Weird hard ashes in stove.....???

[Bing187]

Hi there,

I am a long time burner, have been burning 5 to 7 cord each winter, in a VC Resolute, for about 17 years. Have always kept chimney clean, though I HAVE slacked a little in the last year..... Don't think my issue is related though.

I have been lucky over the years in terms of firewood, either I was doing a house (I'm a part time builder) and the lot needed to be cleared, or I had a lot of storm related wood, but almost always red oak, maple or cherry. Probably makes up 95% of what I've burned over the years...........

I had a friend offer me 3 free trees fairly close to my place, he had them taken down by a pro, gave me the wood. I brought it back to my place in 84" lengths on a trailer, loaded with my Kubota, as some of it was 36" in diameter... Good size trees. And therein lies the first mistake... It was February last year, and no leaves.. I THOUGHT it was some species of Maple, or other hardwood, but wasn't sure. It was, however, HEAVY. I have since learned, since it has dried out, that it was heavy with water, as it is light as a feather when dry.

Long story short.. I'm burning it, not getting much BTU's out of it as it burns fast. I've done some research, and I THINK that it was Cottonwood, based on the bark and other descriptions I've seen....

The weird thing is; When I empty out the stove, the ash is in clumps, some pretty big ones, and man, they are HARD. Hard to break, too! It feels like I melted a piece of plastic in there and it bonded the ash together. Never seen anything like it. All the oak etc that I have burned would burn down to powder. Anyone seen anything like this, and if so, do you know the reason for it? I'm just curious, though I do have a small concern that if the ash looks like that, I'm wondering what effect it may be having on the chimney....

I appreciate any comments or thoughts on this. I love the site and lurk here often.

Mike

 

[Cheesecutter]

I get those crunchy ashes if I burn alot of elm . Here is a recent thread that may be of help to you. http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/crunchy-ashes.249962/

 

[SWI Don]

I have never burned cottonwood so I don't know if they form hard ash like elm or not. I took a cottonwood out of my yard this last summer and it went straight to a ditch. Good luck getting through your wood. If it is cottonwood you will go through it pretty quick.

 

[Bing187]

Now I'm wondering if it's Elm, I have seen some of the green "tinge" on some of it...... Sure looked like Cottonwood in pics I saw, but maybe not. Gray bark, sort of a mix; some smooth, some pretty deep ridges. I may take a ride over in the spring to see if the guy still has any in his yard that didn't get cleared. I definitely have seen a few pieces with some foam bubbling out of the ends, but most seems very dry.....

 

[Steve NW WI]

Light as a feather dry, and 36" diameter lead me to believe your cottonwood theory. They do look a bit similar in bark at times, but since DED, a big elm is a lot less common than a big cottonwood is. Elm is still fairly decent weight when dry, also.

I have some of both in my stacks, I'll click a couple pics later - I'm going out to play in the wind and refill the basement a little anyway.

 

[Poindexter]

I get clumps of ash like that when I burn our local "cotton wood" in the shoulder seasons.

The Alaska version is Populus balsamifera . You probably have a different species, it looks like the southern extent of the normal range of P. balsamifera is northern NH and northern VT, but I wouldn't be too concerned.

 

[Chris-PA]

As I posted in that other thread, I only get those when there is moisture in the wood that drips into the ashes. I have been watching and I find that when they form they are only located under the ends of the splits, which is where it drips from. I don't have any elm.

 

[windthrown]

I get clumps of ash like that when I burn our local "cotton wood" in the shoulder seasons.

The Alaska version is Populus balsamifera . You probably have a different species, it looks like the southern extent of the normal range of P. balsamifera is northern NH and northern VT, but I wouldn't be too concerned.

In Alaska you also have Populus trichocarpa, or western Balsom Poplar, the same as we have here in Oregon. We call them black cottonwoods here. The are the largest of the cottonwoods, though they do not get as large in AK as they do here.

 

[MGoBlue]

I get those crunchy ashes if I burn alot of elm . Here is a recent thread that may be of help to you.

Agreed, Elm does it every time.

 

[Cheesecutter]

Although I didn't take a pic because it's nasty out, I just dug some good sized greenish colored ones out of the OWB. I notice I get more of them when I burn American elm than I do burning red elm. Around here American elm is also called white or piss-elm. When white elm is standing dead, the bottom starts to get punky and develop colored stains(green, red, yellow, blueish). I've always assumed this was mold or fungus, but now I lean toward dissolved minerals leaching out.

 

[HuskStihl]

Teeth?

 

[Steve NW WI]

Teeth?

You'll swear elm has teeth when it bites down on a splitting maul and won't let go!

 

[Chris-PA]

Although I didn't take a pic because it's nasty out, I just dug some good sized greenish colored ones out of the OWB. I notice I get more of them when I burn American elm than I do burning red elm. Around here American elm is also called white or piss-elm. When white elm is standing dead, the bottom starts to get punky and develop colored stains(green, red, yellow, blueish). I've always assumed this was mold or fungus, but now I lean toward dissolved minerals leaching out.

Piss-elm - that might explain it!

 

[Knobby57]

That is without any question gnome poop!!!!! It's very common for them to poop in a wood burner( I guess it's just there thing ) but a clump that big???? You my friend are infested with gnomes that are obviously eating way to much Mexican food .

 

[Bing187]

I hadn't thought of the gnome poop, but I guess anything is possible.... 8)

I'm really confused now, as I have had some wood pushing moisture out the ends, I have seen green tinge..... So, it's either Elm, or Cotttonwood, and it sounds pretty common with either. I'll be glad when it's gone... I still have 1.5 cords or so to get through. It's a pain, but it was free. It also won't go through the night in the stove.... I can usually top load the stove at 10 pm or so and damp it down and still have coals enough to start a good fire in the am. I do need to re gasket the stove, as it's sucking air from the griddle and the doors, but this stuff doesn't even leave me embers, it's STONE cold in the morning.....

Thanks for the responses... I am still curious as to the scientific reason for it though.

 

[Steve NW WI]

That's cottonwood then, elm will leave you good coals. Cottonwood will burn to a pile of ash in a few hours.

 

[fuzz1500]

Piss-elm - that might explain it!

Piss Elm is right !!

 

[Cheesecutter]

This is the greenish tinge I get in my clumps.

 

[1project2many]

American Elm bark is very different from Cottonwood. American Elm bark is thin and has layers of white and brown and is not as deeply furrowed. I think it favors borwn rather than gray, too.. Cottonwood needs to season out of the weather in order to be reasonably dry through the winter. Even then it may hiss and bubble. Also, I find Cottonwood to smell bad compared to AE.

There's also Siberian Elm which is one of the few species I just don't want to burn. It's even lighter than Cottonwood when dry and it will hold moisture so badly it can rot while stacked to season. Siberian Elm likes to grow near river banks and in lowlands. The bark appears closer to Maple than Cottonwood and it doesn't have the same deep fissures.

This is Siberian Elm:



Here's alternating layers of brown and white in American Elm bark:

Cottonwood bark is deeply fissured but much more regular appearing in texture than Siberian Elm:

 

[Toddppm]

I'm burning Slippery Elm now and getting the exact same things you describe.