Bacteria in deadwood logs

[kindlett]

could anyone help me here,bought 25tonne of spruce which was deadwood in march ,processed all of it in to nets 7inch logs ,sold some to a customer last week they said the wood wasn't burning very well,they are trying to say the wood could have gained bacteria ,its not rotten its under 20%moiture content ,could there be any sense in what they are saying here?

[Breezeblock]

are they trying to eat them

[Wood wasp]

Sounds like total BS!

[FJMatt]

any pictures of logs?

are they new or old customers?

[kindlett]

i wholesale them to a retail outlet they are old customers ,they have had the complaint off someone who is doing campfires with them,i think they dont no how to make a fire myself .

[Alycidon]

Get a moisture meter, go round to the house, split a log on site and test on the newly exposed split face. That will give you a pretty true moisture reading. It would be an idea to test some of the same batch you have left to get an idea of the real MC. I cut some 3 year felled Spruce timber some years ago 4% MC on teh ends, 25% a foot into the log. But 6 months later it was ready to burn.

 

If it stacks up MC wise then it may be down to the appliance or the way its installed. Take some logs you have tested and know are at 16% or below and try them. Take a magnetic temp gauge if its a stove and pop it onto the flue pipe or door if inset, thats assuming its a stove. If they dont burn well which is unlikely then its the appliance or how its installed.

 

If you want me to run you through what to look for pm me and i will send you my contact details and we can chat about it on the phone.

 

At the end of the day if the customer is still not happy you may have to change the logs, the bacteria baloney is rubbish. It does sound like it could be wet wood though.

 

A

[kindlett]

they said they have split a log in half and the moisture content is 15% ,they are burning them on campfires but have burnt 500 bags of the same timber before they had a complaint,this is why its making no sense to me what so ever .

[Alycidon]

At 15% there is nothing wrong with the logs. Might have got wet if stored outside between time of delivery and use but that's all I can think of.

 

Suggest you build you own campfire at home and see what happens, if ok then repeat on site with the customer taking your wood. Then build another with the wood you sold him.

 

I did have an old lady who complained she could not get any heat from her stove, turned out she was floating her logs in her pond for a couple of weeks to make them burn slower.

 

A

[kindlett]

will do thanks for your advice

[Adam M]

Tell him to chuck some penicillin in with the kindling before putting the infected wood on the fire. Job's a goodn.