Disappointed

[turnkey4099]

Tired of sitting around thehouse so traipsed out to the woodpile. I have acouple cords of willow to be split/stacked. Stuff splits like a dreame with just a wedge/sledge to bust the big ones in half and one swing with Mr. Fiskars to chop up the chunks. Not today! Weather has been cold, as in highs in the teens, lows near zero (last night it was 4 below). I expected the stuff to split even easier but it didn't in fact it just laughted at the fiskars. It took one hit with the maul, then hold the maul in left hand while banging on it at least 3 times with the 10lb sledge in the right hand.

In the past any frozen wood split easy after freezing. I wonder if the high moisture content of green willow is the cuase, like banging on a block of solid ice.

Definitely got my BP and heart rate up!!

Harry K

 

[Cheesecutter]

I'd say you're right thinking along the lines of wet green willow being frozen solid. A few years ago on a bitter cold day I tried splitting green, frozen, water logged willow with the skidsteer splitter and it just broke chunks out of the rounds.

 

[fuzz1500]

I curse willow . Not many trees can re-root themselves after you throw a chuck of it in the woods !!

 

[philoshop]

It is basically banging on a chunk of ice! Even this time of year willow can be 50% water. Soooo, its a chunk of ice, with wood fibers to hold it together.

 

[ole yukon]

It is basically banging on a chunk of ice! Even this time of year willow can be 50% water. Soooo, its a chunk of ice, with wood fibers to hold it together.

lol Yup just wood reinforced ice blocks

 

[JeffHK454]

The sad part is there's the same amount of BTU's in a block of ice as there is in a split of Willow!

 

[philoshop]

I've always passed on willow (and poplar and cottonwood...). This past summer I ended up with some big rounds of willow that I decided to split just because I didn't feel like haulin' em off to the junk pile, and I wanted to play with the splitter. Now I have a taste for it, so to speak.
Most of what I burn is black locust and sugar maple. The willow gets that stuff going fast!! Also pretty good for shoulder-season when I just want to take the chill off the house with a quick fire. It seems to dry very quickly from what I've seen, once its split. (In the summer!)
I'll take it if I don't have to work too hard for it! Okay, my chin's up and I'm ready for the dope-slap!!

 

[turnkey4099]

I've always passed on willow (and poplar and cottonwood...). This past summer I ended up with some big rounds of willow that I decided to split just because I didn't feel like haulin' em off to the junk pile, and I wanted to play with the splitter. Now I have a taste for it, so to speak.
Most of what I burn is black locust and sugar maple. The willow gets that stuff going fast!! Also pretty good for shoulder-season when I just want to take the chill off the house with a quick fire. It seems to dry very quickly from what I've seen, once its split. (In the summer!)
I'll take it if I don't have to work too hard for it! Okay, my chin's up and I'm ready for the dope-slap!!

same here. I heated myi house for over 30 years with it. Cheapest possible heat going here as anything better requires either a hundred mile or more roundtrip or buying logs. Willow is availbable within a few miles. I have over 80 cord of black locust in my horde now, all harvested in the last 5 years due to the locust borer. Still like wllow for shoulder season and to mix with the locust. I have a customer I am now cutting for. He takes 4 cord/yr at $120/cord - I told him it would be $130 next years. He calls it "that lovely wood".

Harry K

 

[windthrown]

I curse willow . Not many trees can re-root themselves after you throw a chuck of it in the woods !!

Except its even more useless cousin, cottonwood!

 

[ReggieT]

Except is even more useless cousin, cottonwood!

How does that cottonwood do when mixed in with good hardwood...still suck???

 

[windthrown]

Still sucks here. Black c-wood is slow to dry, crappy heat, and smells just like cat piss when burned, no matter how dry it is. I am using silver fir and alder to burn with the locust right now. Smells great. Easy to process. They both dry in one year. No more c-wood for me. It is always free on CL around here, and there is a lot of it. But there is a reason for that. I suspect that eastern cottonwoods stink less.

 

[flotek]

Same btu as cardboard or Christmas wrapping but 100 times the work oh and the cat urine stink is true

 

[ReggieT]

Same btu as cardboard or Christmas wrapping but 100 times the work oh and the cat urine stink is true

YIKES! That's ok...I'll take a zero on that test!

 

[windthrown]

Well, from all the debates I have had on various forums about c-wood, not unlike asparagus pee smell, seemingly some of us can smell male cat pee, and others cannot. Same smell as c-wood, so some say it stinks, and others do not. I can smell it, so I avoid it. I cut a lot of it in storms here several years ago, processed and dried it, and stink! I tested it with a moisture meter, 20%, so good to burn. Still stank. But... it may be good for y'all if you cannot smell 'it'.

 

[philoshop]

Never noticed the smell, and I definitely can smell the feral cat pee around my place. Maybe I just have very hygiene-conscious trees?

 

[turnkey4099]

Temperature back up to normal levels (mid 30s/low 20s). The willow has bowed to the Fiskars!!. I'm getting my one hour/day of splitting/stooping/bending, etc. to keep in some sort of shape (round is a shape, no?).
Drawback is that the stock of willow rounds to split is shrinking fast.

Beginning to wonder about my 3 bags of noodles lasting. One 2" snowfall has used up almost 1/2 of one bag to keep solid footing going. That snow is almost gone today and I didn't have to add any.

Harry K

 

[cre10]

I've never even though about burning willow.

You guys have me rolling over cotton wood smelling like cat pee. Now I have to go get some and see if it's what you guys say

 

[turnkey4099]

I've never even though about burning willow.

You guys have me rolling over cotton wood smelling like cat pee. Now I have to go get some and see if it's what you guys say

There is willow and then there's willow. The stuff out here doesn't smell. The only problem with it is you have to feed the stove more often and it does leave a lot of ash that is light and needs to be raked through the grates.

What I am working on is a 4 cord order for a customer who likes "that lovely wood" - I am burning almost pure black walnut. ((correction)) burning black locust.

Harry K

 

[cre10]

There is willow and then there's willow. The stuff out here doesn't smell. The only problem with it is you have to feed the stove more often and it does leave a lot of ash that is light and needs to be raked through the grates.

What I am working on is a 4 cord order for a customer who likes "that lovely wood" - I am burning almost pure black walnut.

Harry K

I've got hedge in the stove right now

 

[turnkey4099]

I've got hedge in the stove right now

I miswrote. I'm burning black locust. Musst have been a carryover from my eye balling my "oh, so valuable black walnuts' I planted 7 of them some 30 odd years ago. Produced a bumper crop of nuts this year but I don't do anything with them - maybe firewood for somebody some day.

Harry K