get home. Going on Sunday, i'll update with some pics then...

 

[Llamaman]

take it all baby, take it all

 

[Dakotas Dad]

take it all baby, take it all

This.

Once split stacked covered it will wait decades if need be..

 

[Dune]

Defintiely take all the wood. The only reason to differentiate would be insufficient storage space. Pine and poplar are wonderful fuels. As has been stated, start at the front, and work your way to the back, and take all the wood. I personaly cut branches down to about an inch. If you are looking to burn wood sooner, this small stuff seasons MUCH faster, leaves smaller brush piles, is great for getting a bed of coals started, is hardly any effort to cut, and you don't have to wast time making kindling.

 

[eujamfh]

I vote for take all you can store. Its free, it will burn and those softer woods season very fast. If you get them off the ground, you can also keep them for a couple years no problem if they are split. Free heat is free heat. Plus, your friend will likely appreciate all of it gone....which is good for word of mouth or repeat offerings. Only thing I would leave is stuff already punky.

 

[smokinj]

Well there was some cherry, I think a locust, and Pin Oak. I have been working on getting the white out first. I feel bad as they are all nice mature mostly healthy (some starting rot/ants) trees. but its a inner city church, they dont cut, burn or anything. I figure I might as well be the one who ends up with the wood then someone else. Problem has been hauling it back out to my rural area. dont worry its under 50 miles

Tralier's will more than double your load!

I got one, built her myself. well mostly anyways. only move 2000lb, whats that a half load? eh got some buddies helping me on it. split the wood, still not a bad deal. should net me a year to 2 years ahead.

Backwoods, only carpenter ants so far. should I worry about them? I just keep the wood away from the house, I figure they are everywhere already. what other devils should I keep and eye out for.

I do feel bad about the white oak, is a state tree and all.

2000lb is an extra 1/2 cord a run that adds up quick. How may turns can you make in a day? wise old owl 3...

 

[Dune]

If the walnut is straight and depending on the size, you may want to consider processing and selling it as lumber or selling it in bulk to a mill? I just recently cut down a couple of black walnut trees at a friends house and used them for firewood of course and a guy I work with that builds furniture as a hobby was telling me walnut is really expensive and that I should have sold it. Other folks could probably chime in on this.

If it came out of someone's yard, or out of pasture, sawmills often won't touch them because they may be loaded with nails or barbed wire. It is awfully pretty wood though.

There was a time when Black Walnut was worth a fortune. The wood market is down pretty bad these days, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[JBinKC]

It depends on how much wood is available and if this is your only source of free wood. If it is an unlimited source I would cherry pick the easiest access walnut (75%) and a little cedar (25%) for fire starters. If it is an amount that you can burn up in 4 years time or less I would start with the easiest access pine poplar first because that will rot the fastest. I would then take the cedar then the walnut. The latter two has more resistance to rotting.

 

[Kenster]

I have both Pine and Cedar just rotting on my own property.

Really? Cedar rotting? I've got a whole bunch of cedar poles stacked up, waiting to use in some projects "one of these days." They been on the ground for many years and have no signs of rot. Also recently picked up a 12 inch wide cedar stump that I cut off about five years ago. Been half buried in the ground in a shady spot. I thought I'd take the Fiskars to it and cut it up for kindling. I couldn't make a dent in it so I just tossed it back into the woods. No rot there, either.

 

[Dune]

Not all cedar is rot resistant. Some of it rots just fine.

 

[Kenster]

Not all cedar is rot resistant. Some of it rots just fine.

Not all "cedar" is really cedar. Down here what is actually a juniper, is called Mountain Cedar. And there are Salt Cedars, too. Both of these are not true cedars but are of different 'families' of plants. I don't claim to know the rotting characteristics of so-called cedars. I just know that the true cedar that grows around here does not rot and is not subject to insect infestation.

 

[Dune]

Yeah, sorry I didn't see you were in Texas. I thought you were in the U.S.

But seriously, I am no arborist but I do know some cedar rots, because my first career was boat carpenter, and not all Cedar is suitable.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_virginiana

Here is a cedar that is a juniper and should be in your neighborhood. (red cedar)

Matt

 

[Thistle]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_virginiana

Here is a cedar that is a juniper and should be in your neighborhood. (red cedar)

Matt

I lucked out with some of that a while back.About 1 block south & 4 blocks east of me coming home from work one day in Nov 07,there was 2 loads of that on the curb from a massive tree recently cut down.No brush or small limbs,tree service had already ground them up.I did snag all the remaining big rounds though - from 12" to 24" diameter,1 to 3 feet long.Wasnt easy to split,especially after I let most of it sit until May 2010.Guessing it was easily 75 yrs old,just full of big knots & spiral grain.But I did manage to mill out a dozen or so random sized thick blocks for woodturning & sculpture.Beautful stuff,fairly soft,but a wee bit brittle.Even when it was green 3 yrs ago,there wasnt hardly any of that nice smell for some reason.

 

[Mcbride]

Just look at your saw after cutting Pine. It is covered in sap, as will be your pants, gloves etc. That stuff will be all inside the stovepipe if you burn it.

Not true. Pine sap is part water and part flammable. Season the pine (remove most of the water) and the sap burns up in the stove. Seasoned pine shouldn't create any more creosote in the chimney than hardwood. I'd take walnut first, but pine is perfectly good firewood. I guess in Virginia you probably have something other than White Pine - Virginia Pine, Loblolly Pine, maybe Pitch Pine. I like the other pines more than White Pine, but any of them is fine.

Fresh pines, especially White Pine, will get sap all over your saw, but these trees at six months old should be less sappy than fresh ones.

+1. been burning pine for over 20 years, and its good wood, just do not burn it unseasoned is all.

 

[Kenster]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_virginiana

Here is a cedar that is a juniper and should be in your neighborhood. (red cedar)

Even when it was green 3 yrs ago,there wasnt hardly any of that nice smell for some reason.

You're never going to get that nice cedar smell out a juniper cause it's not a true cedar.

Now, what you CAN get out of all those juniper berries is.... Gin! (hic!)

 

[Thistle]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juniperus_virginiana

Here is a cedar that is a juniper and should be in your neighborhood. (red cedar)

Even when it was green 3 yrs ago,there wasnt hardly any of that nice smell for some reason.

You're never going to get that nice cedar smell out a juniper cause it's not a true cedar.

Now, what you CAN get out of all those juniper berries is.... Gin! (hic!)

LOL I cant stand Gin,though I have picked a bunch of those berries from the trees at parents acreage,used in a few certain recipes.But these are the same thing known as "Aromatic Cedar" or "Eastern Red Cedar" used in lining cedar chests,closets & other things to repel moths.Even though they're Junipers not true Cedars.If you sand,saw or plane an old surface,those oils will be re-exposed & the smell return.