iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Virtues of Ash firewood...

Started by Cedar Savage, January 26, 2013, 10:59:19 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Cedar Savage


Beechwood fires are bright and clear,
If the logs are kept a year.
Chestnut only good they say,
If for long 'tis laid away.
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold.

Birch and fir burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last.
It is by the Irish said,
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mold,
E'en the very flames are cold.
But ash green or ash brown,
Is fit for queen with golden crown.

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke.
Apple wood will sent your room,
With incense like perfume.
Oaken logs if dry and old,
Keep away the winters cold.
But ash wet or ash dry,
A king shall warm his slippers by.

by an old unkown English Poet
"They fried the fish with bacon and were astonished, for no fish had ever seemed so delicious before."         Mark Twain

r.man

Not only that but it splits really easily. When I bring my mixed hardwood home I try to sort a pile of pure ash to one side for starting or building up a small bed of coals. Did that yesterday when my coalbed was so small normal wood would put it out. Fine split an ash block and fixed the problem.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

petefrom bearswamp

Been burning nothing but Ash since 2009, tops from a timber sale.
Have about 2 years left on this wood.
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

Al_Smith

We have a zillion dead ash. On just 6 acres I doubt I get them all down by next summer. I've been at it for two years so far. Not like I was logger getting paid by the board foot but pretty steady.

It's pretty decent firewood not as good as oak but better in my opinion than that sugar maple the Canadians like to brag about.

These EAB dead ash will burn fine fresh felled but they are better after about a year of being split and stacked.

Cedar Savage

Kinda sad that in the future there won't be any ash around, & we're seeing the end of it as a commodity....
"They fried the fish with bacon and were astonished, for no fish had ever seemed so delicious before."         Mark Twain

JohnW

All hail ash, king of the firewood.

r.man

Dutch elm disease killed most elm here 40 yrs ago. We are now starting to see the occasional full sized elm tree. Hopefully the ash will recover eventually.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

Ohiowood

So you think the ash will all be gone?

Have a farm with a ton of ash on it, log it?   

r.man

I think it is already happening in some places. From what I have read about ash unless you are willing to treat every tree they are going to die. The most common theme that I seem to be reading is that if the ash borer is near your area log all ash that are marketable. Sounds like the rest will be firewood.
Life is too short or my list is too long, not sure which. Dec 2014

Al_Smith

On this EAB thing what I have noticed is in some cases the dying tree has propagated growth of new sprouts from the roots. Another thing it seems the borer has bypassed real small saplings probabley because they didn't have enough area to support the larva.

I really think that unless the little green bug adapts to killing off other species starvation might eradicate the pest over time .It won't happen in a few years though ,likely decades .

The Dutch elm thing which hit this area in the 60's and killed off most of them .A few survived at least long enough to start new growth .While they don't get very large they might in time acquire a natural immunity to the malady. 

Cedar Savage

I've noticed that in Michigan that the Elm has gone threw another die off again. In the last few years, I've seen lots of giant majestic elms dead out in the middle of a field, or a whole fence row.
"They fried the fish with bacon and were astonished, for no fish had ever seemed so delicious before."         Mark Twain

Al_Smith

I have not seem an American elm any larger than around 15-18 inchs in diameter in decades .My buddy the trimmer did fell one a few years back that was nearly a 4 footer .How it ever lasted that long is a mystery . The few I have in my woods are at best 10 inch if that .A number of saplings though .

I cut the dead every so often .Not the best firewood but that small they don't need split ,thank heavens .

woodmills1

most of the elm is other than american

chinease(sp) and or slippery
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

Al_Smith

You could very well be right because slippery and American have very similar leaf patterns .That's what I was going on plus the fact the danged things split hard  .

woodmills1

slippery has a very distinctive under bark

yellow and it pulls clean from a twig very easily

makes great marshmallow or hot dog roasting sticks
James Mills,Lovely wife,collect old tools,vacuuming fool,36 bdft/hr,oak paper cutter,ebonic yooper rapper nauga seller, Blue Ox? its not fast, 2 cat family, LT70,edger, 375 bd ft/hr, we like Bob,free heat,no oil 12 years,big splitter, baked stuffed lobster, still cuttin the logs dere IAM

Al_Smith

That might be it .The things die and the roots give way and on the ground it goes .The time I get to them most times there is no bark left just a hard as a rock log .Fact I have a couple nice straight about 6 inchs in diameter 10 feet long I use to side load logs with .Pretty strong wood .Last spring I used two and rolled on about a 6,000 pound oak log .

For that matter the subject being ash it's pretty strong too if you get a nice straight one with no limbs.

JohnW

Quote from: Al_Smith on January 28, 2013, 07:39:00 PM
That might be it .The things die and the roots give way and on the ground it goes .The time I get to them most times there is no bark left just a hard as a rock log .Fact I have a couple nice straight about 6 inchs in diameter 10 feet long I use to side load logs with .Pretty strong wood .Last spring I used two and rolled on about a 6,000 pound oak log .

For that matter the subject being ash it's pretty strong too if you get a nice straight one with no limbs.
Well Al, get to them just a little quicker, like when the bark is starting to split.  In the spring, you can find mushrooms (morel) under an elm tree like that.

Al_Smith

I don't do so good finding the things .Mrs Smith however has the eyes of an  eagle with such things .She should, the woman can spot a picture a tad off level from 50 feet away .

Actually what few I find seem to be around hickory trees .They're  a fuss any way .It's got to be just right to get a good crop of morels .

CTYank

Quote from: Al_Smith on January 27, 2013, 02:01:18 PM
We have a zillion dead ash. On just 6 acres I doubt I get them all down by next summer. I've been at it for two years so far. Not like I was logger getting paid by the board foot but pretty steady.

It's pretty decent firewood not as good as oak but better in my opinion than that sugar maple the Canadians like to brag about.

These EAB dead ash will burn fine fresh felled but they are better after about a year of being split and stacked.

If so, they're right. Dunno either way. Beautiful stuff in the stove- lights readily, good flames, excellent coals. What's not to like? Couple of steps above ash IMHO.

Only downside some see about it: it got named "rock maple" in New England for a reason. Shows no fear of a maul. I'll be delighted to take all you don't want.
'72 blue Homelite 150
Echo 315, SRM-200DA
Poulan 2400, PP5020, PP4218
RedMax GZ4000, "Mac" 35 cc, Dolmar PS-6100
Husqy 576XP-AT
Tanaka 260 PF Polesaw, TBC-270PFD, ECS-3351B
Mix of mauls
Morso 7110

Al_Smith

Well sir that depends on where the sugar maple was grown. It's a known fact because of the colder climate that the sugar maple in the upper New England states and Ontario is more dense than Ohio .It's also a known fact the white oak from Ohio is more dense than South Carolina.

Our sugar maple burns okay but of the desirable firewoods it rates below ash in popularity .Top to bottom would be hickory ,red or white oak ,ash then sugar maple. Don't get a the  idea I'm talking about silver maple because I know the difference .

Now maybe this so called rock maple resists an axe but our stuff splits easy which by the way the ash does not. I'm not certain if it's baseball bat white ash or green ash.

beenthere

QuoteIt's a known fact because of the colder climate that the sugar maple in the upper New England states and Ontario is more dense than Ohio .It's also a known fact the white oak from Ohio is more dense than South Carolina.

I'd be interested in where these facts are reported. Can you help me out?
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Al_Smith

Well on that after an extended trip through Google it appears there seems to be conflicting opinions on that subject .

What I did find that among oak trees in praticular some say more rapid growth may increase the hardness and refer to late spring rain fall during the month of June .Others say that slower growth might increase the density .Which came first the chicken or the egg ?

There are approx 600 different species of oak from what I gather .So is South Carolina white oak and Ohio white oak one in the same or just cousins ?

I do know that within this past year a member  from either SC or Georgia had a nice log ,about a 3 footer that showed I believe 125 growth rings .At about the same time I packed one out that had 175 rings .So they either grow slower here or they might be slightly different species .

It could be the mineral content of the soil .

Now I've heard Ontario maple is often prefered over midwest US maple because of the hardness .Are they the same maple ?

On that it's been reported the Ont. maple grow in areas primarily over a granite substratta while in this portion of Ohio it's limestone .Does that make them harder or is it the colder weather ?

From reports they say acid rain which unfortunately does come from the highly industrialised Ohio valley causes the acid rain .The limestone trees can fend off the acidic condition because of a neutrilazation effect .The poor old Canadian trees with the granite just plain wither and die .

SwampDonkey

I live in ash country, I mean it grows as abundant as aspen trees. But people want rock maple, beech and yellow birch over any ash. Most will not even buy it, a few will because they haven't used rock maple or beech or they have been cutting ash on a logging job and throw a few sticks on the pickup. :D

Al, where was that survey done? Wasn't up here. :D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

SwampDonkey

Al, ring size has to do with three factors soil (including water), climate (weather, elevation influenced), and it's life history or environment (ie. was it suppressed for 80 years? or was is dominant for 50 or not over topped for 100 years?) Lots of unanswered Q.

It is true that a lot of maple grows over granite bedrock, but that is not the same forest type as in Ohio. The Canadian Deciduous Forest region is very small compared to the Great Lakes St Lawrence forest type to which you refer to. The Canadian Deciduous is primarily down around the smaller of the great Lakes at the southern tip of Ontario and that is on Limestone. That is where hardwood species are most diverse in Canada. Here in NB our maple forest are stands actually, within the  Acadian mixed wood forest and our rock maple grows on top of calcareous bedrock like shales and dolomite. Heck we export lime by the train loads. And every potato grower spreads it on his fields. Which is odd with a calcareous bedrock, but the plants can't go that deep with roots. Those fields were once sugar maple stands. If you come here and look at the tater fields, all around them are remnant maple stands, line fences often have lots of maples and w ash. and cherry. My cousin used to tap the maples on one of our line fences at the farm, 30 inch maples.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Al_Smith

I don't know maybe the ash is different. These ash around here can get huge and upwards of 100 feet tall .Like I said I have no idea if they are white ash or green ash but the danged things are hard as a rock .

Fact as I look up from my computer there is a hundred footer I need to take down that has over 50 foot to the first limb and is a tad over 3 feet at breast heigth .

In the ajoining woods is a close to 4 footer  maybe 40 feet of usable log if it's not hollow .

If you run that stuff through a splitter it snaps apart .With an axe if you can swing it hard enough to bury the head all you'll do is get frustrated trying to get it out .With an 8 pound maul it just bounces like hitting a big rubber tire .

If I'm cutting down to firewood size I can seldom run a tank full of fuel before I need to dress up the chain .Maybe the danged things are petrified or something .

The sugar maple unless it has a big knot or at the junction of a crotch you can drive a 5 pound axe right down the center of an 18" round .Even an old coot like me at 65 years of age .

You have to eat  a good breakfast though .The breakfast of champions ,Wheaties and Budweiser .

Thank You Sponsors!