Insane mess

[clr8ter]

So at this point, I'm hauling more or less the last of my wood from the drying area to the wood shed. There might be a little left after this, but not much. I'm here to put forth some thoughts, and see what anyone has to comment...

NEVER again, at least on purpose, will I try to acquire oak. That stuff is the most horrible stuff to deal with. Specifically, it rots quick. The bark on my +-3 YO stuff is turning into the most messy crap. What with the bugs that have eaten it, and the water it holds...It's just insane. Maple that has been in the same stack under the same conditions is not nearly so nasty. But what are you to do? Oak takes a long time to dry...it also burns crappy in my stove, leaving a fairly solid bed of clinkers on the bottom that don't fall through the grate. AND, oak tends to NOT leave coals for the morning, unlike maple.

OK, part of the problem with the oak is that it wasn't necessarily covered while drying. In the fall, leaves get into the stacks, and rot down, holding water, which makes this issue worse. I've come to the conclusion that it may be worth it to top cover EVERYTHING, and wrap it completely (shrink wrap?) when the leaves are falling. In my experience, top-covered-from-day-one wood dries way faster, and stays in much better condition. It may look white, but the bark is still tight in most cases, and it burns easily.

You know, having several years worth of wood may not be the answer. It gets messy, it takes up a huge amount of space, and I tend to forget what wood I stacked when. If the oak is removed from the equation and everything is top covered from day one, I bet I can get nicely seasoned wood in 24 months. Granted, burning 4 cord a year, that's still 8 cord sitting there at all times, but it's less than we've had in the past.

Here is my preference for species, starting with what I would most rather burn;
Maple, any kind
Black birch
Ash
Hickory
Cherry
Poplar
Pine
Horse Sh!t
Oak

I may or may not put ash & hickory higher, I have no experience with it. This year, I do have a stove-full or 2 of ash, so we'll see...

I am thinking at this point that I'd rather have a pellet stove.

 

[JA600L]

I have 3 going on 4 year old white oak in my stack that has been top covered since day one. It burns excellent. No complaints here.

 

[DoubleB]

I'm not sure why you certainly plan to forgo oak even though you discuss that top-covering might likely prevent the problem you are having. If you are opposed to top covering, then avoid oak if that works better for you. If you are willing to top-cover, then I'd give that a try with new oak and see how it does for you. Top covering might also help reduce leaves (even while leaving the sides open), and prevent some of the leaves that do arrive from getting as wet as often.

I don't get much oak so my advice is sure limited, but it seems like you've given yourself an answer to avoid them problem.

 

[clr8ter]

Don't forget, I don't like how oak burns, either. I DO know how top covering will change things, because last year I burned a bunch of wood that had been covered. What I'm saying is that all things considered, I don't like oak.

 

[billb3]

cherry and swamp maple will rot not stacked out in the open too.

top covering helps a lot !!
doesn't have to look pretty except for neighbors and arsewhole insurance adjusters


I'm not parting with any of my oak though, It's the best wood I've got for burning overnite.

 

[JA600L]

I burn all of the woods you mentioned except for hickory.
I would hands down say ash and white oak are the favorites.
Infact, the coldest days out of the year I lean on my oak to get me through the night. It always does with Plenty of coals for a reload.
Your case sounds like neglect to me. If it constantly gets soaked for 3 years how do you expect it to be any good? Of course the bugs are going to keep going after it. They love wet wood.

 

[Typ0]

I have this vision of your stacks sitting under tree cover....everything that's been said here is accurate but I bet if your trees were kept out in full sun you wouldn't have this problem. things on the forest floor rot. Go figure.

 

[DoubleB]

I don't like how oak burns, either.

That's fair. Lots of variety in people's preferences, and I'm not going to call you wrong. My only question is are you sure that the oak you've burned was quite dry? I'm not familiar enough with oak, but others might know whether lack of coals and such is indicative of undry oak. I just hear such great things about oak once it's well dried, and I hear such awful things about oak when it hasn't been well-dried.

What works for you is all that matters.

 

[STIHLY DAN]

I can help you with any of your OAK issues. You see one let me know and i'll come get it. I will do the same for you when I come across maple, cherry or birch.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I am thinking at this point that I'd rather have a pellet stove.

You can get yourself in an AWFUL lot of trouble talking like that on here

 

[claydogg84]

So we're clear - You don't like Oak because you've allowed it to sit uncovered (on the ground?) and most likely not seasoned long enough. Also, you've listed Ash and Hickory as woods you would rather burn instead of Oak, but have yet to burn either? I think you're right about one thing - You should buy a pellet stove.

 

[clr8ter]

To be clear; NONE of my wood sits directly on the ground. I have take great pains to lay down blocks, with skids on those. I have made an effort to top cover. But, at one point, I had so much I simply couldn't do all of it. Most of it was free, so I had to make hay while the sun was shining, you know? yes, part of the problem may be that it's not dry. But, I don't have 6 years to wait around for it. The other woods I burn will be fine in 3 years uncovered, or 2 covered. Also, the black birch and soft maple have done much better uncovered. The maple I'm taking out of the uncovered pile right now along with that awful oak is in much better condition. Someone mentioned tree cover. Yes, there is tree cover in that spot. Not heavy, but I can't help it, I have limited space to stack. That may be changing soon, though, as we (hopefully) have a logger coming to remove our white pines. The firewood is sitting on what will be the landing, and I hope he will need to remove some of the poplars there in the process.

 

[DougA]

Oak has thick bark so if it gets wet, it will hold the moisture and moisture attracts bugs, fungus, mold, etc. It should be stored DRY. If you can't, then take the bark completely off when you are splitting and stacking it. I've done that and it is indeed, very smelly and messy but there's not a lot of choice. Once the bark is gone, oak will dry out and burn very nicely. I suspect your oak is still to damp for burning and that is a lot of your problem. Spend $20 on a moisture meter on sale and be sure. I always have mine handy when splitting, the I can put the wood in the correct stacks for burning this winter or needing another year or two.

Wood stacked in the open seems to be OK because it gets sun and wind. Wood stacked in shaded and sheltered areas must be kept dry.

 

[clr8ter]

Good point; de-barked oak might be a different story.

 

[JA600L]

No need to de-bark. Just top cover it and your good. My wood stack is under pine trees as well.

 

[claydogg84]

Are you stacking this wood, or leaving it in piles?

 

[Ashful]

White oak is one of the most rot resistant woods grown in North America. Red oak ain't all that bad in that regard, either. Don't confuse bark falling off as a normal part of the drying process with rot.

That oak has substantially higher energy than your beloved maple, meaning less frequent loading of the stove, less splitting, less stacking and moving, and less space tied up in your yard, per BTU.

 

[Bret Chase]

I burn all of the woods you mentioned except for hickory.
I would hands down say ash and white oak are the favorites.
Infact, the coldest days out of the year I lean on my oak to get me through the night. It always does with Plenty of coals for a reload.
Your case sounds like neglect to me. If it constantly gets soaked for 3 years how do you expect it to be any good? Of course the bugs are going to keep going after it. They love wet wood.

The only "drawback" to hickory is if you get a random puffback from your stove.... your house will smell like BBQ... and you will be hungry.

 

[D8Chumley]

I keep reading about, and I'm going to try it this season, adding some seasoned pine to burn down coals. Would that work for burning off those clinkers"

 

[Ashful]

I keep reading about, and I'm going to try it this season, adding some seasoned pine to burn down coals. Would that work for burning off those clinkers"

More seasoning time? I only get clinkers when I try to burn wet wood.

 

[D8Chumley]

I don't really have issues with clinkers since I "learned" here, and I will have some white oak ready to burn this year finally. Just wondering for the OP in his first post, he mentioned clinkers that don't fall through the grate, would burning some pine in a reload help burn them down? I only started burning some pine last season, and not much of it but I have more ready for this year

 

[DougA]

would burning some pine in a reload help burn them down?

.Burning anything that's dry will help burn down the coals. Dry pine is just fine

 

[clr8ter]

I suspect, but cannot say for sure, that throwing in some pine wouldn't burn off these clinkers. They appear to be the non-burnable stuff left over. They are a fairly solid, somewhat dense material that forms a 1-2" layer on the bottom of the stove.

claydogg asked about how the wood is stacked. I have it on raised 4' wide skids. It's 20+-" wood, and stacked single row to the outside of the skid. So, there is an air space in between rows. In spite of the poplar trees, there is a fair amount of sun. Wind, not so much....

Ashfull mentioned oak being rot resistant. Yes, the heartwood is. That will stick around for YEARS, I know this. But, the bark and sapwood is very quick to rot. Particularly on red oak. The bark isn't just coming off, it turns to a powder, and many small pieces. If the bark comes off in one big piece, I count myself lucky, and this is what happpens more often than not with maple.

 

[DougA]

They appear to be the non-burnable stuff left over

That's just not possible unless you added something non-burnable into the stove. It is possible that you might be burning too low & slow, dunno. Pieces of charred wood (hard charcoal) are fairly common with stoves after longer burns. It's incomplete combustion. Personally, I handle it by not paying any attention. Just load the stove with more wood and disregard them, they will burn. I empty ashes once a week or a bit more if the ashes pile so high that they interfere with the burning by clogging the vents. Anything that's not ash gets left in the bottom until it is gone.

 

[clr8ter]

Why is it not possible? There IS non-burnables stuff in wood, yes? And this is definitely not charcoal. It's more like very small particles, or dust that's been compressed together. It does break up when you poke it.