wood supply who is years ahead

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I have 7 cords split and am in the process of stacking but i am curious how many of you guys are ahead of the game.

I have 1/2 cord oak been split since NOv 08
1/2 cord Elm rounds since Nov 08 split last week
1/2 cord locust
1/2 cord walnut
1/2 cord apple
3 cords soft maple
2.5 cords Elm all split last weekend
Will any of these be ready for this comming up winter?
I was going to burn the soft maple then older elm then break into the higher btu stuff after i have gotten the stove up to temp with the elm and soft maple.

Still learning how and I doing??

 

[CowboyAndy]

I have 10 cord about to be split this weekend, all for this year.

but i do have 1/2 cord of hickory, cut and split in october 08... a cord assorted softwood (pine, popple and boxelder) c/s oct 08 and a cord of maple and cherry branches (1-2" diameter) cut from june to october 08.

 

[smokinj]

7 cords as well but i dont stack i pile it up as high can throw

 

[Wet1]

I'm over three years ahead, almost all oak.

The 3 cords of soft maple will certainly be ready. The locust should be ready if you burn the soft maple first. By the time you are ready to burn the walnut, elm, and apple, it will also be ready to go. The oak... it won't be ready for this coming season.

 

[[email protected]]

I'm over three years ahead, almost all oak.

The 3 cords of soft maple will certainly be ready. The locust should be ready if you burn the soft maple first. By the time you are ready to burn the walnut, elm, and apple, it will also be ready to go. The oak... it won't be ready for this coming season.

Thanks that is what I was thinking the oak was standing dead and had a lot of rot.
I will throw a chunk in there and see what she does when the time is right.

Good to hear I should be in decent shape now I can start getting ahead

 

[Jack Straw]

I have 8 cords c/s/s, thank goodness, Easter Sunday I hurt my shoulder and now I am out of commision for awhile. It's nice knowing I have enough wood and I can take some time off. This is my 1st shoulder injury and its one of the worst things I've ever done. I was picking up logs tht were too heavy. If I was behind the ball I would be in a lot of trouble.

 

[Got Wood]

I worked hard to get to 11 cords c/s/s.... all scrounged. I used 5 cord this year which was year 1 so I should have 2+ years on hand now.
Wood is a mix of hard woods and approx 1 cord of pine/willow mix.
I also have approx 1/2 cord of "junk" wood for the outdoor firepit.

 

[Wet1]

I'm over three years ahead, almost all oak.

The 3 cords of soft maple will certainly be ready. The locust should be ready if you burn the soft maple first. By the time you are ready to burn the walnut, elm, and apple, it will also be ready to go. The oak... it won't be ready for this coming season.

Thanks that is what I was thinking the oak was standing dead and had a lot of rot.
I will throw a chunk in there and see what she does when the time is right.

Good to hear I should be in decent shape now I can start getting ahead

Standing dead can be a crap shoot when it comes to dryness. I'd suggest getting a (cheap) moisture meter and resplit a couple of pieces and see where it's at. But yeah, you should be all set if you burn in the order I listed.

 

[smokinj]

soft maple will be ready for sure, iam getting sick of that stuff but its everywhere around here

 

[Stevebass4]

6 cord oak and ask stacked (3 cord left over from last year and 3 cord green that i just finished)

figure i burn about 3 cord a year so set for 09/10 and 10/11

have about two more cord to process - hopefully i'll be done this weekend

 

[iceman]

i have about 5 cd for this year that was c/s/s last april-may..... so far 3.5 for 2010-11 season... but more than likely won't burn 5 cords prolly 3-4 so the 3.5 could go up... i plan on buying/scrounging at least another cord or two this summer .... then in the fall i will hopefully get some green wood around oct/nov that i can split over winter for 2010/11 and 2011/12

 

[Slow1]

Right now I'm still playing catch up getting ready for my 2nd year of burning...

I burned about 3 1/2 cords last year starting in November - I want to have 4 1/2 - 5 cords ready for each year although I actually estimate I'll need 4 cords since I expect to burn smarter and the wood will all be much better seasoned and should thus heat the house more than the chimney... But who knows eh?

To answer the question though, I'm still scrabbling to get my piles in order -

I have about 2 1/2 cords ready to burn for next year (09/10) - leftovers from last year's marginal wood, scrounged dead standing etc, and some 3year old hardwood that I lucked into on CL and bought.

I have about 1 1/4 cords of green stacked and drying for 10/11

Wood piles may not exactly be something to be proud of but at least it is progress... last year at this time I had nothing, was considering a stove for the house, and hadn't even heard of hearth.com - I figure I'm WAY ahead of where I was then!

 

[Todd]

Two years ahead here. I go through 3 cords per year and have about 7.5 cords of mostly Oak and Black Locust all cut and stacked. All done scrounging for firewood this spring, ready for the summer.

 

[Jamess67]

Five cords on hand. No where else to stack so I guess Im done.

 

[BrowningBAR]

If I stay with only one stove I have enough for four years. If I install the second stove I have enough for two, maybe three, years.

 

[Chief Ryan]

About 7 to 8 cords. Yellow birch, Red oak, Locust, soft maple, walnut, sassafras, pitch pine and a few rounds of something i have no idea what it is. I'll post pics.

 

[jdinspector]

About 7 to 8 cords. Yellow birch, Red oak, Locust, soft maple, walnut, sassafras, pitch pine and a few rounds of something i have no idea what it is. I'll post pics.

Not meaning to hijack this thread... For woodstock fireview owners that burn 24/7, how much did you burn this year? I ran over 5 cords with my old VC stove, but am thinking I might cut my use by 1/3 or so. I'm thinking 3.5 cords max.

That leaves me at 6 cords c/s/s. Oak, ash, hard maple and a little bit of elm. About 1/2 has been c/s/s since November 08. I wonder about my oak though (about 1/2 of my wood is oak). I've always found that it drys pretty quick for me. 9 months and it has always been "good enough" dry. 1 year and it's "for sure". I hear people talking about 18 months to dry oak and wonder why so long? Is it that much dryer here in IL?

 

[iceman]

About 7 to 8 cords. Yellow birch, Red oak, Locust, soft maple, walnut, sassafras, pitch pine and a few rounds of something i have no idea what it is. I'll post pics.

Not meaning to hijack this thread... For woodstock fireview owners that burn 24/7, how much did you burn this year? I ran over 5 cords with my old VC stove, but am thinking I might cut my use by 1/3 or so. I'm thinking 3.5 cords max.

That leaves me at 6 cords c/s/s. Oak, ash, hard maple and a little bit of elm. About 1/2 has been c/s/s since November 08. I wonder about my oak though (about 1/2 of my wood is oak). I've always found that it drys pretty quick for me. 9 months and it has always been "good enough" dry. 1 year and it's "sor sure". I hear people talking about 18 months to dry oak and wonder why so long? Is it that much dryer here in IL?

oh yeah... over here we get nor' easters which is a low that forms just off the east coast and comes up the coast bringing all the moisture from the atlantic

 

[Todd]

About 7 to 8 cords. Yellow birch, Red oak, Locust, soft maple, walnut, sassafras, pitch pine and a few rounds of something i have no idea what it is. I'll post pics.

Not meaning to hijack this thread... For woodstock fireview owners that burn 24/7, how much did you burn this year? I ran over 5 cords with my old VC stove, but am thinking I might cut my use by 1/3 or so. I'm thinking 3.5 cords max.

That leaves me at 6 cords c/s/s. Oak, ash, hard maple and a little bit of elm. About 1/2 has been c/s/s since November 08. I wonder about my oak though (about 1/2 of my wood is oak). I've always found that it drys pretty quick for me. 9 months and it has always been "good enough" dry. 1 year and it's "sor sure". I hear people talking about 18 months to dry oak and wonder why so long? Is it that much dryer here in IL?

I burn a Fireview 24/7 just a little north of you and the last 3 years I've averaged 3 cords heating 1800 sq ft. I think Backwoods Savage burns about the same amount. Your mileage may vary due to many factors, but I bet you will save at least 1 cord per year.

Fresh cut Oak around here takes 2 years to dry out. If it's standing dead with little or no bark it could take 6-12 months.

 

[madrone]

If we have a "normal" winter next year, I'll use half of what I've got right now. If we have one like this year, I'll use most of it. Especially since I have less hardwood. I'm keeping my eye out for oak or dogwood this summer, even though my yard is at capacity.

 

[LLigetfa]

I really didn't know how to cast my vote so I voted 2 years ahead. I have most of next year's wood already cut/split/seasoned.

- cutting and splittin now for this winter - 10% of the green wood cut this past winter will make up the difference for this coming winter.
- 1 year ahead - 90% done (see above)
- 2 years ahead - 40% done (cut and bucked, just needs to be split and stacked)
- 3 years ahead - 40% done (cut and bucked, just needs to be split and stacked)

 

[Hurricane]

I voted 2 years.
It really depends on many factors, I only burn steady when it is below 30 outside and it was below 30 from Nov - April this year. I have 6-7 cords split stacked and usually burn about 2 cords a year. This year I burned between 3-4 cords because I burned constantly.
I have a second zero clearance fireplace that we usually burn when we are watching a movie but I could not this year because I was constantly running out of wood for the insert and scrounging to keep up. So I could have between 1 1/2 - 3 years c/s/s. I have not given up scrounging though I will never pass up a good score, I do pass up difficult scores now that I have inventory.

 

[northwinds]

I'm two plus years ahead--10.5 cords. I was going to stop, but the wood offers keep coming in. In the last week,
I've added a half cord of apple and a half cord of mulberry. I've got an offer to take down a bunch of mostly smallish
locust trees. After that, I'm done til fall--unless I get another offer that I can't refuse.

 

[Wet1]

I wonder about my oak though (about 1/2 of my wood is oak). I've always found that it drys pretty quick for me. 9 months and it has always been "good enough" dry. 1 year and it's "sor sure". I hear people talking about 18 months to dry oak and wonder why so long? Is it that much dryer here in IL?

Split it and stick a meter in it... my guess is it has more moisture left in it than you might think.

 

[jdinspector]

I wonder about my oak though (about 1/2 of my wood is oak). I've always found that it drys pretty quick for me. 9 months and it has always been "good enough" dry. 1 year and it's "sor sure". I hear people talking about 18 months to dry oak and wonder why so long? Is it that much dryer here in IL?

Split it and stick a meter in it... my guess is it has more moisture left in it than you might think.

I'll do that come fall. I actually took moisture readings when I split it and stuck a piece of paper in a plastic sleeve right in the stack. When I uncover that piece of paper, I'll split a couple and compare.

Just an FYI for those using moisture meters. (I have a lot of experience with many different types of moisture meters) Once wood gets over about 35% moisture, it has reached its saturation point. Many digital meters will show readings up to 99%. That's an algorithm that's built into the meter. The meter is actually "estimating" based on the conductivity of the wood. When I take moisture readings for work related things, I only report up to 35% moisture readings (in wood). Above that, it's 35%+.

Two other items that can affect readings are the temperature and the species of wood. One of my meters actually has a conversion table on the back of it. Large temp fluctuations can drastically affect the % on the display. Some by as much as 10-15%. Wood species is a whole different story. I don't get too worried about that in general. For firewood, it's a moot point.