Steve B wrote:
What signs do firewood exhibit when it is dry enough to burn well? Does
the bark start coming off? What about species where the bark is
tenacious? I cut some FRESH fruit trees this past summer, and I KNOW
it won't be ready before next fall, but I was wondering how to select
pieces of wood from my big pile by just looking at it. When we go to
recover wood, we take freshly fallen wood, as well as downed wood
that has already aged, and the bark is coming off. We try to select
the stuff where the bark is coming off, but not so old that there is
any insect activity going on, like wood ants, or such, or any rot.


Wood dries faster if it's split.

As an aside, I scored about a 1/4 cord of oak. I then bought the cheapes HF
log splitter ($100.00), a ten-ton unit. The damned thing requires someone
MUCH stronger than I to split a log. It got returned.

Called a tool rental place. Their 30-ton, gasoline-powered unit rents for a
paltry ten dollars a day! Rent it on Saturday morning, take it back Monday,
ten dollars.

Soon as I recover from using the HF splitter, I'm off to the rental store.