Newbie basics questions

[Oldman47]

Here I am a total newbie to wood burning. In fact I have yet to install my wood burner in my new home. I hope to finish that in the next couple of weeks. As far as wood supplies, I have maybe a face cord or a bit more for my new stove and when I split it I find it around 20% MC. Yes, I have been reading here and elsewhere. So here goes. I have little or no time in the next 6 months to deal with wood but have a resource of all of the dead and down trees on my 40 acres at my disposal. My present thought is to break in my new stove during the shoulder season and then stop all burning to preserve what little I have in the way of wood for emergency burns, like a cold weather power loss.
So much for my situation. Now the real question. How do I get from where I am to a viable plan for 2016/17 and beyond? I have some basic tools and have noted plenty of dead and down within sight of my new home to supply about a year of supplemental heat but it is in the form of logs 15 to 25 feet long and 10 or so inches in diameter and some of them are hanging above the ground in trees that snagged them when they blew over who knows how long ago. I do recognize that those logs would be dangerous to try to harvest but I don't like them just hanging and waiting to fall on me either.
Does anyone have a plan to get me from now to where I need to be?

 

[jatoxico]

Since you mentioned you have little spare time at the moment consider buying a cord or so of wood from a dealer as soon as possible and get it stacked. Chances are it was split this past summer or fall but if you stack it in a single row in a good location you'll have decent wood come next season. Spend some free time getting some kind of shed together to put your wood into in the coming fall.

That will give you a good start and get you on the 3 yr plan as quick as possible. You can then begin working up you're own wood when time permits to be used the following season(s). Dead standing etc is a bit of crap shoot when it comes to moisture content so don't know if you can count on it being near ready immediately or very soon after splitting.

The other labor free alternative is pressed wood bricks but I don't care for them much and they're no substitute for cord wood IMO. One way or the other you need to get a stock of split wood drying ASAP and there's no free lunch. Even though I like the work, buying wood is a bargain considering the work it takes to CSS from logs.

 

[TreePointer]

Many species will season in a year, but some like oak will take at least 2-3 years.

1. Get as much of c/s/s (cut/split/stacked) as soon as you can.

2. One year seasoning species should be excellent if you let them season this summer and the next to burn starting in the fall of 2016. Ash and soft maples are good candidates for this.

3. Some dead standing wood will burn a lot sooner. Smaller diameter limbs are often already dry enough to burn, and the rest of the tree possibly could be ready by the end of the summer (no guarantees). Sun and wind are the seasoning tools, so aim for maximum exposure to these elements if you try this. DED (Dutch elm disease) elm is good for this around here.

4. As mentioned, you may have to purchase wood for the 2015-16 heating season so as to give your own processed wood time to season for the following years.

5. Trade some desirable unseasoned wood (black locust, hard maple, osage orange, oak) with someone for seasoned mixed hardwoods. It may be difficult to find someone willing to do this. I've only done this once with someone who was itching to try some black locust.

 

[Dune]

Buy green wood from tree services. Call all of them in your area. Someone should be hungry enough to sell cords of stove length rounds for cheap money. There is actual cash expense in gathering wood, plus your time. Sometimes it is cheaper to buy. I have gotten a cord of stove length red oak for $100 here in the land of $400 cords.
I don't work nearly cheap enough to beat that price.

You may also find some are willing to deliver softwoods for free. Specify you will accept stove length only. When you have a few cords rent a splitter. Many places will rent a splitter for a single day on Saturday but let you keep it for the weekend. Preferably buy a splitter, you will need one anyway.

I use an electric splitter because I can split wood at 6:00 am without bothering anyone. Any splitter can be electric, simply replace the gas engine with an electric motor 2/3s the size of the existing gas motor. This makes a used splitter with a junk engine a good candidate. You will soon come to love your electric motor since it always starts, never runs out of gas and is easy on your ears. Electric motors also outlast gas engines 20-1.

Finally, you simply must find some time or you have no plan. 1/2 hour a day adds up. Think of it as a workout session, without the stinky towels and gym fees.

Do you own any chain saws? Every snag is different, there is no universal advice except exercise extreme caution.

Pics of individual snags will elicit specific advice. Generally to even attempt a sang one must have two running chainsaws, since you are likely to trap one.

Do you have a tractor? A woods truck? How do you plan to move the wood from the lot? Pulling snags down with a tractor or truck is usually the best.

At my parent's farm we just kept the last truck which was no longer road worthy and beat it to death in the woods. doesn't have to be 4 WD though it does help immensely.

Are you really ready to commit to a woodburner's lifestyle? I spent years gathering wood before I installed a stove.

 

[gzecc]

Buy, buy, buy now for next year. Don't get any oak. Get almost anything but the worst (cottonwood, tree of heaven etc). Start working on your woods for the following year. Get a least two cords for next year, even though you are even late for that. Look for ash. Only take ash if you can.

 

[saskwoodburner]

Finally, you simply must find some time or you have no plan. 1/2 hour a day adds up. Think of it as a workout session, without the stinky towels and gym fees.

.

I totally agree with this, you need to find the time and you'll get results. Plugging away for a couple hours every weekend will give you 30-40 hours worth of a wood pile by fall. If you're too busy, you'll just have to live with buying wood.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I use an electric splitter because I can split wood at 6:00 am without bothering anyone. Any splitter can be electric, simply replace the gas engine with an electric motor 2/3s the size of the existing gas motor. This makes a used splitter with a junk engine a good candidate. You will soon come to love your electric motor since it always starts, never runs out of gas and is easy on your ears. Electric motors also outlast gas engines 20-1.

Amen to that, brother.

 

[DougA]

+1 on an electric splitter. I picked up a small used one for $50 and it does 95% of all my wood. Buy a stand or built one so you have it at waist height. Your back will last longer! Yes, electric is slower but a few seconds extra per split is not a big deal and it is a lot safer when the ram is a bit slower. I can do 24" rounds by taking chunks off the edge and working my way around and through it. Big Ys are the 5% I can't do. I set them aside and will rent a big splitter for an afternoon when I get motivated.

If you split small and leave them lying about, esp in the sun, they will dry faster. Heat and wind are the best way to dry wood. Small splits dry twice as fast but be careful not to load the stove full of them as you will likely overfire. The advantage is that you can load a layer of small dry splits, then add larger splits that are 20-25%. That way, you don't use up all your dry wood as quickly. Keep an eye on your chimney but if you are burning a hot fire often enough, wood that is almost dry enough works perfectly.

 

[Montanalocal]

When you get to cutting your own wood, I would concentrate as first priority on those that are flat on the ground. They have the most chance of reabsorbing moisture and rotting. Second priority would be those down, but supported off the ground by their limbs. By the time some of these are gone, you should have enough openings that you can snake a vehicle in with some chains and cables and jerk those leaners down.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Whatever you do, don't buy any telephone pole rounds, even if you don't think they are treated......

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

If you really can't spend an hour 2-3 days a week doing the work yourself, which would produce a large amount of wood to burn in time, then I say you look around and hire someone to do it for you.... You have the resources, that sometimes is the hardest part..... Now you need to get it done, if you can't do it, get someone else to do it, or , it will never happen.....

 

[Oldman47]

It is not about having enough time or not for me;. It is about priorities. Until this new house can be lived in it really does not matter whether I have enough wood because I will have no place to burn it. Once I get done building, the wood aspect will take top priority but right now I need to finish installing the drywall then paint the walls then install plumbing and cabinets then install flooring and finally the details needed to actually move in. I still need to build the various entries too. So far I am using a construction ramp made of a couple of 2x12s to get in and out of the place. I want to get out in front of things because I recognize that burning wood means thinking ahead. I have no problem with that but will not be sacrificing progress on the building process to get there. I have been building this damned house for 3 years now and am getting close to finishing.

 

[MrWhoopee]

I have been building this damned house for 3 years now and am getting close to finishing.

Ahh, now that's an entirely different 3 year plan. Obviously, the first priority is having someplace to heat. Cart before the horse and all that rot.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Yeah, so forget about burning and keep your nose to the grindstone on the house......get er done.....

 

[Applesister]

Pass the buck to the second in command, unless she makes more than you. Delegate.
If you buy and you engage in a casual search and you buy green wood now it can season for 2-3 years. (Cheapest way to buy wood.)
Everything will come together. Buying to start out isn't totally impractical.
You wont find a laborer who will perform that level of work to do it for you. I would skip the woodlot management for the time being. Unless you have children to help.
I personally am not good at multi tasking.

 

[Fred Wright]

Excellent advice here. If you're serious about heating with wood when your home is completed, do it right. Start accumulating firewood now, or as soon as you possibly can. Plan where you'll stack it ~ firewood needs sun and air movement to season. Also, stacks should be located where it'll be convenient for you to bring wood inside during winter.

Avoid burning unseasoned wood. It's a waste of BTUs, it creates a lot of creosote in the flue and it's a hassle to burn anyhow. Our neighbor across the way has been burning unseasoned stuff all winter ~ every morning when I walk out to get the paper I see that plume of steam or white smoke pouring out of their chimney and it really ticks me off. They burn all day like that. I understand it's none of my beeswax but still, it chaps my ass just the same. Nothing should come out of the flue but a heat signature.

Firewood is dirty, no getting around it. It's gonna bring some of that dirt into your home with it. Just so ya know,

Place a cover or tarp over the tops of your wood stacks. This will keep it dry and keep snow and ice off. It took me just one experience of busting frozen splits apart with a maul to fall into line with the cover-your-stacks school of thought.

Cutting your own wood will save a lot of money and it's great exercise, too. I can't explain it, just saying... there's nothing quite as satisfying as taking a break from cutting, or splitting wood to pour a cup of mud from the Thermos and savor that peaceful, brisk fall air. Working in the woods is its own reward.

If you don't have one already I recommend a pro-grade chainsaw. It doesn't have to be a new one. Used pro-grade saws can be got at dealer shops for a good price. My ex brother-in-law ran a tree company for many years, they traded up for new saws every year. Get a couple spare chain loops and a sharpening jig with files. You're gonna need 'em.

A couple plastic felling wedges for tree felling and for bucking logs on the ground will serve you well. You'll be glad to have 'em when you need 'em. A cant hook for rolling logs over is pretty much a necessity as well.

A bit of personal experience with cant hooks... I was bucking a big willow oak, the log rolled over and pushed my left foot down in the mud under it. Was wearing steel toe boots so there was no injury. But I couldn't pull my foot free. Thankfully I'd had the presence of mind to lay the cant hook close by and was able to roll the log back enough to get my foot out.

As with any endeavor, safety is first and foremost. If it feels too heavy to lift, it is, trust me on this one. If a situation is iffy or you're not 100% comfy with something, don't do it. Seek professional advice or get someone to help you with it. No tree or load of firewood is worth risking your life. Never, ever roll the dice when it comes to safety.

Felling trees is a profession and an art. Every tree is different. I respectfully suggest research and assistance from a pro before attempting to drop trees on your own. Learn about widow makers, barber chairs, tension and compression in felled trees, leaners and springpoles and how to avoid or safely handle them.

Hung trees can be especially dangerous and unpredictable. I'll admit to having created and cut a few in my time. It's not my favorite thing to do. We have Amish folks hunt back here... leaving a hung tree would present a liability.

Getting wood out of the woods is an important consideration. There are many ways to skin that poody tat. Lawn tractors with tire chains and dump carts to 4X4 tractors with a front bucket... and a lot of scenarios in between. Something to keep in mind, it's gotta be done. Make your job of moving wood as easy as possible.

Good luck and stay safe out there.

 

[gzecc]

Buy 3 cords of hardwood but not oak. Pay to have it stacked. You will know how much you have and it will be ready asap.

 

[Newwave]

What he said +100.

Buy you first years worth of wood, figure out where to stack it ( in sun and wind if possible),have it stacked so you know exactly what you have. Then get to cuttin' and stackin'. It ain't goin to cut and stack itself.

Welcome and good luck.

 

[Wood Duck]

If you have some time to take a walk around the woods, look for dead, downed wood that is up off the ground and appears to have been there a while. Look also for wood that is easy to reach and haul out of the woods (I assume you have some sort of tractor or truck). In other words, pick out some wood that will be the easiest to harvest and the quickest to season. If you have acres with lots of downed wood, there should be a few cords out there that are almost ready to burn.

When you finally find time to cut firewood, start with the easy, dry stuff and it will be acceptable for burning in the fall, I think. It won't be great, but it will burn.

 

[Ashful]

So, you want to burn in fall 2016... that's 20 months out. Just about any wood (even some oak mixed in) stacked two summers in sun and wind, will be ready to burn by then, if you have it split and stacked this spring. I would not be messing around trying to harvest my own, while trying to build a house. Get yourself 8 - 10 cords delivered, stacked, and seasoning. Worry about harvesting your own after your house is built and you're moved in.