I'm concerned about my supply for this year; too wet?

[Skier76]

Back story:
We hammered out the "pellet or wood?" stove debate in late July. We picked up the stove on a Friday afternoon, 16 hours later, we had a cord of wood delivered from one of our neighbors. I think he actually gave us a little extra. I had the wood stacked on pallets, in two rows by Sunday afternoon. The wood is a mix of hardwood, some birch, some oak..and some other stuff.

Up to this point, I've been burning some dry, but punky pine. The previous owners had a bunch of pine rounds stacked in the backyard. I was able to salvage most of it. It's not the "best" wood in the world, but for this time of year, it gets the job done.

Yesterday, I started experimenting with the hardwood supply. I got good fire going with the punky/styrofoam pine, then threw a chunk of hardwood on. Right away, I started getting some "back talk"...the wood was hissing, the Castine started ticking...you know, that metalic tick......tick....tick...tick....tick as the unit cooled down a bit. And of course, the chimney started to smoke a bit. However, the water seemed to burn off and the stove temp shop up to 500 within a few minutes. I was able to back down the air control and get a nice burn out of that chunk. A little later, I tried the same with a chunk of birch. This one didn't go over as well, I got hiss/tick...then the stove temp dropped to 300 in a hurry. "Uh oh!" I was able to salvage the burn with a chunk of punky styrofoam pine.

As one of my professors used to say: "You get any resource you need with extra money; except time." So where the wood is now...is where it is. Do you guys think spitting some of the larger chunks in half would help? I was able to split a few really easily with my axe, I didn't even need my maul. How about mixing in some dry pine branches to get things going? I've got access to some decent stashes of pine braches behind the house.

 

[CowboyAndy]

dry pine branches would work, or if you can get ahold of any dimensional lumber (2x4) or pallets. mix the not so dry hardwood with the dry stuff. just how much are you getting out of these "wet" pieces, are they getting to the point where they are literally bubbling on the end or just hissing and a wet spot?

 

[smokinj]

resplitting is the quickest way and depends on the hard wood that you have?

 

[Skier76]

It's hard to say because I only burned a few chunks yesterday. The first one had a bit of hissing and a little bubbling. But oddly, it cleared up after a few minutes and settled into a nice burn. The birch did't go so well. That had a lot of hissing and required some dry wood to help get things going. It was a rather large chunk though. I'd say it was an 8" round that was split in half.

 

[smokinj]

It's hard to say because I only burned a few chunks yesterday. The first one had a bit of hissing and a little bubbling. But oddly, it cleared up after a few minutes and settled into a nice burn. The birch did't go so well. That had a lot of hissing and required some dry wood to help get things going. It was a rather large chunk though. I'd say it was an 8" round that was split in half.

if you need it this winter resplitt it all Jan. still 2 months away and a fresh splitt speeds things up.

 

[Skier76]

I can hammer that out over the next few weekends. I'll take some pics of the splits have so you guys can help me with the identification. I'll take some pics next weekend.

 

[smokinj]

I can hammer that out over the next few weekends. I'll take some pics of the splits have so you guys can help me with the identification. I'll take some pics next weekend.

that would be a good idea sould still have a good chance with the wood resplitt and using the wood in the right order

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I agree on the splitting.

Skier, you are not alone with this problem. Every once in a while I will put out a notice to someone who is looking at getting into wood burning. They spend lots of time and planning on the stove and the install....and then start looking at the fuel. That is okay when burning oil or gas but is backwards when burning wood. As you wisely stated, time is the key. It is one of the biggest factors in wood burning and that factor alone can also be the key as to if someone will continue burning wood and be happy with it or get disgusted and quit after spending a lot of dollars.

So if you get the chance to attempt to educate someone else on this, don't hesitate. Get the fuel, then get the stove sounds backwards, but is not.

 

[Skier76]

Thanks Jay...I'll give that a shot. I don't have too many options at this point. I don't have a moisture meter, but I will be getting one soon. Buy my Jotul in stove "hiss-o-meter", while not giving an exact percentage amount, certainly did indicate that the wood was "too wet"..... :lol:

 

[smokinj]

I agree on the splitting.

Skier, you are not alone with this problem. Every once in a while I will put out a notice to someone who is looking at getting into wood burning. They spend lots of time and planning on the stove and the install....and then start looking at the fuel. That is okay when burning oil or gas but is backwards when burning wood. As you wisely stated, time is the key. It is one of the biggest factors in wood burning and that factor alone can also be the key as to if someone will continue burning wood and be happy with it or get disgusted and quit after spending a lot of dollars.

So if you get the chance to attempt to educate someone else on this, don't hesitate. Get the fuel, then get the stove sounds backwards, but is not.

yep your right backwoods but that doesnt happen much so on to plan b the investment there now, so do as much as you can it will turn out ok but next year will be a much better story

 

[Skier76]

I agree on the splitting.

Skier, you are not alone with this problem. Every once in a while I will put out a notice to someone who is looking at getting into wood burning. They spend lots of time and planning on the stove and the install....and then start looking at the fuel. That is okay when burning oil or gas but is backwards when burning wood. As you wisely stated, time is the key. It is one of the biggest factors in wood burning and that factor alone can also be the key as to if someone will continue burning wood and be happy with it or get disgusted and quit after spending a lot of dollars.

So if you get the chance to attempt to educate someone else on this, don't hesitate. Get the fuel, then get the stove sounds backwards, but is not.

You're on the money as usual Dennis. As the saying goes, hindsight it always 20/20. It would have been ideal if I ordered some wood back in April/May. However, my thinking was: "Why order a cord of wood if we end up with a pellet stove?" I guess I could have just sold the wood. But being that it's a weekend house and I don't own a dump truck, that may have been a bit of a hassle. :grrr:

However, you can bet this won't be happening again next year. I'll be ordering wood at the tail end of winter. Plus, I have a bunch of pine scrounge from this season drying nicely and waiting for next season.

I will say this; I'm amazed at how well the hardwood burns (when it burns right!) compaired to that pine I have. That really gets the stove temps up and I'm able to dial back down that air control to maybe 75% closed. I now see understand what people talk about with regards to their stove temps "running away". If you keep that air control open and walk away, those temps head up in short order.

 

[wsorg]

What's the moisture content?

 

[quads]

Splitting it smaller will help. Also, don't forget to keep an eye on your chimney. At least once a month check it and clean as needed.

 

[thewoodlands]

Back story:
We hammered out the "pellet or wood?" stove debate in late July. We picked up the stove on a Friday afternoon, 16 hours later, we had a cord of wood delivered from one of our neighbors. I think he actually gave us a little extra. I had the wood stacked on pallets, in two rows by Sunday afternoon. The wood is a mix of hardwood, some birch, some oak..and some other stuff.

Up to this point, I've been burning some dry, but punky pine. The previous owners had a bunch of pine rounds stacked in the backyard. I was able to salvage most of it. It's not the "best" wood in the world, but for this time of year, it gets the job done.

Yesterday, I started experimenting with the hardwood supply. I got good fire going with the punky/styrofoam pine, then threw a chunk of hardwood on. Right away, I started getting some "back talk"...the wood was hissing, the Castine started ticking...you know, that metalic tick......tick....tick...tick....tick as the unit cooled down a bit. And of course, the chimney started to smoke a bit. However, the water seemed to burn off and the stove temp shop up to 500 within a few minutes. I was able to back down the air control and get a nice burn out of that chunk. A little later, I tried the same with a chunk of birch. This one didn't go over as well, I got hiss/tick...then the stove temp dropped to 300 in a hurry. "Uh oh!" I was able to salvage the burn with a chunk of punky styrofoam pine.

As one of my professors used to say: "You get any resource you need with extra money; except time." So where the wood is now...is where it is. Do you guys think spitting some of the larger chunks in half would help? I was able to split a few really easily with my axe, I didn't even need my maul. How about mixing in some dry pine branches to get things going? I've got access to some decent stashes of pine braches behind the house.

We brought some Cherry in the house (a full face cord) about 2 weeks ago with a 23 % moisture reading, started to use it last night with a moisture reading of 13 - 14 %. We have been burning some fires since we brought it in (not daily). Also I did resplit some of it.

We filled another rack (half a face cord) yesterday with Cherry with a 23% moisture reading, will update the moisture content of the wood Wednesday.

Zap

 

[Skier76]

Splitting it smaller will help. Also, don't forget to keep an eye on your chimney. At least once a month check it and clean as needed.

Some of you guys may have read in the other forum that my chimney set up is "less than ideal". However, the 8" insulated exterior, 14' high chimney only takes me 20 minutes to clean. So I may give it a quick brushing next weekend. What it lacks in the 10/3 rules, it makes up for in cleaning ease. :lol:

 

[Bootlegger]

I have so much free wood that I won't pay for wood that is more seasoned. My first two years I got real good at burning hissing wood in my Fisher smoke dragon. This year I got a moisture meter and I'm burning the dry stuff now and stacking the rest.
So I don't have a whole lot of experience, but someone on here keeps recommending the "knock 'em together" test for seasoning. Yesterday while I was splitting I put the meter on some splits, then knocked them together, and sure enough you can tell a 20% split from a 30% moisture split. The method is obviously not exact, but everything that "knocked" rather than "clunked" was equal to or less than 20% moisture.

 

[fredarm]

You can also mix in some BioBricks or similar with the not-quite-seasoned wood.

 

[firefighterjake]

Definitely if you have the time split it smaller and restack. Grab some pallets or dimensional lumber scraps if you can as Cowboy Andy mentioned you can use the pallets and DLS to help "drive" the moisture out of the not-quite-seasoned wood . . . not as efficient as going with good seasoned wood from the get-go and you will need to keep a closer eye on the chimney, but it will and can get you by until next year.

 

[Valhalla]

Ventilation and sunshine is needed on your stacks.

Keep the dew and rain off of it! On sunny days, remove the tarps if outside.

Measure the relative moisture of the splits. See the ohmmeter use thread about it.

 

[Skier76]

I've got the stacks covered currently. I have about 1/2 a cord up by the house, under the deck. One stack is covered with a board over the crib I built, the other with a tarp just over the top of the wood. I've got 4 cribs total...2 hardwood, 2 punky/styrofoam pine. One pile gets pretty decent sun under the deck (deck is about 8-10" high) and all get good airflow.

My other half cord is in one large stack on pallets. That's covered with rubber roofing material, over the top only. I have a few long pine rounds (3-4" in dia and 3-4 feet long" keeping the rubber roofing outstreched so it doesn't cover the sides of the stack.

Since we're not at the house during the week, there's not much I can do with the covers from Mon-Friday; I just have to leave them covered.