Worth the effort?

[Trues]

I have access to this huge black birch tree, the owner of the house says it was dropped in July '14. The center looks great and solid but the outer area looks soft and there is tons of mushrooms growing all over it.

The rounds have to be moved about 50' out of the woods to the yard to be split and then another 50' to the driveway to load.

So my question for the other scrounges out there is: Is this wood worth the effort

 

[Corey]

Guess it really depends on what else is around. If you're swimming in free oak, hickory, etc, delivered to your driveway, then probably not worth it. If you need every stick of wood you can get and the next option is cottonwood which is 40 miles away, then, yes, this should be a big score.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

I would take it if I could get it out of there... What's your method of extraction?........

 

[Trues]

Method for extraction would be me and some help rolling the rounds the 50' and then splitting them in the yard to barrows to the truck and trailer.

I have access to some other stuff but would hate to pass up all this wood if it will be good quality btus.

 

[rwilly]

Looks punky, but it has already been bucked so I would take it, when I split it throw the punky stuff in the pit and stack the good stuff.

 

[Applesister]

The wood is top shelf heat.(like close to hickory) Its semi seasoned, already dropped and bucked. Even with the proportion of punk. Definitely yes. Salvage what you can.
Its one of those worth the effort types.
You are gonna need to cover it with tin or rubber roofing, though.
BB gets the punk easy(like hickory)
Too bad you didnt see when it first came down.

 

[Poindexter]

I would jump on it going by the pics. Can you split it where it lies and barrow it straight to the truck?

 

[Jay106n]

Good amount of wood there, already bucked...jackpot. Roll it, split it, and reap the benefits.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

I don't know anything about black birch, but if your not at least 3 years ahead then you need to get it, split it and decide down the line when to use it, when your ahead of the game you don't need to break your balls rolling big rounds up and down hills to get them home anymore.....

 

[Knots]

Not too punky, cut to length, and black birch. I'd get it...

 

[Trues]

I am definitely not three years ahead on supply as many of the pros seem to recommend.This was my first year burning wood full time and i actually ran out of wood below 20% in mid march which left a couple chilly weeks in the house.

Looks like I know what I'll be doing this weekend... Probably breaking more than just my balls rolling those rounds around!

 

[weatherguy]

My first year trying to get 3 years ahead I took everything I could get my hands on.

 

[Roundgunner]

Yeah I would take it and get it stacked right away. I have a decision also, 5 cord or more of pine on ground 1/2 mile away. Tree guys dropped them, ground up the small stuff and left a lot of huge wood on the front yard. Not sure if I want anymore pine.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

My first year trying to get 3 years ahead I took everything I could get my hands on.

Mee too, that's what helped me get ahead, but I was lucky enough to score some mother loads, but non the least, take all you can get except p***........

 

[Poindexter]

One thing you might do is split those right where they lay, just once. Birch will lose a LOT of water weight FAST the first couple weeks after it's split open. Even bucked to length like that last July.

Or split two truckloads, carry one out and leave the other one even one week to see how much lighter it gets in just a week. Really.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Wheelbarrow access = yes

No wheelbarrow access = no

 

[TommyTally]

Could you use a utility sled to get it out of there? Or maybe a four wheeler or lawn tractor with a utility cart? May make it a little easier.

 

[bag of hammers]

Some of the yellow birch I cut a few years ago had a bit of punk on a few sections. One more excuse to have an outside fire - knock the punk part off and toss in a pile. I would spend some time on it.

 

[CountryBoy19]

Depends how desperate you are. I have access to plenty of wood, but I have to go knock on doors to get it. I ended up taking a load of wood that was probably worse than that last week. Why? It was offered to me, only 10 miles out of my way on my way home from work, coworker helped me buck/load it, and it unlocked the door to all the other trees he is clearing to build his home (mostly oak, followed by some hickory, and then some other species mixed in).

Under normal circumstances the 10 extra miles is my limit for gathering good wood, I wouldn't normally take a punky tree like I took. But doing so opened the door for numerous other premium species so I did it.

I guess only you can decided if it's worth it. Can you get other, better wood sources that require less manual labor, and are closer to home etc? Then you have to weigh in the factors of "helping a friend out", "unlocking the door to future wood scrounges", "is the owner of the tree willing to help you?", "how bad do you need the wood", "how bad do you need THAT wood?" (all the oak in the world won't help you if you need well-seasoned wood to burn this fall). Using all that info you make a judgment call on "worth it" or "not worth it". And after you make the call of "worth it" on questionable wood, it's inevitable that a week later you'll find the ultimate score, right in your backyard, but your wood stacks are now full and you don't have room for it. Haha

 

[PA. Woodsman]

If it were me, I'd split a few rounds right there to see if it was still good enough to deal with, then I'd use a handtruck with the big air filled balloon tires not the solid tires to wheel it out of there rather than roll it. It might take longer but it might be easier than rolling them out, that is if you can use a handtruck without it sinking! If it's still good grab it as Black Birch rocks!

 

[Knots]

Probably breaking more than just my balls rolling those rounds around!

Think of the savings on gym membership!

 

[jeffesonm]

That does not look worth it to me. I never get wood that is already bucked because it's almost always cut to irregular lengths. With a sharp chain it takes what, 15, 20 minutes to buck a big log? I'd rather do it myself. Also the bark doesn't look like the black birch trees I have around me.

Where in NJ are you?