Splitting and Seasoning Oak

[Muddy42]

Some people disagree with this, but personally I like a combination of outdoor and indoor seasoning.  The weathering (rain, sun and wind) effect is always stronger outside.  Then you bring it inside for the final few months.  By the time is ready, I can barely tell what species it is.

[Gabriel82]

@Muddy42 well ,to each his own 😁

 

But let's face it: that wood has been outside all its life. 

I like to give it "a home" for its final time on this world 🙄 

 

I would force dry it but summers here are hot enough AND lately dry 

As in no rain for weeks and no humidity in air...

 

Now when I see/encounter fog I marvel at it ... 

Nevermind rain. 

Even in winter air is so dry that skin cracks, especially lips/face...

 

If a blizzard catches you outside for too long you will have cracked skin or worse if ut's minus 10-15 Celcius...

 

This is one reason I use tons of wood briquettes: I know for sure they're dry under 15% and I don't have to cut "slices" from a log with the chainsaw or split it.

Just grab a cutter ,a 10 kg bag, slice it open and just cut  wood briquettes in 6-10 cm long pieces. They even light easy .

I couldn't ask for more.. 

 

Of course I use wood for the good bed of coals it creates and helps burn the briquettes. 

 

Price is also a reason: there isn't anything ready to burn cheaper than wood briquettes. 

 

Plus the company I buy from delivers it to your home. 

Driver has hydraulic lift on the truck AND electric lifter that can take a 960kg pallet anywhere you want. 

 

With wood logs is nowhere near as easy. 

A lot more work to be honest.

 

But I prefer wood logs straight from the forest because I know the man selling it for years.

 

Not once he tried to "screw me" .

Got to love the guy 😁

And the logs are rott free, hardwood .

 

There are other options too. 

Before the war in Ukraine you could buy a 40 ton truck full of oak "residue" small parts from wood factories from Ukraine.

 

Almost ready to put in the stove.

All legal, but this was the only condition: they sold only in a 40 ton truck.

 

And you must have the space to store that much firewood. 

From memory  I think one truck had 30 cubic meters of oak in small 10-20x10-15 cm pieces and 5 cm thick.

 

Almost perfect for fire in a ceramic tile stove!

That it's all gone/destroyed today...

 

That's how I got to wood briquettes. 

Almost the same thing,even easier to handle and cut in small pieces(with a knife...).

 

This could be a solution for those who want really dry firewood: a 40 ton truck every 2 years, dry it all in oven type drier and life is good and warm 😎 

 

For lazy people there's always natural gas or fuel heating  oil. 

 

 

[Muddy42]

14 hours ago, Gabriel82 said:

@Muddy42 well ,to each his own 😁

 

But let's face it: that wood has been outside all its life. 

I like to give it "a home" for its final time on this world 🙄 

 

I would force dry it but summers here are hot enough AND lately dry 

As in no rain for weeks and no humidity in air...

 

Now when I see/encounter fog I marvel at it ... 

Nevermind rain. 

Even in winter air is so dry that skin cracks, especially lips/face...

 

If a blizzard catches you outside for too long you will have cracked skin or worse if ut's minus 10-15 Celcius...

 

This is one reason I use tons of wood briquettes: I know for sure they're dry under 15% and I don't have to cut "slices" from a log with the chainsaw or split it.

Just grab a cutter ,a 10 kg bag, slice it open and just cut  wood briquettes in 6-10 cm long pieces. They even light easy .

I couldn't ask for more.. 

 

Of course I use wood for the good bed of coals it creates and helps burn the briquettes. 

 

Price is also a reason: there isn't anything ready to burn cheaper than wood briquettes. 

 

Plus the company I buy from delivers it to your home. 

Driver has hydraulic lift on the truck AND electric lifter that can take a 960kg pallet anywhere you want. 

 

With wood logs is nowhere near as easy. 

A lot more work to be honest.

 

But I prefer wood logs straight from the forest because I know the man selling it for years.

 

Not once he tried to "screw me" .

Got to love the guy 😁

And the logs are rott free, hardwood .

 

There are other options too. 

Before the war in Ukraine you could buy a 40 ton truck full of oak "residue" small parts from wood factories from Ukraine.

 

Almost ready to put in the stove.

All legal, but this was the only condition: they sold only in a 40 ton truck.

 

And you must have the space to store that much firewood. 

From memory  I think one truck had 30 cubic meters of oak in small 10-20x10-15 cm pieces and 5 cm thick.

 

Almost perfect for fire in a ceramic tile stove!

That it's all gone/destroyed today...

 

That's how I got to wood briquettes. 

Almost the same thing,even easier to handle and cut in small pieces(with a knife...).

 

This could be a solution for those who want really dry firewood: a 40 ton truck every 2 years, dry it all in oven type drier and life is good and warm 😎 

 

For lazy people there's always natural gas or fuel heating  oil. 

 

 

 

The ceramic tile stove sounds amazing! I'm afraid I cant think of anything worse than wood briquettes- all that processing, packaging and the cost. I'm very luck to have the space and time to enjoy making firewood.

 

This is a great read:

Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way

[Stere]

I don't get why you use briquettes also as are they not  more expensive?

 

Are they more like coal so you don't have to feed fire so often?

 

Id think hornbeam would burn just as long as a briquette?

 

Romania seem to have a lot more forest  area than  he UK thus I assume its a lot cheaper to get firewood.

 

Some Softwood is always handy also to get a  fire going fast,

Edited 2 hours ago by Stere

[Gabriel82]

@Stere I use wood briquettes because they are cheap, don't need to cut them with a chainsaw, split them, stack them.

 

And they are very dry from the package. Also they have about 5kwh per kg if I should believe the specifications. 

 

Because they are dry they burn fast and give off a lot of heat. 

 

No they are not like coal or coal briquettes.

 

The fire burns for about 3 hours, and then the ceramic tiles are hot. 90% at least. 

 

They stay that way for about 10-12 hours. 

I don't need more. 

 

And this type of stove doesn't need electricity. It has a natural draft chimney. 

 

An advantage if power goes out in the middle of a blizzard at minus 15 Celcius... 

Happened once and I had to wait for the electric maintenance team for about 16 hours...

 

I don't have a generator or ups to power the whole house until "normal electricity" decides to return 🙄

 

I did used coal briquettes and they burn at least double what wood can(5-6 hours) and coal gives off a lot of heat per kg or volume. 

 

Too much for a ceramic tile stove. Coal or coal briquettes heat up too much a ceramic tile stove. 

 

And once you've loaded it in the stove a few too many there's nothing you can do about it. 

Just wait for hours for coals to burn off...

 

And hope the stove doesn't crack open  😂

 

Hornbeam ,as is and what I still have at least 2 years dry , burns longer than wood briquettes but gives off a nice bed of coals to maintain the fire hot. 

 

Yes Romania HAD or at least I think it still has large forests, IKEA know better ,even Austrian corporations were exploiting Romania and cutting everything and anything they could.

For PROFIT not out of politeness..  

 

Honestly ,it's beyond me what a f... our politicians & authorities in power actually DO here in Romania...

 

Coruption here is a long neverending problem...

 

For starting a fire I use a cotton rag ,the size of a man's hand wich I place spread out first on the cast iron grate, soak it in diesel fuel as is ,place ANY small two finger thick wood even a bigger piece on top and just set the cotton rag at the bottom on fire...

 

A huge healthy fire is raging in there in about 5-10 minutes! 

 

I stopped trying any other method of lighting a fire because this rag+diesel thing works too good 😁

 

Even hornbeam will burn from a cold if in small size(4-5 cm thick). 

 

I'm  very curios if this method will work with oak too.

 

In a full on winter I think I use a whole 20 liter canister of diesel.

 

I'm happy with how fast I have a fire going.  And wood briquettes light up fast too. 

 

Especially if poured some diesel on them. 

OIL is king. 

COAL is the queen 😂

 

Natural gas, their kid 

 

[Gabriel82]

1 hour ago, Muddy42 said:

 

The ceramic tile stove sounds amazing! I'm afraid I cant think of anything worse than wood briquettes- all that processing, packaging and the cost. I'm very luck to have the space and time to enjoy making firewood.

 

This is a great read:

Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way

wood briquettes are eco stuff. 

 

Before that they are just garbage wood dust.

 

Add some energy and technology et voila: you have a product that can heat your stove/house.

 

Same thing for wood pellets. 

Those are good for fully automated central heating.

 

Just make sure the "fuel tank" doesn't run out of wood pellets. 

 

Fire wood is nice ,in theory.

 

Until you realize you have to gas up the chainsaw, carefully cut a big as tree ,watch out where it falls , clean it so that only the main trunck is left clean, cut it up AGAIN to the length/size of your truck trailer, secure it and transport it to processing factory...

 

And I haven't gotten into the chainsaw-it again in slices long enough for your stove...

 

Then split it.

 

Then stack it.

 

Then wait for it to dry up...

😱

First time I got wood briquettes I was amazed shocked and in awhhh 😂

 

"What's that you say mister truck driver? 

You have a hydraulic elevator? 

AND an electric fork lift?! 

Where do I want the pallets placed?" 

😁😎

 

I did nothing that day but hand him the money in cash. about 750 euros. 

 

And the damn things heated the stove just the same as regular wood,wich I had to do all of the above mentioned things...

 

My Makita EA6100 will get used only once every two years 🥳 

 

And I had "prepared myself" with another 7 tooth sprocket a new original 20"  blade plus an Oregon .325 chain... 

 

I'll be old and senile before I destroy both blades/chains and chainsaw on fire wood if that driver keeps doing that thing with the hydraulic elevator and electric fork lifter... 😁

 

 

[Muddy42]

16 minutes ago, Gabriel82 said:

wood briquettes are eco stuff. 

 

Before that they are just garbage wood dust.

 

Add some energy and technology et voila: you have a product that can heat your stove/house.

 

Same thing for wood pellets. 

Those are good for fully automated central heating.

 

Just make sure the "fuel tank" doesn't run out of wood pellets. 

 

Fire wood is nice ,in theory.

 

Until you realize you have to gas up the chainsaw, carefully cut a big as tree ,watch out where it falls , clean it so that only the main trunck is left clean, cut it up AGAIN to the length/size of your truck trailer, secure it and transport it to processing factory...

 

And I haven't gotten into the chainsaw-it again in slices long enough for your stove...

 

Then split it.

 

Then stack it.

 

Then wait for it to dry up...

😱

First time I got wood briquettes I was amazed shocked and in awhhh 😂

 

"What's that you say mister truck driver? 

You have a hydraulic elevator? 

AND an electric fork lift?! 

Where do I want the pallets placed?" 

😁😎

 

I did nothing that day but hand him the money in cash. about 750 euros. 

 

And the damn things heated the stove just the same as regular wood,wich I had to do all of the above mentioned things...

 

My Makita EA6100 will get used only once every two years 🥳 

 

And I had "prepared myself" with another 7 tooth sprocket a new original 20"  blade plus an Oregon .325 chain... 

 

I'll be old and senile before I destroy both blades/chains and chainsaw on fire wood if that driver keeps doing that thing with the hydraulic elevator and electric fork lifter... 😁

 

 

 

Chainsaw?  I only use that for storm clearance. The majority of my firewood gets stored as lengths then in June every I process it with a hired grab and a 12 tonne splitter with conveyor belt. I burn the splitter offcuts and sawdust myself.  The only manual handling is carrying it to the stove from the grain sack. I cant think of anything worse than briquettes - packaged, expensive, unnatural and un cosy.