Standing Dead

[Bushmans]

I suppose the only thing going for you is that your standing dead is a bit dryer than live. This gives you an advantage. Maybe a month maybe 6. In the end it still burns and keeps your loved ones warm and you have a little extra cash for that precious child's birthday present!

 

[Eric Modell]

I couldn't agree more! It's a sliding scale...

I have learned that "ready to burn" is directly related to how much wood I have on hand.

And some times I add green to slow it down.

 

[CTYank]

How long should I let standing dead timber season before using.

Seasoning is something that happens in the kitchen & at the table. Re lumber, that fuzzy nonsense- not quantifiable. "Air-drying" OTOH is a process that's been well researched & much-studied.

The effect, moisture content, is relatively easily measured with a moisture-meter. When a given split is at or below 15 %, dry-basis, it's ready. Whatever it takes to get there is "how long?".

Why do so many want simplistic formulas? Not applicable.

 

[darkbyrd]

I've cut some standing dead mulberry. It had cracks in the trunk over an inch wide. I bet the moisture content has only gone up since I split and stacked it. I've also cut oaks with no bark that were soaking wet. I think it varies widely, and you have to take each situation as it comes.

 

[Henry and Wanda]

Hello,
Buy a moisture meter, cut the standing dead wood down, split it in half and check the middle of the wood for moisture content. That is the only way that you will know for sure. I have had the same question lately. I moved in to a new house on 18.5 acres last year and there was a lot of dead standing wood on the property. However, I didn't know how long these dead trees had been standing after they died. So, I bought a moisture meter and I check them in the way that I explained. Good luck !!!!



Henry and Wanda

 

[mowoodchopper]

I have never seasoned any standing dead wood, if its dead and the bark is falling off I cut it and burn it, I cut all my wood as i need it in the spring its all burned and gone, dont cut again till fall, straight from the pickup to the stove, 20 yrs same way

 

[Turkeyslayer]

As others have stated there are a lot of variables involved. I do know I have burned a ton of standing dead ash and elm without any drying time, and they all burnt very well. As a matter of fact the stove is loaded with ash and red oak that I cut just a little over a month ago and split about 2 minutes before throwing it in the stove.

 

[mowoodchopper]

if you keep a good bed of coals you can burn damn near anything

 

[planman]

Standing dead oak

I burnt 4 cord of standing dead that was split for about 1month with some dry cherry mixed in to give it a little flame and coaling worked great. Im stocking up now on 4 cords of ash and 4 cords of dead standing white oak. Gotta mix the oak in with something that give off some flame and coals up.

 

[ken45]

I've been burning dead standing red oak almost exclusively this winter. It did a great job.

Two observations: very little ash, I cleaned the stove out less than once a week and didn't even get a full bucket most of the time BUT I had a lot of clinker buildup that often welded itself to the bottom firebrick. I think there were more clinkers than loose ash.

Ken

 

[haveawoody]

Lots of factors will come into play on a standing dead tree.

I cut two very similar dead nearly barkless rock elm trees a couple weeks ago from the same location and only real difference was one of them was in a small depression and one on a tiny hill.

All the branch wood was checked and ready in about a week, the main trunk of the hill tree is already checking and the depression tree is still quite wet.

Wind, weather, season, wood type,location, standing dead for how long, etc etc etc.
In general i would say drop it, split it and give it 1/2 the time you normally would to cure that species.

 

[3fordasho]

I've cut a bunch of standind dead siberian elm lately and found that if the bark has fallen off about 80% of the tree is good to go. The bottom 8-12' of the trunk needs to season abit, but a couple months will usually do it. The best is large branches or a main fork that has fallen away from the base but is still suspended by the branches or other trees. Where it's contacting the ground usually has some punk.

One thing I don't understand is standing dead in this condition almost always makes for better burning firewood (less ash, better starting, more heat) than Siberian Elm that I have cut live, split and let sit for a couple years. (more ash, harder to start, softer wood grain).

 

[Dale]

Everything in life is relative, so all I can comment on here is my experience with the timber in SW PA. I can say, that without doubt, the ONLY tree here that I have cut standing dead, and have burned the very same day or week, is Red Elm with the bark completely stripped off. Once split, you can actually knock 2 pieces together and hear that "clank" sound of dried wood, as opposed to the dull "thud" of wood with moisture.

 

[haveawoody]

3fordasho,

Isn't elm weird stuff.
I have 6 big dead rock elm trees in my backyard i'm waiting until the bark fully drops for that exact reason.

I think elms like to cure real slow to be great wood so barkless makes them become a much denser wood than split green and dried.

If i have to cut elm green i leave everything in round format and stack it in a windy spot off the ground for a year before splitting and that has the same effect on burning quality as natural barkless does.

 

[3fordasho]

3fordasho,

Isn't elm weird stuff.
I have 6 big dead rock elm trees in my backyard i'm waiting until the bark fully drops for that exact reason.

I think elms like to cure real slow to be great wood so barkless makes them become a much denser wood than split green and dried.

If i have to cut elm green i leave everything in round format and stack it in a windy spot off the ground for a year before splitting and that has the same effect on burning quality as natural barkless does.

Yes!, someone else has noticed this phenomenon. You've described it perfectly. It's like it becomes a entirely different wood. I've got lots of rounds bucked up (cut live) that I think I'll leave that way for another year. Come to think of it I gave the neighbor two loads that he never got around to splitting. (guess I'll need to that for him too) Its been sitting that way for at least a year - need to split some and see it is more like the barkless standing dead I love to find.

 

[haveawoody]

3fordasho,

Leaving them in round format works real nice for elm.
I've left a few other types by accident and they improve also.
I think any wood that is pretty wet per weight will enjoy the slow cure method.
I cut mostly at 12" so everything cures for me at nearly the same rate, my 16" length wood is a bit different.

Nicer splitting elm after the rounds are sitting for a while, and up to around 3' rounds i find are curing nearly the same as split stuff so not a giant wait after splitting the rounds and they are ready anyway.

Just make sure the rounds are in a place you would normally cure wood and in similar conditions and i think you will be impressed with any elm cured that way.
Watch for the big rounds beyond 3' they tend to stay wet in the middle and can mould so noodle bigger than 3'.

Cured for a year in round format i rate even American elm way up with the best.
Split green and stacked then cured it's just ok wood.

You will have to find a barkless rock elm one day, much like burning coal