Walk me through cutting firewood

[Tandi]

Hello! I'm new to the forum and very inexperienced with woodburning but SO excited to start. My husband and I are buying a Woodstock Keystone and converting to 100% wood heat from oil heat. We are unhooking our furnace so we can vent through the same chimney so we're committed.

We're currently building our hearth pad and will have the stove in about a month.

There is so much to learn and I'm having a hard time following all the terminology. Please help a newbie. We want to eventually cut all our wood. I'm thinking we'll need to buy seasoned wood for this coming year but want to start our wood pile for coming years. What is the cheapest/easiest way to do this?

I thought we could buy a truckload of logs and move from there. Maybe it's better to buy smaller logs and just split them, though. I don't know...what would you recommend? How many cords should we try to cut this year to get ahead?

This is my understanding of the process; please correct me if needed:
1). cut tree length log into 16" logs (with what? a chainsaw?). Is this called "bucking"?!
2). split logs into firewood pieces (with a splitter that we rent?)
3). stack firewood on pallets and cover with a roof to protect from rain

Is that the gist? What equipment is needed and what makes sense to buy vs rent?

I'll probably keep asking questions, but this is where I'm starting. Thanks in advance!

 

[prezes13]

I am not familiar with keystone stove so I don't know how long pieces of wood it can accommodate. So I would recommend to take a measurement and cut your wood accordingly. Yes that is bucking. Since you are starting I would start with softwood it seasons the quickest. I find it hard to find a season wood for sale. Seasoned wood is 20% of moisture or less measured on a freshly split piece of wood. Seasoning process don't start until you split wood. I would recommend buying splitter. It's expensive but you are going to be using it a lot. Buy an ax or two. Fiskars are well liked around here. A maul and wedges are good things to have. You want to split your wood and stack it off the ground in sunny and windy place. Cover the tops.

 

[peakbagger]

You have the gist, but the devil is in the details. You missed a very key ingredient which is time. If you are in PA, your predominant tree type is Oak and Hickory ? (forgive the northerner for guessing). In that case if you plan to cut and dry your firewood, you should not use the stove for at least a year preferably two while the wood dries (if it has been properly split and stacked). That is major disappointment for many folks who buy a stove and most stove dealers forget to mention this to a new stove buyer. If you try to speed up the process, you will have nothing but frustration and someone in your area may get a great deal on a used woodstove when you give up in disgust.

If you want to short circuit the process, then you have to buy seasoned wood. This is harder than you think as few wood sellers sell seasoned hardwood. There is no good definition of seasoned and a lot of folks out for a quick buck who will claim that their wood is seasoned but 90% of the time they are stretching the truth. You can buy a moisture meter, to check the dryness but usually you find out after the load has been dumped in your driveway. The volume of firewood is always up for debate. Few if any standard pickup trucks can carry a standard cord which is a pile of wood 4' wide. 4' high and 8' long stacked. If the wood is hauled jumbled up, when stacked it can loose as much as 20 to30% of the volume. No matter the pitfalls, most folks usually buy couple of cords cut and split to get a head start and let it season for a year. In some areas you can buy kiln dried firewood but its quite expensive, good for ambience but not cost savings. The benefit is you can burn it immediately. With moderation you can mix truly dry wood with a bit of less seasoned wood once the stove is up to temperature but plan on using a lot more seasoned wood than poorly seasoned wood.

If you want to cut wood, you do need a chainsaw and the safety gear and training to use one. If you cant afford a chainsaw helmet and Kevlar chaps, you cant afford a chainsaw. I strongly urge you to get some organized training on using the saw. Using a chainsaw professionally has one of the highest injury rates of all occupations and that's with people who should know better. There are multiple ways to get hurt with a chainsaw and learn by doing is not the method as most chainsaw injuries are gruesome. This USDA chainsaw course is start for you to read through (broken link removed). but realize there is 8 hours of field time that goes with it.

Before you cut the wood into stove length pieces (which can vary by stove), you need to be able to cut the tree down safely. Another reason to take a chainsaw course.

Once cut to length, you don't need a splitter but if you plan to process a lot of wood it speeds things up. I hand split 3 to 4 cords a year with a Fiskars splitting maul. I use it for exercise but its definitely a lot slower than a splitter. If in doubt split the wood small, preferably in quarters or more as it dries faster.

Stacking and drying is also a skill you will acquire. Ideally, single rows sitting in the sun with a breeze is ideal but few folks have the real estate. Definitely stack it on a pallet and top cover the piles. Sheets of metal roofing are ideal for covering but many folks use plastic or rubber sheeting. Ideally you want an air space at the top of the pile under the cover. I just stack a pallet on top.

If you got into burning wood for short term savings, you might as well sell the stove. Its a long term investment in money and time to get equipped and many folks are unable to uninterested in making the commitment.

 

[CenterTree]

You NEED to get that wood split and dried ASAP!! I mean ASAP!

"This is my understanding of the process; please correct me if needed:
1). cut tree length log into 16" logs (with what? a chainsaw?). Is this called "bucking"?!"

I am a little concerned about the above statement. If you are asking this, then you have a long learning curve ahead of you.
It will be a fun journey, but you will need to take it slow and be careful

We were all newbies once, but just know you may have a bumpy first year with your stove.

Stick around here and you will absorb a lot of good info. Just see the above post (peakbagger) as an example.

 

[Simonkenton]

Yes there is a big learning curve, it also concerns me that the female is asking the questions about chain saws and mauls, and not the man. I hope he is interested in the new project, it takes some physical strength.

Chain saws are dangerous, got 35 stitches across my thigh one day. Be careful.

 

[ElmBurner]

There is an set of videos that is very helpful in terms of learning how to use and maintain a chainsaw, as well as how to fell and buck up trees.

BC Faller Training

(broken link removed)

It's also on Youtube. Or you can order a DVD if you are more of that kind of person.

If you are burning wood to save money, then buying a smaller saw, working with smaller logs, and splitting by hand are the best choices. I assume this is your motivation, considering you are unhooking your other furnace.

 

[peakbagger]

it also concerns me that the female is asking the questions about chain saws and mauls, and not the man

Be careful about stereotyping, I know of some very competent ladies who runs saws and split wood. They just work smarter, not harder

 

[Simonkenton]

Yes, I am stereotyping that men are better at cutting and splitting firewood. Because it requires physical strength. Because men are stronger than women.
You sound like a Hillary supporter.

 

[TedyOH]

I wouldn't unhook your oil furnace just yet........unless you get ash and soft maple, like tomorrow, split it small, stack it and get it out in the sun you're pretty much screwed for this winter.

 

[huauqui]

Tandl,
You are in the right place and asking the right questions. Don't take our responses as a no but instead realize we understand how dangerous this process can be and don't want you to get hurt. We have all been right were you are at one point or another. Most of us were fortunate and don't remember being there because we were just kids watching others do it. We were blessed to learn much of what we needed by watching, then trying a little under supervision, then starting to do it ourselves.

My advice would be to find a neighbor who cuts wood and volunteer to help so you can learn. Order a cord or two of already cut and split wood (4 if you can afford it) then get two to four additional cords worth of logs to begin to learn on yourself and after reading all the info on the links in the posts above cautiously dive in. That would give you a good head start on a wood supply. Then buy a moisture meter and split a little of the presplit wood you bought and check to see what the moisture reading is on a fresh split face. That will give you a starting moisture point. Test again through out the summer so you can get a feel for how the wood is drying out. Do this for both the presplit and the wood you cutting up and splitting. Your major goal is to have three years of wood cut, split, and stacked. Once you achieve that goal you will only need to cut, split, and stack one years worth each year. Why three years worth? Well the general consensus on hard woods is they take 3 years to be properly dry. This does vary by species quite a bit oak being one of the slowest. Soft woods like pines can be ready much much quicker so your mileage will very.

Also buy a good saw and a couple extra chains from a good shop that specializes in them (not a big box store.) You will need them as your friend down the road and the fairest and best way to do that is to buy your equipment there. One item not on the lists above would be good steel toe boots. I agree a splitting maul or sledge and wedges plus a fiskars splitting axe will go a long way towards splitting what you need but a hydraulic spliter will make it easier.

Don't get to overwhelmed, you can do this. It will take time to learn all you need and as we have all found there is always more to be learning. There are many many people in Lancaster PA that do this and most would be willing to have you come help and learn how to do it. Just look for someone with a lot of wood cut split and stacked around their house and go knock on the door. I have lots of family back east very near you but most of them are not wood burners and the couple who are I would not want you to learn from Read this forum, then read some more, asking questions along the way.

You will love your Woodstock, it is a great stove and will give you nice wonderful warmth for many years.

Be safe, we want you around the forum for the long haul

huauqui

 

[CenterTree]

A side note about unhooking your oil furnace.
If your home-owners insurance company knows that a wood stove is your SOLE (primary) source of heat, you may have an issue with them.

Check into it first.

 

[jb6l6gc]

You'll find out haw many times wood heats you...like we all have.

1. When you cut it
2. Move it
3. Split it
4. Stack it
5. Move it again
6. Burn it

As well you can make decent racks from free skids. I have attached a picture below to give you an idea

 

[peakbagger]

Yes, I am stereotyping that men are better at cutting and splitting firewood. Because it requires physical strength. Because men are stronger than women.
You sound like a Hillary supporter.

That sure looks like a really productive post that adds significant insight to the original posters question.

 

[NateB]

Hi an welcome to Hearth.com. I live just across the river from you in York. Your in a great place to start burning wood. The Amish are a great source for wood that is already cut and split, since you don't seem to have that end of your system up and running. Usually you can get it dumped in the yard near where you want to stack it. I would get it stacked as soon as you can. Ask around you will find an Amish-men who is good to deal with.

From the insurance side and the likelihood your first season not going to go as smooth as you hoped. I would put a second chimney in for the stove, so you have a fall back option. The second chimney will also give you the option of placing the stove in a central location. You can do it keep asking questions, and the helpful will help. Ignore the rest.

If you have trouble finding a firewood dealer let me know I can contact some people and see if they know of any one.

 

[kennyp2339]

Do you have hot water baseboard for heat?

 

[TedyOH]

Good advice on getting wood from the Amish, its your best chance of getting truly seasoned wood, just mention you want their oldest stock.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[bholler]

Yes, I am stereotyping that men are better at cutting and splitting firewood. Because it requires physical strength. Because men are stronger than women.
You sound like a Hillary supporter.

We have quite a few customers who are women and process all of their wood themselves. It really does not take that much physical strength most of the time. In fact my wife cuts and splits along with me. Yes I am faster at it but I have also been doing it since I was a kid she has only been at it a few years.

 

[bholler]

Is that the gist? What equipment is needed and what makes sense to buy vs rent?

Well you need a chainsaw for sure and chaps to protect yourself. Many will tell you you have to buy an expensive pro saw to start off with but honestly i have been using a cheap 50cc poulan pro for 5 years now with very few complaints. To get started i would probably rent a splitter but also get a maul or splitting axe.
I agree with the others who are saying dont unhook your furnace. Yes there are many who heat with wood alone but that means either you cant go away in the winter or you need to have someone you trust to tend the stove while you are gone to keep the pipe from freezing. Also the insurance issues need to be addressed but there are companies that are ok with only wood.

 

[ErikR]

It sounds like you get the idea, but I agree with the others... Dry, seasoned wood will make a huge difference in your success. Get busy now!

Stack the wood in the sun and wind and if you're going to "cover" it, only cover the top. Don't drape a tarp over it and expect it to dry. Don't believe anything a fly by night wood seller from Craigslist says. Heck, I don't even listen to my "expert" neighbor that tells me his wood is ready to burn because he cut down the trees 5 months ago and "they're dry". He cuts chunks off and splits them as he needs them ......






Time is your friend when it comes to both drying wood, and compound interest.

These are a couple of my stacks...






Don't let anyone say women can't run chin saws... I laugh at that. There are plenty of women who could out cut me! like this one...



" We are unhooking our furnace so we can vent through the same chimney so we're committed. "

I'm concerned about the removing a furnace and venting the new stove. Does your furnace vent into a brick chimney? or just a metal vent pipe? You do have a plan to make sure this new wood stove is installed correctly? A wood stove and a gas or oil furnace are 2 very different things.

You may wish you had an alternate heat source. Can you add the wood stove and keep the furnace?

Good luck!
and welcome...

 

[Wood Duck]

I greatly enjoy wood heat, but I am also glad to have a backup system. There is a huge difference between using mostly wood heat and using all wood heat. With nothing but wood heat you cannot leave the house untended for more than a day or so in the winter, or the water pipes might freeze. Keep the oil furnace in running condition is my advice.

You have time to get a few cords of a fast-seasoning wood ready for fall, if it can be split and stacked soon. There are lots of species of wood that dry pretty fast, including pine, ash, black cherry, Red or Silver Maples, and others. Avoid oak, which is very common, for your year-one wood because it seasons slowly. Oak is great but takes at least two, and maybe three years of drying to reach greatness.

 

[firefighterjake]

We have quite a few customers who are women and process all of their wood themselves. It really does not take that much physical strength most of the time. In fact my wife cuts and splits along with me. Yes I am faster at it but I have also been doing it since I was a kid she has only been at it a few years.

My sister has her own chainsaw . . . sawed wood for years with her husband in Alaska.

I should mention that she also has her own dirt bike and snowmobile . . . hikes . . . skijours . . . camps . . . hunts (has her own bow) . . . and enjoys riding in the Razor with her husband.

So yup . . . to say cutting wood is nearly always a "guy" thing is a bit stereotypical as you point out.

P.S. My wife often helps me with the wood . . . and actually spends more time than me when it comes to starting fires, tending the fire, etc.

 

[firefighterjake]

Tandi:

First off . . . welcome to hearth.com. This is a good site with good people who want to see you succeed in your wood burning endeavors. Sometimes we can be cantankerous, sometimes we may seem a bit rough . . . but at the end of the thread, most folks simply want to help others burn safely and stay warm in the winter while burning wood.

To answer your questions . . . and to reiterate some key points made by others.

I would be a bit leery to just unhook your oil furnace. 1) Your insurance company may (or may not) have a problem if your home is heated solely by wood. This is something you should check into before yanking anything out. 2) $@#% happens . . . maybe the seasoned wood you get the first year is not seasoned enough, maybe the Polar Vortex hits and you discover the woodstove just isn't up to the task of heating the home, maybe you get sick and cannot tend the woodstove or you have an emergency out of town and have to leave the house unattended . . . trust me . . . while I predominantly heat with wood . . . it's really nice to have a "conventional" back up source of heat. If you end up not needing to burn a drop of oil -- fantastic -- but it's far better to have that back up heat source in place and not need it versus discovering you need a back up heat source and you don't have it ready to go.

I may have missed it . . . but where are you placing your new woodstove? Around here most oil furnaces are in the basement or in an utility room. If you were hoping to simply pull the oil furnace pipe out and connect up the woodstove you may be less than happy if the woodstove is situated in an uninsulated or unused basement . . . or if it's located in an utility room and not in the main living space. Yes, putting in an additional chimney (around here most folks seem to prefer Class A -- a stainless steel chimney) will be an additional cost . . . but a) you'll know the chimney is good and ready to go (which may or may not be the case with using the existing chimney) and you will have a lot more options as to where to put the woodstove. Me . . . I like having the woodstove where I spend most of my time -- I get the full benefit of the heat plus, you'll always know when you need to reload and you get to see the fire which can be as entertaining as many TV shows.

You've pretty much nailed down the steps to processing wood . . . but you may have missed a few steps depending on how you get your wood. If you're cutting down a tree on your property (in my opinion one of the more dangerous aspects when it comes to processing wood) you need to cut down the tree with a chainsaw (and there is a definite learning curve here), de-limb the tree and then buck it into stove-length pieces (which vary according to the size of the stove's firebox.) After that you need to split the wood (splitting ax, maul or splitter -- rental or owned) and then stack the wood (getting it off the ground) . . . and then wait . . . generally folks will give most wood species 9-12 months at a minimum before burning . . . some species, such as oak, need a few more months typically.

As for the cheapest way to get fuel . . .

1. Finding free, cut and split firewood on Craigslist or from a friend who may be moving or is no longer burning wood (Without a doubt the cheapest, but also about as common as spotting the elusive rainbow colored unicorn of Atlantis).

2. Scrounging wood that may or may not be bucked up from neighbors, tree service, Craigslist, asking about wood you see on property beside the road, etc. (This often seems to be a feast or famine deal -- some folks make out like Fat Cats with fantastic hauls of primo hardwood . . . sometimes delivered right to the house, while in other areas folks really have to work to find anything and even then it may be slim pickings in terms of what you find.)

3. Slabwood. This is another hit or miss deal. In my neck of the woods, just about every single sawmill only cuts softwood and the slabs are usually pretty thin. If I can get some free slabs to use for the shoulder season or to make kindling I'll grab some . . . but I don't go out of my way for it. Now, that said, across the river in Eddington at Peavey Manufacturing (where they still make Peaveys) folks can buy white ash remnants for a pretty low price (but to be honest from what I've seen most of this is pretty small stuff and not worth my time or cash.) In some areas however, sawmills are cutting hardwood and some of the pics of the slabs have been pretty meaty. Sometimes there is a charge . . . but oftentimes the charge is pretty low compared to buying pre-cut firewood. An advantage is that slabwood due to the size can season pretty quickly.

4. Tree length wood. If you have to buy wood and you're willing to work a little harder this tends to be the best deal. Wood will be delivered in tree length so you will need to cut it, split it and stack it. It's more work, but can be as much as half the cost of firewood that is already bucked and split and delivered to you.


Your stove needs well seasoned wood. If you haven't bought wood by now you really should . . . if you plan to burn wood this year. Be aware that "seasoned" wood means different things to different folks. A seller may consider seasoned wood that he cut down six months ago and has left in tree length . . . whereas many of us here consider seasoned wood to be wood that is below a certain moisture level. It can a challenge to find truly seasoned wood. Generally, the earlier you get your wood, the better off you will be . . . even better is to get wood a full year before you intend to burn so you will know your wood will be ready to go.

Final thought . . . if you have other questions ask away . . . this site is here so folks can learn . . . and you only learn by asking questions . . . well, that's not quite true . . . if you do a whole lot of reading here you can learn a lot as well.

Again, welcome to hearth.com.

 

[Flame On]

My 2 cents. I am just a bit to the east of you so my weather is the same as yours. I am only a part time burner (some nights, most weekends). After we installed our insert, I have been able to get through the winter on only about 300 - 320 gallons of oil. I am in a drafty 2000 square foot house, but the insert is centrally located.
Even if you only run the oil occasionally, it is still worth it to have a back up. Once you are really up and running you'll be surprised how little oil you use and how infrequently the heater kicks on.
Also, get your hands on some ash right now. Split it and stack it quickly and you'll be ready for next winter.

 

[English BoB]

Yes there is a big learning curve, it also concerns me that the female is asking the questions about chain saws and mauls, and not the man. I hope he is interested in the new project, it takes some physical strength.

Chain saws are dangerous, got 35 stitches across my thigh one day. Be careful.

That is a very sexist reply. It should be removed.

bob

 

[kennyp2339]

Firefighter Jake has it pretty much nailed down, also some oil furnace / boiler chimney's are ran unlined (depends on when the house was built) when I say unlined I mean just concrete block, or brick no terracotta liner. You will have to check that, also some masonry chimney's are not up to code for a wood burning appliance, they don't have the minimum 2" of clearance between it and a combustible way or frame. Its only common sense to build a separate chimney for your wood burner.
Also a wood stove should be centrally located in a popular area of the home to maximize its heating ability, especially a Woodstock stove so you can turn it way down, still get good heat and cash in on long clean burns