Fruit Wood Dilemma

[BCC_Burner]

I burn about 5 cord a winter and currently have 6 and 1/3 CSS and ready to burn. I have another cord of partially seasoned fir and elm mix CSS for 15/16.

I recently came across an opportunity to stock up on fruit wood from an arborist I have purchased wood from before. He just finished an extensive job clearing a large apple and cherry orchard. It's all bucked to 15-18 inches, only pieces larger than 4-5 inches in diameter, and given the number of trees, he said they culled all but the straightest (by fruit tree standards) rounds.

He is offering to sell the rounds of either wood for $100 each delivered, but I offered to buy 5 total for $400 and he agreed. I am planning to split and stack this throughout the fall and first part of the winter, but it should all be done by January 1. I know apple takes a bit longer to season than cherry, so I was thinking of going with 3 cords of cherry and 2 of apple. However, I'm tempted by the higher btu's of apple, and was thinking of reversing that ratio and perhaps renting a splitter shortly after it is delivered to get it all split and stacked by Halloween.

Should I play it safe and stick with 3 cords of cherry, or roll the dice and bank on the higher quality apple drying by burning season 15/16?

 

[Rickb]

I always thought pretty much any fruit wood would be dry in 6-12 months.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

If you can single stack it in the sun and wind then get the better wood, also watch how big you split it, keep it on the smaller side and you should be good to go if you can get it done ASAP......

 

[Sconnie Burner]

If you can stack it where it can get over half a days sun I would think a year should be plenty of time! Just top cover it before any heavy rains or snow come your way. Being this is my first year burning (scrounged all dead standing elm and oak tops) I have all my piles top covered and if its going to rain, I drop the sides down to keep the piles as dry as possible. Roll 'em back up once the weather clears. Remeber Fall is the best time to get stuff drying at its fastest. Lower dew points and less rain vs wet in the spring and more humid in summer.

 

[Woody Stover]

You get a lot of dry wind there, if not heat, right? I would think the Apple would get dry pretty quick in those conditions, but haven't any first-hand experience with Apple...

 

[BCC_Burner]

I live up in the mountains, so our summer and fall aren't as hot as the nearby valley, but it is dry and pretty warm/breezy. I'm going to go with 3 cords of apple and 2 of cherry, should have it all here in about 10 days, and thinking about renting a splitter the following weekend to at least take care of the apple.

Is it realistic to split 3-5 cords in a day with a hydraulic splitter? I have never operated one, so I'm not sure what to expect output wise, although it will obviously be slightly slower than ideal given my lack of experience.

 

[Woody Stover]

Is it realistic to split 3-5 cords in a day with a hydraulic splitter? I have never operated one, so I'm not sure what to expect output wise, although it will obviously be slightly slower than ideal given my lack of experience.

That's a lot of wood to split in one day, even if you have a helper operating the lever. If you can do some hand splitting, I would leave the straight-grained Cherry to split by hand and get the rest with the splitter.

 

[BCC_Burner]

That's a lot of wood to split in one day, even if you have a helper operating the lever. If you can do some hand splitting, I would leave the straight-grained Cherry to split by hand and get the rest with the splitter.

Thanks for the input, I would definitely have a friend or two around to help out. That's sort of what I was figuring, I'll stack the apple rounds separately and concentrate on them when I have the splitter, I bet I can knock out most of the cherry with my X27.

 

[Longstreet]

Forget the wood stove...with that amount of fruit wood build a smoker.

 

[BCC_Burner]

Haha, that thought crossed my mind when I saw the ad. I'm jumping on this because there isn't a whole lot of high quality wood available out here. Our most common species are lodgepole, subalpine fir, quaking aspen, cottonwood and Russian olive (some Pinion, but it commands a premium), so needless to say, a winter's worth of apple and cherry is going to get my attention.

A stack of apple and cherry on the porch will sure smell better after a rain than the subalpine fir I have there currently, which I see as a substantial benefit on its own.

 

[Andy S.]

I'd estimate output between 1/3 and 1/2 cord per hour with three people rotating between feeding the rounds, manning the lever and rotating/tossing the splits.

My preference would be horizontal with rounds under 10" and vertical for larger. Would be interested to see other estimates on this.

 

[area_man]

I'd be looking for a smoker for that fruit wood. That's premium class wood for smoking chickens or pulled pork or brisket.

A 50lb box of 12" splits goes for $88 retail, plus shipping of $60.
A 500lb box is $475, shipping included.

Just a thought.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

so I was thinking of going with 3 cords of cherry and 2 of apple. However, I'm tempted by the higher btu's of apple, and was thinking of reversing that ratio and perhaps renting a splitter shortly after it is delivered to get it all split and stacked by Halloween.

I think you're putting too much thought into it. . .

 

[D8Chumley]

I'd be looking for a smoker for that fruit wood. That's premium class wood for smoking chickens or pulled pork or brisket.

A 50lb box of 12" splits goes for $88 retail, plus shipping of $60.
A 500lb box is $475, shipping included.

Just a thought.

Good point there, maybe you could sell some and make some of your money back?

 

[Applesister]

When you say cherry I think there becomes confusion over the native wild cherries and the cultivated cherries you most probably get in orchard cultivation. And with that said, 'sweet cherry' may be on par with apple, heat wise.
Being familiar with Black cherry and sweet cherry and domestic apple I'd go with a straight run of apple.
Another thing, fruitwood is really dense, mostly lignin vs cellulose that you find in your softwoods. It burns like hickory. Small blue flames that sit above the wood. You may think the wood isn't combusting properly. I mean its nice heat just really different from average wood.
However...the smell is off the charts incredible. A safe number to estimate processing is a cord a day. That is a 4 x 4 x 8 foot cube. The guys here all seem superhuman to me. I would give my time frame a day per cord for a rental. Unless you want to have a party.

 

[BCC_Burner]

Applesister, thanks for the clarification, this cherry is all "sweet cherry." Got the first part of the delivery yesterday evening, one cord each of sweet cherry and apple, so I could evaluate how each looked before I make the next order, and because he doesn't have a trailer that can hold more than 2 cords.

Based on your experience with the two kinds of cherry and apple, why would you choose straight apple, out of curiosity?

It's all absolutely great looking wood, has been bucked and stored in open bottomed apple boxes since June or July, so there are no soggy pieces from being on the ground. There are definitely some gnarly pieces, but most of it is surprisingly straight (for orchard trees) and bucked very consistently to 15-18 inches. Should be getting the next delivery sometime next week and renting a splitter the following weekend.

Working alone, I can hand split and stack a cord per day, and do that two days in a row (i.e. spending Saturday doing that doesn't ruin me for Sunday). I would assume if I was splitting and tossing in a pile with a hydraulic unit I could do 2 per day.

 

[Paulywalnut]

I've had better luck letting apple sit at least two years. It's very dense as you know looking at it in your yard. I split fruitwood one more time in half to help it dry. With hydraulics though. That apple can be tough. Good luck and you got some good stuff there at a fair price.

 

[BCC_Burner]

I'm thinking one year will be enough because our summer and fall climate is quite dry here (many days with RH between 10 and 25%). I'll be sure to split it on the small side.

The final plan is to get another 2 cords of apple from him, for a total of 3 apple and 1 sweet cherry.

Same guy has been doing a bunch of cutting in the mountains a little further south too, so I'll round out this purchase with 2 cords of lodgepole and 1 of pinyon pine. Then I'll have some easier lighting stuff to mix in with the fruit wood.

There is going to be a serious splitting party around my place in a few weeks.

 

[Applesister]

The reason I would choose the apple over the cherry for purchase is I have a better familiarity with the apple. It depends on the size of the trees, processing, limbs..etc. Nothing to do with heat output. The BTU charts are all over the board for what research has rated domestic apple wood at. It makes me wonder if anyone really knows. And I've never seen any numbers for pear or cherry or plum. Or peach or orange for that matter.
Fruitwood has been genetically altered by man for centuries, its kind of a mystery meat.
Its good that you found this fuel source instead of the wood being wasted. Buried or chipped or something. A great deal. I know personally that you will enjoy it.

 

[BCC_Burner]

Well, I got the first delivery in the midst of a torrential downpour Monday evening. Unfortunately the rain made the driveway too slick for the guys to back all the way up to my stacking area. No matter, I don't mind a little exercise, and it's nice to handle such delightful smelling wood. Here are some pictures.

 

[Shawn Curry]

I think the BTUs/cord estimates, are a function of the wood density. In all the charts I've seen that list pounds/cord, and MBTU/cord, as the pounds go up, so do the BTUs.

It's right up there with the best hardwoods, and the smell is just great. You're gonna love it.