I'm amazed at the amount of research you do on a subject and it shows in your videos. Very comprehensive. I look forward to more videos from you. Thanks
I found you channel last winter by searching through some firewood videos and it is great to see you come out with another one. Fall does certainly seem to be just around the corner. Looking forward to completing a full year of watching your channel. Bring on the cold!!
Success. Just had my third cord of wood delivered this afternoon. ( for next year ) Checked a few pieces with the meter and getting around 22-26% moisture after splitting a couple Will be perfect for winter 2018-2019 All i have to do now is split a few of the bigger pieces and stack 'em up Last time i saw mostly red oak. This time i am seeing the majority is Hickory Good stuff.
Good information. I think I have been watching your videos for two years now. I have learned a lot of firewood tips from your videos. Starting last year i got one of these moisture meters after seeing you use it, and this year, i can see this year the old school thought of have the firewood cut by Easter to burn is not going to work for this year. I have a huge stack of firewood that was cut before Easter and it is testing at 38%, yet the ends are sun faded and checked. We had a lot of humidity this year, also consistent afternoon rain shwers
good video! yes blaze King stoves are very nice. we have a Napoleon free standing wood stove, but blaze King will be the replacement when needed. Fall is definitely in the air!
Some people just check the outside and use that reading. This IS the right way for sure. Always check on a Fresh-split surface. It makes NO difference whether you go "with" the grain or not. The ONLY difference is tha going with the grain usually allows the prongs to go a "tad deeper" into the wood, and sometimes showing a slightly higher moisture content. Well worth the $20 bucks to know if your wood is ready or not. Last winter i was lucky enough to have a lot of my wood at around 15% or a little LESS. Excellent. EASY to start EASY to keep it burning ( with a lot less draft ) and dry like that does give you "More heat per unit". Try it, you'll like it. Happy burning. 42 years a burner/heater here in Ct
Very interesting. I have tried the exact same experiment over the years... Bark up vs bark down... I havent found much difference either way. Certainly not enough to say "this way is definitely better." I look forward to seeing your results.
Now that's very interesting regarding the moisture meter ... I too split the wood but I was 'told' categorically that you test across not with the grain. But I've always thought it would make more sense with the grain... true the reading is only a percent or so as you say but surely simple biology tells you what you need to do here! Great to see my suspicions confirmed ... this year hopefully my son won't accidentally stab me with the moisture tester as I'm teaching him... I'm not a very good teacher it turns out... Good point ... first aid kit for fire wood working... about time I updated mine and I'm open to suggestion. Major trauma bandages and so on...
Omg ive been collecting n chopping wood all year, middle of december n i still dont have enough. U must have a lot of friends, time or equipment. That alotta wood!
Holy smokes, it has to be almost a full-time job in itself processing all that firewood. I think you're right about it probably not mattering much whether you stack bark-up or bark-down, but might as well do bark-up for the top couple rows to get that shingle effect, and bark-down for the lower stuff to get the best evaporation.
out here in the desert my wood drys for two years wood is stacked so that it fits the tightest and most stable 1 o'clock at nite here and we now have 58 degs so winter is coming
I highly recommend you look into the investment of a newer stove. I burn with a Lopi Republic, and heat 1800 squarish feet for about 2.5 cords of ash, cherry, and soft maple mix seasoned for a year and a half. I paid $1100 dollars 6 years ago, well worth the investment. This is a secondary combustion stove. Now, I also recently insulated and new windows in the old house. I also Teach Woodshop classes so I have dry scraps for the fall and spring short fires.
"Good air flow" around the wood is a MUST................and try to have the woodpile in a nice sun exposed area. Most benefits from the sun are between noon to around 5 p m.....but can vary, depending where you live.
I've been looking at getting a meter. good video on on its use. your firewood videos are what got me to subscribe to your channel. I dont have the room to stockpile that much wood, but would be nice to know what I'm burning
I burn 6 cords a winter, I use a moisture meter and average around 20 to 22%. I cut standing dead Ash and Maple. I keep a year ahead. I leave my next year wood in rounds and then split in spring and cut more rounds.
if split bark up is best also split pallets long way to pile standard cords on to open air flow underneath I never had such a device but never had white smoke either
I would think no bark is best because in my opinion the bark holds moisture because it's porous like a sponge and isn't smooth at all on the outside. It would vary from species to species though. Have you thought about making some firewood storage racks out of pallets? Idk if you have a tractor or skid loader with forks but it would make moving the firewood a lot easier. You could take one into the woods, cut split and stack the wood in it and then take it to a place to dry. Then once it's dry you could move it up to the house for another move into the wood stove.
Yeah I agree. I just have not found a good way to get a lot of the bark off very much effort. On Pine I will run the bar down the bark. After a little drying it just falls off. We have been thinking about building some sides on pallets so when we finally get a tractor with forks we can move things around really easy. The funds are slowly growing. Seen some people who even store wood up in pallet racking. Great advice!
Life in Farmland Yeah pine bark after a while just falls off. Lol. It happens to other wood that has been sitting for a few years out in the elements. You should build those pallet bins. You could even put a piece of scrap tin on the top to shed water off. No more tarping. Tractors are certainly expensive. Maybe a little too expensive but usually they are turn key.
So you've had two winters. Did you find out anything different on the north-south vs east-west stacks? I'm guessing east-west stacking would be better because of more direct sun but you're doing the test lol
I cant tell ya where whole house stacking came from but I can tell ya I saw it 50 years ago in up state N.Y. guy that used to deliver fire wood to me used to use this stacking way I kept to the strait cord stack
Here's a silly question/comment. Why not start a couple rows going from Northeast to Southwest direction? Might be the best of both worlds? Ha...............who knows? Great video. One question though..Won't some of that really old wood punk out before you get to use it? How many year's worth is stacked up in this video?
Wow! You're REALLY smart eh? Good job, you were the only one who caught that. Can anyone answer? LOL Actually Brad, i believe if you look closer, you will find that there are actually 2 questions and one COMMENT ( the first one ). So yes, i planned asking 1 and ONE "comment" Instead i asked TWO questions and ONE 'suggestion" I guess it was a bit confusing
EPA stoves are good....very (the ones with the air plate). But you won't get miracles out of them, LOL. No "throw a bit of pine in, and all is good". Same rules always apply: good wood that's dry, non-resinous. If you pop green wood, or softwood that's not dry in there, you'll still clog your chimney. I guess if you have VERY dry pine, well ok, for early season quick fires. But I'd stay away from that myself.
Actually, burning "wet" wood is considered being safe as long as you mix it up enough with dry wood. This year I use a mix of softer woods (23% moisture) combined with pine (17% moisture and to get the heat going), split into smaller sized pieces to fit my wood stove and I must say: the chimney stays pretty clean compared to the oak (hardwood) that I used last year and that only contained 17% of moisture (checked it the same way as you do, splitting it first than running the meter on it). Heck, even the wood stove's windows stay clean this year, strangely enough. Last year I had to clean those sucker every 2 days if I wanted to see the flames dance, now I only clean the windows once every two weeks or so, but even then it's not really needed (just want it to look a bit nicer for when visitors come LOL). So I think that the method I'm using this year actually works better, at least for me it does, with my wood stove (Dovre, made in Belgium). It probably will differ from stove to stove, etc. Cheers.
geez you really tried to make firewood complicated. lol I know in the north we usually do bark up but we also cover it with lumber tarps or tin to keep the rain/snow off of. Thanks for the video.
Jotul makes a good stove if you can get a position for killer draft. I have a Pacific Energy with a ten year warranty and its amazing. Came recommended because I live in the woods where draft is an issue. I love it.
I just looked at yours. I do like the big cooktop. Do they require firebricks? I am also in the backwoods and also in PA. I have the F600 24inch logs MAX which is sweet and have a small cabin with the F602. Who ever told you draft is an issue wanted to push you to another stove. Also Soapstone Stoves are top notch!
Evidently you have never owned an Avalon OR a Lopi ( which is just a HIGH-priced Avalon ) made by Travis Industries in Washington State. My Avalon is 13 years old and "kicks butt" Wouldn't trade if for ( 2 ) Jotuls Mine i super-efficient and way "above the EPA standards " Only 2.3 grams per hour. Try to beat that.
If I wanted radiant heat, then yes, Jotul is the way to go. I favor convection heat and my QuardraFire Explorer brings tremendous, controllable heat into my home. Plus, the visual of the burn is absolutely beautiful---when the stove is burning, no need for TV! I love watching it. Just stacked my wood for this upcoming season and love looking at that, even though it wore me out! Eric's wood stacks are simply phenomenal. He's taught me a lot, this is only my second year to burn, did not turn on the furnace once last year.
I burn 6 cords a winter, I use a moisture meter and average around 20 to 22%. I cut standing dead Ash and Maple. I keep a year ahead. I leave my next year wood in rounds and then split in spring and cut more rounds.
I'm amazed at the amount of research you do on a subject and it shows in your videos. Very comprehensive. I look forward to more videos from you. Thanks
I found you channel last winter by searching through some firewood videos and it is great to see you come out with another one. Fall does certainly seem to be just around the corner. Looking forward to completing a full year of watching your channel. Bring on the cold!!
Love your wood piles.
Success. Just had my third cord of wood delivered this afternoon. ( for next year ) Checked a few pieces with the meter and getting around 22-26% moisture after splitting a couple Will be perfect for winter 2018-2019 All i have to do now is split a few of the bigger pieces and stack 'em up Last time i saw mostly red oak. This time i am seeing the majority is Hickory Good stuff.
Fantastic! Keep a little hickory around for smoking to. :) Wish that stuff ended up in my piles!
You're a real firewoodiologist!
Every video you make gets better and better! Beautiful filming and editing, and as usual, great information! Thank you!
Good information. I think I have been watching your videos for two years now. I have learned a lot of firewood tips from your videos. Starting last year i got one of these moisture meters after seeing you use it, and this year, i can see this year the old school thought of have the firewood cut by Easter to burn is not going to work for this year. I have a huge stack of firewood that was cut before Easter and it is testing at 38%, yet the ends are sun faded and checked. We had a lot of humidity this year, also consistent afternoon rain shwers
I have just invested in a moisture meter. ive learnt a lot from you about wood. thanks Eric.
That wood piled is a comforting sight.
good video! yes blaze King stoves are very nice. we have a Napoleon free standing wood stove, but blaze King will be the replacement when needed. Fall is definitely in the air!
Some people just check the outside and use that reading. This IS the right way for sure. Always check on a Fresh-split surface. It makes NO difference whether you go "with" the grain or not. The ONLY difference is tha going with the grain usually allows the prongs to go a "tad deeper" into the wood, and sometimes showing a slightly higher moisture content. Well worth the $20 bucks to know if your wood is ready or not. Last winter i was lucky enough to have a lot of my wood at around 15% or a little LESS. Excellent. EASY to start EASY to keep it burning ( with a lot less draft ) and dry like that does give you "More heat per unit". Try it, you'll like it. Happy burning. 42 years a burner/heater here in Ct
Very interesting. I have tried the exact same experiment over the years... Bark up vs bark down... I havent found much difference either way. Certainly not enough to say "this way is definitely better." I look forward to seeing your results.
Now that's very interesting regarding the moisture meter ... I too split the wood but I was 'told' categorically that you test across not with the grain. But I've always thought it would make more sense with the grain... true the reading is only a percent or so as you say but surely simple biology tells you what you need to do here! Great to see my suspicions confirmed ... this year hopefully my son won't accidentally stab me with the moisture tester as I'm teaching him... I'm not a very good teacher it turns out...
Good point ... first aid kit for fire wood working... about time I updated mine and I'm open to suggestion. Major trauma bandages and so on...
amazing stacks! super appreciate your attention to experiments over theory narrative
Omg ive been collecting n chopping wood all year, middle of december n i still dont have enough. U must have a lot of friends, time or equipment. That alotta wood!
I can't wait to see the results! I always had a feeling the Holz Hausen was just another fad. Thank you for taking time to do this.
Holy smokes, it has to be almost a full-time job in itself processing all that firewood. I think you're right about it probably not mattering much whether you stack bark-up or bark-down, but might as well do bark-up for the top couple rows to get that shingle effect, and bark-down for the lower stuff to get the best evaporation.
out here in the desert my wood drys for two years wood is stacked so that it fits the tightest and most stable 1 o'clock at nite here and we now have 58 degs so winter is coming
I had no idea there was such a thing as a moisture meter. we are still in the learning stages of how to stack and how much we need for a season.
same here! I always just sort of stacked, tarped and prayed for the best!
+Keeping It Real Right that's how I thought it was done!! 😃😂
How was your bark up/down experiment?
Awesome can't wait to see some of the test results. You are the firewood man God bless buddy
I highly recommend you look into the investment of a newer stove. I burn with a Lopi Republic, and heat 1800 squarish feet for about 2.5 cords of ash, cherry, and soft maple mix seasoned for a year and a half. I paid $1100 dollars 6 years ago, well worth the investment. This is a secondary combustion stove. Now, I also recently insulated and new windows in the old house. I also Teach Woodshop classes so I have dry scraps for the fall and spring short fires.
Loved the music and intro. Fantastic.
Air flow around the wood is a great help
"Good air flow" around the wood is a MUST................and try to have the woodpile in a nice sun exposed area. Most benefits from the sun are between noon to around 5 p m.....but can vary, depending where you live.
I've been looking at getting a meter. good video on on its use. your firewood videos are what got me to subscribe to your channel. I dont have the room to stockpile that much wood, but would be nice to know what I'm burning
you shoulkd make a viedo of you firing up the wood stove
knowledge is power...well done and well said!
Excellent content
Excellent video. What type of wood was that you split and checked with the meter. Looks to me like it's one of the "softer woods" Thanks
How long has this wood been cut?
I burn 6 cords a winter, I use a moisture meter and average around
20 to 22%. I cut standing dead Ash and Maple. I keep a year ahead.
I leave my next year wood in rounds and then split in spring
and cut more rounds.
Nice!
where you at? what state ? 40 to 60 years back when I used fire wood I went through 10 full cord per year in central N.Y.
WOW ! Brother Ilove how hard you work at teaching. Thank you so much for your time. God Bless Bother.
Dude! You've chopped a lot of wood :) Love the opening of your videos, they're well done and beautiful
Are you not making anymore videos?
if split bark up is best also split pallets long way to pile standard cords on to open air flow underneath I never had such a device but never had white smoke either
Interested in the new stove videos.
Nice job, Well said and look forward to more!! THANKS
Always taught bark up outside, when put in the shed bark down inside
Good video! Must have taken a long time to collect all that wood and split it. Hay off to you
I would think no bark is best because in my opinion the bark holds moisture because it's porous like a sponge and isn't smooth at all on the outside. It would vary from species to species though. Have you thought about making some firewood storage racks out of pallets? Idk if you have a tractor or skid loader with forks but it would make moving the firewood a lot easier. You could take one into the woods, cut split and stack the wood in it and then take it to a place to dry. Then once it's dry you could move it up to the house for another move into the wood stove.
Yeah I agree. I just have not found a good way to get a lot of the bark off very much effort. On Pine I will run the bar down the bark. After a little drying it just falls off.
We have been thinking about building some sides on pallets so when we finally get a tractor with forks we can move things around really easy. The funds are slowly growing. Seen some people who even store wood up in pallet racking. Great advice!
Life in Farmland Yeah pine bark after a while just falls off. Lol. It happens to other wood that has been sitting for a few years out in the elements. You should build those pallet bins. You could even put a piece of scrap tin on the top to shed water off. No more tarping. Tractors are certainly expensive. Maybe a little too expensive but usually they are turn key.
Thanks for sharing
So you've had two winters. Did you find out anything different on the north-south vs east-west stacks? I'm guessing east-west stacking would be better because of more direct sun but you're doing the test lol
How long before it starts to rot / decay / useless ?
Very Impressive! Nice Job!!
Thank you.
I cant tell ya where whole house stacking came from but I can tell ya I saw it 50 years ago in up state N.Y. guy that used to deliver fire wood to me used to use this stacking way I kept to the strait cord stack
Here's a silly question/comment. Why not start a couple rows going from Northeast to Southwest direction? Might be the best of both worlds? Ha...............who knows? Great video. One question though..Won't some of that really old wood punk out before you get to use it? How many year's worth is stacked up in this video?
That's actually 3 questions
Wow! You're REALLY smart eh? Good job, you were the only one who caught that. Can anyone answer? LOL Actually Brad, i believe if you look closer, you will find that there are actually 2 questions and one COMMENT ( the first one ). So yes, i planned asking 1 and ONE "comment" Instead i asked TWO questions and ONE 'suggestion" I guess it was a bit confusing
Just joking calm down
Always calm here
Good
Nice! Thanks
Thanks for sharing, you put a lot of research into it. I appreciate it.
Holzhausen is a german word, not sure they invented the method of stacking wood though.
EPA stoves are good....very (the ones with the air plate). But you won't get miracles out of them, LOL. No "throw a bit of pine in, and all is good". Same rules always apply: good wood that's dry, non-resinous. If you pop green wood, or softwood that's not dry in there, you'll still clog your chimney. I guess if you have VERY dry pine, well ok, for early season quick fires. But I'd stay away from that myself.
You know you are the firewood King ?
Nice to see someone testing ideas rather than just blindly doing what their grandfather did.
Actually, burning "wet" wood is considered being safe as long as you mix it up enough with dry wood. This year I use a mix of softer woods (23% moisture) combined with pine (17% moisture and to get the heat going), split into smaller sized pieces to fit my wood stove and I must say: the chimney stays pretty clean compared to the oak (hardwood) that I used last year and that only contained 17% of moisture (checked it the same way as you do, splitting it first than running the meter on it). Heck, even the wood stove's windows stay clean this year, strangely enough. Last year I had to clean those sucker every 2 days if I wanted to see the flames dance, now I only clean the windows once every two weeks or so, but even then it's not really needed (just want it to look a bit nicer for when visitors come LOL). So I think that the method I'm using this year actually works better, at least for me it does, with my wood stove (Dovre, made in Belgium). It probably will differ from stove to stove, etc.
Cheers.
geez you really tried to make firewood complicated. lol I know in the north we usually do bark up but we also cover it with lumber tarps or tin to keep the rain/snow off of.
Thanks for the video.
yep free and they are long enough to cover an 8' row. black too so that can help.
Bark off is best
single rows dry faster
Should be “moisture”
I Take the Bark off and stack the wood like you would stack a bonfire
The only wood stove I would get is a Jotul. They have a ten year warranty. The rest are garbage !
Jotul makes a good stove if you can get a position for killer draft. I have a Pacific Energy with a ten year warranty and its amazing. Came recommended because I live in the woods where draft is an issue. I love it.
I just looked at yours. I do like the big cooktop. Do they require firebricks? I am also in the backwoods and also in PA. I have the F600 24inch logs MAX which is sweet and have a small cabin with the F602. Who ever told you draft is an issue wanted to push you to another stove. Also Soapstone Stoves are top notch!
Evidently you have never owned an Avalon OR a Lopi ( which is just a HIGH-priced Avalon ) made by Travis Industries in Washington State. My Avalon is 13 years old and "kicks butt" Wouldn't trade if for ( 2 ) Jotuls Mine i super-efficient and way "above the EPA standards " Only 2.3 grams per hour. Try to beat that.
If I wanted radiant heat, then yes, Jotul is the way to go. I favor convection heat and my QuardraFire Explorer brings tremendous, controllable heat into my home. Plus, the visual of the burn is absolutely beautiful---when the stove is burning, no need for TV! I love watching it. Just stacked my wood for this upcoming season and love looking at that, even though it wore me out! Eric's wood stacks are simply phenomenal. He's taught me a lot, this is only my second year to burn, did not turn on the furnace once last year.
I burn 6 cords a winter, I use a moisture meter and average around
20 to 22%. I cut standing dead Ash and Maple. I keep a year ahead.
I leave my next year wood in rounds and then split in spring
and cut more rounds.