any of you out there work with your own firewood?

just got this woodburning stove, works extremely well. question was is there such a thing as overseasoned wood? i have read that seasoning is only a siz month process if so, if split wood is sitting over a year is that going to burn like balsa wood or is it going to burn better or worse?

i have access to many fallen trees that are not rotten just are dead and was wondering if those are great candidates for burning.


thanks everyone

 

Yes I've got wood heat. The big thing to look for is the the wood is dry and solid. When your cutting with a chain saw you should see good sized chips. If is gets powdery or small fine chip the logs is rotten. In Idaho we burn mostly Red Fir, Pine, Larch (Tamarack), White Fir, Etc. Basically any dry and solid wood would work.

(waiting for pic to be approved)

 

Powder could also mean a dull chain. Green wood is gonna give you more creosote, you should be able to age it all you want, keeping it dry. Dry rotted wood shouldn't hurt anything to burn after fully dried, just gonna get used up real fast. Oak (hardwood) can sit out and age for a couple years. Hardwood usually rots from the outside in. You can usually knock the rot off and still get good heartwood. Pine tends to go all at once and gets buggy quicker. Just watch for ants if you bring any of it indoors.

 

I burn a lot of wood and also sell firewood, mostly oak or hickory. I've found that drier wood is gonna burn quickly so I mix wood in the stove , some dry and some green especially if I intend on having a fire that will last all night.In general hard wood will last and stay some what green for several years as long as it is off the ground and not split.

 

I used a wood stove over 25 yrs....wife wanted a new AC system w/heatpump so I paid $3200 so I can start paying an extra $100-200/mo. to the power co.
I really liked my wood stove, on the coldest day after working outside, I could really warm up quick backing up to the stove. When the ice storm took the electric away, it was priceless. Presently it's in the storage bldg. at the ready.
When I was heating my house with only wood, I installed a damper on the stove outlet pipe to help control the burn rate as well as the stock draft to control inlet air. The damper was set at a near closed position after the fire was started. The whole idea is to make the most heat with the least amount of air since it'll be replaced with cold air through normal house leaks. I installed a 90 degree elbow to turn the smoke down inside the fireplace so's not to light off the creosote on the back wall.
Junk wood burns fast and makes lots of ashes to haul. Seasoned Oak needs a little more air to keep hot, Hickory makes alot of creosote.
My favorite wood is Locust...burns hot for a long time with little air and leaves few ashes.

Creosote formation is very dangerous and makes your chimney look like a giant roman candle when it lights off and gets out of hand.

If using a fireplace w/steel plate, check on your creosote accumilation every coupla weeks until you see what cleaning schedule to adopt. Thick aluminum foil on the fireplace floor makes cleanup easier and a copper scrub pad over the rain/condensate weep hole lets it drain longer before the water starts easing out from under the steel plate.

The triple wall stainless out the window and away from the house looks the safest. A big fire extinguisher at the ready is most cool.
Let the fire die down before opening the ashpan door so you don't create a blast furnace from the sudden rush of inlet air.
If you garden and your soil has a low pH, ashes will increase the pH.

As you can see, wood heat is kinda involved...like our VP44

 

weve got a lindel furnace to heat our house. Dad used to cut the wood for it but now that ive gotten into the wood cutting business on a huge scale (for a 15 year old) i reckon ill be cutting his wood this year for him. Just finished a 100 cord contract with a big lodge here close and im fixing to sign another one. i sell in surounding towns. So, if you live close to harrison Ar, or Branson Mo... pm me and ill quote ya a price on firewood

 

Wow thats ambitious for anybody. 100 cords. Are you doing this on your own or with help? Jusy curious. I have been cutting wood for home use since I was 12 so I know how much work it is, back then didnt have a splitter . We still heat with wood to suppliment the natural gas furnace. The wood stove runs 24/7 in the winter.

 

Blackdiesel02,
You certainly accomplish more than any 15 yr old that I know! I've tried to get several teenagers to work with me and after a few hours of hard work they're ready to go inside and play video games. I sell a little firewood on the side and have built a PTO driven splitter with a 4 way wedge and log lift which works well for me. I see you have a nice processor in your photo gallery. Does this machine cut and split?

 

blackdiesel,
I am 23 and all through middle and high school I was cutting fire wood for local Bar-B-Q places with my dad. He put me on the saw at age 9 and never looked back. I cut firewood on occasion now for families that want it, for $50 a load, unless it is a long haul then it is $60. I am sure that on the scale you are cutting you have a splitter. I have only used a splitter one time, and I could split three times as much with an axe and finish so much quicker, problem could have been solved by getting a friend or two involved, but that would have cut into my profit, and none of my friends would work like me, and I would get aggravated having to tell them every little thing to do, so I done it by myself after my dad got to old for it. So at 15 (like you) i was on my own after school when it was not football season. On a saturday, I could do 7 loads by myself, but that meant a sore back the next day, but man that was good money for 15. When it was me, my pop, and one of my brothers working we did upwards of 12 loads in a day for the Bar-B-Q places. Again, dog tired afterwards.

Glad to see there are other people out there that actually like to work.

 

Bought my current house, all electric, till now. Ordered me a wood stove to supplement that $200+ electirc bill buring the winter. I already have enough wood for atleast 2 winters, mostly oak. Cutting and splitting wood is hard work, nothing wrong with it. Splitting with an axe is faster, but the older you get, the faster the splitter gets.

Mr Jimmy; Your right, most kids just want to sit on their but and play video games.

 

I guess we still live like cavemen here cause we have no heater or air cond. The only heat we get is from a wood stove in the living room. All the oak Ive split has been sitting for years and OK still. The pine is a different story. For the most part you`ll know long before if its no good. As you mentioned it gets like balsa wood. it will literally powder when handled,wont split, and the older it is the quicker it burns, sometimes to the point of not being worth messing with. We still have some pine thats years old and OK but it depends on the conditions.

 

Here is what a Cummins is meant to do...



I burn roughly 15 cords a year. But there is two house to keep warm...

 

I have burned wood my whole life, and always cut and split it with my dad! We burn about 8 cord a year. I like the green stuff, burns alot hotter and if you keep it hot you dont have to worry about any creosote biuld up. We run a super spilt wood spliter. My dad bought her in 78 and it has never spent a night outside, it looks better then the one in the picture. We have never had a log it wont split. Once you see on in action you wont go back to a hydro. She has a 5 horse honda on her and just keeps on spliting. It splits our 8 cord a year with no problem.

Cooper

 

i used about 30 full cord last year. I got an outside woodburner 3 years ago with a 350 gal water tank.
am heating my production shop 50X80 foot and my paint and fiberglas shops 24x40
i have semi loads of oak logs brought in from up state Mi and we cut them into 3 foot pieces and split the big ones, try to mix 1/2 seasoned and 1/2 green

 

herb,

What brand outdoor heater do you use? I am considering one to replace the central wood furnace I have (and use) in my basement. I like the idea of having the fire and mess outside.