Help to identify what species of tree these logs are from?

[Ben Pinnick]

5 hours ago, trigger_andy said:

People think that if they have oak they have the king of firewood and wonder why it kinda just smoulders in the Stove. I’ve found you need to mix it in with some soft to get the best results.

Yeah I'd agree oak is pretty bad unless you get it up to temp. I'd generally avoid for firewood.

21 minutes ago, Mick Dempsey said:

I can see ash and sycamore I think.

 

Second picture for sure. FWIW I used to mix home cut (from our wood) with bought but stopped buying in and just bought roadside timber and processed myself to get stocks. The bought in was too variable. The same supplier would send me dry stuff one time then rinsing wet the next and it was never fully seasoned. Now I do my own for a full year outside before drying and I can burn pretty much anything I stick in the pile with minimal fuss and waste.

[MattyF]

Looks like ash , oak, sycamore , beech maybe some willow ... either way it looks like it's come straight off being processed with some greener than others.

[Rich05uk]

6 hours ago, Paul in the woods said:

Your pics are on a google account so hardly anyone will be able to see them. Upload them directly here if you want people to comment. I also go on smell, ash, oak and cherry all smell fairly unique and very different to cedar.

 

To check the moisture you need to split a log and test the center, they may be just damp on the outside.

 

I doubt the meter is wrong, cheap pin type meters will tend to underread as they read higher the wetter the log. You can check by measuring the moisture of a small log and then drying it off indoors.

 

Having said that I expect it's highly likely your supplier has run out of seasoned logs and has either cut some from from lenths from last winter which will not have seasoned much or even fresh wood. As said raise this with your supplier.

 

I think you had problems last year? Is there any way you can take unseasoned logs and season them yourself?

Yes I suspect the same to be honest.  You have a good memory, last year I had a white fungus growing on all my logs, thankfully had no problems burning it though.

 

Normally I would just buy my logs green (and benefit from the cheaper price) and season myself for 3 years.  I have 3 large woodstores, each store can hold about 3 - 4 cubic meters if stacked well and provides enough fuel for a year so its easy to rotate through each store once every 3 years.  However I was due to move last year so ran my stocks low and eventually only managed to move about a month ago, I've relocated to the south west so needed an urgent supply of logs and have no experience of suppliers down here.  I could well buy from the same supplier next year but I will order and pay for green logs for me to season myself which seems the only way to be sure of the MC of the logs these days.

 

My meter cost about £45 and is about 6 years old now but I suspect all moisture meters have a tolerance above or below the actual MC you are measuring  and so long as its consistent we can each get to know how our meters work.  Over the years I know my meter has been reliable in identifying logs which are dry enough to burn and those which are too wet.  It might not be accurate in telling me what the MC % is but the fact it runs off the scale on about half the logs proves to me it is too wet to burn.

 

If it is just the outside that is wet, now that its stored in my wood store, how long do you think it would take for the outside to dry off?

 

Thanks again for your help.

[Rich05uk]

7 hours ago, trigger_andy said:

Could be a dodgy £5 moisturiser meter as well?

People think that if they have oak they have the king of firewood and wonder why it kinda just smoulders in the Stove. I’ve found you need to mix it in with some soft to get the best results.

I do like Ash and Cherry though.

I agree with regards to Oak, unfortunately these were the only logs on offer and all I could get at short notice.  That said however I have an excellent Clearview stove which comfortably burns at between 210 - 250 deg c and usually when I place a big bit of oak in there, it will burn at that temperature for hours.  I can then open up the air vents and it will burn way above these temperatures if needed or I can even throttle it back at the end of the night to find its still burning in the morning, I've had fires burning continually for days doing this although its not so good for taring up the chimney.  So I suppose I quite like Oak if its seasoned well enough.  I have had stove in the past though which just refused to get up to temperature and therefore it makes it difficult to burn oak properly.

[Rich05uk]

8 hours ago, Dan Maynard said:

I can't see the pictures when I open the thread but there's a preview on the app which I can see. Those logs look like ash and probably the pinkish ones are a species of oak. Definitely not cedar, that splits in a kind of brittle way with smooth faces. I'm not seeing cherry, but it's great firewood if it is.

They do look pretty fresh, as Matty says take it up with the supplier. Could be they are imported as "kiln dried" and your supplier is not checking, either way you haven't got what you paid for.

Thanks Dan, with regards to Cherry, I read its one of the best for camp fires as its low smoke and has a nice sweet smell when burning, however for wood burners it probably isn't great as it has a low to moderate heat output.  No idea how true this is though?  I was going to get some cherry wood someday and build a pizza oven to use it in, I will one day when I get round to it.

[Paul in the woods]

33 minutes ago, Rich05uk said:

You have a good memory, last year I had a white fungus growing on all my logs, thankfully had no problems burning it though.

 

I just looked at your previous posts. 😉

 

As for the logs, I agree with others. Ash, syc, a bit of beach and other stuff. I can't see any obvious softwood.

 

Looks like arb waste that's been left in lengths and then recently logged up. It's been down a while as some of the barks comming off.

 

Should be fine firewood once dry and seasoned. If you split a few random logs and test the moisture then you'll know what you're dealing with. It'll dry a bit over winter if you can keep it dry and get the wind through.

[Stubby]

40 minutes ago, Rich05uk said:

Thanks Dan, with regards to Cherry, I read its one of the best for camp fires as its low smoke and has a nice sweet smell when burning, however for wood burners it probably isn't great as it has a low to moderate heat output.  No idea how true this is though?  I was going to get some cherry wood someday and build a pizza oven to use it in, I will one day when I get round to it.

I would only burn cherry in a wood burner as it pops and spits .  I find its heat output pretty good .

[trigger_andy]

I would only burn cherry in a wood burner as it pops and spits .  I find its heat output pretty good .

I’m yet to notice that happening. I’ll keep an eye out in the future.

[Stubby]

3 minutes ago, trigger_andy said:

 

I’m yet to notice that happening. I’ll keep an eye out in the future.

 

Not as bad as Eucalyptus but sometimes it does . 

[Steven P]

I'd also go with the logs being a mix of hardwoods, wrinkly barks could be something like oak or willow - as mentioned above and the smooth something like ash or beech.

 

As for moisture content, without preaching to the converted, did you split a log to try the frashly split face inside or just as it was given to you? If they have been in the rain then a dry log will still be dry inside with a wet outside, a few days can dry it if you get some win over the logs too - all depends where the log store is situated.

 

From the pictures I woudl say that they have been recently cut to length and split.. whether they were dry at the time I cannot tell - some people will process logs depending on demand, I would feel more confident if I was buying a seasoned log that looke a bit more aged though. A second check you might want to do is pick them up and from exerience do they feel 'heavy' - not a scientific measure of course but if the feel heavy chances are they are wet, and a second not scientific test, knock 2 of them together, if they make a dull clunk that is wetter than a dryer soundng clink-  just rough tests to give you an indication