Late wood splitting

[JF in MI]

Normally I split all my winter heating wood in the early spring so it has all summer to cure. This year with frantic
preparations to get our house ready and up for sale I didn't get to do that. I'm doing my splitting now. Since I rotate my
log pile the one I'm working on is at least 2 years old and was always covered but the logs are all about 8' or longer. About
half are burnable the other half (unfortunately mostly Locust) isn't probably because it is so dense. The good side is that
it is supposed to be a mild winter and heating oil prices are down. The good thing is that if the house sells my new place
has almost no trees so I won't need the splitter attachment.

 

[ohiojim]

the locust is burnable when you first cut it, there is only a small amount right under the bark that is wet....

 

[Richard G.]

I love locust for burning. That is all I burned last year and all I will burn from now on. Makes a good long lasting fire and leaves few ashes as opposed to hickory.
Richard in NW SC

 

[onefarmer]

For me moving to a house with no trees would be a disadvantage. 90% of my heat is by wood.

 

[JF in MI]

This stuff feels damp in the grain after the split.

 

[JF in MI]

The 2k sq ft house I'm moving to is Energy Star 5+ rated and passive solar. My entire propane heating bill for last winter (in mid MI) was $329. I probably save that alone on homeowner's insurance by not having a fireplace or chimney. The one thing I won't miss is getting rid of leaves.
I admit that I like the wood heat and that I enjoy cutting down the 150'+ trees (using my 'hoe), and I don't mind the cutting to lengths or even (so much) the splitting. What I hate is the stacking.

 

[Sean Feeney]

Mi is about 2% less in income tax you'll be rolling in the dough,
you taking the tractors.

 

[steve terplak]

Give it a couple days...will be ready to go

 

[JF in MI]

Even though I can't think of anything to use my 'hoe for out there you bet your life I'm taking my tractor. I can't bare the thought of living without it.

 

[JF in MI]

If that's true I will be one happy camper.

 

[larry@stinescorner]

Its a nice one!

 

[RBoots]

JF, what area are you moving to? You don't have to give me an exact if you don't want to.

Ross

 

[Loantaka]

Richard G, black locust or honey locust or does either burn well? Have some black locust and it seems to be very dense but we don't have much experience burning it yet. Most of this season we will be burning hickory in NJ and oak in NY.

 

[onefarmer]

Ditto what Rboots said. Where in MidMich. I'm in the St Johns area.

 

[steve terplak]

Look at weig green vs. weight dry or moisture content column. Dries quick, burns hot.

http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/green-wood-moisture-content.123651/

 

[Richard G.]

Honey locust is trash. Black locust is the best.
Richard

 

[RBoots]

Hey onefarmer, I'm a mile into Gratiot. Went to school in SJ.

Ross

 

[Brendon-KS]

I have seen this chart from the U of Nebraska before but I'm not sure I entirely agree with the conclusions made by the original post on this arborsite.com link. We burn a lot of osage orange which is great stuff in terms of heat output and long-lasting coals. However, I know from experience that if it isn't thoroughly cured it is very difficult to get burning and when it finally does light up the heat output is relatively low. Another much more serious problem of burning un-cured wood is the resulting creosote buildup and the corresponding increased risk of a chimney fire.

 

[caterpillar guy]

I burn anything I can get. With a 2ft chimney I don't worry about a fire in it. Not enough to burn and it is about 50ft from the house. I do knock on it once in a while so the trash falls down to burn or go out with the ashes.
Ross and onefarmer I'm only about 20 miles east and south east of you in Owosso.

 

[Bret4207]

(quoted from post at 23:29:26 11/03/15) I have seen this chart from the U of Nebraska before but I'm not sure I entirely agree with the conclusions made by the original post on this arborsite.com link. We burn a lot of osage orange which is great stuff in terms of heat output and long-lasting coals. However, I know from experience that if it isn't thoroughly cured it is very difficult to get burning and when it finally does light up the heat output is relatively low. Another much more serious problem of burning un-cured wood is the resulting creosote buildup and the corresponding increased risk of a chimney fire.

I agree. That chart says red cedar/juniper runs about 29% water content green. Thats a load of horse puckey. Anyone whos cut red cedar fence posts knows they weigh at least 3x times as much green as dry.

 

[onefarmer]

which road? I've probably been by there.