total newb questions

[buffalo heat]

Hi all , im hoping to have a wood boiler in action for next winter. Its an old school cast iron beast , that I will set outside and enclose.

I have about 14 acres of woods in upstate NY. I have no idea about what kinds of trees are here other than some pine that obvious. My questions are what kind of wood can I burn? How to season wood , do different woods take different times? what happens if I dont properly season? Does wood size/ split size matter? Probabaly just the basic newb questions. Sorry if these are stickied , Ive poked around and dint see it. If they are a link would be great , im not lazy , love to read. Thx a bunch!

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Oak, hickory, black and honey locust, hedge apple, mulberry will be your hottest burning woods. (not in that order, hedge apple, A.K.A. osage orange is the hottest)

Does wood size/ split size matter?

Can't say in you boiler, but I'm sure you will hear from others in the know.

what happens if I dont properly season

Wood not properly seasoned is harder to start and has a much lower heat output once it begins to burn and causes creosote problems, basically burning green wood is a waste of wood.

do different woods take different times

Oak is, for me, 3 years cut, split and stacked, some say 2 is okay

My questions are what kind of wood can I burn?

I've not used a boiler so I can't say for sure but generally most any wood, properly seasoned will work.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Well said Ralphie Boy.


Welcome to the forum buffalo heat.

Always keep in mind, the drier the better. I'd advise staying away from oak in your first years of burning wood because that stuff is good but it takes a long time for it to dry. There are lots of woods though that will dry nicely in a year. I still prefer longer though. The 3 year plan is hard to beat; get 3 years ahead on your wood piles and most of your troubles are gone!

 

[buffalo heat]

thx guys , guess ill have to buy wood next winter even if i get her fired up. How do you season? Just stack it and keep it indoors or under a tarp?You split it then season? Whats a newbs best options for splitting , a hammerand wedge? I guess cut as many trees as i can the first year before i guage what ill need a season?

 

[Paulywalnut]

Even in an outdoor boiler where creosote is not that critical, you still want seasoned firewood for optimal heat output.
When I let a friend in on that secret he couldn't thank me enough. He uses about half what he used to in his outdoor system.

 

[Wood Duck]

If I had woods and needed firewood next winter, I'd cut my own rather than buy firewood. I'd focus on faster seasoning woods like Red Maple, softwoods/coniferous trees, maybe White Ash, Black Cherry, and birches. If you have time to get the wood cut and stacked soon, it could be decent by next winter. Stack the wood in a single row in a sunny, windy location, so it will season as quickly as possible. I'd also consider Aspen if it is easy to reach, since it seasons quickly (although it is rather lightweight and so it burns fast). I normally don't bother with Aspen since it is so light, but in your case you need wood, and dry aspen is a lot better than wet oak.

For next year I'd avoid oak, Sugar Maple, and Beech, which are more dense so they season more slowly than the first group of woods. These are all great firewood, but save them for a couple of years from now when they will be better seasoned.

 

[ArsenalDon]

How do you season? Just stack it and keep it indoors or under a tarp?You split it then season?

Just the opposite. Split it and then stack it very loosely so the wood is exposed to sun and especially wind.

Whats a newbs best options for splitting , a hammerand wedge?

That was how I started....then I discovered the Fiskars X27. you will still need the sledge and wedge too however

I guess cut as many trees as i can the first year before i guage what ill need a season?

If you can find dead standing pine or fur trees you can use that wood within 6 months of having been split and laid out to season

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Hi all , im hoping to have a wood boiler in action for next winter. Its an old school cast iron beast , that I will set outside and enclose.

I have about 14 acres of woods in upstate NY. I have no idea about what kinds of trees are here other than some pine that obvious. My questions are what kind of wood can I burn? How to season wood , do different woods take different times? what happens if I dont properly season? Does wood size/ split size matter? Probabaly just the basic newb questions. Sorry if these are stickied , Ive poked around and dint see it. If they are a link would be great , im not lazy , love to read. Thx a bunch!

Your questions in order

1) Any kind you want. With time and experience you will develop preferences but I wouldn't worry about that now.

2) Spilt it and stack it (off the ground) someplace with decent ventilation (like outside).

3) Yes the time wood takes to dry is variable between and among species.

4) Wet/green/not dry wood will smoke a lot and will burn cooler which will cause you to burn more wood

5) Yes. Smaller splits dry faster

6) (you didn't ask this question but here it is anyway) - start cutting/splitting/stack now. Today. Do more to morrow. Do not wait.

 

[red oak]

Welcome buffalo heat!

Well the advice you've gotten so far is really good so I can't add much. Just to clarify, seasoning occurs when the moisture leaves the wood, which it can't do if it's under a tarp. If you want to cover, cover the top only and leave the sides open, allowing air to circulate. If you choose to cover the top, tarps can be a pain. If you have some old roofing, metal or rubber, that would work well.

As for splitting, I use a simple splitting maul that I got at Tractor Supply. It's 8 lbs and has a fiberglass handle. It splits just about anything I want. I have a sledge hammer and a couple of wedges for those stubborn pieces, and when all else fails I get the chainsaw. Try for a mix of sizes with your splits, small for starting fires, a bit larger for keeping it going, and a bit larger still for overnight burns.

Lastly, all wood is good to burn as long as it is dry. Softwoods like pine are good because they season fast and give out quick heat. Hardwoods like maple and hickory dry a bit slower but give out longer heat. Oak gives a lot of heat but can take years split and stacked before it's dry.

Keep the questions coming, we were all new to this once!

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Welcome buffalo heat!

Well the advice you've gotten so far is really good so I can't add much. Just to clarify, seasoning occurs when the moisture leaves the wood, which it can't do if it's under a tarp. If you want to cover, cover the top only and leave the sides open, allowing air to circulate. If you choose to cover the top, tarps can be a pain. If you have some old roofing, metal or rubber, that would work well.

As for splitting, I use a simple splitting maul that I got at Tractor Supply. It's 8 lbs and has a fiberglass handle. It splits just about anything I want. I have a sledge hammer and a couple of wedges for those stubborn pieces, and when all else fails I get the chainsaw. Try for a mix of sizes with your splits, small for starting fires, a bit larger for keeping it going, and a bit larger still for overnight burns.

Lastly, all wood is good to burn as long as it is dry. Softwoods like pine are good because they season fast and give out quick heat. Hardwoods like maple and hickory dry a bit slower but give out longer heat. Oak gives a lot of heat but can take years split and stacked before it's dry.

Keep the questions coming, we were all new to this once!

Some dispute this. I am one of those.

For the purposes of the wood burner "seasoned" has no meaning, and it has no relationship to the moisture content of wood. If you submerge a piece of dry firewood in a bucket of water for a month or two it will become water logged and have a very high MC. Would it still be "seasoned"? Yes. Is it ready to burn? No.

FACT: wood seasons regardless of it's MC

FACT: a years-dead log (which is seasoned) may have the same MC as a live standing tree, but once split and stacked the years-dead log will be ready to burn in a fraction of the time

FACT: all dry wood is seasoned, but not all seasoned wood is dry

 

[Backwoods Savage]

thx guys , guess ill have to buy wood next winter even if i get her fired up. How do you season? Just stack it and keep it indoors or under a tarp?You split it then season? Whats a newbs best options for splitting , a hammerand wedge? I guess cut as many trees as i can the first year before i guage what ill need a season?

buffalo, keep in mind that different types of wood take different amounts of time to dry.

We typically do all our cutting in the winter months. After snow melt, typically March/April, then we do all the splitting and stack it immediatly after the splitting is done. This is how we stack:


For stacking on, we cut saplings in the woods and lay down two, usually 10' long and stack the wood to approximately 4 1/2' high. Most times we stack 3 rows together and have no problem with the wood drying this way. We do not cover the stacks that first spring, summer and fall but do top cover with old galvanized roofing usually around December 1. Then we just wait and let Mother Nature do the rest. We do try to have all our wood in the stack for 3 years and many times much longer.

On covering the wood, I think you are in a fairly wet area so you may want to top cover your wood soon after stacking. You have to be the judge on that one.


For splitting, you can get a relatively inexpensive splitting maul. Some on here brag up the Fiskar's but we've found a splitting maul does a much better and easier job. Easier yet is hydraulics. If not hydraulics, it also can pay to have a couple steel wedges for those tough to split pieces. Some type of woods you can easily split with an axe. I split wood for 30 some odd years using only an axe but also used sledge and wedge for the tough jobs. Then I learned there was such a thing as a splitting maul. Works nice. When an injury put a stop to that, I graduated to hydraulics. Oh how I wish I'd had this sooner...

 

[buffalo heat]

thank you everyone. youve all been a huge help!