suggestions about not great wood

[kwikrp]

I purchased 2 cords of wood. I was told it was seasoned and ready to burn but I think that it was split when I ordered it. The fire is hard to get going slow temp rise etc. But once I am able to get griddle temp to 450+ seems like it burns well produces good heat. But it takes many hours to get it to temp. So here is my question should I add some either Bio bricks, Envi-8, or anything else ? if so which would you use to help get the fire going quicker and faster up to temp? I was going to mix it in with what I have.
I called around and a few stove shops say that VC and other manufactures do not want you to use such products due to overfiring! So they dont recommend nor do they sale such products. I dont want to gamble with getting another delivery of wood that is supposedly "SEASONED" and find out again it is not.
Also, some of the pieces of white oak are getting greyish spots on the ends is this mold, or the beginning of it drying?

 

[karri0n]

It's pretty much impossible to buy dry seasoned wood. I have this same plight. It's possible to make do, you just need to do what you are doing. It takes a long time, but once you get good temp, and good coals, reload so it stil has enough heat to cook off a good amount of moisture. I don't have any experience with the bio-bricks, but if you are supplementing wet wood with them, you won't need to worry about overfiring. Seems like a decent idea to me.

 

[Jags]

Pallet wood is also an option. Much of the time pallets are ready to burn right after you get them. Be aware that burning this unseasoned wood is gonna result in the need for you to check (and clean) your stack more frequently. Seriously, check it on a monthly basis.

Also, if you have any wood burning neighbors that like to hoard excess wood, see if you could do a swap for some that is more seasoned.

 

[Fod01]

You can also re-split into smaller pieces. These will light off a little faster.

 

[beau5278]

I've thought about trying the same thing with the bio bricks.My main stove doesn't give me much trouble but the little stove that I have on the first floor can be a pain to get going some days,it's my own fault,I'm to lazy to split the wood that I burn in that one smaller and I'm usually trying to burn wood that's to big.What I thought about doing is getting some bio bricks and using them to get the fire burning faster and then loading the bigger pieces.

 

[savageactor7]

You can also re-split into smaller pieces. These will light off a little faster.

Yup...that's the ticket.

I think if the wood was real green you'd know it so just try splitting it smaller. When you have an established bed of coals then try one of your larger splits and check it out how it burns and what it does to the stove top temp. You may have lucked out with 'almost' seasoned wood.

If that's the case you can stage/rotate logs around the hearth to hasten drying ...it a PITA but you brought this on yourself , that's not a criticism against you...just an observation.

If you can't cut wood you can still save some dough and grief by buying 'green' wood, it's less money for one thing plus you know it's seasoned when it comes time to burn it.