"SAVING" the good stuff

[barkeatr]

I have 17 face cord of two year old dry wood. I keep putting fairly dry scrounged wood in front of it as far as what is next to be burned. ...i dont want to burn the good stuff just yet. stupid I know but...this is the first year im ahead and have real dry wood. I have half of next years wood stacked..want to save the good stuff untill mid november.

 

[woodchip]

You're not alone in wanting to save the good stuff!!

I'm burning all the odd shapes, punky stuff, offcuts, even burned a bucket of big twigs last night, so I can save the best wood for when it gets really cold.

I'm hoping to keep my best for December or January though, that's when I reckon it will be at it's coldest.

I'm just watching that snow near New York right now and hoping it doesn't come here....... ;-)

 

[shawneyboy]

Hell yeah save the good stuff for the mid winter burns.

Shawn

 

[Woody Stover]

Yep. I'm only loading the stove once a day to take the chill off, so I'm burning all Cherry now. Saving the long-march wood for later...

 

[Ken S]

I am still burning mainly box elder,saving the beech for after thanksgiving.

 

[smokinj]

This is my first year having 100 percent great firewood. Sugar,black locust, shag and pignut hickory and a little ash. Its all good and still have not fired up!

 

[Blue Vomit]

I burn all kinds of crap in the shoulder season. Brings back memories of when I cut it. "wow this is ugly... I'll burn it in October!"

 

[red oak]

This is the time of year to burn all that stuff. As woodchip said, odd shapes, uglies, and my softwood get burned this time of year. Was burning some poplar today but threw some good oak in with it. I've got 2-3 year old oak waiting for December-January. I hadn't burned much poplar in a long time - man it goes quick!

 

[SolarAndWood]

I guard the good stuff like gold. Only burn what you need to to get the job done. Unless you've got it to burn of course.

 

[bogydave]

It's all "good stuff" or you wouldn't have cut & saved it.
Some is just better than other.
Been burning spruce for a while & just went to the birch (the good stuff)... Oops the better stuff.
Yep, we all know what "the good stuff " is. (money $ )

 

[SolarAndWood]

(money $ )

nah. burns like crap, can't leave it out in the rain and much more likely to be stolen.

 

[wood-fan-atic]

Ive been burning silver maple and Bradford pear for the last week or so. Broke down and brought in a few armfuls of ash today. Wow..... stove is CROOZIN!! :cheese: Its ok.... got almost 4 cords of ash, and 1 1/2 cords of Black Locust ready to go.

 

[Constrictor]

How much is a face cord compared to a real cord?

 

[barkeatr]

HOW MUCH IS A FACE CORD....ha..this always comes up when you use face when describing a face cord. the thread always ends with someone getting fed up and saying ignore the term face cord and only use the term cord, but in these parts ( upstate NY) face cord is the sole measurement used. When our local free trader has an ad for someone selling cords of wood, its face cords they are talking about. I do find the face cord an easier module to work with myself. In talking with folks on this forum, i cant help but think that some people are using face cord and some are using real cord, so i always specify when i talk. I think this because of some of the wood consumption rates that folks are burning. If they are into burning fifteen cord and up i certainly hope they are talking face cords!

so to answer your question a face cord is one third of a real cord if you cut your lengths to 16". Its slightly more than a third if you cut them to 18". If you cut your wood to 24" then your face cord is half of a full cord.

A face cord measures 8' wide x 4' high, the depth of a face cord may vary depending on the person who is cutting the wood (average firewood length is 16"-18"). A "Full Cord" of firewood measures 8' wide x 4' high x 4' deep.

have fun out there!

 

[krex1010]

Ive been burning silver maple and Bradford pear for the last week or so. Broke down and brought in a few armfuls of ash today. Wow..... stove is CROOZIN!! :cheese: Its ok.... got almost 4 cords of ash, and 1 1/2 cords of Black Locust ready to go.

I'd be burning the ash and saving the Bradford pear (unless it's small splits) Bradford pear is awesome stuff, burns long and hot and coals like a dream, great wood for overnight burns.

 

[NH_Wood]

As others said, it's a real good idea to save the good stuff for the real cold parts of winter. I burn 5 cord/year, and stack my wood in order of burn. I have about 2 cord of red maple and cherry for early and late season and 3 cord red oak, beech, black birch, etc. for mid-season. Still burning uglies, etc. now and will likely dip into the 'real' winters supply sometime next week. Things turned quite cold here, with about 2 feet of snow on the ground now, so I'm finding myself burning 24/7 all of a sudden! Cheers!

 

[onetracker]

As others said, it's a real good idea to save the good stuff for the real cold parts of winter. I burn 5 cord/year, and stack my wood in order of burn. I have about 2 cord of red maple and cherry for early and late season and 3 cord red oak, beech, black birch, etc. for mid-season. Still burning uglies, etc. now and will likely dip into the 'real' winters supply sometime next week. Things turned quite cold here, with about 2 feet of snow on the ground now, so I'm finding myself burning 24/7 all of a sudden! Cheers!

indeed !!

last sunday i was noodling big rounds and the mosquitos were swarming me...this morning i was digging my car out of the snow.

had my son pull all the 'uglies' out of the driveway and into the basement. our uglies are actually quite sweet. 6" blocks split from big cookies....all cherry, oak ash and maple. but i tell ya....it's going quick.

next year i plan to have a couple of cords (read:cords ;-P ) of pine for fall and spring. its against my religion to be burning primo stuff before thanksgiving.

OT

 

[wood-fan-atic]

Ive been burning silver maple and Bradford pear for the last week or so. Broke down and brought in a few armfuls of ash today. Wow..... stove is CROOZIN!! :cheese: Its ok.... got almost 4 cords of ash, and 1 1/2 cords of Black Locust ready to go.

I'd be burning the ash and saving the Bradford pear (unless it's small splits) Bradford pear is awesome stuff, burns long and hot and coals like a dream, great wood for overnight burns.

I only had about 1/5 of a cord of the pear, and when it got split last year, it got stacked in the shoulder season rack. It burns nice mixed with maple.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I have 17 face cord of two year old dry wood. I keep putting fairly dry scrounged wood in front of it as far as what is next to be burned. ...i dont want to burn the good stuff just yet. stupid I know but...this is the first year im ahead and have real dry wood. I have half of next years wood stacked..want to save the good stuff untill mid november.

What do you mean by saying it is stupid? If so, there are a lot of us on this forum who are real dummies. Save the best for January-February.

 

[woodchip]

I put an old bit of root on an hour ago, I am really burning some cruddy stuff here, but the funny thing is, I wish I'd have saved it for January.

Stovetop temp over 600f, and it's like an oven in our lounge.

Next year I'm putting my hawthorn roots in with my best wood ;-)

 

[Cluttermagnet]

I'm not yet in a position where I have complete control over what I choose to burn. I think I do have enough seasoned to make it through the winter, maybe just barely. I have an additional 2.5 to 3 cords of Oak that's just not ready for this year. It'll be great next winter, though.

From the start, I found I have to do some mixing, putting enough Oak and Cherry in the mix that I get the coaling I need. I'm also burning some 'trashy wood' like Poplar, soft Maple, and Black Gum at the same time.

I'm still harvesting some this Fall. Just got some deadwood Locust the past couple of times out. That stuff is like gold- It's like instantly seasoned Oak. I can get plenty enough Oak, but the deadwood Cherry and Locust are among the most prized here. I'm focusing on harvesting 'ready to burn' at this point.

 

[gzecc]

This is my first year having 100 percent great firewood. Sugar,black locust, shag and pignut hickory and a little ash. Its all good and still have not fired up!

Still haven't fired up yet? Is this the same Indiana in the mid west US?

 

[Fod01]

I'm a bit light on wood this year, and have been burning only linbs and 'junk' so far on weekends. Last night was down to freezing, so I broke down and put a couple decent splits on at 9pm. I was up at 3am ( working a night shift from home ), and the house was still 71. The temp is going back up to the 50's today, so no more wood till next weekend.

I'll let the furnace kick on if it needs to. The $40 in gas I'm saving by not driving to work this week will easily offset a bit of oil heat in the mornings.

 

[Danno77]

I'm of a slightly different mindset about saving the good wood. I currently have about 5 cords or so of wood set aside for this winter. Two cords are highly seasoned, another two cords is mixed of about 25% max, and another cord is pine that is ready to go.

I'm mixing the pine with the highly seasoned stuff. I could be mixing the pine with the 25%maple, but why do that when the partially seasoned stuff will be fully seasoned by the time I get to it (or at least closer than it is now).

Burn the good stuff now, the not so good stuff will be better when you get to it.

NOW, if we are talking about shorties and uglies, then that's a different story. Throw them in now for the shoulder season.

 

[chvymn99]

I'd say burn what can burn now, but burn the best wood you got when the BTU's are needed most. This is my first year of burning, started scrounging basically all that I could at the beginning of spring to early summer. Well its all seasoned and dried, but some of it not really high on the BTU's all burnable though. Worst case scenero through in a good chunk every once in a while to keep the BTU's up.