Those who weigh their wood usage for loading and tracking purposes.

[JRHAWK9]

Warning going totally geek-oid below.

So, I just finished hauling in the last of one of my rows of mainly black locust. There was a very mynute scattering of black walnut and oak in it as well. I also burned a small row of poplar earlier in the fall. I decided to see if what I burned volume-wise matched what I burned weight-wise. I use (broken link removed) library for all weights and BTU's. The wood has been split, stacked on pallets and top covered since 2014.

Here's the theoretical weight of what I have burned and had sitting downstairs waiting to be burned; which consisted of the following two rows, by volume:
- 0.53 cord (as measured in my spreadsheet) of poplar .....poplar is 2,210lbs/cord = 1,171 lbs
- 1.14 cord (as measured) of mostly black locust (sprinkling of black walnut and oak).... black locust is 3,740lbs/cord = 4,264 lbs

Total theoretical weight based on measured volume = 5,435 lbs

I then weighed all the wood I currently have sitting downstairs and added it to the weight of the wood I have already burned this heating season. This encompasses all the wood in the rows mentioned above. This total came out to be 5,348 lbs. A difference of only 87lbs!!

Pretty darn impressive, considering not every single piece was cut as long as 20" (which is what I used for the volume calc.) and there was a sprinkling of black walnut in with the BL.

See how much fun one can have when they weigh all their loadings.

 

[johneh]

Way to much time on your hands

 

[Dataman]

Weight the Wood? Sorry I don't have the level of caring. Seems pointless. But hey if you enjoy it, go for it. I keep track of pellets bags burned for cleaning purposes only.

 

[SpaceBus]

Warning going totally geek-oid below.

So, I just finished hauling in the last of one of my rows of mainly black locust. There was a very mynute scattering of black walnut and oak in it as well. I also burned a small row of poplar earlier in the fall. I decided to see if what I burned volume-wise matched what I burned weight-wise. I use (broken link removed) library for all weights and BTU's. The wood has been split, stacked on pallets and top covered since 2014.

Here's the theoretical weight of what I have burned and had sitting downstairs waiting to be burned; which consisted of the following two rows, by volume:
- 0.53 cord (as measured in my spreadsheet) of poplar .....poplar is 2,210lbs/cord = 1,171 lbs
- 1.14 cord (as measured) of mostly black locust (sprinkling of black walnut and oak).... black locust is 3,740lbs/cord = 4,264 lbs

Total theoretical weight based on measured volume = 5,435 lbs

I then weighed all the wood I currently have sitting downstairs and added it to the weight of the wood I have already burned this heating season. This encompasses all the wood in the rows mentioned above. This total came out to be 5,348 lbs. A difference of only 87lbs!!

Pretty darn impressive, considering not every single piece was cut as long as 20" (which is what I used for the volume calc.) and there was a sprinkling of black walnut in with the BL.

See how much fun one can have when they weigh all their loadings.

I'm not too surprised. It's like when you ask 100 people how many jelly beans are in a jar and generally the average is within 10% of the actual number.

 

[JRHAWK9]

Weight the Wood? Sorry I don't have the level of caring. Seems pointless. But hey if you enjoy it, go for it. I keep track of pellets bags burned for cleaning purposes only.

Definitely is pointless if you are burning pellets....won't help ya at all.

 

[ct01r]

Hmm, I must be a geek. I weigh samples when I first harvest/stack it. I write the weight and date on the samples (maybe 2-4 pieces per pickup load). I use it for a rough estimate of how dry it is when I want to burn it. If it loses 20-25% in weight, I'll take some samples inside to warm up, then split and use a moisture meter on it. Since I stack it in the barn (out of the rain, but no sun and unreliable air circulation), it can take 1-3 years to dry. This helps take the guesswork out. Curt

 

[Sawset]

Can't say I've ever had the patience to weigh samples, but I do notice the shrink from green to seasoned. Usually a 6ft stack will end up short by 6" down to 5'6" by the time it dries down.

The Shrinkulator – WoodBin

 

[Jags]

I prefer RFID tags and a hand scanner.

 

[Diabel]

Are you people all retired?

 

[JRHAWK9]

nope.....no kids though.

 

[Sawset]

Everybody with a woodpile, does at least some woodpile math.

 

[JRHAWK9]

...and lets face it, one wouldn't be on an enthusiast's site like this one if they didn't have at least somewhat of an OCD type of personality. I've been on various enthusiast's message boards since the late 90's and everyone I have met has had OCD personality traits.......it's usually why they are enthusiastic/passionate in the first place. You generally don't find the "don't really care" types on forums like this.

 

[bholler]

I agree you have to much time on your hands. Lol. But hey what ever asked you happy. I have a customer who actually plans out and labels a week's worth of wood loads every Saturday. I think that is a little more obsessive than weighing it.

 

[Jags]

And yes...I am retired

 

[JRHAWK9]

I guess I don't get the "too much time" thing. The only difference, for me, is the bin I put the wood into for loading sits on a scale in between the furnace and the wood rack instead of sitting on the floor. Either way I use the bin to put the wood into before I load. The only extra step is glancing up at the scale display and writing the weight on a notebook. Doesn't exactly take any extra time. I also load by weight, so it helps to know what to load based on the HDD's. Then when I do get extra time I transfer the weights into a spreadsheet to keep track of.

 

[EbS-P]

I have thought about putting a scale by the stove. I’m burning low btu wood pulling off three different piles. So at the end of the year I can probably guess my volume within half a cord but I might only burn 1.5 -2 cords. Now if I want to buy some hard wood how much do I need? But with 4 kids thinking about is as far as I got. I should have enough wood for this year and next so it’s a next year problem.

I an very impressed at how close the volumes and weights were.

evan

 

[Diabel]

I work with numbers all day. But when it comes to my stoves and firewood....all I care is, in one stove if I can for 4 splits and the other 8 then I am happy. The rest is relative math.

 

[bholler]

I guess I don't get the "too much time" thing. The only difference, for me, is the bin I put the wood into for loading sits on a scale in between the furnace and the wood rack instead of sitting on the floor. Either way I use the bin to put the wood into before I load. The only extra step is glancing up at the scale display and writing the weight on a notebook. Doesn't exactly take any extra time. I also load by weight, so it helps to know what to load based on the HDD's. Then when I do get extra time I transfer the weights into a spreadsheet to keep track of.

Loading into a bin before the furnace is different. Most people load straight from the rack to the stove. There is absolutely nothing wrong with what you are doing. And I find it interesting. But no way am I spending the time to do it