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It'll still burn....

Started by mrcaptainbob, October 12, 2011, 11:22:32 PM

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mrcaptainbob

Claimed a willow that was downed two years ago. It was laying on an always moist area. Diced it up a few days ago and split it yesterday. Off loaded it today. It all went on top of the existing wood pile. It'll dry faster that way, being exposed to the wind and sun. Also split it smaller than the other brands of wood. In any event, it'll burn. Have another one to dice up that was right next to it. We dropped it three days ago. It'll burn.....

SwampDonkey

It'll also come out straight ashes no matter how ugly it looks. ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Ianab

Some species of firewood are certainly better than others, but FREE is generally the best sort  :D

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Al_Smith

BTU's are BTU's ,some just generate more per volume than others .Per pound it's all the same .

zopi

Warm is warm...some times you have to get warm carrying it in too...but hey...
Guy was poking at me for burning maple the other day..."oak is better," yeah, dummy, but nobody is paying me to remove oaks right now, are they?
Heh...that is how I fell into the tree service...I put "and tree work,"on one brochure hoping to do enough to get my firewood in and get paid for doing it....worked a little too well...lol...
Got Wood?
LT-15G GO chassis added.
WM sharpener and setter
And lots of junk.

Al_Smith

Yes a person can get pretty selective if you have an abundance to choose from .

Because I have so much I start the heating season with say maple then as it gets colder to ash ,then oak .Finally about January at night time in goes the hickory .

chevytaHOE5674

It all burns. I burn about 90-95% aspen (some green, some dried, some rotted). Sure it takes more Aspen to do the job of seasoned oak or maple. But I have plenty of it on the farm and if I need to buy it I can buy pulpwood for 15-25 a cord stacked along my driveway from some friends in the Biz. Can't touch any maple or oak around here for that price. I always tell people if it will fit in the stove I'll burn it.

SwampDonkey

Mom's uncle always burned aspen in the kitchen stove in the fall. Her brother would haul it in for him with the horse and sled and they would both buck and split it and toss into the shed as they went. Never lasted long, but had all kinds of it.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Al_Smith

 :D Aspen,tulip poplar,cottonwood .Weighs a ton first cut ,green .After a few months weighs about as much as balsa .

chevytaHOE5674

Yep makes it easy to load in the stove.  :D

Did I mention that is free and over abundant. In fact a trucker friend of mine called at lunch said hes got half a log truck of aspen (probably 9~11 cord) that I can have... So he is bringing it by this evening ha. I'll be sure to give him a case of beer for his time when hes all done unloading.  ;D

I would love to burn nothing but maple but most of the maple on the farm is too nice to burn. In fact a few months back I knocked a couple down as I knew a guy desperately looking for Curly soft maple for a Gibson guitar order. Although the tops to those trees are in the wood pile.

I burn whatever is cheap and easy. Generally I can come up with enough free or cheap wood that I don't hardly have to cut any of my own trees. And when its free you can't complain.

T Welsh

I get all the wood I want for free(tree service) just cut 2 cords of poplar and put it up in front of the stacked wood to the left under cover( for my honey) she likes the weight of it and it burns easy for her when she gets home and fires the stove back up :D Tim

SwampDonkey

Can't be too cold in MI and PA, I'd freeze to death on aspen. I haven't got that kind of storage space and the furnace will only hold so much. And soft maple ain't my maple, sugar maple is my maple. ;) :D I put an armload of sugar maple in the furnace at noon and it's still turning the furnace fan and that is only half a load for the stove. It's not really that cold, but it feels nice on the bones. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

chevytaHOE5674

 :D No its cold in Mi I just have a large OWB and keep her chocked full of Aspen haha. Keeps it nice and toasty inside. I save the better maple and ash for when I'm going to be out of town and want the stove to burn for a few days.

Don't have much Sugar maple this close to the lake. Have to go further inland. Being 1/4 mile from Lake Superior it is mainly Aspen, birch, spruce, tamarack, balsam fir, with a little bit of soft maple. 

I filled the stove up with aspen last night and the water is still warm enough to keep the house warm. Toss some more in before bed and it will be good for another 24 hours when the outside temp is still in the 40's.

SwampDonkey

I tried apple wood one fall, I had cut the year before. It burned, but it wasn't the heat that hard maple has. I was some glad to get the apple burned and out of the way to get to that maple. ;D

The neighbors have a yard full of OWB, 3 of em. They usually burn 30 cord and only heating the house through the winter and a couple green houses in March-April. I don't see any wood over there yet for the winter. I do know their attached barn is stuffed full of kitchen stovewood. Mighty costly heating bill, since it's all bought wood. I still can't figure the math. The inputs are far ahead of the outputs. I think their is something pricey in them greenhouses. :D

You guys are lucky to get "Free wood" because no man or beast around here gives wood away. I guess not!!
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Al_Smith

I never paid for a stick of firewood in my life .

Now Swanp you aren't the only Candadian who buys wood .I know a lot on the forums which seems real strange to me .I'd have thought ,evidently through ignorance on my part ,that the back woods of Canada would have acres and acres of wood for the taking .

Now about that less than the best firewood .Stick enough air to it and it will get hot ,it just burns up fast .On the other hand that way you get a lot of exercise .

SwampDonkey

That's about like asking me to come thin your ground for free. First off, the first words uttered will be how much do I get for the wood. I can guarantee it. :D Then when I tell ya I'm only spacing the second growth saplings and it lays to rot on the ground then you'll calm down. And probably could care less if it's thinned from that point. :D

You take any of the back woods wood and you'll be strung up by the boot straps. :D You even need a permit to tip balsam fir bows, or to harvest anything from public lands, even yew bows.

Where I live Al, all the close economical firewood is privately owned. Most every small 100 acre crown lot within the county has been cut and were mostly wet woods no one could settle and clear. They pretty much manage them for willow, alders, red maple and aspen as I've thinned some, mostly moose swamps. The softwoods usually don't regenerate well except cedar on those places. Cedar makes good kindling, but I wouldn't want a shed full for winter.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

chevytaHOE5674

I have some apple in the stack I cut a few months ago, been sitting out in the sun and wind and it has water dripping out of the ends.

As for free wood, well you have to know the right people. The aspen that just got dropped off was the last load to clean up a job. Some of it is ugly and its been sitting a while (so it isn't bright white for pulp). Also they truck aspen pulp 3~4 hours one way to the pulp mill, so anything less than a full 20-22 cord truckload isn't making money. This trucker is a good friend of mine and I give him lots of work hauling logs. So he likes to return the favor. 

SwampDonkey

One thing I do know, it's getting mighty warm in here off those wood coals. No more wood for a few hours, thank you very much. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Al_Smith

Well open the window or sit around in your undies .

Al_Smith

Quote from: SwampDonkey on October 13, 2011, 05:42:08 PM
 
They pretty much manage them for willow, alders, red maple and aspen as I've thinned some, mostly moose swamps. The softwoods usually don't regenerate well except cedar on those places. Cedar makes good kindling, but I wouldn't want a shed full for winter.
Well all swamps are not created equal .I live in an area once known as the great black sawmp which is about 2 miles north of me and goes to lake Erie .Now instead of being inandated with willows it grew some of the most magnificent oak trees on the planet . Some of them are still here . ;D

They layed  enough drainage tile to drain that mess as would about go to the moon and now it's about the richest farm land in the US .Thank heavens willows are few and far between .

thecfarm

I suppose I should not mention I burn dead fir and white pine?  ;D Might even find a few dead cedars leaning up against a tree too. Kept me nice and warm last winter,think I'll try it again this winter too.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

chevytaHOE5674

I have some spruce, cedar, fir, and some red and white pine in my pile as well. Heck I have some tag alder bundles up in the pile as well haha.

mrcaptainbob

My favorite brand of wood to burn is...FREE! Right now the pile has black locust, oak, cherry, black walnut, elm, sassafras, mulberry and now willow. I'm not particular. It all burns. Just chucked in a log that I managed to cut between some fence wire. Even had some insulators on it. Once burned down, I take out the metal and porcelain. And as you mentioned, it all turns to ash. And plenty of heat along the way, too. One of the nice things about an OWB is that it takes green as well. Creosote burns, too!

sawguy21

 :D My buddy's dad and grandfather built guard rail along the Trans Canada highway in the 60's and brought home the tops of the creosoted posts. Burnt real well but had the occasional chimney flare up and it stunk. Good think the chinking didn't leak.
Best firewood we had was free birch, it was stacked along the road after the slashing crew came through. Don't know what they planned to do with it.
old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm

SwampDonkey

On crown land, they laid to waste a few years back, piles of white birch tops as long as the roads, piled 20 feet high. But it was not free. Some of the tops were at least 8" in diameter. This was old big trees, not the typical second growth on old clearcuts. It laid there for at least 4 years as the regrowth of the woods was 6 feet high. As far as I could figure it was all burned in piles. They wouldn't let anyone take any, in fact if caught you were a wood thief. This was also 50 miles from settlement, so pickup loads were not that economical. People complained of the waist but the license owns the wood and has the say of it.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

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