Firewood Question

[Hogan]

question.

Firewood. Do you cut it from trees? Pick it off the ground? or what?.

The reason I ask, is that I have seen sites which recommend methods of getting firewood, i.e. how to cut the branch with a knife or axe etc., but it seems somehow 'hypocritical' (I know that's not the right word) to try to work with nature, carefully removing the turf where the fire is to be laid, watering the turf if long stay requires it, gently replacing the cut pieces and leaving no trace, .... while at the same time lopping chunks off living trees, chopping them up and seting fire to them!

Any and all advice gratefully received.

Regards

 

[ScottC]

Hi and welcome to BCUK,

Generally you should never cut wood from living trees, if there is dead timber lying around on the ground you should always use that.

Also, remember that somtimes deadwood is damp from moisture rising from the ground so you should let it dry out before using it otherwise it wont burn.

 

[Justin Time]

Best bet is to look for what people call "Hanging dead wood" ie branches and twigs which have fallen from higher up and got caught up in the lower branches. It's the driest your likely to find easily. Spruces and the like often have dead branches/twigs which remain on the trunk at lower levels, these can usually be broken off by hand and make good kindling.

Somewhere in the forum there's a good thread on which woods are best to burn. A lot won't burn when green so not much point in cutting them off a living tree, Ash being the main exception I can recall. Of course green wood, being full of moisture will give off lots of smoke if chucked on the fire.

I suspect the environmental impact of burning wood where you find it is less than buying a petrochemical fuel which needs a metal or plastic container to carry it and a stove to burn it.

 

[TheViking]

Hi...

I think this is the one you're looking for:
http://www.bushcraftuk.net/community/showthread.php?t=499&highlight=wood+burns

Good luck! It's big...

 

[Ed]

Standing dead wood is what I look out for.... if its on the ground its more likely to be damp and rotten..... though if dried, dead wood punk makes excellent tinder. Also look out for 'sun shoots'...


Ed

 

[Hogan]

Standing dead wood is what I look out for.... if its on the ground its more likely to be damp and rotten..... though if dried, dead wood punk makes excellent tinder. Also look out for 'sun shoots'...


Ed

punk?, 'sun shoots' ?

Sorry, but you're dealing with a newbie who is terminologically challenged

 

[Adi007]

punk?, 'sun shoots' ?

Sorry, but you're dealing with a newbie who is terminologically challenged

Punk is the powdery, dried, dead wood. Makes good tinder.

Sun shoots are fast growing branches that grows fast adn straight towards light.

I hope this helps!

 

[Ed]

Sun shoots are fast growing branches that grows fast adn straight towards light.

Yep just as adi said.... with trees competing for sunlight, many trees like hazel throw up straight thin shoots toward the sun.... these tend to have no branches comming off them and no leaves (all their energy is going into reaching for light).... many just die off because of lack of light, become brittle and can be just snapped off as dead wood.


Ed

 

[Hogan]

Thanks to all...... :notworthy

 

[Kath]

Here's a picture I took at the weekend of sun shoots on elder.

 

[Schwert]

We call Sun Shoots--Suckers, a bit less poetic I think.

 

[TheViking]

Burning wet wood is possible, but in the start it will not burn and the fire will use a lot of energy drying the wood...! Yes, take the dead hanging boughs and branches.

 

[leon-1]

If you use the star fire method the heat from the fire dries the log that you are burning as it burns.

It is a far more efficient way of keeping a fire running as you can control both the heat output and the amount of wood that you burn by the amount of wood that is exposed to direct heat.

You can also take dead wood that is damp or wet and put it into a rack next to the fire, so as your fire builds it dries the wood before putting it on the fire (and you can also use said rack as a heat reflector).

The guys have already mentioned about sun shoots and standing dead wood, but when wood is laying on the ground it is normally like a sponge, however if you split it you may find that there is wood dry enough to burn inside.

I hope this will be of use. :-D

 

[Nigel]

Hi Guy's

One other point to be aware of that not only is wood lying on the floor very wet, as everybody has mentioned, but if it is wet it has already become host to a multitude of living insects, that won't be to happy about loosing their home. :yikes:

ATB
Nigel