willow is it really as bad as they say?

[minnnt]

Got a load of willow and was wondering if it would be ok if seasoned for a year or is it a waste of time?

 

Cheers.

[Tree Man Tom]

Should be fine, obviously depends on conditions your seasoning it in etc..

 

Just mix it all in when you come to sell it, jobs a good'n

[NoRush]

will be fine when dried. It dont spit much like everone claims. If you selling it just ask them if its for an open fire or closed. Where anouts in Notts r u

[minnnt]

Thanks guys. I will hopefully be storing it under cover for around 9-12 months. If its not under cover it will be stacked on pallets and covered with a tarpauling with the ends open for ventilation.

 

I'm in Kirkby in Ashfield mate.

[Chris Gagen]

I'm selling willow by the cube for £70 delivered. first year of selling bulk, and have moved 20 bags thus far:thumbup: I just tell them that it wont last a long while on the fire but is a hot burn.

 

If you've got the willow down now don't cut it up until september time, unless you can store it completely dry, doesn't have a good shelf life if it gets and stays wet.

[the crafty weasel]

I made the mistake of storing willow upright with the ends against the ground once. Never felled firewood twice until then...

[minnnt]

I made the mistake of storing willow upright with the ends against the ground once. Never felled firewood twice until then...

 

Lol!! I always store it on the bark so that the cut ends are open to the elements. Am I better cutting it when it comes to sell it then? Hoping to sell a bit more next year... just cut/chopped a few bags for sale this year and its gone better than I expected it to so I have started storing it for next year now rather than just letting it go to whoever.

[Chris Gagen]

storing upright is great if you have the space and you're not dealing with lots, so long as the ends of whatever the species are out of the dirt on pallets or something, you've only got to look at a dead tree to appreciate the value of seasoning on the hoof...

 

the main reason i cut up green is threefold, firstly, you have an accurate indication of volume (if you store it in ventilated bulk bags) and secondly, you get a more uniform size for seasoning, as opposed to have 3inch stuff bone dry and 24inch stuff still sopping wet. Finally, you're able to let the machines do as much of the handling as possible, as often i can log up virtually where the trees have fallen, rather than hand balling onto a trailer, unloading at home then cutting up.

[nepia]

I made the mistake of storing willow upright with the ends against the ground once. Never felled firewood twice until then...

 

Ha ha. When I was a kid my dad sold one tree a year to Gray Nicolls at Robertsbridge. They didn't take from anything smaller than a 100' tree so the rest was left for firewood.

Dad made the mistake of sectioning the trunk (G/N only took 16') and leaving the sections lying on their sides for 6 months. He had to use a crowbar to move them.

Talk about an instant forest...

[the crafty weasel]

Unfortunately I get my wood from an impatient farmer who wants it off his hedges NOW!, otherwise I would probably process in the field. I find stacking upright takes less space than horizontal, but does take more work in stacking. I have to handball because I only have a tractor and tipping trailer and no means of lifting or moving logs, so seeing as I'm moving them by hand I may as well stack them as tidily as possible. Upright on old corrugated iron sheets- they dont let water collect against the endgrain and the ends of the lengths lock against the corrugations and don't slide down. Here's the woodpile so far after 4 days clearing a hedge that the farmer is going to be knocking through. The horizontal stuff is trailerloads that have been tipped but not yet stacked