Funky wood?

[maple1]

Not punky. Funky.

I have this wood in my stacks that I thought would be El Primo stuff. It's hard maple. It was windfall when cut. Not sure for how long but it was in the area of a couple or few years. Might have stood dead for a bit before that. Was held up off the ground by the crown. Was pretty hard to cut with the saw. Almost put me in mind of something half petrified. Very solid when splitting, no rot. Had it in stacks for maybe 3 years before I brought it in for this winter. So it's very dry. But it burns weird. Burning it in a gasification boiler, and it kind of just smolders. Secondary flame is very dull. And it gives me puff backs I have never experienced before. It's almost like the smoke it makes has no or very little volatile stuff in it that would burn hot in the secondary chamber.

Anybody else experience this with 'old' wood?

 

[xterra]

It's funny you say that, I was thinking the same thing with a batch of wood i used this year. the family property had a whole stand of locust trees blow over in a freak snowstorm in October (2012, I believe) that all hung up in the surrounding trees. i swear that wood burned like coal and sweated us out of the house - but smelled absolutely horrible! I was expecting a neighbor to ask what the heck i was burning because that stuff was awful compared to the other locust in my stacks. Had to reserve that for the late night reload so no one would smell it.

 

[Grizzerbear]

I have had post oak that was dead for several years before I got around to bucking and splitting. It too didn't create much secondary fire and I came to the same conclusion as you....that the volatile particulates or whatever are absent. I've had that happen several times actually. In all instances the wood was bone dry.....like a rock as you say. Interesting.

 

[brenndatomu]

I burnt some Red Oak in the Kuuma this year that was very disappointing as far as heat output...it had a little punk on the outside, but was mostly solid...very dry. I was getting better heat from some Box Elder after the oak!

 

[hickoryhoarder]

I've had this specific problem with sugar maple. I try to burn it within two years. I just have a regular stove. It wasn't terrible, but it didn't kindle easily in the third year, didn't seem to produce as much heat. The wood didn't look as good, for lack of a better word.

I do not have this problem with cherry or oak, which just keep getting better and better, though nothing sits around here more than four years. Same with ash -- keeps getting better and better. Red maple seems fine.

Hickory can start to decline a bit in the third year, and seems more prone to beetles or ants then.

 

[gzecc]

It's funny you say that, I was thinking the same thing with a batch of wood i used this year. the family property had a whole stand of locust trees blow over in a freak snowstorm in October (2012, I believe) that all hung up in the surrounding trees. i swear that wood burned like coal and sweated us out of the house - but smelled absolutely horrible! I was expecting a neighbor to ask what the heck i was burning because that stuff was awful compared to the other locust in my stacks. Had to reserve that for the late night reload so no one would smell it.

My locust always has a horrible outside odor when burning.

 

[kennyp2339]

Is the maple spalted?

 

[maple1]

Is the maple spalted?

No I don't think so. It does have a very slight reddish tinge to it.

 

[Stinkpickle]

I’ve had some bur oak that turned into rock like that.

 

[MissMac]

I cut some Manitoba maple 4 years ago, and left a small pile of uglies along the bush line of my property in a shaded area. Wasn't a lot of wood, and they were small little pieces (like no longer than 12", and no more than 3" wide). Last summer I dug them out of their mouldy pergatory and put them away in the wood shed. I've tapped into them over the past week, and although they are seasoned, it just burns meh. Like it glows mostly, but doesn't catch or do flame show hardly at all. Glad I don't have much of it, as it burns like snot.

 

[gthomas785]

I've been ridiculed before for suggesting that wood can be over-seasoned but I definitely believe it can, more so for some species than others.

I'm not sure exactly the mechanism but I expect the wood fiber degrades over time especially with air/UV exposure to the point that it doesn't burn as well. Even if it isn't "rotting" it still decomposes.

I also believe untra-low moisture content leads to rapid offgassing, faster than a typical stove can handle so you lose a lot of unburned heat value and get shorter burn times.

Just hypothesizing based on my personal experience/observations.

 

[brenndatomu]

I've been ridiculed before for suggesting that wood can be over-seasoned but I definitely believe it can, more so for some species than others.

I'm not sure exactly the mechanism but I expect the wood fiber degrades over time especially with air/UV exposure to the point that it doesn't burn as well. Even if it isn't "rotting" it still decomposes.

I also believe untra-low moisture content leads to rapid offgassing, faster than a typical stove can handle so you lose a lot of unburned heat value and get shorter burn times.

Just hypothesizing based on my personal experience/observations.

Daryl Lamppa of Lamppa MFG (Kuuma furnaces) claims anything under 18% MC is "too dry" to burn right in the Kuuma furnace...they recommend 18-28%, my experience is that 18-20% MC works the best in it...

 

[JRHAWK9]

I've been ridiculed before for suggesting that wood can be over-seasoned but I definitely believe it can, more so for some species than others.

I'm not sure exactly the mechanism but I expect the wood fiber degrades over time especially with air/UV exposure to the point that it doesn't burn as well. Even if it isn't "rotting" it still decomposes.

I also believe untra-low moisture content leads to rapid offgassing, faster than a typical stove can handle so you lose a lot of unburned heat value and get shorter burn times.

Just hypothesizing based on my personal experience/observations.

I've been burning mostly 14-16% (at least according to my moisture meter) 6 year seasoned stuff this winter and it appears my stuff is getting better the longer it sits. I'm sure at this point it's at the equilibrium stage though so it will go up and down according to the humidity in the air. I'm on the 10-13 year plan so I hope it remains that way! LOL Mostly red/white oak with some BL mixed in....maybe some soft maple here and there. Here on out it will be mostly oak with a sprinkling of soft maple. A local guy bought 5 cord of the same stuff from me as well and he also said it was some good stuff. He said his 18-24 month seasoned stuff may as well have been green compared to what he got from me.

This stuff was split/stacked in spring of '15.

The bark is starting to come off when the splits are being handled...either loading into the cart, from the cart to the rack, or from the rack into the furnace.

 

[kennyp2339]

I think @Poindexter had some major wood woes a few season back when his solar kilns worked to well. As for myself, I see a difference between 14% vs 18% to, 18% being better for me, luckily my climate includes humidity in the summer and depending on the fall, it could be fairly wet here, helps keep things in check.

 

[JRHAWK9]

luckily my climate includes humidity in the summer

same here. I don't see what I have ever dropping more than what it is now.