I had some trees near the house cut down (emerald ash borer) and want to cut up to use in my fireplace. I am cutting the trees into 16" lengths. couple questions if you don't mind 1. is ash a good wood to burn 2. should I split the wood before I stack it- I have started to stack some in rounds form. enjoyed your video- thanks ps bought a Stihl ms250 which I had to have sent back to runnings because such a B *** to start..
This fire pit is one of a few covered pits that is on the list ru-vid.comUgkxAU9pOCSV9Y5JprooHvfxTpOrt4hx8uRM of approved products for Disney Fort Wilderness. The product served its purpose well and provided excellent fires throughout the evening. We were able to open the door and do s'mores, but I had to be careful because the handle was a bit hot on occasions. Additionally, I wish they had replaced some of the standard nuts with lock nuts in some places. We lost the door handle after just a couple of days of usage. Not a deal breaker, just a recommendation. I still give it 5 stars.
It is always nice if you have achers of land to store it on for a few years before you use it. I do 6 or 7 cords a year for my own use, cut the trees myself, slice them in 16" length, then haul them home and split them with my 6 1/2 ton electric splitter and stack them. I start cutting about the end of May and finish up about the middle of August . I live in NW Pennsylvania, will not fire up the stove until the middle of October, have a cord and a half leftover from last year, that I will use first, then go to the wood I cut in May. I don't have room to store several years' worth of wood, but what I cut in August will be leftover for next year. I am 74 and work in the woods by myself.
@@SevenSparrowsFarm I invested in a moister meter, and keep testing my wood, the wood left over from last year is getting readings around 10%, the wood I cut in May is now reading around 16% and the last that was cut in August is still around 36% to 40% but that last tree, my nephew wanted me to remove, was a big elm tree, going to try and avoid those next year. They hold a lot of moister and are hard to split. But it did make a big crash when it came down, it was a big tree for me anyways, almost 30" in diameter where I cut it with my 16" saw. But it landed right where I told him it would, thankfully I had a big field to drop it in, then took a week to clean it up so he could mow again.. Have to rake it clean so the mower doesn't hit anything .
I’ve burned seasoned pine and other softwoods routinely. Although, the old wives tale about it causing more buildup has been around forever, I can tell you that this is untrue. Actually, because it burns more quickly and hotter, it likely causes LESS buildup, IMO. Very good video- your wood drying setup is ideal.
Same here I’ve burned a lot of softwood over the years with no problems . Good quick warm fire . I believe it’s how wet your wood is and how much you damper down while wet that produces the excessive creosote
Yeah, it’s about moisture content, not wood type. Has nothing to do with pine pitch like most think. More water means cooler fire because it has to evaporate water first and colder fire means cooler flue temps, where smoke condenses creating creosote. All about moisture content and how you operate stove. A smoldering fire will create a ton of creosote compared to a hot fire w plenty of air coming in, which will burn clean.
Just to add a bit to this, about burning softwoods. Our firewood is 95% softwood for most years, with some variety, but never seasoned more than 9 months (usually less than 6 months). Some is always standing dead, so almost the same as seasoned. Last winter was particularly bad for wood supply, and about 25% of our wood was borderline green pine, 25% decently dry pine, and the rest was mostly fir of varying dryness. All we had to do to make it work was keeping a variety around to burn every day, and mix greener wood with the hot burning dry pine. When I cleaned the chimney before this winter there was very little build up at all. If all we had was damp wood I'm sure it would have been a different story, but having at least a bit of decent wood and mixing it in almost every day kept the chimney clean. I've also heard many of the horror stories about pine and softwoods, but have never seen any evidence of it myself.
@@SevenSparrowsFarm My theroy as to "pine causes creosote" goes like this. Because it takes so long to dry people would burn poorly seasoned hardwood for a while causing a build up. Then they would get a load of pine, and because it dries so quickly and burns hotter it would end up lighting the previous buildup causing a chimney fire. Which lead to the myth of "pine causes creosote" when in reality all it did was catch the hardwood build up on fire. Never had a issue with either type of wood. But with pine it's easy for me to find, and I can replace my burnt stacks during the winter and know it will be ready for next year.
Don’t burn pine? In the Colorado mountains it’s all ABOUT the pine! No issues. Gotta burn what ya have, which is pine here, along with spruce, fir, and Aspen. You should clean your chimney at the end of every season if it’s your main heat source regardless of what you’re burning.
Your advice is closest to the way we handle wood in Finland. We fell trees when dormant, that is december to early march. Haul to the yard when the ground is still frozen. Start splitting in april and try to get all done and stacked by May. Move to the shed in August or next summer. We use mostly birch, pine and spruce. I have 3 to 4 years rotation.
Your wood shelter is by far the simplest one to make I've seen on RU-vid, and it appears to work since I see how well the wood was dry. I'm definitely going to make some of those, thank you for the advice
I prefer to season my firewood 14.6 years, then kiln dry it for a month just to be sure it is dry. Actually I do 5 or 6 months in the sun covered with tin. Cut wood in the spring before the leaves come on. Wood is ready by winter, does not sizzle. I have a moisture meter. 20 years doing it this way.
I sell all the better btu woods, which means I end up burning conifer soft woods and other low btu hard woods. Pine does not cause creosote!! Wet unseasoned wood does! I'll take 15% moisture pine any day over 25% moisture oak.
I cut and split from trees which have died naturally (I would never destroy a live tree). I’ll use anything that is big enough to be called a log, and that means all the short off cuts and strange shaped bits round tree forks etc. I have two stores about 5m x 2m x 2m lined with damp proof membrane but with open ends for air flow. This works for me - the problem with your system is that (a) it uses a vast amount of land for storage, and (b) all the logs have to be more or less the same size, so where do all the short, misshapen bits go? I’m 67 and use a large maul and a manual wheelbarrow. If I had to use some massive industrial splitter and powered machinery to haul it back I wouldn’t bother. Might as well just throw in the towel and turn the gas central heating on,
@@ErikLiberty Maybe the point is that there is no “best way”. It depends on how much land you have available, whether you need it to blend in with a garden, the type of wood, the cycle time for seasoning, weather conditions and a bunch of other factors. I recently rebuilt my main log store with the same basic design but a lot better built and nicer looking. Cost and time of the build is not that much but it should last 20 years at least and blends well into our garden. Just a simple shed-like shape with open ends about 5.5 metres long by 2x2.5 cross section, made of 50x25mm treated timber frame, lined with damp proof membrane all round including the floor, roofed with treated feather edge just for aesthetics, not to keep the rain out. You don’t need the sun to dry the wood, but you do need air flow. After about a year just about any wood will be great for burning if stored this way. One thing I didn’t like about the design in the video ( 3:40 ) is that you have to stack it carefully which wastes time and can get dangerously unstable if it bulges out to one side. I like to stack the logs without wasting space but also quickly. I also don’t like the idea of a temporary roof held down by blocks and bits of wire when with a bit of effort it can look much better and be semi permanent.
My technique: Use nothing other than hardwood. Cut and split into smaller pieces. That helps when carrying to stove and helps the drying process. I have a shed attached to my horse barn that is capable of holding just over 4 cords of firewood and overhangs at least 3 ft. past the firewood to help prevent rain blowing in. Under the wood I use old wood pallets. I never burn anything that has had less than 8 months of curing time, and usually 12 months. I cut firewood for next year right after I stop using the wood burning stove. BTW, I always used an axe and maul to split the wood, but old age done caught up with me. I bought a wood splitter 5 yrs. ago.
Sounds like you have a great process! One thing I’ve learned since making the video is there a lot of people who don’t have access to hardwood burn pine after letting it dry out thoroughly. it’s been great to see all the ways people do it.
People in Alaska would be very happy to burn oak if it was available, but it doesn’t grow here. Nor does pine. I’m assuming you’re thinking of Spruce, which, if properly seasoned, does not cause a lot of creosote buildup, which is what I think you mean when you say gumming up the chimney. Also, people up here don’t usually use chimneys. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a chimney here. Stove pipes. Also, birch is not a hardwood. We are happy to burn it, but it’s not a hardwood. Had to get that off my chest before I watched the rest of your video.😀
No worries and thanks for your comment! We’re in the south east and from what I’ve heard, the Pine stays much wetter here which is why I’ve heard not to burn it. I’ve had some great comments from folks around the world talking about the different types of wood they burn and how that varies. Thanks again for sharing!
@@SevenSparrowsFarm I've had discussions with people in L48 about how lousy birch is, and I'm convinced that we're talking about different species of birch. This link to the different btu's of locally-sourced wood demonstrates that birch is at the top of the pyramid here: forestry.alaska.gov/Assets/pdfs/wood/08BTUFirewoodHandout.pdf Burning oak to stay warm means someone's chopping up grandma's chifforobe. 😆
Yeah we put a note in the description. My wife who is from Illinois also mentioned that there’s a difference between northern and southern pine. She mentioned that southern pine is much wetter so that may be where the concept comes from.
We live in the southeast and a lot of Southern Pine is very moist which then causes more issues with chimneys. That’s why I made the statement. You can check the description for some added thoughts after hearing from people who burn pine outside of the southern part of the United States. There is also a lot of debate regarding pine burning with less heat or lasting as long as hardwoods so that’s why I mentioned that. iI you live in a place where pine is the main option, then go ahead and burn pine as long as it as well seasoned.
I've burnt pine for yrs never had chimney problems. From Forest fire. Some of the best wood burned very little ash. Tamarack. Stove burning everyday. Plus be a lot 3inch logs I don't even split. Firewood piled excellent nice job 👍
Both are helpful. But I agree that air flow is very important. I heard it stated once that you want a space in between your wood small enough for a mouse to run through, but not the cat chasing him. 😆
I wish people would stop titling any content with " The Best". The best is impossible for anyone to know. Maybe tomorrow you'll find a new trick that no one ever thought of. Or maybe Joe down in east overshot has been doing it that way for decades. The latter is likely. This doesn't apply only to the firewood topic. If you think you know any topic better than everyone on the planet, your ego is getting too big to fit through a barn door. Try to think things through a bit better.
I hear you. Unfortunately, people don’t search Google for “A Way to split firewood”, so you have to word it like that or people won’t get the help they need.
A state forester told me that pine is fine. It burns hot and fast and it needs to be slowed down. Actually, he encouraged it. He said if I ever had the chance to burn pine to do it. The belief that pine firewood causes a lot of creosote is incorrect. But I would imagine the fast hot fire could be a problem for a lot of stoves. As for taking down trees let a professional do it. I've had trees taken down around the mountain house. I call a local guy and he will come out with the RIGHT equipment and drop the trees for me. After that it's up to me to clear everything up. I try to cut the firewood that won't make lumber grade first. Then I have the room to take my Alaskan saw mill and over the course of a few days or weeks I mill what I can. Plenty of everything from the ground. Storing firewood should be done at least 30 feet from the building to prevent pests from 'moving' in.
Thanks for sharing! I added some notes in the description since I heard multiple people mentioning burning pine. Definitely agree that if you’re not comfortable felling a tree, you need to let a professional do it. Also agree regarding keeping wood away from your house. We have a lot of copperheads in the area and they like wood piles.
Question: Only issue I see is the roof. As you begin to take wood away for use, the pile will get smaller, and now the only thing holding the roof is the four poles. What am I missing? Thanks!
You’re not missing anything. Once you start moving wood from the pile, you’re either burning it or moving it to a more convenient location to burn. The goal would be to have it sufficiently dried out at that point, so a little bit of water/snow won’t hurt.
All I ever burned is pine. I live in a pine forest and I am not going to buy oak just because its better. Pine is often free. Free wood equals free heat. Pine is cheap, burns hot, burns fast, built up in your chimminy. I have never had a chimminy fire in 40 years. Combine pine with oak. And clean you chimminy often. Not a big deal...other then heating your house for free!
I used to be in commercial roofing…I now call a local COMMERCIAL roofing company when I need to cover my firewood. They will tear off old membrane roofing and throw it away and be charged to do so. The old membrane can be several different kinds. I find black rubber to be the best for a few reasons. One, it’s more flexible than the white TPO, and two, the heat from the sun on the black color creates heat even in the colder months that helps dry out the wood, at least at the top. Plus mosquito larvae don’t seem to survive if there are low areas that hold a little water because it either burns off quickly or cooks them (I’m in Tenneessee so not sure about much farther north). The negative to the black rubber is that it’s dirty when you handle it after years of the black carbon working out of it. There are two types of membranes…reinforced or non reinforced. The reinforced will have a fabric mesh embedded in the membrane for extra strength. Both membranes are pretty damn strong but if you have a choice, I’d recommend the fabric reinforced. You may have to wait on their schedule for a tear off, but they will cut the membrane with a razor knife into manageable size pieces to roll up and throw off the roof. I ask my guy to cut it into either 4, 8, or 12 foot widths and as long as they are willing to make it. It can be heavy but when I get it home I cut 4 foot wide strips out of it to cover the stacks. The last time I picked up rubber membrane, they had stacked on the side of the building 12 pieces cut 8 feet wide and about 20 feet long and even tied each one up in a roll with twine for me. I used it to cover all my firewood (about 180 lineal feet of stacks) and a bunch of rough cut lumber for a barn rebuild. I used about half of what I picked up and the rest is stored for the future. One caution…rodents may/will chew holes in it in storage if they get to it, but so far it hasn’t happened to any I’ve used to cover. It’s a heavy duty cover for your firewood, cost me only my time and fuel in the truck, and it’s being reused instead of filling a landfill. Been doing this now for 3 years and it’s worked great.
A wood shed is a better option, less space less fuss better use of space. And the wood stays dry since rain and snow can't get to it.... Cut & split wood is stacked in the shed in early summer and is ready to burn by November, even oak is ready to burn by Halloween. Hello from Maine
It depends on where you are. I'm in the north Georgia/NC mountains and dampness/mold can be an issue here. I prefer direct sun and airflow. I've done both though and got dry wood if done right. Thanks for commenting!
@@SevenSparrowsFarmThree factors, air flow, sunlight and protection from precipitation. Your system lacks in the third factor... My wood shed has two open ends and the side walls are framed with 2x4s 8 inches on center, no sheathing on the side walls.... I might do a video on a wood shed one of these days.... Amazing how fast the wood dries after a few weeks once stacked in the shed....
@@MaineOutdoorsChannel The majority of the wood is covered by the metal roofing and other wood. When the sides get rained on, they dry out quickly. We can agree to disagree though. Definitely make a video though showing your set up.
On my wood shed I used clear polycarbonate roofing. It acts like a kiln. Only problem is you can not work in it after midday. Too hot even with a 20” fan blowing.
Some places, like where I am, everything is pine, spruce and birch...for the most part. So keep an eye on that creosote. Ground is solid rock. Nothing else can grow on it. *Edit: Still some useful information. Thanks for taking the time to share. (òÓ,)_\,,/
Thanks for sharing! where we live in the south east, the pine gets really wet due to the constant humidity and I’ve heard it reacts differently to Northern Pine. I think that’s where the idea of wet pine/creosote comes from here. Since posting the video, I’ve heard a lot of northern friends mention that they burn pine so I made an edit in the description. thanks again!
@@SevenSparrowsFarm No thank you! ...and so many of your knowledgeable subscribers. Good to know I won't have to clean out my chimney every few days. My first stove so I'll be keeping a close eye on it.
@@bangdingow1414 You'll be good. Talk with some locals that have owned stoves for years. They'll give you tips on the type of wood and how to get the most out of your stove. Most people in my part of North Carolina clean their chimneys once a year if they clean dry wood. You can also buy a cleaning log that you burn, and it helps clear up the creosote. Hope that helps!
Your information and video is valid for your area. Using wood for heat is an ancient practice and many people have adapted hundreds of different methods over the centuries. Pine isn't ideal firewood, but if you live in many western states it's the only reasonable choice. I stack my firewood on pallets which I get for free. I then split some of my rounds into slabs for the end of the rows and turn them 90º to create stability which eliminates the need for the metal posts you use. I don't cover my firewood as I live in a semi-arid climate.
Agreed. I’ve moved to North Georgia, but in the mountains of North Carolina it’s much more rainy. You definitely have to go with what is around you. I put a note in the description because a lot of people use pine because that’s what’s most prevalent around them. thanks for sharing!
I bought a 20 ton log splitter last year and got my money's worth just for bonfire's alone. Made some money splitting logs for people which is taking off pretty good and I just aquired 6 trees which I'll be starting the long task of splitting. Thanks for the video 👍
Forget the Oak unless you have 2+ years to let it dry. Hickory, Ash, Pecan, Hackberry, etc have lower moisture content when first cut, and requires around half the drying time Oak does.
After having the video up for a few seasons, I've learned that people have to use what is available in their area. We dried oak for about a year and a half, but burned other wood too. Whatever you burn, make sure it's dried thoroughly.
Great video ! I like the single row piles myself it does dry much quicker, I do cut green popular (aspen) spit and cure just like you, awesome :) I am one of them guys way up north, spruce & pine I only cut the dead standing it is very dry but if your not careful lower land where the is more ground moisture you will still find the bottom 3 or 4 blocks with some moisture I just keep them separate for a few months,
very good video. certainly don't want to burn firewood to soon. 6 months minimum if you live in dry climates. A year or longer certainly preferred. You cut this year to keep you warm next year.
True! That's why Ahs seems to be the preferred wood to burn in Maine, where, because of the brutal winters, we don't necessarily have a lot of time to wait for the wood to dry properly. Cherry's another preferred wood in this state. Dries fast, burns long and hot. Oak and Maple are both great burning woods, but they do require a lot of time to dry in order for them to burn properly.
Excellent Video! The only thing I would say (big mouth!) is to make sure you take into consideration where you place the wood in conjunction to the woodstove; close as you can to the house. At least up here; lots of snow that you might have to travel through to get to wood pile. Everything you said is spot on; been helping do it for years. And you need to start in the spring if you are planning to actually heat with wood as if you live in a cold climate you can go through a lot. Great!!
Thanks for your comment and great point on keeping it close to the house! We normally keep our larger pile a little farther from the house and then move batches as we go. Our reasoning is because we have a lot of copperheads here (western NC) and they love a warm stack of wood. =) I definitely see the the advantage in a colder climate!
Oh, good grief. Pine, nor any other softwood, will not "gum up your chimney." If anything, pine will burn hotter, producing a higher exhaust gas temperature, which reduces creosote build-up. The only time you will get excess deposits in a chimney is if you are burning wood that isn't sufficiently dry. That's it.
Let me say this from experience ,I sell wood for the last seven years and I started doing about thirty cords the first year and kept going up ,now I used to stack it and after 3 years of doing that ,it just didn't make sense to be spending that much time on something that I'm not making a real lot of money on ,I said I'm gonna make a big pad out of pallets and pile it and just see how it goes ,I didn't notice one difference and cut the work in half now I'm doing 150 cord ,unless u are stacking for you're house and maybe selling a little ,I mean to stack anymore than fifty cord is mental I would have to charge 950 a cord ,u learn over time this firewood thing is a ton of work man just a ton
@@burnerloco4138 I use pallets to stack wood on. Also I make a box, a coral with pallets for smaller thicker, chunkier wood, (chunkers). I just throw the chunkers in the pallet bin. Sometimes the chunkers is all I need to take the chill out of the air. Or the chunkers can fit into the corners of the fire box to fit every inch of the box for an over night burn.
Just purchased a retirement home on 22 acres, 15 acres wooded, maple, ash, large black walnut, elm, birch. Purchased a 27 ton splitter. Now have 25 face cord of split and stacked wood for the next 5 to 7 years. Brand new wood burning insert heats my entire house. Now I can relax a bit in my old age with a good supply of wood. Ordered seasoned wood 10 face cord from a wood seller to get me by for 2 years.
This is such a great video!! I have a few extra T postss laying around and have thought about giving them away. But now I can put them to use. Thank you so much!
Nicely done, But.. This setup only works if you have enough space, I make holz hausen that saves space and it dries just as fast as this setup. And it also looks nice in the garden.
True. And after some additional research, I found that Southern Pine (where we live) tends to stay wetter and then doesn’t burn as well. I’ve heard people mentioning outside of this area they regularly burn pine so I made a note in the description. Thanks for watching.
Glad it was helpful! as I looked at the comments I’ve seen that a lot of people are burning pine because that’s what’s prevalent in the area. whatever you burn, just make sure it is dry. Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the video. I have read that you want to season your wood down to below 20%. Will you still hear a little sizzling and see water since it is seasoned but still contains moisture?
Honestly, I never used a moisture reader, so I’m not sure of exact percentages. i’ve always been told that if you hear sizzling or see water that the wood is still wet. Dry wood doesn’t sizzle but burns really clean.
Thanks for the video. How many years would you say the wood would last before eventually rotting. I have several trees that need cut down but don't want the wood to rot.
Glad it was helpful! I’ve seen some wood last three or four years, but not typically have it stay around best then. I would probably Google that one just to be safe.
Not necessarily as long as it has airflow. In my opinion, I want sunlight hitting it and air flowing in between the pieces of wood. One other thing to consider is moisture and where your shed is located. I am in the mountains and mold can be a problem, so make sure it’s not damp.
couple ideas for future videos: Video on manual wood splitting? I am new to splitting and have a maul, but seems that I swing, and it bounces more than biting in.... Too wet to split? How long after you cut do you split? Back saving ideas on splitting?
Thanks for the ideas! Not sure how sharp your maul is, but lots of people will sharpen theirs regularly. Not knowing your set up, I’m guessing that you have a large solid block of wood that you’re setting each piece of wood on top of correct? Something that absorbs the impact and causes the word you’re splitting to give. Another tip would be to make sure that you were really trying to split all the way through the wood. Do you have to “put some mustard on it “as they used to say in my old hockey days. 😀
i split everything as soon as i cut it, the colder it is the better it splits i use a fiskars x27 and it is better than a maul. i do have a couple videos on you tube of me splitting.
Some pieces will do that. Either because there's a big knot in it, or perhaps it's from the base of the tree where the wood is toughest. Learn to read the wood. Check for knots before you start swinging, and split parallel to them- NOT across them or through them. Also look for natural cracks to exploit. And if it's a biggun, start at the edge, not the center and work your way across. (you're trying to move a lot less wood, that way) You can also try to slab pieces off the edge- 3-4" thick, depending on how big you like your pieces. Then just work your way around the outside, until the chunk is small enough to try and split the usual way. This is your best bet for those monster 24"+ diameter chunks. Sometimes you have to say enough is enough. Without a powered splitter, you just aren't going to get through some pieces. When I get one of those, I'll slab off as much as I can from around the knot, and just save the rest for an overnighter piece, or for the firepit. You'll beat yourself silly trying, otherwise! As for how long before splitting, it depends. Lots of species can be split right away- and some MUST be split right away. Species like Birch and poplar, for example- the bark on them is rather effective at keeping water IN, and not at all good at letting it escape. Those woods are also very juicy when green, and less dense than many other varieties- meaning they will rot and get punky quickly, if they can't dry out. The upside is they dry very quickly once split. Sometimes it's easier if you let rounds dry for a while- till the ends begin to check and crack. Cottonwood is a great example of that- it's SO wet, that it becomes much easier to split if you give it a month or two after you buck it into rounds. Most harder hardwoods can be split right away. If it was already dead when you cut it up, you can definitely split it right away.
I usually cut out wood about 18 Long I am blessed to have 2 woodsheds one for dry and the other not so dry and I stack some wood in the outside for the next year
If you notice while stacking that a bulge has formed in the stack or some pieces sticking out , take a loose piece and tap them end to end and they will go back in place, even low down in the stack.
No I don’t. Splitting it, it often comes off in a triangular shape with only the smallest side having bark. If debris is an issue, simply knock them against the stack of wood before carrying inside.
I do bout 6 14k dump trailer loads of cedar. And i always hand chop it. A 10lb maul. Never used a log splitter. But i use wood pallets i stack upon and keeps it off the mud when it rains.
Haha no. I just realized getting older than trying and lift the bug stumps its easier to cut it to chopping size and wheelbarrowing it. May seem it takes longer but its less a mess at home and get to enjoy nature. Im here in the Kaibab at the Grand Canyon.
Ugh… I just bought a huge load of wood that was supposed to be ready to burn in the house… but it’s 100% fresh cut and PINE 😰 guess I’ll stack it for next year.
Sorry to hear that. ☹️ when I first started burning wood in the woodstove, I was ttaken advantage of a few times by unscrupulous sellers. That’s one reason that I put this video together. Check out the comments here because some people said that pine can be burnt in less time than hardwood. If it was freshly cut though, I’m guessing that it would still need to be dried.
Get yourself a moisture meter, they’re pretty cheap and decent one should cost around $50. When they come spilt a bigger piece in half and check center of wood with meter, don’t test on end as it dries the fastest. Do this before they even dump the load and reject it if it’s too wet. You want 20% and under, can prob get away with 22% if it’s a non cat stove.
I've gotten several zoning notices from Balto County MD about my fire wood pile. They keep telling me I have to have my woodpile over 14" off the ground but will never show me the documented law stating it. Thing is everybody else in my area has their wood stacked on the ground between 2 trees. If I wasn't currently living on SSI, I'd hire a lawyer and sue them for harassment if they don't show me a law saying it's true and then I want everyone else to stack theirs the same way.
Tends to be the other way round here in the U.K. we have laws about absolutely everything but nowhere near enough police to enforce them, so they really only go after the serious criminals and leave the rest of us to do what we like. Most neighbours understand that there is a bit of give and take over things like fences, trees, noise, lighting etc. and don’t make waves unless it’s a real problem. Even then you talk to the neighbour first and don’t involve the law if you can avoid it - any dispute must be declared when selling the house and may put off buyers.
I like your ladders under the stacks. I temporarily stacked some on the ground this year and I was surprised at just how much it had rotted in just a month and a half. Plus, the wood on the bottom was so water logged that it's just now getting dry enough to burn, 3 months later.
I hear you! As more people are watching the video, they are commenting on different scenarios throughout the country. What do you wind up burning most?
Hey, I've heard about stacking wood bark side up. So, if you split your wood into (mostly) quarters and stack it just like you have in this video, it doesn't look like you are stacking your wood bark side up or down. I take it it doesn't matter?
What about using wood that is already fallen? How can you tell if it's still good to use or even if it still needs to be seasoned further? Thanks for the great video!
I’ve used a little bit of fallen wood before. You want to make sure that it’s not too punky (mentioned in the video) from termite/bug damage. If it is still hard, you should be able to cut it up and use it.
A lot of people that I know cut it down and then pile them up until they are ready to split it. Felling a tree can be a lot of work and so is splitting logs. I don't think there is a correct answer. I think the focus should be on how long you stack/dry them.
Some trees are easier to split when fresh, compared to letting them dry in log form for a bit. I know I’ve had cherry that was cut into rounds and was super easy to split fresh, but when I let it sit for a few weeks it became a lot harder to spilt. Elm is very hard wood to spilt by hand, while ash and maple are fairly easy
I use pallets as the base for my wood piles. Also, I place a pallet vertically at each end of the pile, held in place by diagonal braces screwed into the base and the upright pallet. The wood is then stacked 4-5’ high. If the pile should eventually shift to one side due to frost or ground settling, I tap the pile back into position with multiple hits with a 7 pound sledge. Works great
You keep saying a wood stove, but my wood stove only takes 16 inche pieces. My wood heater can take larger pieces such as the 24 inche pieces. My wood stove has a firebox, ash pan underneath, 2 eyes and a griddle on top, an oven, and a warming box.
There are lots of different sized wood stoves out there. People use different terms when they say woodstove. I’m talking about a wood stove that heats your house. Jotul, Osburn, and Hearthstone are a few different ones. Some companies make a wood stove heater and also the retro style Wood burning cookstoves.
Pretty basic question, but I'm new to this having just bought a large wooded property. Once you take the tree down and cut it into 18 to 24 inch logs, how quickly can I split it? Same day? Like drop tree, cut to logs, then split and stack all in one go? Thx
Yes you can split and stack immediately. Some Species of trees season/ dry faster than others, also the time of the year the tree is cut down affect how fast it will dry. A tree cut down in the fall or winter will have less moisture in it than a tree cut down in the spring and summer.
@@SevenSparrowsFarm great. Thanks for clarifying. And any guidance on moisture % to tell me the wood is dried out? I bought a moisture meter to help. I'm doing this on a water access only property in Northern Ontario Canada, so it's not like I can call the local wood guy and have him make a delivery... it's me, my boat, my saw and splitter and my 9 acres.... Thanks everyone
@@chrisfuoco5474 Honestly, I never really use a meter. This drying system always worked so I didn’t have a need for one. I would take a look at a couple RU-vid videos regarding reading moisture and make any adjustments needed according to your climate conditions. Sounds like you have a great property and set up!
@@chrisfuoco5474 I've heard that 25% or less is ideal. the time it takes to get there is again dependent on species among other things already mentioned
I guess I haven't dealt with them very much. Most healthy trees won't have much of an issue with them. I've seen more trees that are on the ground be destroyed by termites.
We definitely keep a little bit near the house. We have a good amount of copperheads in the area though and they like wood piles. So we keep that to a minimum and refresh when needed.
I guess you could say people are split in their decisions and you get a different answer depending on who you axe. You could get mauled for choosing to use an axe vs. maul though. 😀
