Firewood length seasoning

[jd6030]

Just purchased cb 2300 and have a couple cord of ash in logs to be cut up into firewood. Just curious if 24 inch lengths will season comparible to 16 to 18 inch lengths. It will be stacked in single rows for maximum air and sun and would think longer lengths are easy to keep nice sturdy stacks and less cuts.

 

[aandabooks]

You should be ok to burn this winter.

 

[Countrybois]

Ash will be fine.

 

[cunrya]

Ash will burn well even green in an OWB (moresmoke thought). I havwe a cb too and prefer 16's to 24's as you can pack more wood into it that way and get a longer burn time. I through in 3 rows but to but tossed stacked as best I can. Seems to be more efficient than 24's. Just my .02.

 

[wdchuck]

Ash is in a class by itself with burning well with little or no seasoning time, and burns great if you can split it at least once to dry it some more.

 

[EdK]

You're in good shape having that ash but keep in mind wood dries primarily lengthwise so 24" will always dry slower than 16" in the same species.

Frankly I've never really understood why a lot of the oldtimers split 48", stack to dry and then buzz-saw to 16". Seems like the slow(to dry too) & hard way.

 

[CharlieG]

I split 16" to dry faster and because I can wrangle it into the burning stove easier. Work smarter, not harder .

 

[Zodiac45]

As the others mentioned Ash is different animal too most or species. It cures very quickly. Other woods you'd still not have a problem with 24" if you split it. Here in Maine the old rule of thumb is split and stacked for seasoning by April. In the Barn by October. A nice 6 month cure.

 

[woodbooga]

As the others mentioned Ash is different animal too most or species. It cures very quickly. Other woods you'd still not have a problem with 24" if you split it. Here in Maine the old rule of thumb is split and stacked for seasoning by April. In the Barn by October. A nice 6 month cure.

Agreed 100%. Back in the colonial days here in NH, ash was refered to as the governor's wood because of its superior BTU to season time ratio. Top notch stuff.

Ditto on the Maine rule of thumb - holds true throughout Northern New England. Got my split mixed hardwood stacked in our southfacing dooryard, awaiting the eventual move into the barn in the fall where it will sit until making the last leg of the journey into my cookstove's firebox.

 

[sno-man!]

I burn almost all oak and I was woundering how long is too long to have it drying. I cut everything into around 22" and my woodstove is a 1800 clayton.

 

[woodbooga]

I burn almost all oak and I was woundering how long is too long to have it drying. I cut everything into around 22" and my woodstove is a 1800 clayton.

The basic rule of thumb with red oak is 2 years since its such a dense, close-grained wood.

I burn in a 100-year-old cookstove (the kind grammy used to have for baking pies and biscuits). Because of the small size of the firebox, I split real small. I cut to 16" lengths, considerably shorter than you. In my case, the wood I split in March/April is good to go in November, December and beyond.

In your case, with bigger sticks of wood, you might want to allow additional seasoning time.