Birch firewood

[LumberjkChamp]

This is a tough one. I say that because you have 12 cords all stacked already, and who wants to undo and redo all of that.
This past fall I recently bucked and split some paper birch logs that I had decked up- in a fairly moist area I might add- since April. The logs had been cut in the winter of '07-'08. Some of them were even on the ground. I was not at all disapointed with the quality of the wood and I'm pretty picky. I will burn them this coming heating season.
The main issue is to keep the top of the pile covered but leave the sides of the pile open. You could, as a precautionary measure, do as others have suggusted and "score" or "kerf" the wood. This would obviously involve taking the pile down and at that point you may as well just split it .
However, because you are burning in an OWB I would think you shouldn't have a problem leaving it the way it is. I would. I have only had a problem with unsplit birch really rotting at about 1 1/2 or more years old.
Anyway, I hope I could help.

 

[JAM]

Birch

I burn inside so I split it and mix with Maple and Ash. Alot of the people around here with OWB's block and stack with out splitting in the spring and use it the next winter. Perfer a bit more drying time myself. Birch has a rep for creating lots of creosote espically when not dry.

 

[woodbooga]

agreed

oh yeah Zodiac get rid of that avatar man its creeping me out worse then that burger king dude on TV

LOL. Sounds like someone should start a poll.

 

[AKKAMAAN]

Brich bark (näver in swedish) is the best moisture barrier you can imagine. It have been used as roof "shingels" for 1000nd years in scandinavia. It lasts for ever even in wet conditions. I would compare it with cedar shingles.

About fire wood birch, it is crucial to split ALL pieces even if bark is off. Otherwise the wood immediatley starts the rottening process. Half wood density can get lost in 1-2 years if stored outdoors. An alternativ is the make 2-4 rips with the chainsaw along the full lenght of the birch log.

Felling the birch trees just when the mouse ears are developing, and let them lay there for a couple of months, speeds up the drying process.

Birch bark is also the best natural fire starter you can get.

It is also very popular to handcraft birch bark. Here is some samples...http://www.lmgprodukter.se/

Long time ago, natives also extracted "tar" from birch bark.

My family used to own 220 acres of forest land in Sweden. When I was a kid, I captured a lot of birch bark ("näver" in swedish),and my parents let me sell it to a local artist that made relief pictures from it. 20 years later those trees were still living a good life, and had established some new bark aswell. The bark was easy to peel of in the spring, just before the birch trees were setting mouse ears. I used a knife, reached as high up as possible, and made a vertical cut through the bark all the way down. Then I could peel of 1-2 ft sheets of bark. A big birch 12" diameter gave about 15-20 sq ft of bark.
The inside of the bark contains some natural moist, so the best is to let it dry over the summer. A sheet a birch bark is less 1/16" thich.

When I was hiking in the mountains, I always kept 1 sq ft of dry birch bark in my back pack, just for emergency. If I didnt use it for firestarter, I used it to sit on if ground was wet.

Buissness opportunity for you guys that have access to birch bark harvest!!
Harvest bark before cutting down birch for firewood. 1 sq ft of bark can easy be stripped into 1"x12" stripes which each one is good enough to start a fire with out any paper. You could sell bark for a cpl bucks a sq ft, instead of burning it in the burner.
Get your spouses started making bark handcraft, will kee them outa trouble aswell.

Please be welcome to come back with questions!!
:greenchainsaw:

 

[woodbooga]

Brich bark (näver in swedish) is the best moisture barrier you can imagine.

I've found that even wet birch bark lights good. A handy bit of info if you find yourself in the woods needing some warmth in the rain.

In addition, the Abenaki Indians of Northern New England used birch bark as a primitive kind of vinyl siding for their hemisphere-shaped wigwams and longhouses - for just the reasons you give.

 

[AKKAMAAN]

I've found that even wet birch bark lights good. A handy bit of info if you find yourself in the woods needing some warmth in the rain.

In addition, the Abenaki Indians of Northern New England used birch bark as a primitive kind of vinyl siding for their hemisphere-shaped wigwams and longhouses - for just the reasons you give.

You bet....that was interesting about the indians....well all natives on northern hemisphere-taiga, have probobly figured it out over 1000's of yeras.... I just read about natives in Sibiria utilize the birch bark...

 

[wkarsch]

I have been cutting all the fire wood for my parents for a few years because they are in their 70's. Last year I cut up 5 white birch trees that the snow had knocked over. This year my dad doesnt want to burn it in his kitchen stove because he said the bark makes too much creasote. He isn't worried about the wood, just the bark. I think he is nuts. Can any body give me a difinative answer.

 

[AKKAMAAN]

I have been cutting all the fire wood for my parents for a few years because they are in their 70's. Last year I cut up 5 white birch trees that the snow had knocked over. This year my dad doesnt want to burn it in his kitchen stove because he said the bark makes too much creasote. He isn't worried about the wood, just the bark. I think he is nuts. Can any body give me a difinative answer.

Birch bark DO burn with a lot of soot (creosote??)

peel a piece and let it burn and you will see.....

dad could have a point about that creosote....:jawdrop:

ps. I'm talking about white birch now.....

 

[Brushwacker]

I say split it SAP judging from my experiance, mostly with river birch. Its not oak but if it is seasoned without having the decay in the middle (that starts soon if its not split), it throws a lot of heat. Its way better then cottonwood if seasoned properly and I give it an mark or 2 above soft maples.
I have some smaller birch I plan on skinning up with a log wizard instead of splitting. I'll see how it goes.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Are we talking about 'white birch'...around here it's pretty pathetic. It's probably one of the few woods I wont waste my time with.

Looks pretty sitting there in a static display though.

+1! Finally. Somebody asked about which birch is involved in OP's post. Black and yellow birch are both hard as nails and great firewood. Brown birch, white birch, and river birch are all trash by comparison.

 

[mercer_me]

If it's staked it will be fine for a year or two.

 

[Steve NW WI]

I burn maybe a cord of birch every year. I'd say to split it, although if you are burning it this winter, the small stuff from 6" down will be OK without splitting.

Birch that shows signs of dying off is pretty much the only tree I cut standing in my woods, as soon as they fall and make contact with the ground, they start to rot, so it's best to get them before they tip over.

I actually used to sell some birch to a guy that mixed it with his oak and sold it to people with fireplaces in the cities, they liked the look of birch stacked by the hearth and the free firestarter material.

 

[Dan Frattinger]

586 bucks for a cord of pine??? thats insane for any hardwood let alone pine. you can buy cords of pine down here all day long for 75 bucks.

You are confusing a cord for a facecord. A facecord is probably $75 by you, around 225 pieces or 4x8x12. A cord is probably closer to 1000 pieces and is 3-4 times more wood than a facord. There is no way you're getting a true cord for $75, you're getting a facecord

 

[Dan Frattinger]

People on here are talking about price and confusing facecord and a cord. They are different. A true cord is going to be several hundred dollars minimum anywhere in the U.S. A facecord, which is roughly 225 pieces, is buyable in the $75 range in some areas. A cord is around 1000 pieces

 

[Wood Doctor]

Counting pieces is a poor measure of firewood volume because of differences in split sizes. Stack the splits and measure the size of the stack. Even that is at most an estimation because of differences in log lengths. You have to work with averages in most cases.

So, I sell by the truckload, racked up as shown in avatar. Usually this is about 2/3 of a full cord.

 

[Deleted member 135597]

586 bucks for a cord of pine??? thats insane for any hardwood let alone pine. you can buy cords of pine down here all day long for 75 bucks.

love your avatar

 

[Jeff Lary]

Why would you assume Husky455 does not know the difference between a face cord and a full cord of wood? I will tell you this I have about 2000 cords +/_ 500 of pine pulp standing on my wood lot right now and I will sell it to you for $50.00 a cord if you want it, it is not worth squat.
I have the district forester for central Maine coming the 8th and that is what I am hoping to get for it at the pulp mill. I am going to have my Fir ,Poplar and Pine Pulp cut if the price is right. With you just starting out on this form you need to think twice before you tell people they are confused, ...Just my opinion after all I may be confused .

 

[olympyk_999]

A true cord is going to be several hundred dollars minimum anywhere in the U.S. A

obviously you are on top of wood prices everywhere

 

[olympyk_999]

Why would you assume Husky455 does not know the difference between a face cord and a full cord of wood? I will tell you this I have about 2000 cords +/_ 500 of pine pulp standing on my wood lot right now and I will sell it to you for $50.00 a cord if you want it, it is not worth squat.
I have the district forester for central Maine coming the 8th and that is what I am hoping to get for it at the pulp mill. I am going to have my Fir ,Poplar and Pine Pulp cut if the price is right. With you just starting out on this form you need to think twice before you tell people they are confused, ...Just my opinion after all I may be confused .

$50 for softwood pulp is a good price these days...my family's logging company, we sell saw logs, bring all the firewood home to run through the processor and sold,...we pay under $25 a cord on the stump, sell for $210 (current price)green, everything else is chipped...bought by biomass power plant at around $28 per ton

pine firewood isnt worth **** around here, most give it away free (try to anyway) , and the few that do sell split pine firewood, its around $75 a cord...atleast thats what theyre asking for it...

 

[Jeff Lary]

Yea I am no expert on wood prices but I went this very route back in 1998 and the pine pulp market price at the mill was like 45.00 per ton or cord? But when the logger got ready to cut about a month later the price had dropped to $18.00 per. That's what happens I guess the mill say's ok starting tomorrow pine pulp will be $45 per then all the loggers that have been sitting on their pulp haul it to the mill.
2 weeks later 75 loggers have flooded the mill with pine the mill say's "hey dude we need no more pine right now". We will need some in a month or so though,.. so to slow the flow we will drop prices back to$ 18.00 that way we will still get some but not be flooded like we are now.