Hard lesson learned...

[brooktrout]

Well, this is my first year burning wood as a primary heat source. I've always bought just a face cord each fall for the fireplace, which I did this year again. But in late December we put in the insert and needed more wood. A lot more. So I bought a cord from a guy who said it was seasoned. My butt! Struggled though that, then had two cords delivered this morning. I explained to the guy on the phone our dissatisfaction with the other guy's wood. He swore up and down his stuff is at least one year seasoned, most of it two. "Oh, yeah- I've got about three hundred cord for sale." Tell you what- this stuff is half rotted, all wet. I've come to the conclusion these guys think that logs sitting in piles for a year constitutes seasoned. Then they buck and split it to order. Lesson learned- can't buy firewood in the middle of the winter!

 

[paulie]

ain't that a groan hows the new load? better I hope , been there, and done that....

 

[jtp10181]

Yeap... buy in the spring and plan on burning that the next winter or maybe even 2 years down the road. Buy from someone claiming to be selling green wood. The guys who "claim" to have seasoned wood probably will be more expensive and the wood wont be much better.

 

[paulie]

Yeap... buy in the spring and plan on burning that the next winter or maybe even 2 years down the road. Buy from someone claiming to be selling green wood. The guys who "claim" to have seasoned wood probably will be more expensive and the wood wont be much better.

good peice of advice !

 

[jtp10181]

There always is exception to that. We have one guy around here that knows what he is doing. He make mini racks out of pallets and splits and stacks wood for 2 years before selling it. You buy it by the rack and he can unload it with a 2 wheeler. We buy all the wood for our showroom from him because then we don't have to store it. Buy in the fall and burn it right away. This summer I am going to build a makeshift "shed" for the wood behind the recycle dumpster. We store it there now but I just have a tarp crudely covering it which is not working the best.

 

[brooktrout]

ain't that a groan hows the new load? better I hope , been there, and done that....

The new load (two cords) was just as bad. Soaking wet, lots of rot. Better than oil, though.

 

[brooktrout]

There always is exception to that. We have one guy around here that knows what he is doing. He make mini racks out of pallets and splits and stacks wood for 2 years before selling it. You buy it by the rack and he can unload it with a 2 wheeler. We buy all the wood for our showroom from him because then we don't have to store it. Buy in the fall and burn it right away. This summer I am going to build a makeshift "shed" for the wood behind the recycle dumpster. We store it there now but I just have a tarp crudely covering it which is not working the best.

The face cord I bought in October was from a different guy than the other two. He does the same thing. All split and stacked at least year ahead of time. And he refuses to sell anything that he wouldn't burn himself.

 

[North of 60]

Nothing stopping you from cutting and processing this wood for next year. Is this stuff costing you a premium for this time of year? Or will the pricess be less in
the spring? Sorry to hear your misfortune. Have you burned any dry wood this season to find your stoves full potential? Wet wood just sucks. Sorry man.
Get some wood coming now for next season.

 

[ControlFreak]

I went through a similar experience when I first started out. You have to buy green from someone that you can trust. Ask around and eventually you'll find someone. Or......

This past summer I tried buying a half-load of logs and cutting and splitting myself. Wow, lots of work and I had to buy a splitter. But I got the best wood I have ever laid my hands on, the bark is already peeling off in most cases, and there's no rot anywhere. All the splits and lengths are just what I want (cause I did the work), and the best of all, it was $85/cord, assuming that I got 4 cords. It turned out that I didn't have enough room to store all the split wood, so there's still a pile on the back lawn. I'll be smarter this year and get the wood delivered when my lawn is crispy dry. The truck left permanent tracks in some areas.

I'll do another half-load this summer it worked out so well. What we go through to save a buck. We are one odd bunch.

 

[brooktrout]

I went through a similar experience when I first started out. You have to buy green from someone that you can trust. Ask around and eventually you'll find someone. Or......

This past summer I tried buying a half-load of logs and cutting and splitting myself. Wow, lots of work and I had to buy a splitter. But I got the best wood I have ever laid my hands on, the bark is already peeling off in most cases, and there's no rot anywhere. All the splits and lengths are just what I want (cause I did the work), and the best of all, it was $85/cord, assuming that I got 4 cords. It turned out that I didn't have enough room to store all the split wood, so there's still a pile on the back lawn. I'll be smarter this year and get the wood delivered when my lawn is crispy dry. The truck left permanent tracks in some areas.

I'll do another half-load this summer it worked out so well. What we go through to save a buck. We are one odd bunch.

I did buy a a half load of logs as well. I am bucking them now, will split in March. A couple of the logs are 30+ inches in diameter. That's gonna be tough. (Don't think I'm gonna buy from that guy again). This should split to about three or four cords. I don't have a splitter, just a couple of mauls and axes. I'll see how it goes before breaking down and getting a splitter. I have started to make arrangements to get free wood from neighbors. Quite a bit of acreage out here in the country with dead or fallen trees. There is 500 acres surrounding me that they said I could take all I want. Unfortunately it is 99% steep hill with two creeks to cross.

 

[brooktrout]

Nothing stopping you from cutting and processing this wood for next year. Is this stuff costing you a premium for this time of year? Or will the pricess be less in
the spring? Sorry to hear your misfortune. Have you burned any dry wood this season to find your stoves full potential? Wet wood just sucks. Sorry man.
Get some wood coming now for next season.

Well, at least the wood isn't completely green. It burns, I just need to leave the stove wide open longer than usual. I had about 1/2 of the face cord from the fall left (the dry stuff) when I put the insert in. The stove really kicks out heat. I'm convinced they just don't make em like that anymore. This thing was heavy as hell. Triple wall, cast iron doors, 1/4" plate steel, solid! I can raise the house temp 8-10 degrees in less than an hour when I get home from work. I'm sure it eats more wood than today's more efficient stoves, though.

 

[jpl1nh]

I went through a similar experience when I first started out. You have to buy green from someone that you can trust. Ask around and eventually you'll find someone. Or......

This past summer I tried buying a half-load of logs and cutting and splitting myself. Wow, lots of work and I had to buy a splitter. But I got the best wood I have ever laid my hands on, the bark is already peeling off in most cases, and there's no rot anywhere. All the splits and lengths are just what I want (cause I did the work), and the best of all, it was $85/cord, assuming that I got 4 cords. It turned out that I didn't have enough room to store all the split wood, so there's still a pile on the back lawn. I'll be smarter this year and get the wood delivered when my lawn is crispy dry. The truck left permanent tracks in some areas.

I'll do another half-load this summer it worked out so well. What we go through to save a buck. We are one odd bunch.

I did buy a a half load of logs as well. I am bucking them now, will split in March. A couple of the logs are 30+ inches in diameter. That's gonna be tough. (Don't think I'm gonna buy from that guy again). This should split to about three or four cords. I don't have a splitter, just a couple of mauls and axes. I'll see how it goes before breaking down and getting a splitter. I have started to make arrangements to get free wood from neighbors. Quite a bit of acreage out here in the country with dead or fallen trees. There is 500 acres surrounding me that they said I could take all I want. Unfortunately it is 99% steep hill with two creeks to cross.

When you have big stuff, add a sledge and wedge to your arsenal. Bust the big stuff in half, or even quarters if it's real big using the wedge and sledge and then go at those with the maul. Easier on the equipment and the ole bod!

 

[brooktrout]

I went through a similar experience when I first started out. You have to buy green from someone that you can trust. Ask around and eventually you'll find someone. Or......

This past summer I tried buying a half-load of logs and cutting and splitting myself. Wow, lots of work and I had to buy a splitter. But I got the best wood I have ever laid my hands on, the bark is already peeling off in most cases, and there's no rot anywhere. All the splits and lengths are just what I want (cause I did the work), and the best of all, it was $85/cord, assuming that I got 4 cords. It turned out that I didn't have enough room to store all the split wood, so there's still a pile on the back lawn. I'll be smarter this year and get the wood delivered when my lawn is crispy dry. The truck left permanent tracks in some areas.

I'll do another half-load this summer it worked out so well. What we go through to save a buck. We are one odd bunch.

I did buy a a half load of logs as well. I am bucking them now, will split in March. A couple of the logs are 30+ inches in diameter. That's gonna be tough. (Don't think I'm gonna buy from that guy again). This should split to about three or four cords. I don't have a splitter, just a couple of mauls and axes. I'll see how it goes before breaking down and getting a splitter. I have started to make arrangements to get free wood from neighbors. Quite a bit of acreage out here in the country with dead or fallen trees. There is 500 acres surrounding me that they said I could take all I want. Unfortunately it is 99% steep hill with two creeks to cross.

When you have big stuff, add a sledge and wedge to your arsenal. Bust the big stuff in half, or even quarters if it's real big using the wedge and sledge and then go at those with the maul. Easier on the equipment and the ole bod!

Thanks for the advice!

 

[whphel]

There always is exception to that. We have one guy around here that knows what he is doing. He make mini racks out of pallets and splits and stacks wood for 2 years before selling it. You buy it by the rack and he can unload it with a 2 wheeler. We buy all the wood for our showroom from him because then we don't have to store it. Buy in the fall and burn it right away. This summer I am going to build a makeshift "shed" for the wood behind the recycle dumpster. We store it there now but I just have a tarp crudely covering it which is not working the best.

The face cord I bought in October was from a different guy than the other two. He does the same thing. All split and stacked at least year ahead of time. And he refuses to sell anything that he wouldn't burn himself.

Great policy on his part and I am sure he benifits from it each and avery year. Can you say happy repeat customers? I bet you can and so does he.

 

[savageactor7]

...just say'en many years ago I use to try and keep my wood seasoned for 2 years but quit cause a lot of wood became punky. Now the wood I cut and split in the spring is burned in the fall/winter season. The wood (ash/maple) is blackened with age and is lighter in weight.

If the rest of you agree my wood is seasoned my recommendation to brooktrout is to get green log loads in the spring and cut them up for the fall. Once wood is split and exposed to the weather it dries....just don't cover it up too soon.

...as an aside my neighbor who is in the tree removal business tell me once I retire I should buy green log loads, cut and split 'em till seasoned and I could double my money. Right now I'm taking wood off my back lot and feel there's too much labor involved to sell it. but the few time over the years I've gotten log loads I've felt they were an easy take...just cutting and splitting them up. It was real easy compared to harvesting the tree from square one out in the back. the thing is with log loads in your back yard is that firewood no longer becomes a big 'project'...hell I finish dinner go outside and either cut or split for an hour before long it's done. Life is good!

Any comments?

 

[gyrfalcon]

Well, this is my first year burning wood as a primary heat source. I've always bought just a face cord each fall for the fireplace, which I did this year again. But in late December we put in the insert and needed more wood. A lot more. So I bought a cord from a guy who said it was seasoned. My butt! Struggled though that, then had two cords delivered this morning. I explained to the guy on the phone our dissatisfaction with the other guy's wood. He swore up and down his stuff is at least one year seasoned, most of it two. "Oh, yeah- I've got about three hundred cord for sale." Tell you what- this stuff is half rotted, all wet. I've come to the conclusion these guys think that logs sitting in piles for a year constitutes seasoned. Then they buck and split it to order. Lesson learned- can't buy firewood in the middle of the winter!

When I read this, I thought I had posted it.

First load, guy swore up and down it was seasoned. I have to admit, it's gorgeous wood, almost all maple, straight and clean. But his idea of "seasoned" was to cut the trees in the spring, leave 'em in the woods there until he had a customer in the fall, then cut and split them just before delivering. Hah.

Second guy tsk-tsked about that, said he cut and split his in the spring and had it out in a nice sunny field all summer. Burns better than the first load, but that isn't saying much since that was so green I couldn't use it at all. But the second load was, well, ugly. And wet. Mixed hardwood. Some of it burns OK, some of it doesn't. Turns out although he cuts and splits it in spring, it sits in huge piles in the field until it's delivered. So the stuff that was on the outside of the pile is fine, the rest of it various degrees of not fine. Since it's such a mixed batch, I often can't tell which is which, so putting wood in the stove is a complete crapshoot. Sometimes it burns pretty well, sometimes it just dies.

Still, since he's the only guy around that has anything but green wood at this point, I got another cord from him, which is clearly the bottom of the barrel, and this wood is even uglier and just sopping wet. So it has to come inside in small lots and be spread around the outside of the hearth and turned every once in a while for several days before it's dry enough to burn.

My one consolation is that the first lot of essentially green wood, which I left stacked outside, is already showing some nice cracks and starting to shed bark and should be lovely to burn next year.

The first guy's wood, although not as advertised, is so gorgeous I'm going to go back to him for a couple green cords in the spring I can stack out in the sun and wind.

Oddest thing: The guy who sold me the unseasoned wood is a master carpenter with a terrific local reputation. You'd kinda think he'd know his wood better.