Penny Pinchers Corner..post your uglies!

[uglydukwling]

For years, I heated my house with scrap lumber. Not the clean, pretty, sweet-smelling off-cuts left over from new construction, but naily, shattered, ugly boards that demolition contractors would dump by the truckload. It sure made the "uglies" in the pictures look beautiful. It was a bit of extra work cutting between the nails and separating the tarpaper, but it was free and pre-split. Nobody but me seemed to know that it was made of wood and would burn just like virgin pieces of tree trunk.

Ironically, now that I have an outdoor boiler and wouldn't have to cut most of the scrap to length, the supply seems to have dried up. The old contractors have retired and I don't know what the new ones are doing with it. They may have finally figured out that they can use it for firewood, or they may be taking it to an approved landfill.

I have a few years' supply of deadfalls, so I haven't tried too hard to find out, but if I ever run out, I'll have to start lookiing again.

 

[husky455rancher]

i throw the chunks on top of my piles. i burn those when im home for a while and awake. after work or weekends during the day since the burn time is reduced cuse of the queer sizes.

 

[stihly dan]

View attachment 260702

8ft X 4ft X5ft. 2 55 gal drums worth burt so far.

 

[H-Ranch]

My "ugly" pile is getting pretty small since that's what goes in at the beginning of the season. Same as most of you I have it spread all over the top of the stacks so I do burn them throughout the season as I use the type of wood in each stack depending on temperature.

 

[Steve NW WI]

blah blah blah

Who's the blonde hanging out in your woodpile?

 

[H-Ranch]

Who's the blonde hanging out in your woodpile?

Well it is a pile of uglies... let's say it's a "celebrity" that I personally have no use for.

 

[artbaldoni]

I stack my firewood 10-15 feet from my owb. The ugglies go in a pile within 2 steps of the owb door so they get burned right away.

Short pieces, odd pieces, twisted crazy splits,, hard, soft, punky, poopy :msp_scared:, none of it matters since my CB6048 is an equal opportunity ash-maker....

+1 :agree2: except its a NCB175. I burn everything to make heat.

 

[benp]

Nothing that I have seen here needs to be burned under the cover of darkness so it's all beauties to me.

 

[Lugnutz]

I cut off of dozer piles, plenty of uglies from twisted and broken trees. I just put it on the pile with the other stuff or down in between the rows if it will fit. My wife has a fetish for scraps that will make good kindling ...I have enuff of this stuff to heat my place for a week...

she also has a trash bag full of stuff and a plastic trashcan ready to go....eating up valuable space in my barn dang it. So I started stacking the good stuff on her pile LOL

 

[cwitham]

Ugly enough View attachment 261133


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[zogger]

Ugly enough View attachment 261133


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OOOh yaaa........

 

[owbguy]

Ugly enough View attachment 261133


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elm?

 

[cwitham]

elm?

I'm pretty sure it's the bottoms of some hard maple and red oak, but I'm just guessing.

This is what they start as...View attachment 261177

And this

View attachment 261178


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[H 2 H]

The last of the uglies

 

[zogger]

I'm pretty sure it's the bottoms of some hard maple and red oak, but I'm just guessing.

This is what they start as...View attachment 261177

And this

View attachment 261178




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One is an oak for sure, not sure on the other.

--dang got it bad today...went to go vote, her highness driving in her ride, so I am sight seeing... coming back, looking into the woods here and there at the side of the road now that ons o leaves are gone..I see blowdowns, standing dead, big branches all over heck! Trainloads! A target rich environment!

 

[CTYank]

My little Morso stove takes 8-inchers. You can guess how stacking that has worked out- much restacking.

New stacks are of 16" splits. When it comes time to prep a batch for burning, it goes to the bandsaw for cutting, then gets tossed into a newly made outdoor bin that I just toss anything wooden into. Holds about a ton.

That bin has a roof and very porous sides and bottom. Faces south. Works great so far. (Fuel coming inside gets tossed into a big bag with closed ends. Size of pieces are of no concern. No such thing as uglies.

 

[qweesdraw]

I have an upstairs fireplace and a downstairs insert.
Splitter chips and bark knarly (crotches) crap that i would rather not waste my time on (or tweek my splitter on)
Splitter chips,.bark and crothes go into the inefficient fireplace if it isn't too cold.
When it gets cold the insert gets fired up with real wood and heat.
The new type dog /chicken food tarp type bags is what i put splitter chips in.
Good for starter and for an outside engine covers also.
Too many splitter chips and 5 neighbors getting them for free.

 

[Naked Arborist]

My "ugly" pile is getting pretty small since that's what goes in at the beginning of the season. Same as most of you I have it spread all over the top of the stacks so I do burn them throughout the season as I use the type of wood in each stack depending on temperature.

I'll have to get a pic of mine. you guys have not seen ugly yet...

 

[spike60]

I have a "chunk box" for the uglies on each side of my woodshed. Together, they hold .43 cords, and it all looks like the stuff in Zogger's wheelbarrow. I also have 3 stacks between trees near the shed with some extra wood. All cut to my usual 16", but a lot of it still pretty ugly as far as stacking neat goes. That's another half cord. Added to that is another face cord rack on the back deck.

All told, that gives me 1 1/4 cords before I touch the stuff in the woodshed. And I always play the same game as Zogger: How long can I go before I touch the wood in the shed? This year I'm shooting for Christmas!

 

[stihl023/5]

I have a lot of them but they burn just as good.:msp_ohmy: