Mineral Deposits in my burnt wood?..

[mustangwagz]

Ok guys..here's a question for ya cuz neither me or anyone i talk to can figure this out. This winter, i've burned a good bit of OLD wood. stuff thats been layin around in the woods for quite some time. Excess of 5 years easy. typically, this size of a tree would be rotted and no good, but i think i stumbled across something weird. These tree's are no bigger around then 16 inch at max. When split, seem to be red oak? Hard hard wood. burns HOT!!!!, and long. Red in color, no bark on the ones i've been finding. Now here's the Weird part.. I leave the stuff dry out, catch's right away and burns HOT no problem. House is like 95 as i type. After its burned..coals in the burner i throw more in..but that stuff doesnt burn very well...so i open the bottom damper up and only certain areas start to glow BRIGHT orange, and then catch the wood. Figured, ok...the gaps between my grates are just plugged? Indeeed..but, they're (covered) with a Large hard mass of what looks be be a burnt mineral or something? Some are green in color, some are white, usually all in odd ball shapes but very large and very hard? Now i've noticed something about this "stuff" i'm gettin from the wood. It ONLY comes from the wood i get across the road? I got prolly a dozen of these tree's from my side of the road..no burnt up odd stuff. Every Single tree i get "of this style, or that's been laying on the ground for a long time, OR even standing dead" ends up leaving behind this odd Hard mass of buildup. Ill take a picture tomorrow so yinz can see what i'm describing but has anyone EVER heard or seen something like this? Could it be from some kinda mineral deposit in the ground across the road? or what? i'm stumped!!! This wood burns GREAT and is awesome but just makes no sense to me. ANything i get over there thats still got bark, doesnt gimme problems, its only these "Old" logs? Imma keep burning them till i hear otherwise cuz the heat rating is unreal and its easy to get. Ill just have to keep unplugging my air gaps i suppose. someone please help me out IF you can! Thanks in advance guys! hope to hear back soon!

 

[NWnewguy]

Clinkers?

From what you are describing it sounds like clinkers. Which is basically a clod of minerals that wouldn't burn with the original load. I have a PE stove and that is all I usually have to take out of my stove (IE no real ash build up, unless I burn a bunch of Alder). I usually grab them with some tongs and put them in the ash bucket. Pictures would definitely help, and I can't tell you why only wood from the other side of the road would give you this. Look forward to the pics.

 

[ray benson]

I think the wood is burning so hot it's fusing some of the ash making the clinkers.

 

[mustangwagz]

Pictures

ok so i did it tonight. lol heres pictures. Most pieces are alot brighter in color, this one i just pulled out about 5 mins ago. Ok so burning hot, i meant putting out ALOT of heat. my bad. Its only burning about 300 degree's halfways up my verticle black stove pipe. (18 inches above my stove according to my Rutland stove thermometer) but yah here's the stuff guys..

 

[ironman_gq]

sell it on ebay as some sort of rare natural crystal only found in old hard wood Someone is bound to buy it

 

[Henry G.]

Crazy! Reminds me time of the time we burned an X-mas tree out in the dez camping with the lights still on it, and the colors coming off the wire and bulbs were awesome! Green, blue, red, yellow, X-mas all over again.
Thats sure looks like metal particles, you sure it aint from your stove with the high temps?

 

[KsWoodsMan]

The greenish cast reminded me of copper. They could have been killed by copper sulfide or the neighbors across the road kept some in their latteral lines to keep the tree roots out of them. Can you do any metal detecting over there and see if one of the previous owners burried a few jars of coins they forgot about.

 

[Diesel Pro]

Dunno about the green part, but like mentioned maybe copper. I get a lot of teh same size/shape pieces when I scoop out the ashes from my RSF Delta zero clearance fireplace. No grates, just brick lined. I first thought that someone was burning trash when I wasn't around, but these are naturally occurring clumps.

 

[farmermike]

I get alot of these when I burn red elm. Not uncommon. To a lesser degree I get them when I burn american elm. Don't ever seem to get them when burning ash or oak. Lot easier to clean in my opinion.

 

[slinger]

Don't know about the unidentified objects....

Wood sounds like Locust I've cut and burned locust that was cleared as part of a right-of-way that laid in the woods for 7-8 years.

 

[reccutter]

I had a similar experience this year. I had a load of mystery wood, 1/3 bug infested and other 2/3 load was the hardest,stringy,hottest burning stuff I've seen.I burn black locust and pretty certain it wasn't that or oak for that matter. I'm thinking maybe osage orange(hedge)? Some of these hard bits of green ash fused together taking top layer of firebrick with them. So now this summer I'll be replacing firebricks.

 

[mustangwagz]

Copper, yes..that does Look like copper leftovers huh? Good call guys. Ya know..that kinda does make sense..in a manner that is. See, these tree's are scattered all in one area. The area has a Spring below it..natural occuring that is. Well, there "Was" a dump up beyond that area i get tree's from, so Maybe theres something burried below surface no one can see? The whole idea about coins would be awesome! lol savin money and makin money! WOO!! lol The idea of it being locust never came to mind cuz it looks and smells like old red oak.. slight hint of oak to me. So i cant just say for sure its locust yet. Now osage orange, i've heard about this stuff..it grows as tree's? somoene said its usually only bushes or shrubs? Imma do more research. Also, how about iron? would iron burn up green? The water on the hillside doesnt have any orange color, but i'm just wandering if the roots of these tree's had the ability to suck up all the nutrients and minerals around them? Well, after everything i've read, still not sure but i think we're all learning something. As far as pulling it outta my bricks...well...what all do they put in fire bricks? cuz my bricks look unscathed along with the grate system. Keep thinkin guys! lol we'll figure it out!

 

[mustangwagz]

The greenish cast reminded me of copper. They could have been killed by copper sulfide or the neighbors across the road kept some in their latteral lines to keep the tree roots out of them.

Copper sulfide does what? This is VERY well possible if its what i'm thinking it is. I've found Barb wire in tree's, about 50 feet up in the air. so that tells me that back in my great great grandfathers time, (roughly) that they had cattle in that area? also, just a piece down the hill, there's an old limestone mine? think any of this would have something to do with it? the propertl line thing makes good sense. There's a VERY visible perimiter line that you can pretty much follow through the woods. Seperates BIG tree's from small trees. THe lines dont follow Current surveying marks, but hell...back then...who knows?

 

[jhoff310]

I would take it to your local county extension office and have them play with it for a while.


Jeff

 

[mustangwagz]

Local what?..lol

Local county extension office? wtf is that man? lol be more specific please. didnt know countys had a place like that?

 

[Dalmatian90]

http://extension.psu.edu/

They come from the Land Grant university system founded after the civil war. The Federal gov't gave the states land to sell for the funds to found universities that conducted agricultural research, pass that information on to the public (the Extension Service), and educate students in agriculture.

 

[Sierra99]

That thar is a Clinker

Those are clinkers just like you get when running a coal forge: all the stuff that doesn't burn fuses into a lump of ash and slag that clogs the tuyere (pronounced "twere") on a vertical up blast forge. Some of it is silica (quartz sand), the same stuff they make glass from, but mixed with carbon it forms a black glassy compound. Don't know about the green, but if there is any iron around, and there usually is, it can form all sorts of compounds that have red-yellow and green colors. But usually a lot of it is just melted mineral dust, or clay dust, with the same composition as potassium-feldspar (the pink crystals in granite) or sodium-plagioclase (the white crystals in granite). This is the stuff they use as glazes in pottery. It melts at around 600 C or 1100 F, which is lower than common temps at the bottom of a stove (~1600-2000). That doesn't mean the whole stove is at that temp, just a couple of inches that get the air blast, just like in a coal forge but without a forced air blast.

As for why it only occurs on one side of the road, perhaps those trees are down wind of a dirt road? That might explain a bit more dust getting into the wood. Or its just really dense wood, like elm, that forms a lot more heavy mineral ash that melts into clinkers.

 

[logbutcher]

ok so i did it tonight. lol heres pictures. Most pieces are alot brighter in color, this one i just pulled out about 5 mins ago. Ok so burning hot, i meant putting out ALOT of heat. my bad. Its only burning about 300 degree's halfways up my verticle black stove pipe. (18 inches above my stove according to my Rutland stove thermometer) but yah here's the stuff guys..

It's bad vibes Mustang, 'cause you bite your fingernails. Stop it ! :hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

The blue/green mass looks like copper compounds in the soil. Osmosis-- up through the cambium layer will suck up soil minerals. Copper is one of the most common around. Dead oaks are great for "instant" fires. Standing dead red and white oaks last as solid wood beneath the cambium layer for decades even with fungus growing on the surface. Great find !

 

[jhoff310]

usually affiliated with the state university

http://extension.psu.edu/


that link might be of some assistance...or it might give you an idea on who to talk to
Let us know what you find out please
Jeff