Kiln dried or rotated firewood

[RShim]

With my PE Super going in end of this month I am "interviewing" potential suppliers of local firewood. I believe both sources I have talked to be reasonable in price as I have seen signs posted in the hardware store for a full cord at $450.
I have the option of kiln dried or two year seasoned mixed hardwood - the supplier has what he calls a firestack (4 ft. x 2 ft. x14 inches) for $85 a box (approx. 4 boxes to make a cord) $340.

2nd option is by a man whose family has been long known in my town for cutting down trees, supplying firewood, and was recommended by someone I know. $260 for a local dump delivery of a cord of mixed hardwoods. When I asked if it was kiln dried or if he knew the moisture content, he said he turns it over year. Cut to approx. 16 inch lengths, my stove takes 18".

Which would the experienced choose? Thank you

 

[bholler]

With my PE Super going in end of this month I am "interviewing" potential suppliers of local firewood. I believe both sources I have talked to be reasonable in price as I have seen signs posted in the hardware store for a full cord at $450.
I have the option of kiln dried or two year seasoned mixed hardwood - the supplier has what he calls a firestack (4 ft. x 2 ft. x14 inches) for $85 a box (approx. 4 boxes to make a cord) $340.

2nd option is by a man whose family has been long known in my town for cutting down trees, supplying firewood, and was recommended by someone I know. $260 for a local dump delivery of a cord of mixed hardwoods. When I asked if it was kiln dried or if he knew the moisture content, he said he turns it over year. Cut to approx. 16 inch lengths, my stove takes 18".

Which would the experienced choose? Thank you

I wouldn't trust that either option will be dry and ready to use honestly. Get a moisture meter split open a few pieces and test them. "Kiln dried" is often just heat treated to kill bugs so they can legally ship it.

 

[Garbanzo62]

This is my first year with a stove so all of this is based on what I have read on this site...
1) Some vendors promoting Kiln-Dried are actually supplying heat treated that will kill off bugs like borer beetles, but not actually reduce the moisture content. So you may want to see if they can provide a moisture content for the Kiln Dried.
2) Generally, Two Year Seasoning of Hardwood would be good, assuming it was split, stacked and covered two years ago. If it was split and sitting in a pile out in the weather, the stuff at the bottom of the pile might not be too Dry. Additionally, folks on here have said Oak might take 3 years to be good to go, so that is another consideration.
3) 24" X 48" X 14" = 0.07 of a cord not .25 cord So you would need 14.25 boxes to get a cord.
4) I would suspect that the local guy that cuts trees probably does not have fully seasoned wood. What you may be getting is what was cut in the spring and may not be stacked to dry properly.
I would do a second inquiry and see if you can get more info on the Kiln Dried and Two year Seasoned Full cords. Stay away from the firestack, it looks you would spend close to a $1000 a cord for that option.
Good Luck

 

[stoveliker]

I concur with the above. Measure rather than believe what people say.
I also suggest to buy a pallet of sawdust bricks. They are dry, good to burn, and you can mix them with wood that is (slightly) too wet.

 

[ozarkoak]

I would chose whatever got me through the winter X 2 0r 3. That way you wont have to worry about seasoned wood next year. The object of the game is to get at least 2 or three years ahead of yourself. Then you will never have to worry about it again. I have said it before. I am a simple man. Stack wood, let wind and sun dry wood, burn wood. For some this is almost a hobby for me its the only way we heat our home. If we don't have dry wood we have a chilly winter.

 

[qwee]

One cord = 8ft x 4ft x 4ft = 128 ft3
The first seller sells a 'firestack' for $85. It is 4ft x 2ft x 1.17ft (14 inches) = 9.36ft3
128 ft3 / 9.36ft3 = 13.67. So, it takes almost 14 of these firestacks to make a cord of firewood.
13.67 x $85 = $1161.95 per cord if you buy firestacks. So, his firestacks are really marked up. Kiln or no kiln that is expensive.

Seller #2 sounds respectable. He is a tree cutter who sells firewood, too. This is good because firewood isn't his main source of income. Moreover, he is known by the town people - which means he will be more accountable because everyone knows his family. Finally. he has been doing this selling routine for years - he probably has his drying routine and wood quantity worked out else he would have received many complaints.

I've sold firewood. If I was buying firewood, I would go with seller #2. His price is reasonable, too. Maybe, make the minimum order and check his wood out - is it dry? Is the quantity right? If so you could than order more from him. To determine dryness you could bang pieces together and look for small cracks. Clang, clang are good sounds. Thud, thud not so good.

Or you could buy a moisture meter (see posts on how to use). To measure quantity just stack the delivered wood and measure the 3 dimensions of height x width x length (in feet). Or you could just burn some of the wood and see how it burns.

 

[Eman85]

If you going to have to buy wood every year I'd buy 1 from column A and 2 or 3 from column B. You stand a shot of #1 being ready to burn and it's worth a shot for this year. if it doesn't burn well you can buy some of those bricks. #2's wood will most likely need a year or 2 to become what you want so you can get that stacked and getting ready for the future. I'd say prices of wood aren't going down so if you have to buy it buy it now and stack it.

 

[JRHAWK9]

I'm selling some and not too far from you. My stuff -IS- ready to burn. Although too long for what you need.

(broken link removed to https://madison.craigslist.org/grd/d/lake-delton-dry-well-seasoned-firewood/7549519032.html)

 

[peakbagger]

Ultimately do what you need to do to get dry firewood for your first winter. Stoves have a learning curve and wood moisture content ranks high on the list of things to avoid. Seasoning wood in year assumes proper stacking and air flow, most firewood operations take log length woods, cut and split it with process and then stack it out with conveyor. The stuff on top dries well but deep down in the stack it really does not and actually starts to degrade by biological activity feasting on some of the volatiles in the wood. Very few commercial operations restack after running it through a processor. My guess would be go with a mix of both once you have bought a moisture meter. Start with the kiln dried stuff and then transition to the other stuff and get enough wood for next winter.

 

[Wood1Dennis]

I have the option of kiln dried or two year seasoned mixed hardwood - the supplier has what he calls a firestack (4 ft. x 2 ft. x14 inches) for $85 a box (approx. 4 boxes to make a cord) $340.

For what it is worth, if I were looking to buy firewood and someone tried to tell me that 4 of these 'firestacks' equals a cord when simple math tells me that it really takes 13.7 to make a cord I would not even consider them. Nope.

Are you sure they did not tell you that four of them was equivalent to a face cord? In that case they would be right, and it would still be very expensive.

 

[RShim]

I'm selling some and not too far from you. My stuff -IS- ready to burn. Although too long for what you need.

(broken link removed to https://madison.craigslist.org/grd/d/lake-delton-dry-well-seasoned-firewood/7549519032.html)

Thank you. Yes, too long for what I need. I am getting a moisture meter. There are ALL kinds of people with piles of firewood for sale within miles of my home...surely one of them is going to have well seasoned wood.

 

[JRHAWK9]

Thank you. Yes, too long for what I need. I am getting a moisture meter. There are ALL kinds of people with piles of firewood for sale within miles of my home...surely one of them is going to have well seasoned wood.

Generally speaking, if the wood is in pile form, especially oak, it's not going to be correctly seasoned. You won't know until you get into the pile, as the exposed splits may be dry enough but the internal splits probably won't be.

I hope you can find some. Lots of people are clueless when it comes to selling properly seasoned firewood. They simply don't care.

 

[gzecc]

Thank you. Yes, too long for what I need. I am getting a moisture meter. There are ALL kinds of people with piles of firewood for sale within miles of my home...surely one of them is going to have well seasoned wood.

Take as much as you can store/afford from this guy. Get a few years worth. If he is telling the truth, he is unicorn wood seller.

 

[JRHAWK9]

Take as much as you can store/afford from this guy. Get a few years worth. If he is telling the truth, he is unicorn wood seller.

Here's what I have. Since this video was taken, I have burned some and have sold some; but I have also added to it as well. I still have 65 cord though.

The ~14 cord I am wanting to sell is actually from the start of the video till about 21 seconds in.

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I started off by simply wanting to get 5 years ahead. I never planned on selling any. I always ended up putting up more than what I burned every year though. The stuff I'm burning this year has been cut, split, stacked for 5.5 years (spring of '15 is when it was stacked). The 14 cord I am wanting to sell was cut, split and stacked in spring of '16 (8 cord) and spring of '17 (6 cord). I need to make room for the stuff this winter, as every year I chase the old with the new and I have caught up to the old once again.

The 5 cord I sold in spring of 2020 was part of the same 16 cord haul that I am still burning this winter, which was c/s/s in spring 2015. He needed to buy some so he could bust his butt to get ahead cutting his own on his property to add to what he currently had. He wanted to get 3 years ahead. This is what he sent me after burning some, "It's good stuff. The wood I was burning previous two years wasn't bad or so I thought. It was dead standing oak and probably seasoned 14-18 months. Compared to this, it may as well have been green."

 

[stoveliker]

My advice would be to get your nearby wood if you wish, but get one face cord from jrhawk. And then burn both.

It'll change your firewood behavior forever. Seriously, don't take my word for it, do the experiment. Trust who you want to trust, but also buy a little from jrhawk.

 

[JRHAWK9]

My advice would be to get your nearby wood if you wish, but get one face cord from jrhawk. And then burn both.

It'll change your firewood behavior forever. Seriously, don't take my word for it, do the experiment. Trust who you want to trust, but also buy a little from jrhawk.

The issue is my stuff is too long at 21-22". Cutting it all down would make it a PITA. It's doable, just a pain.

 

[RShim]

Generally speaking, if the wood is in pile form, especially oak, it's not going to be correctly seasoned. You won't know until you get into the pile, as the exposed splits may be dry enough but the internal splits probably won't be.

I hope you can find some. Lots of people are clueless when it comes to selling properly seasoned firewood. They simply don't care.

If yours was not too long I would talk my BF into driving his truck up your way and getting a load from you. 18" is the max my stove can handle.

 

[JRHAWK9]

If yours was not too long I would talk my BF into driving his truck up your way and getting a load from you. 18" is the max my stove can handle.

I can completely understand.

 

[stoveliker]

I see. Though a jig is easily made out if a few 2*4s.

If the poster does not have a chainsaw, then it's a tough proposition indeed.

 

[RShim]

I see. Though a jig is easily made out if a few 2*4s.

If the poster does not have a chainsaw, then it's a tough proposition indeed.

LOL - no I do not have a chainsaw. And I would not be comfortable using it.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

It's a nice thought to hope or assume that someone will have dry wood, but it is rare to actually find it. Most people split what they need right before they need it. I know of a few people around me who are ahead and have dry wood, but it is the exception rather than the norm.

Buy a ton of wood from a reputable source and stock pile it. It will be dry enough next year and even drier the year after. It takes a bit to get ahead, but is well worth it. I grew up cutting our wood as we needed it, or buying it last minute. Now I try to have 30+ cord on hand and that should put me quite a few years ahead. I have about 18 cord split right now, with about 10 cord left to split. Firewood is like a private bank account of heat. The longer it dries, the more heat you get from it. Fill the account now and you will be warm for a long time.

 

[JRHAWK9]

Firewood is like a private bank account of heat. The longer it dries, the more heat you get from it. Fill the account now and you will be warm for a long time.

Pretty much my thought process when I first started. That's what got me to where I'm at now.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

Yeah, it's amazing how you know what you have been taught and you don't know what you don't know until you somehow learn it. You can burn wet wood and get heat, but you will go through a lot of wood to get that heat.

I remember splitting wood and bringing it straight in the house for the stove. We had to run it wide open to get it to burn. Now we have covered stacks and we can close the air down most of the way and the stove makes good heat while the chimney stays a lot cleaner.

It's a win-win

 

[stoveliker]

It's a win-win

and you have nice holzhausen stacks to look at

 

[Eman85]

LOL - no I do not have a chainsaw. And I would not be comfortable using it.

For the dry wood that needs cutting it might be a good chance to learn. I'd look at electric or cordless sized for cutting splits. Have someone that know what they are doing give you some instruction.