Once a punk, always a punk?

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

I've been fortunate, gotten BL, red oak as well as a nice Norway maple from my house, I do some scrounging and for the first time, I got some punky maple in the mix, not real happy, but I know it has been sitting in rounds for at least 2 years, dryer stuff is 20 percent mm freshly split so it will be fine for shoulder season,my worry is about the punky stuff, does it have btu's in it if I dry it? Is it worth drying and stacking? Or just drop it in the pit? Thanks all..... And keep burning, especially outside now.....

 

[webby3650]

Unless you can cover it very well or even keep it under roof, I'd use it for campfires.
Too often I've had some and thought it would dry out, only to find that it soaked up almost every rain drop that hit it all summer.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Thanks bud, I got it in the upcoming summers sun, hoping it will dry it out.....

 

[webby3650]

Maybe just get a cover on it in late summer.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

So you think there is hope for it? That's what I am really looking for....

 

[webby3650]

Possibly.
I've used lots of punky stuff, most was fine if it was covered.

 

[Seanm]

I dropped a few dead standing Larch yesterday and had 2 or 3 rounds that I split that were punked. No question they went top covered into the fire pit stacks. If wood was like gold for me and I had to keep it for the stove I would do it no questions asked. I do however need wood for the fire pit as well. Its amazing how inefficient a fire pit is and how quickly you go through splits!

 

[Jags]

If it burns...there are BTU's. Depending on how punky it is you will have to decide if its worth indoor burning. Note that punky wood is gonna be "one basket of wood in, one bucket of ash out".

 

[Applesister]

I generally dont tag maples. Sugar is off limits for me and the other stuff I dont generally pick off the forest floor. By the time I find maple its usually too far gone and it rots all the way thru and is very attractive to fungus. Black cherry can look real bad but still have preserved heartwood. Blach Cherry and Oak but this thread isnt about them. Sadly I think maple is only worth it if you are cutting live trees that are declining. I have problems with ambrosia beetle in stressed trees. But spalted maple is valuable for turners and carvers. I have a set of shaker boxes made out of spalted maple and they are stunning.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

I got this 2 year old maple that has been sitting around

If it burns...there are BTU's. Depending on how punky it is you will have to decide if its worth indoor burning. Note that punky wood is gonna be "one basket of wood in, one bucket of ash out".

thanks for the info all, I'm going to try covering it in clear plastic now that it is


Getting warmer and still rainy, I guess I will have to go through it piece bye piece when I stack it up for the season to burn.....

 

[xman23]

No matter how punkey it is, it will burn when dry. The issue is, can you keep it dry until you burn it. I top cover all the time, and don't put any punkey stuff in the stack. We have black ants that are just looking to move into wet wood.

 

[red oak]

Not a lot of BTUs in punky wood, and it absolutely has to be covered. Personally I save it for campfires but would not hesitate to burn it in my stove, although it would burn up pretty quick. It will absorb any moisture it comes in contact with, and will usually have more bugs.