As winter winds down and spring draws near, I thought it would be a good time to explain the differences in firewood, for those who use or are contemplating putting in wood heat.
Burning wood can be economical and is an even, cozy type of heat. The main reason I burn wood is because I am frugal (think cheap) and I have a good source of all types of wood. As an added bonus, I have a son that thinks cutting firewood is a source of entertainment. It is hard to argue with someone willing to clean up the dead trees, cut trails to ride the gator and not complain too much when I raid his firewood pile. All I have to provide is the trees. I even help cut wood once in a while. I did not get old by being stupid.
When a person is cutting trails, they will run into a cross-section of all the trees in the area. To cut a trail from point A to point B, we have to pass by an old downed oak tree that has four or five loads of wood in it. This is a good thing. I get rid of an old fallen down tree, he gets several loads of firewood to sell and the women get a new trail to ride.
Damon is very particular about the wood he sells. It has to be dry, cut and split to the right size, and free of extraneous insects. Oak, ash and locust are his trees of choice. If he spots a big old tree blown down or standing dead, chances are we will have a new trail to ride if it is of the right species. He does not sell green wood (wood that has not been thoroughly dried) unless specifically requested, as it will put off creosote, which can lead to chimney fires.
Sunday, Damon spotted a heretofore unnoticed giant dead oak. It had been dead for several years, still standing in the timber. Not only is this a danger to hunters, cattle and wildlife, a huge amount of firewood was standing there not being properly utilized. He was off, cutting a trail wide enough to get his truck to the tree. Dozens of small hickory trees blocked the trail. Hickory is my wood of choice. It has one of the highest BTU ratings and smells like bacon when it is being burned. Maybe bacon smells like hickory, but whichever, the effect is the same.
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Being the connoisseur of firewood, he did not want to mess with small trees, and being green, he would not sell it. I, on the other hand, am somewhat of a scavenger. If someone else wants to cut the wood, I am not opposed to hauling it away. My house is designed with a concrete roof covered by six feet of dirt.
Creosote buildup and the resulting chimney fire is not a major problem for me. The house will not burn, but the noise is enough to awaken a person from a dead sleep. It sounds like the roar of a jet engine, and I can see how it would easily burn down a conventional house.
I hauled off a full load of the wood he rejected. That evening, my wife and I started a cozy fire with the newly acquired wood. The faint odor of hickory permeated the living room, which rapidly got warm. Snow began to fall from what we can only hope is the last storm of winter. We threw another log on the fire and were glad to be home during what amounted to a blizzard. It is hard to beat the warmth of a nice wood fire, and it is even better when you did not have to cut it.
Walter Scott is an outdoors enthusiast and freelancer writer from Bloomfield, Iowa.
