Scrounging fallen wood

[bfitz3]

The previous owners of my property logged many hard maple and beech three years ago. There are tons of abandoned tops in the woods and I'm wondering how much value I can get out of them for burning. Obviously, the stuff in contact with the ground is going nowhere, but there is a huge amount of wood supported off the ground. Much of it is 6-12 inch diameter, often in lengths upwards of 20 feet.

How long will wood like this give good btus? What should I look for to tell if it is worth going after?

Thanks!

 

[drz1050]

Walk through with a knife or small axe and poke it/ give it a little chop. As long as it's not spongy, go for it.

 

[Poindexter]

Oh yeah. Make slurping sound.

As much as possible, cut stove length right off the top as it lays so you don't have to man handle any bigger pieces. Also, don't be afraid to do a ripping cut right there on the top. If you got a nasty knot in the next piece your about to cut, just slice it in half with the saw right there still on the top - you ought to get saw dust pieces put that look like long noodles, and then cut both pieces off the top at once.

I love cutting up tops. All the fun of working with real trees, minimal risk of getting killed by a falling trunk.

 

[Sconnie Burner]

Cut some chunks off and see how the middle looks. A little punk on the outsiders won't hurt a thing. If the heart wood is good keep cutting, if not leave it lay. I think most should still be good at only 3 yrs down unless its in a wet spot.

 

[kennyp2339]

I love when I can get a ton of wood between 4" to 15" diameter, it just makes life so easy.

 

[bfitz3]

Harvested a big one yesterday afternoon... 50' in total, straight 10' lengths that average about 11, 9, 7, 5, and 5 inches in diameter (not enough experience to guess at what portion of a cord that will be split and stacked...anyone have a number?) Hard maple with a little spalting. It was resting almost entirely on other wood, some spots a smidge punky on the surface, but the inside is rock solid.

 

[Seanm]

I was in the bush yesterday dropping a few larch trees. Where I was cutting there was a bunch of blow downs around the tree I dropped. Once I was done bucking it up I grabbed the saw and did a bunch of test cuts into these blow down larches and some were punked out and a few were beautiful! They were under 12 inches in diameter and lower and will be perfect for splitting in half. I dont process the big stuff as its to hard on my back. Have fun!