Running out of seasoned wood

[jthornton]

Not sure what kind of wood you have in missouri, but in Ohio there is no shortage of dead ash and you can burn it right away normally.

My tree book says we have ash but I can't ID it with the leaves off...

JT

 

[ash man]

You can't miss it. If the bark is falling off there will be a bunch of squiggle lines from the eab bugs.

 

[jthornton]

Thanks for the photos, I'll print the the bark one out and see if I can find any.

Thanks for the help.
JT

 

[ash man]

You bet good luck and happy cutting

 

[4seasons]

Another way to help identify ash is the twigs, limbs, and leave grow in an opposite arrangement. So anywhere that a twig is sprouting there will be another twig growing on the opposite side of the limb. Now some of these will break off so you can't just count it out if you don't see one limb on the other side of the trunk but all the new growth will show this pattern.

 

[jthornton]

Just looking in my tree book and I see the leaves are compound opposite so even if the leaves have fallen the pattern will be there.

If I can't find it now, I'm hopeless LOL.

Thanks
JT

 

[NSMaple1]

Another + for the fan. If you re-split it small, stack in a warm indoor place, with a big box fan on low speed sitting on the floor at the bottom of the pile, you'll get good air movement all around it and have some decent dried wood fairly soon. The sooner you get at that, the better.

 

[Pelorus]

Don't stack green wood indoors without a fan.....unless you wanna grow mushrooms.

 

[fuzz1500]

Those Ash tree pics break my heart . Thats what they are all turning into up my way as well Anyone else notice that the ash trees are the last to sprout leaves in the spring . Seems like its almost summer before they get there leaves anymore . Seems to get worse every year But...at least its not a hard decision to cut them into firewood .... before they turn to dust !

 

[shutup-n-cut]

Pallets are always an option as other posters have mentioned. Free and most is oak , I use them as kindling and can get them from my work ; most have been used only once so not too many extra nails to contend with.
Can you pick up some smaller stuff from the sides of the road , in my area there is plenty to be found. Not saying grab your saw and start cutting but pick up what is laying on the ground allready

 

[blackdogon57]

Here is what healthy ash looks like. This was cut last winter and split a few days ago. Moisture content around 20%. Takes a few minutes to take off but once it gets going it burns very hot for a long time.

 

[jthornton]

Thanks for the photo, as soon as some of the snow melts off and I can get out in the woods I'll try and find some. I'll bring my buddy Ricky along as he knows trees better.

JT

 

[CTYank]

Another great way to get "mileage" out of a woodpile is an EFFICIENT stove, like modern EPA-compliant ones. That doesn't include those basic boxes, sadly.

 

[jthornton]

I've been wandering around in the woods with a photo of Ash bark and can't seem to find any. Does ash prefer wetter low land or up on the side of a hill? That would narrow down the search area a lot.

Thanks
JT

 

[zogger]

I've been wandering around in the woods with a photo of Ash bark and can't seem to find any. Does ash prefer wetter low land or up on the side of a hill? That would narrow down the search area a lot.

Thanks
JT

I have seen it, and it is here, in both type places. Have some larger ones growing right on a creekbed, and some on the hill sides.

It is distinctive nice and even diamond like shaped bark. Very even and uniform. Tulip poplar has similar bark but it is much lighter in shade/color.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Fraxinus_americana

 

[jthornton]

Thanks that link gives me more clues to look for. I'm progressing from there are two trees pine and other... I can id a few more than that now Now to add ash to the list.

JT

 

[zogger]

Thanks that link gives me more clues to look for. I'm progressing from there are two trees pine and other... I can id a few more than that now Now to add ash to the list.

JT

Yep, and if you find either one, both are the quickest drying once split. I call tulip poplar "ash lite" because it is so similar, just half the weight. Looks similar, cuts the same, very close in splitting given some time. The poplar will be much wetter when cut green, even juicy, but if you can bust it up small, it dries really fast. Ash dries real fast as well. Now I have a problem doing tulip poplar cut green, it tends to be rubber wood. Swing, splash, bounce. But it's freaky, let it sit a few weeks until the ends get cracks and checked, and splitting gets downright easy and fun by hand. Ash you can do immediately, similar easy fun by hand. The tulip poplar doesn't throw a ton of heat compared to primo hardwoods, but beats "no wood to burn". And you can get decent heat from it, just split it half the size of your regular hardwoods. Standing dead tulip poplar will dry in days split small. Seems like it anyway. It might be punky, but will dry fast and burn soon. Added bonus is you might find some mambo big "land shrimp" in the wood that is excellent fish bait.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Liriodendron_tulipifera

 

[c5rulz]

Just out of curiosity today I cut up some dead elm and split it up fairly small. The moisture meter said it was running 21% and my good seasoned oak which is 2 years old is running 15%

 

[CRThomas]

I would expect it would not dry as fast as you would need it. My suggestion would be to purchase the seasoned wood you need for this year and think of the expense as "tuition". Best of luck.

If you got Ash wood to cut and burn cut and split little heat and air it will be down to 15 percent in 2 days if it was cut with the leaves all gone. Winter Ash will burn any way but it does a better job with 24 to 48 hours drying.

 

[svk]

Has any one tested live, winter cut black ash with a MM? I've got 4 to cut next week and was wondering if I could split and stack in my furnace room or wait till next year to burn...