I've been punked!

[andyrlee]

Found a nice sized ash to buck up that seemed to be pretty solid but when I decided to split it, the edges were pretty soft.

When I bucked it, the temps here were in the 20's, so of course the rounds seemed pretty solid at the time.

I split the wood when the temps were above freezing.

I still stacked it, but might use it for outdoor firewood.

How punky of wood do you guys go?

Andy

 

[Slow1]

It's all relative... relative to what other choices I have. I just got 'punked' too.. I have a bit of wood that someone gave me a year or so ago in rounds. I knew it was a bit punky at the time, some of it went "splat" when I split it. I got it all split up and some went on the compost pile at the time. I stacked the rest in the pile and let it dry out over the summer. Now I've come across it... Some of it is half decent stuff with some meat to it. Some pieces are like balsa - not really worth burning but since it is dry it goes in and burns up - might as well if it's there. Now to the bad pieces. It was really cold when I brought some in and a few pieces seemed ok... then they thawed. What I thought were half solid pieces were balsa sponges that had soaked up water and frozen... once thawed they were soggy. So out to the deck they went - played a little split splat trying to toss them into the woods from the deck.

Now that I have mostly good wood available I don't think I would have bothered to split that up - I'd probably take it right to the farthest part of the backyard woods or to the transfer station to dump. However at the time it seemed like a good score... The decent splits in there are dry now and burn nice, but the punk pieces seem to attract water!

 

[LLigetfa]

How punky of wood do you guys go?

It all burns.

 

[Archie]

Yeah, that happens sometimes if you scrounge. Picked up a free load (about 2/3 pickup load) 3 weeks ago when it was still quite cold around here, and it all seemed good (it was right around 32 F when I got it). It;s been warmer lately and a few pieces are kinda punky. As long as it's dry, I burn it, but I don't store it near the woodstove. If it's in the house, it's in the stove.

 

[LLigetfa]

For me too punked is when it blows out the side when splitting it.

 

[par0thead151]

Yeah, that happens sometimes if you scrounge. Picked up a free load (about 2/3 pickup load) 3 weeks ago when it was still quite cold around here, and it all seemed good (it was right around 32 F when I got it). It;s been warmer lately and a few pieces are kinda punky. As long as it's dry, I burn it, but I don't store it near the woodstove. If it's in the house, it's in the stove.

what is wrong with punk wood in the house(not in the stove)?
lots of bugs?
more flammable/fire hazard?

 

[Battenkiller]

what is wrong with punk wood in the house(not in the stove)?
lots of bugs?
more flammable/fire hazard?

Yes and yes.

 

[Archie]

For me the main reason is I don't like like mixing it in with the other "nice" wood I may have stored in the stove room. The punky stuff can be kinda crumbly, dropping debris, etc. I could get a dedicated bin for it, but I don't have that much punky wood and space is tight enough in my stove room. Better to keep it outside til I'm ready to throw some on the fire.

 

[SolarAndWood]

Crumbly goes into the mulch, splits goes into the heap. Punk of any sort never gets stacked and goes straight from the heap to the stove.

 

[Archie]

Yep! I can tell when my scounging standards are in the tank when I'm tip-toeing with my punk piece to the stove.

 

[LLigetfa]

If it disintegrates in your hand it's way beyond punk. I call that mulch.

 

[wood spliter]

If it holds together when I split it it gets burned. It as well as wood with ant tunnels do not get brought in till last minute.

 

[firefighterjake]

Punky wood and burning: Whether I burn this wood or not depends on just how punky it is . . . how dry it is . . . and often whether I really feel like having that punky piece take up space in my woodshed. Some mildly punky wood I keep . . . figure this is good wood for restarts. Otherwise, most of the punky wood gets tossed in the woods to become tree food.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Punky wood sponges up water like a mofo. watch out for that.

 

[Pagey]

Punky wood sponges up water like a mofo. watch out for that.

+1

I've got a small row of maple that's in the front of my shed. It took the brunt of several inches of rain recently, and what was reading 20% back in the summer read as high as 40% this week. Sizzles like a mofo on the coals, too. My oak that is also in the front of the shed is fine. Oak may be hell to season, but it seems to resist soaking it back up later as well.

 

[Battenkiller]

Oak may be hell to season, but it seems to resist soaking it back up later as well.

Oak sapwood can be some of the punkiest stuff you'll ever encounter if allowed to sit on the ground for a long time. Red oak that is, not white.

No punky wood is allowed in my stove room. Too many fungus spores once it gets bone dry. Can make you very sick if it's the wrong kind of fungus.

 

[Pagey]

Sorry, I didn't mean to say that oak cannot go "punky". I was just reflecting on the difference in the two woods. Oak is very dense, and even if my maple were in far better condition, I would wager that of the two, the maple would reabsorb more water. No, I've seen plenty of punky oak as well.

 

[Flatbedford]

My punk goes on the outdoor burn pile.