Well stop wandering, and start splitting! I've lost many a BTU of white birch, before I realized how fast it rots. That white birch bark is water impermiable, and the bugs and bacteria don't like anything better than the wood.View attachment 201592 I’m wandering when I should split my Birch rounds to keep them from rotting, I had once heard that if they are small enough then I can just buck them and stack them. I’d think anything 4” or less would be ok but maybe some of you out there knows for certain what size is good to go unsplit..? I cut my rounds at 14-16” long.
I just did the same thing with the bark on a pile of rotted birch. It has something in it that burns real well, no better (free) firestarter!Yes I’ve learned some here, thanks everyone! And Peakbagger nailed it when he said the Birch I’ve cut has been dead for a short period and the crown has some rot to them already but most of the rest of the tree is good hard wood yet- if I get on it soon enough. There’s lots of Birch up here in NW Wisconsin even after they took a hard hit from a drought in 2007. Some call them the suicide tree because when they’re stressed they have a certain odor that attracts Emerald Birch Borers that come to finish them off. I have another dead Birch on my lot here that I see but it has one shelf growing on it so I’m too late for that tree I’m sure. After Birch has rotted on the ground for a few years I often harvest the bark for kindling, it fires up fast and gets the stove going good.
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