What's the deal with slabwood?

[pulldownclaw]

I realize that it depends on how much "meat" it has on it vs. bark, but I was thinking it might be good for a "close family member" of mine to pick some up so he can get ahead on the rest of his woodpile. Would it season a little quicker since it's in fairly thin slabs? I noticed somebody selling 2 cords for $300 delivered.

 

[Wet1]

$300 for 2 cords sounds VERY STEEP for slabwood

But yes, it does season fast.

 

[Duetech]

As mentioned cutting is tedious. bark burns but is lower in btu's than the actual wood but it is still hot. Cut and stack to get as much wind and sun as possible now and you (your family member) will have more ready wood for the cold. I burned slab for two years and I threw a lot of it as it does burn faster than chunk wood. There is ready made kindling in slabwood and even some select type chunks in some of the larger slabs so sort as you cut. Make sure you are dealing with dense hard wood or you will be doing a chore that never seems to end.

 

[firefighterjake]

Yes . . . slab wood will season faster.

A good deal . . . I wouldn't pay $300 for 2 cords of slabwood . . . and I like the stuff. Seems a bit expensive for slabwood.

Slab wood varies depending on where you're getting it . . . around here most slabwood is from softwood (with the exception of a local tool manufacturer . . . but most of the wood I've seen coming from there is better for small stoves or for use as kindling) . . . as a result the softwood slabwood is pretty cheap to get and I only use the slabwood for use as kindling, to start the fire and for some quick, hot fires during the shoulder seasons.

As the member formerly known as Prince . . . I mean Pook . . . has mentioned. Fires fueled by slabwood often burn rather hot due to the extra surface area and cutting the slabwood to size can be a chore . .. although I try to stack the slabwood all together in a pile which speeds up the process.

 

[pulldownclaw]

Yeah, I realize it's expensive, but we're talking suburban Maryland, outside of D.C. I saw some regular cords of hardwood going for $250+ or so.

Oh, and "the family member" isn't me, I've got 5 cords ready to go, I just didn't want to "out" him so close to Father's Day....;-P

Maybe I've got to get up there and help him out a bit with a neighbors splitter.

 

[JSJAC]

Last year I was paying $20.00 for a one cord plus bundle delivered to my house. The bundles are 4-5 feet around and aprox 12-13 feet long.
I did not get any this year.
I like to burn slabs but i am way ahead on wood.

 

[firefighterjake]

Last year I was paying $20.00 for a one cord plus bundle delivered to my house. The bundles are 4-5 feet around and aprox 12-13 feet long.
I did not get any this year.
I like to burn slabs but i am way ahead on wood.

$20 for one cord? Typo . . . or a wicked good deal?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Perhaps in that area it might be worth it but do you know what these slabs came off of? That would be the big determining factor. Around here that slabwood would go for maybe $50 per cord at the most.

 

[JSJAC]

These are pine slabs .$20.00 per cord plus is correct.

 

[jebatty]

Slabwood (pine) is a primary wood fuel for my gasification boiler. I built an X shaped sawhorse, with guides, that takes 100" slabs, about 6-10 at a time, which can quickly and accurately be cut with the chain saw into 18" pieces. Great, inexpensive wood source. Some pines have bark with higher btu's than the wood.

 

[Duetech]

I hate to give people ideas but after a little research in my area I have found that at least two of the sources for slab in this area have gone the way of the dodo and that almost makes the case for supply and demand ($$$$). In our favor though is those that create slab still have to get rid of it and if they haven't gone to grinders then they look to us to help them. IMHO, as things currently stand, slab should never equate to the price of quality firewood but since the economy is tight for everyone I was thinking of picking up a load just to keep the sources viable.