Drying Firewood

 
User avatar
carlherrnstein
Member
Posts: 1536
Joined: Tue. Feb. 07, 2012 8:49 am
Location: Clarksburg, ohio
Hot Air Coal Stoker Stove: combustioneer model 77B
Coal Size/Type: pea stoker/Ohio bituminous

Post by carlherrnstein » Tue. Jun. 02, 2015 9:08 pm

I cut some honey locust for firewood to sell. I girdled the living trees in about April an fell/split them in November they were good and dry by then. However the main thing was to kill the trees because they were growing into a field.

I have also cut up downed oak trees out of the woods that had ben down just long enough to lose most of the bark, but that was like splitting rocks.

 
unhippy
Member
Posts: 512
Joined: Mon. Dec. 27, 2010 1:59 am
Location: New Zealand
Stoker Coal Boiler: MK2 #1

Post by unhippy » Wed. Jun. 03, 2015 2:54 am

i found the best/fastest way to dry firewood is to put it in a greenhouse/glasshouse.....leave the vents open enough to provide good airflow without cooling the greenhouse down and its amazing how fast the wood dry's....wood that normally takes 2 years to dry in a covered pile I had ready to burn (15-20% MC) in one summer......ok I will admit it was a GOOD summer but still only took 7 months from cutting to burning

 
User avatar
blrman07
Member
Posts: 2383
Joined: Mon. Sep. 27, 2010 3:39 pm
Location: Tupelo Mississippi

Post by blrman07 » Wed. Jun. 03, 2015 6:01 am

Amazing the things you learn on this forum!!! I never heard of girdeling a tree until this thread. Also reading this thread took any ideas of burning wood right out of my head. :shock:

Preparing a tree two years ahead of time, dropping it, cutting it into logs, dragging or transporting it, cutting it AGAIN into stove size lenghts, splitting it, stacking it, then when it's time to burn it lug it inside and restack it, then feed the fire about every 4-5 hours.

I'll stick with coal thank you. A guy shows up in a big truck, dumps it into the bin. I bring up one small bucket and set it by the stove and put it in one small shovel at a time.

Yep, thats my speed. :lol:


 
User avatar
McGiever
Member
Posts: 10130
Joined: Sun. May. 02, 2010 11:26 pm
Location: Junction of PA-OH-WV
Stoker Coal Boiler: AXEMAN-ANDERSON 130 "1959"
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: BUCKET A DAY water heater
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Warm Morning 414A
Coal Size/Type: PEA,NUT,STOVE /ANTHRACITE
Other Heating: Ground Source Heat Pump and some Solar

Post by McGiever » Wed. Jun. 03, 2015 6:50 am

But wood is FREE... :yearight: :angel:

 
unhippy
Member
Posts: 512
Joined: Mon. Dec. 27, 2010 1:59 am
Location: New Zealand
Stoker Coal Boiler: MK2 #1

Post by unhippy » Wed. Jun. 03, 2015 6:58 am

McGiever wrote:But wood is FREE... :yearight: :angel:
So is Oxygen....but some people still go to extraordinary lengths to get elected so they can steal it
blrman07 wrote:
I'll stick with coal thank you. A guy shows up in a big truck, dumps it into the bin. I bring up one small bucket and set it by the stove and put it in one small shovel at a time.
Yeah.......there is a reason my chainsaw went rusty :D

 
User avatar
Lightning
Site Moderator
Posts: 14659
Joined: Wed. Nov. 16, 2011 9:51 am
Location: Olean, NY
Stoker Coal Boiler: Modified AA 130
Coal Size/Type: Pea Size - Anthracite

Post by Lightning » Wed. Jun. 03, 2015 7:23 am

McGiever wrote:But wood is FREE... :yearight: :angel:
And the exercise is good for you but I think I'd rather put that effort into something else.... :D :inlove:


 
User avatar
warminmn
Member
Posts: 8108
Joined: Tue. Feb. 08, 2011 5:59 pm
Location: Land of 11,842 lakes
Hand Fed Coal Stove: Chubby Junior, Efel Nestor Martin, Riteway 37
Coal Size/Type: nut and stove anthracite, lignite
Other Heating: Wood and wear a wool shirt

Post by warminmn » Wed. Jun. 03, 2015 7:41 am

freetown fred wrote:I always just girdled the trees I was going to take down for the next burning season & left them standing. Come spring I'd just fell, block & split--Always worked well. Stacked outside near house.
This works very good. And especially if you are going to burn water heavy trees, like cottonwood.

I cut up some black walnut this spring. Its cut real small to fit my JR. I was trying to figure out how to stack it to dry quicker and noticed my tomato cages :idea: So I filled six of them and tied them together with space between. I'll still let them sit over a winter, but that should dry out the black juice quicker.

Usually, I just throw wood in a pile outside, leave it for one winter, then the next october when its dry I put it under cover. Its usually split before I pile it.

 
NoSmoke
Member
Posts: 1442
Joined: Sun. Oct. 14, 2012 7:52 pm
Location: Mid Coast Maine
Hand Fed Coal Boiler: New Yoker WC90
Baseburners & Antiques: Woods and Bishop Antique Pot Bellied Stove
Coal Size/Type: Stove/Nut/Pea Anthracite
Other Heating: Munchkin LP Boiler/Englander Pellet Stove/Perkins 4.108 Cogeneration diesel

Post by NoSmoke » Wed. Jun. 03, 2015 7:02 pm

blrman07 wrote:Also reading this thread took any ideas of burning wood right out of my head. :shock:

Preparing a tree two years ahead of time, dropping it, cutting it into logs, dragging or transporting it, cutting it AGAIN into stove size lenghts, splitting it, stacking it, then when it's time to burn it lug it inside and restack it, then feed the fire about every 4-5 hours.

I'll stick with coal thank you.
I agree.

What I like to do is stack the deck...literally.

Like last year, the price of propane was pretty cheap and I never got my coal boiler up and running, so I just burned propane. In the meantime the firewood that I put up sat in the woodshed and dried. In the spring when everyone was out of firewood due to the long winter and the price of dry firewood was up, I put an ad in the paper and sold it off. I do this about every year.

I guess you would call it hedging my bets. If something was to happen to me and I could not work, hey at least I got dry firewood ready to burn for heat for my family...or sell for some quick cash.

My ultimate goal is to have firewood (check), a full tank of propane which for me a tank is 400 gallons, (check) and someday I hope...a bin of coal enough to go a winters season. I have yet to get the coal on hand, but options...I love having options. As my Grandfather used to say, "Come September in Maine, you better have enough money to buy a tankful of oil, or a shed full of firewood, but you better not get caught without neither." Sage advice...

Post Reply

Return to “Wood, Pellets, Gas, Oil, Geothermal & Other Heating Types”