Firewood won't burn :(

[laynes69]

Some of the best wood I have burned has been dead and down, or dead and standing. If its a little punky so what, It still burns well and produces alot of heat. Around here the wood is free for me, and if its a little light, or punky, I'll save that for daytime. Right now what I am burning I scrounged up in the woods a few days ago. Downed dead ash, which is hard as a rock and dry, and dead elm, which both produce good btus and will carry ove through the night. Me personally I wouldn't hesitate to buy downed dead firewood. If its solid its fine for me, and probably alot of people.

 

[STIHLSamantha]

a lot of people who purchase wood tend to want to burn it that year and if it is ready to burn when delivered the better for them....if it burns well and it is dry a lot of people don't care whether it was cut down fresh and allowed to dry outside for a summer or a year or whether it was down in the woods as a result of a windstorm the summer before and it is bone dry and ready to burn....personnally, i would rather clean up and cut dead and dry stuff first before cutting down a live tree....better for the environment since it allows the surrounding trees to thrive and it doesn't just lay there wasting and rotting....the stuff we are burning now is bone dry and was all dead and down....nothing live cut down here....and we brought in about 25 face cord for ourselves that way and helped out a few people in the area with their wood also....

 

[bytehoven]

....personnally, i would rather clean up and cut dead and dry stuff first before cutting down a live tree....

My sentiments as well. There are a few of us in the neighborhood who cleaning up fallen limbs and trees in our local wooded areas.

Some of the fallen stuff is beyond burning, but there is a great deal of fallen timber that burns nicely. I have a huge pile of limb sections ranging 1-4" in thickness and I love burning this stuff.

Any freshly fallen trees I clear for civic association members, is usually too green to burn. So depending on the type of wood and if the neighbor wants it, I either take the wood for myself, help them stack it or help them get it ready for removal.

If we continue to have a mild start to our winter, I will restock my wood supply with trips to the woods, clearing up good fallen timber.

 

[musch]

I have been burning birch and hickory that fell in a storm last summer, and it is VERY nice.

I guess I would season it a little more, but you cant beat that hickory.

 

[grandpatractor]

My two cents

Different species of trees rot a different rate. Birch or popple on the ground for more than a year and it is basically junk. Oak can lay on the ground for numorous years and still be rock hard in all but the very outer layer. It just depends on the kind of tree. Around here the best firewood is either elm that has died from dutch elm disease and is standing with the bark all peeled off and dry and hard as a bone, or oak that has died from oak wilt and is standing there with the bark peeled off. The county I live in owns alot of wooded land and has opened up areas for the residents to cut standing dead or down oak that has died of oak wilt, just need a permit for 5 bucks a cord. Maybe mrfirewood doesn't have any oak in his neck of the woods and the species he cuts rot up right away if on the ground?
done now

 

[manual]

Maybe MRfirewoodguy could get away with his Woody ways where he lives. and all the power to you.
But the first time you go door to door with your "Designer Wood" in these parts. you would be in for a suprise. LOL
Lets see I sell $hit wood with bugs crawling through it. "Good one"

Ok,I'm sure you have herd of the Birch Bore Beatle Bug. The DNR can't even kill them because they bore inside " live " trees,
So how do they taste Kiln Dried.

Oh yea who did you get to grow your "Designer Wood" LOL

 

[manual]

Looks like Balsam to me but, it's pine for sure. Burns fast and hot. Ideal for sitting in front of an occasional fire for the evening or starting the fire for a hardwood burn. Either way it should be split smaller.
Glass doors; depends on the unit, some are tempered glass and some are clear ceramic. Mine you either have them fully open or closed no halfway.
In warmer temps. I leave the doors open and the radiant heat is enough to keep the house plenty warm. In colder Temps. I close the doors and the internal blower and outside air source come into play. Back to the subject; It sounds like a little too much moisture for the size of the splits, Even dead wood still contains some moisture, lots of paper, smaller size to start with.

Pine ah....Maybe so. Then That could be the pine pitch coming out of the wood. Don't Know. I am lucky enough not to burn pine wood.
I do understand theres nothing wrong with it people have been burning it for years. I would think it would take just along to dry as oak.

 

[JAM]

Glass

in respect to the tempered glass or ceramic glass part of that, I replaced a broken pane in my fireplace with tempered glass...BAD IDEA. Finally coughed up the money and bought ceramic. The tempered glass exploded twice after a few heat cycles. Maybe I just burn hotter than some, but I will never put tempered glass in any kind of fireplace again, it is only heat rated to around 450 degrees, as ceramic is rated up to 1200.

I have to agree with you on that one. But some units are shipped from the factory with tempered glass and after time and heat cycles the temper is gone out of the glass forcing the owner to either buy replacement glass from the Mfg. or aftermarket ceramic. Ceramic is spendy but well worth the cost.

 

[JAM]

Firewood

We have the birch bug here too, lots of dead and dying birch standing around needing to be cut. Have to get to it pretty fast since birch doesn't last very long unsplit.

 

[Firewood Guy USA]

Different species of trees rot a different rate. Birch or popple on the ground for more than a year and it is basically junk. Oak can lay on the ground for numorous years and still be rock hard in all but the very outer layer. It just depends on the kind of tree. Around here the best firewood is either elm that has died from dutch elm disease and is standing with the bark all peeled off and dry and hard as a bone, or oak that has died from oak wilt and is standing there with the bark peeled off. The county I live in owns alot of wooded land and has opened up areas for the residents to cut standing dead or down oak that has died of oak wilt, just need a permit for 5 bucks a cord. Maybe mrfirewood doesn't have any oak in his neck of the woods and the species he cuts rot up right away if on the ground?
done now

This topic is getting more more interesting to me. I gather what everyone been telling me is that this so called "Gray Back" wood is from dead standing trees. Now it seems that these "Gray Back" trees may have died from a infected disease at an early age. Lets say that Ms MtnBikerChk firewood that he recieved consist of elm, oak and other species that was processed from "Gray Back" diseased trees. Lets say, Ms MtnBikerChk or any firewood purchaser, lives in a neighborhood that consist of alot of healthy elm and oak trees. What will happen to the healthy trees in that neighborhood when you deliver infested/deseased firewood into a healthy, tree studded neighborhood ?? Im just wondering if anyone purchasing firewood from "Gray Back" trees ever thought of that.
One other point, We do have plenty of healthy red and white oaks in this region. We do not have that oak wilt disease in this region, yet. Lets keep it that way.

 

[Firewood Guy USA]

Maybe MRfirewoodguy could get away with his Woody ways where he lives. and all the power to you.
But the first time you go door to door with your "Designer Wood" in these parts. you would be in for a suprise. LOL
Lets see I sell $hit wood with bugs crawling through it. "Good one"

Ok,I'm sure you have herd of the Birch Bore Beatle Bug. The DNR can't even kill them because they bore inside " live " trees,
So how do they taste Kiln Dried.

Oh yea who did you get to grow your "Designer Wood" LOL

I have heard of the Birch Beatle Bug, buts its not in this region. If we ever become infested with the Birch Bug Disease in this region, I will have enough smarts in avoiding to sell ANY " Gray Back" or "Diseased Birch" species to any one or any body.
"...So how do they taste Kiln Dried." !!!!!!!!!
I don't know where or what town our "Designer Wood" aka "White Birch" was grow. But I can tell you, I know it wasn't grow or shipped from MI or any other infestated quarantine region.

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

So the argument now is cross-contamination? Because before, it was just that the wood sucked, and wasn't good enough to sell or burn.

I know that if I ordered logs and or firewood from a dealer, and he delivered to me this so called dead and or gray back or what ever you want to call it, wood to me, I would tell him to take that sh*t back.

 

[stihlatit]

Originally Posted by MtnBikerChk
we don't really have any kindling - we've been using "cheater logs" (duraflame firestart).

pics:

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...k/IMG_5321.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...k/IMG_5320.jpg

By looking at your photos, It looks like your firewood had been cut and split the same day of delivery. Due to it looks like its freshly cut and freshly split. The photos does not show any aging process like having a weathered look on the cut and split surfaces. The wood does show some punkyness. I would say the wood is from a dead standing tree or the log has been sitting around for quite some time, due to the photo's seems to show some loose bark. Seasoned firewood is usually logs that been processed (cut and split) and been aging for 3 to 9 months while in a finish product (cut and split) form. I guess every firewood dealer has a different version of what seasoned firewood is, but the consumer only has one version of what seasoned firewood is.

Looks like fresh jack pine to me.

 

[stihlatit]

Anything will burn, but the wetter, green wood takes more of the possible heating BTU's to dry out the wood before it burns.

I like Red and white oak. It produces a ton of heat, with minimal coals when dry. I won't burn it green. I split it and let it dry 6-12 months before burning.

I cut some this summer and tried burning it a week or so ago when it was really cold. It didn't burn well, just hissed and pop'd. I like to load the stove and go, not worry about milking it all day to get heat out of it.

Differant stoves will react differant to wood being green. Grandpa burns everything green. Just like saws, everyone has their favorite method. Do you notice a lot of creosete buildup burning green wood?

Freak I bet you don't have any Catelpa trees around. Try burning that and see if you can get past a smolder stage without additives.

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

Originally Posted by MtnBikerChk
we don't really have any kindling - we've been using "cheater logs" (duraflame firestart).

pics:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...k/IMG_5321.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...k/IMG_5320.jpg

Dead links for me Arnie.

 

[grandpatractor]

oak wilt

If bark is on oak trees the oak wilt fungi is alive. If the bark is falling off the tree the fungi is dead and it will not spread it needs a living tree. More apt to spread to healthy trees by cutting live diseased trees. at least that is what the county forester told me!
I'm not sure about how dutch elm is spread tho?

 

[manual]

I have heard of the Birch Beatle Bug, buts its not in this region. If we ever become infested with the Birch Bug Disease in this region, I will have enough smarts in avoiding to sell ANY " Gray Back" or "Diseased Birch" species to any one or any body.
"...So how do they taste Kiln Dried." !!!!!!!!!
I don't know where or what town our "Designer Wood" aka "White Birch" was grow. But I can tell you, I know it wasn't grow or shipped from MI or any other infested quarantine region.

OaK Wilt is as common as a cold. I believe it is spread by open wounds in the tree. Mold spores. In a forest would be if branches break off from high winds,
you now have a open wound. or A tree service trims back a oak in the summer time.the open wound gets infected as soon as air hits it.
This is why it is best to trim oaks in the late fall to early spring.
Now the trees I am cutting for firewood sale are dead and are in between rows of Red pine stands. Why do you think these trees are dying.
Also Ash is the only wood that is Quarantined in Michigan and Nobody can take it out of the area. I do not live or cut in those areas.
I'll get back to you on the birch bore.


So there aint no bugs on me, No there aint no bugs on me, There might be Bugs on some of you slugs but there aint no Bugs on me.
BTW, Do you really think I or anybody Else is going to believe that your great big pile of wood is bug free.

 

[MtnBikerChk]

..snip.... Lets say that Mr MtnBikerChk firewood that he recieved consist of elm, oak and other species that was processed from "Gray Back" diseased trees. Lets say, Mr MtnBikerChk or any..
..

You're kidding me, right? "Mr MtnBikerChk?" :jawdrop:

 

[PA Plumber]

So, is Ms. Mountain Biker Chick more appropriate? :monkey:

 

[Firewood Guy USA]

If bark is on oak trees the oak wilt fungi is alive. If the bark is falling off the tree the fungi is dead and it will not spread it needs a living tree. More apt to spread to healthy trees by cutting live diseased trees. at least that is what the county forester told me!
I'm not sure about how dutch elm is spread tho?

You post was interesting. Do you know if thats the same scenario with other species of trees, that had died with a fungus as to the spreading of a typical disease to other healther trees ??