Questions About Seasoned Wood--We had to call the sheriff

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The sheriff has just left our farm, and I was hoping someone out there with more knowledge about wood, could tell us if what we did was correct, or incorrect, based on the qualities of seasoned oak firewood.

Yesterday we had a man deliver a cord of oak that he told us was seasoned and ready to burn. He delivered it after dark when we couldn't get a good look at it. Once he left, we took a few pieces into the house, and after getting a hot fire going with soft wood we had on hand, we put the first piece in our wood stove. It sizzled, steamed, oozed and dripped water onto the fire, effectively putting it out. No matter what we did, it wouldn't burn. We tried two other pieces. No go. They steamed and oozed water from the center or core of the split log.

Now, he was supposed to call us before he delivered another cord this morning, but he didn't. We tried calling him and left messages, but he didn't answer them, instead driving straight out with another load of this stuff. We told him we didn't want either load, please take it back. On one hand, we felt terrible. It's Christmas Eve. But the wood wasn't burning. And this man demanded $60 from us just for his trip, if he took the wood back. When we refused, he told us to call the sheriff, because he and his two helpers weren't going to leave. The sheriff came out and told the man he had to take back his wood.

What I'd like to know is, were we wrong about the wood? Does seasoned oak steam and drip water? We're new to Virginia, but we lived in Lake Tahoe for several years and we think we know what dry oak is supposed to burn like. In fact, before he delivered his batch, we had a few pieces of milled scrap 6" x 4" oak (untreated) which burned wonderfully.

Thanks for your opinions!

-- CD (cdokeefe@firstva.com), December 24, 1999

Answers

It's conceivable that seasoned wood could be waterlogged. IF he left it sitting under water for a protracted period of time before delivering it!

It's *inconceivable* that anyone would try to foist that on their victims as "ready to burn".

It sounds like you found one of the extras from "Deliverance" who decided to take you for a ride.

-- Ron Schwarz (rs@clubvb.com.delete.this), December 24, 1999.


Coingratulate yourself on an early lesson in country living! A number of lessons, that, thanks to your good sherrif did not cost you anything in $$. Plus, you've eliminated one wood supplier from among the locals. Green wood looks "dry" but if you do not see SPLITTING on the ends of the logs it is not properly seasoned. The splitting happens when the natural moisture/saps have evaporated out and the fibers begin shrinking, etc., causing them to separate and pull away from one another. If the wood had these cracks it was -- my guess -- seasoned but left out in the rain and had soaked up atmophereic moisture/precip. Was it wet to touch? Has it been raining in your area this fall/winter?

If there's been little precip, and the wood was not wet to the touch, then your wood was probably not seasoned. >"<

-- SH (squirrel@huntr.com), December 24, 1999.


Thank you, SH and Ron. No, absolutely no splits in the ends of the logs. We have had some rain, but the wood appeared to have been fresh sawn from larger logs. The wood was also extraordinarily heavy when compared to pieces of my oak bed, for instance. We figured perhaps that the man had gone out to the woods and cut up fallen trees, then thrown them in the back of his pick-up. How long had they been "fallen?" Who knows, but even the bark looked fresh, like any of the other living trees around here.

-- CD (cdokeefe@firstva.com), December 24, 1999.

He tried to rip you off. NO seasoned wood steams and "drips water". You did the right thing.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), December 24, 1999.

CD,

I'm not sure he even brought you oak. I have burned fresh cut oak and it didn't sizzle, drizzle, etc. It took a little while longer to get started, but it DID burn. I don't know if you have it where you live but it sounds like you were trying to burn freshcut Sweet-Gum. I tried to burn some of that once, and it does the sizzle, drizzle, etc. bit even when not too freshly cut.

Gerald

-- Gerald R. Cox (grcox@internetwork.net), December 24, 1999.



Next go round, gather the nmbers from the gorcery store bulletin board or wherever the woodcutters post their "bills", then acll em up, get a bid, ask if it's seasoned, and -- Y2K notwithstanding -- drive around and examine it yourself. All the woodcutters around here are decent, fair men, and are actually proud of their trade and their wood. I've made friends with 3-4. Once I've looked at the wood I want, I pay for it in advance, and tell the man where to deliver it, or etc. If you want to be extra careful, take a long a can of some flourescent spraypaint, and "tag" your wood after yo've paid for it, so you'll know he's delivering "your" cord. Long term though, you'd be better off to get to know a few suppliers on a first name basis, and just trust them to deal fairly. They do have a business rep to maintain.

-- SH (squirrel@huntr.com), December 24, 1999.

Another thought,

Be sure to ask if what you are buying is a true cord, not a face cord. I had an argument several years ago with a wood supplier who delivered and stacked for me what he called a cord of wood. It was 8' long and 4 ' high all right, but only 24" wide. When I asked him about this, he said a cord was 4'X 8' and that the width varied with how long the logs and splits were. With a little further conversation, I found out he was relatively new at the firewood business, and he may honestly not have known what a cord of wood truly was. He ended up charging me for just 1/2 cord, which was what it was.

Gerald

-- Gerald R. Cox (grcox@internetwork.net), December 25, 1999.


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