Finding dry wood

[NCPT]

This was my first year heating with wood. Got through it from scrounging up probably 2 cords worth of 4-5yr seasoned oak and various other not-so-dry oak, locust, cedar. I also got a truckload or two (or three) dry oak from my cousin's wood pile.

My question is, where to find dry wood to burn for this winter if I have to wait two years for my wood to dry out?

This is all red, white and chestnut oak. The trees have been down 1-2 yrs prior to me cutting, splitting, stacking. Will it be worth burning this winter?


I also have some willow oak and maple that i need to finish splitting/stacking. They were live when they were cut so I doubt it will be ready anytime soon? Or will it?



So any tips on finding 4-5 cords of good seasoned firewood if I have to wait to burn this? Thanks

 

[Acornhill]

This was my first year heating with wood. Got through it from scrounging up probably 2 cords worth of 4-5yr seasoned oak and various other not-so-dry oak, locust, cedar. I also got a truckload or two (or three) dry oak from my cousin's wood pile.

My question is, where to find dry wood to burn for this winter if I have to wait two years for my wood to dry out?

This is all red, white and chestnut oak. The trees have been down 1-2 yrs prior to me cutting, splitting, stacking. Will it be worth burning this winter?
View attachment 647480

I also have some willow oak and maple that i need to finish splitting/stacking. They were live when they were cut so I doubt it will be ready anytime soon? Or will it?

View attachment 647481

So any tips on finding 4-5 cords of good seasoned firewood if I have to wait to burn this? Thanks

The first set will be ready to burn next year


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[farmer steve]

the chestnut and white oak will dry quicker than the red. best to sort them as you get them if you can.

 

[Chrometip78]

I'm new to this also and only have room for a little over 1yr supply. Keeping my wood to 14-16" and small splits to help it dry faster, worked last year. Would like to reduce to 12" lengths for faster drying but that wouldn't work with my current storage setup.

I find a lot of wood available on Facebook's marketplace, enough options to pick what I want, hopefully it's the same in your area.

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[sb47]

Green fresh cut oak, split, stacked (properly) in well ventilated in full sun in a year down here in my area. It looks like you have it stacked in a good spot to get full sun and lots of air. You probably start burning earlier in the season then I do. Welcome to the art of planning years in advance.

 

[Little Al]

The 1st photo of your split wood pile should be OK to burn winter 18/19 Be better if you could cover the top with Plastic/Tarp but leave the sides open to the air/wind a 4 prong moisture meter would be a help any reading south of 20ù is usually OK 15/15ù is better if you can get it to that reading

 

[NCPT]

Green fresh cut oak, split, stacked (properly) in well ventilated in full sun in a year down here in my area. It looks like you have it stacked in a good spot to get full sun and lots of air. You probably start burning earlier in the season then I do. Welcome to the art of planning years in advance.

It gets full sun and wind in that spot, the 4×4's I have the wood stacked on is off the ground in a few spots due to the grade.

The art of planning ahead and the art of stacking lol. I actually had that row of oak too high to start with and it fell over....down the bank.
So I made a third stack.

 

[moresnow]

The Maple has a better chance of drying than any Oak I suspect. Split it small and stack in a exceptionally sunny/breezy spot. Cross fingers. Scrounging up a few cord of dry stuff locally may be your best bet. Then keep CSS as much as you can get your hands on. Everyone goes through that learning curve on getting ahead. Few years down the road you wont have to mow as much.
Buy a moisture meter and use it if you don't have one already. They are cheap on fleabay etc. 20% or less on a freshly re-split room temp split. Seems standard.
What stove are you using?

 

[HadleyPA]

I wouldn't put too much emphasis on the 2 yrs till burn theory. It all depends on the situation ie: where and how it is stacked, what you are burning it in, what type of chimney you have. That being said I try to have mine 2 yrs ahead but sometimes it just doesn't work out that way. Because this winter just won't end I ran out of stacked dry 2 yr old stuff and am now burning stuff I cut last July/August. Yes it smokes a bit more, and some sizzles abit, and sometimes I get more coals built up than I like, but it keeps me from burning fuel oil and in the past I have burn't some red oak in march that I cut the previous August. May not be ideal but it works.

 

[blades]

keep an eye on your flue.

 

[panolo]

Also depends on what you are burning in. Gasification units you can tell the difference between 15% and 25% wood much easier than non gas stoves. Don't get much white oak in my neck of the woods but red oak and pin oak seem to take 2 years to get the maximum out of them. Hard maple is about a year if you don't cut it full of sap. Elm, ash, soft maple, etc you can have split in the spring and it's under 20% in the fall.

 

[LondonNeil]

I suspect what you have will be dry enough to burn although it might be a little better if left until next year. Finding better stuff for this year won't be easy though. Maybe try some pine for this year, it dries faster and stuff gathered now will be dry to burn this winter, but even with pine you'll need to get it CSS quick to get dry for this winter.

Split stuff small to help out dry. You could try solar kilning it, just wrap with clear plastic basically to trap the sun's heat. If you look on h e a r t h.com and search for threads by Poindexter you'll get info overload on solar kilns if you want to try it.

 

[Streblerm]

Agree with LondonNeil. Your wood will most likely burn just fine after seasoning for one year. You just won’t realize the full potential of heat available in the wood. Smaller splits and single row stacks with good sun and wind exposure will help.

The only way to guarantee 2-3yr dried wood is to gradually or not so gradually accumulate 3yrs worth of wood and cut split and stack it yourself. It took me about 5 years to do it myself by putting up a little more than I used every year. Now only scrounging a years worth is easy.

I wouldn’t pass up wood other than oak which takes a long time to dry. Maple, ash, pine/fir and lots of others will burn great after seasoning for one year. Mix some of your mostly dry oak in and you should stay plenty warm.

 

[H-Ranch]

I'm always amazed at the people that don't have enough time to cut wood to get ahead for a year or two, but they have plenty of time to cut twice a much wood EVERY year when they are burning it wet. Once you get get ahead by a year or two then you only have to cut to maintain.

Keep doing what you're doing and after a season or two you will be in good supply.

 

[NSMaple1]

It's also quite possibly worth it to buy enough wood already cut and split to get you a couple years ahead, then you can scrounge to stay there going forward.

 

[Husky Man]

I'm always amazed at the people that don't have enough time to cut wood to get ahead for a year or two, but they have plenty of time to cut twice a much wood EVERY year when they are burning it wet. Once you get get ahead by a year or two then you only have to cut to maintain.

Keep doing what you're doing and after a season or two you will be in good supply.

I WISH that it were that Easy

We bought our house late in May of 2016, with all the joys of moving, we were really scrambling to get wood CSS as it was.

For those with large wooded acreage, I'm sure it is a. LOT Easier , but we are on a 1/8 acre neighborhood lot, so we don't have the trees or the space to stockpile 2-3 years worth of wood.

The Forest Circus will only give permits for up to 5 Cords per Household, and we have to scrounge beyond that so it can be a Real Challenge just getting enough wood for each Winter, never mind stockpiling ahead (Nice IDEA though) here on the Mountain, Natural Gas isn't available, and with a Forced Air ELECTRIC Furnace, we try to Heat as much as POSSIBLE with Wood, and can burn 10-12 cords per year. We go Months without turning the furnace on, unless we are out of town and unable to maintain a fire in the stove.

Fortunately, the conifers such as Douglas Fir, Hemlock (Tsuga) and Spruce, that are Predominant around here will season quickly enough to burn if CSS EARLY. We got a Late start leaving the house Sunday, but still managed to cut and Split about 3/4 of a cord of Good Looking D Fir. So we are getting as early of a start as we can, the road we were cutting on, was still Snow Closed less than half a mile from where we were cutting. Sometimes it doesn't take much distance to make a heck of a difference, we were at 3,300' elevation and clear and dry, half a mile and the road had almost 2 feet of snow on it still.

We HAVE to get an EARLY Start, not just to let the wood season as much as possible, but also because her Sister lives on the Coast near Nehalem, and the Salmon will be coming in around Late June or Early July , gotta get that wood DONE so we can go Fishing and Crabbing


Doug

 

[LondonNeil]

There's always a way, and space, you just need to be creative. I've a modest sized house in suburban london, about 8 miles out from the centre/houses of parliament, and having just checked with an area calculator on google maps its a similar size, actually its about 1/9th of an acre. I've currently got 20m3 (so almost 6 cord) CSS and hope to be at 30m3/9 cord by October....thaankfully I only burn abut 2-3 cord a winter though....and I do have wood all over.... but I have dry wood. Also I'm a long long way from anywhere that I could get a licence to cut firewood, so it is ALL scrounged up locally. I HAVE been lucky and found a great tree service though and get all my wood from them. You have to work with what you have.

 

[blades]

one set I have here are old ice block tongs.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

There's always a way, and space, you just need to be creative. I've a modest sized house in suburban london, about 8 miles out from the centre/houses of parliament, and having just checked with an area calculator on google maps its a similar size, actually its about 1/9th of an acre. I've currently got 20m3 (so almost 6 cord) CSS and hope to be at 30m3/9 cord by October....thaankfully I only burn abut 2-3 cord a winter though....and I do have wood all over.... but I have dry wood. Also I'm a long long way from anywhere that I could get a licence to cut firewood, so it is ALL scrounged up locally. I HAVE been lucky and found a great tree service though and get all my wood from them. You have to work with what you have.

I have racks for about 25 cords at my house. I just have them against the woods on the property line, kind of like a fence.

 

[Wood Doctor]

OP asked, "My question is, where to find dry wood to burn for this winter if I have to wait two years for my wood to dry out?"
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Look for barkless logs. If the bark is gone, the wood is likely getting dry enough to split and burn in the fall. However, several species hang onto their bark almost forever and that includes ash and oak.