Hanging wood

[Tony]

OK, weird one in some ways.
When you're out an about can you keep your eyes out for hanging wood in trees and bushes that would be good collected for firewood, I was thinking about this the other day, it would be great as an educational thread for people to see what to look out for, twigs, branches etc that are readily available to take, they're usually dry etc

So, if anyone has an pics or takes them put them in here please..

 

[sunndog]

Never thought of taking pics of wood before collecting it, but I'm out tomorrow so I'll find some

 

[British Red]

This sort of thing Tone?

Hanging dry wood by British Red, on Flickr

 

[treadlightly]

Just look skywards instead of on the floor. There is invariably stuff suspended that is relatively dry and useable as firewood.

 

[Tony]

Yeah, like that Red

Stuff that highlights what to look for, when it's at an unnatural angle, wrong type of bark and leaves, or barks all come off etc...

 

[Tony]

This one is some ivy hanging straight down across the main branch

 

[Tony]

Here's a few more:

This one is obvious as you can see the broken end and that it tapers smaller as you go away from the break, it's suspended about 7 feet up.























































This one is against the hedge which has kept it upright, it's easy to get to.



















































I've included this as it's freshly fallen, the ground around it's not recovered or been over grown at all, it's oak and about 4 feet long so a great bit of wood for a fire.





























These are obviously cut and so dead, they're sticking upright so have a good chance of being dry as the hedges around here haven't been cut for a while.























































Very obvious from the colour and the breaks at either end, about 6 inches long and ½ thick




























When you look at it it's up side down, when I had a closer look it's unattached at the other end so it's worth snapping a piece to see how dry it is.























































This was thin at the bottom and so warranted a look, it was unattached at the other end and just standing ready to be collected


















































Just hanging there, the angles were wrong for it to be natural, it's just caught up in the tree from the long bit coming off near the top

 

[Goatboy]

Great idea for a thread Tony, must say that I'd not thought about it too much as it's something I just did naturally and assumed that others would too. Also spent many weeks of my forestry career looking up doing crown surveys or making sure there were no "widow makers" up there.

There's a lovely section of old mixed woodland a few miles from here where the isolated locals collect all the fallen and dead wood throughout the year and collect it onto drying racks within the woodland where it's collected at a later date for use in their fires/stoves. Wish I had some pictures as it gives a very medieval feel to the place.

 

[Tony]

Thanks I just figured that there's loads of people that don't know how to look, what to look out for, how easy it is etc to collect wood, I'm saying that because I seem to meet them a lot and they love learning how much is all around them. So some pointers on what to look out for and why is should stand out to them goes a long way, if we get some good pics in here we can create a nice article from it and then refer back to here...

Thats the idea anyway ? it's a pity we can't have this thread here and it duplicate on the fly with one in the fire section...

 

[Goatboy]

Very true Tony, have been left wondering in the past when folk have been sent out to look for wood and have come back with three soggy sticks and saying they couldn't find anything else. (Even had forestry students do it while having a brew at lunchtime! Though not in Larch woodland, folk always seem to find plenty wood naturally in Larch.

 

[Chilliphil]

Great idea Tony. Some of the best and certainly the driest will be found up high and in the hedgerows. Earlier this year I retrieved two huge bags of birch twigs from a hawthorn hedge.

This one caught my eye just now whilst out walking the dog. I noticed it from the way it was hanging and it's colour. Not as obvious from the other bank of the river.

 

[Nice65]

Yeah, like that Red

Stuff that highlights what to look for, when it's at an unnatural angle, wrong type of bark and leaves, or barks all come off etc...

Or just not in leaf. We camp in young Ash woodland woodland sometimes. All our firewood is spotted by looking up. I've got no pics I'm afraid, never thought to take any. Thinner dead stems can be identified by nothing more than a good shake. The branch tips will rattle and snap.

Looking up is also a bit handy when it comes to pitching camp too, you don't want deadfall to drop on you in the night.

 

[Harvestman]

Interesting thread. I took this shot of some old ivy today. it isn't up a tree, but on a lamp-post, and is dead after being cut at ground level. This happens a lot on trees in managed woodlands, and also on walls,

 

[Tony]

Not much grows horizontally so it stands out, trace the ends and look at the leaves and it's usable...




























Here's another one, bone dry


Oak that's fallen from above and it's kept upright by the tree it's leaning on, outside is a little damp but bone dry just below the surface

 

[Harvestman]

Dead leaves are often a giveaway too.

 

[Tony]

This one is hanging although it looks like it's on the ground, the next picture shows the broken end off the ground
























































The broken end, this bit of wood at 1.5 inches is great.





























































This is a number of branches that have caught in the V of a tree, varied in size it's all dry and easy to get to...































Ash that's been cut down and left standing, obviously the wood is good but there's also the King Alfred's cakes / Cramp balls (Daldinia concentrica) which when dry are great for fire lighting, carrying fire or if you've enough cooking on (watch the fumes though)
























































King Alfred's cakes / Cramp balls (Daldinia concentrica)































































Pointing the wrong way and obviously broken




























































Nice chunky bit of wood hung perfectly for collection, this was about 18" long and 7 feet in the air.

 

[Tony]

not much just hangs straight down like that

















































I saw the silhouette just like in the picture, it's hanging from the thin branch bits























































easy pickings






























Just hanging there, hooked on just above the V, excellent for fire starting





























































Looks like an excellent pice of hanging wood, easy to get to, good size etc but it's rubbish...































































Completely mushy, if it was dried out well it would be ok but it's damp as well, not sure why...Leave this one.






























Get hold of the stick and you know it's good if you get a nice clean break and a nice sharp snapping sound, like a gunshot





























CRACK..... Lovely and dry






























The sort of end, colour and shape to look out for, if it's like this it's almost definitely dead wood

 

[slowworm]

I kept meaning to reply to this thread, I suppose better 11 years late than never...

Obvious one to start: Dead or nearly dead ash, due to dieback.



And a bit less obvious, oak branch with old leaves still on, snapped off due to damage done by grey squirrels. You can often see dead branches on oaks, maple type trees, beach etc where squirrel damage has caused them to die, some snap off in the wind and others stay attached for many months. Worth check checking if you're sitting or camping under a tree.

 

[Longstrider]

I have access to a long narrow piece of woodland where I walk nearly everyday. I have a firepit down there and am always looking for this sort of thing as I go through. All the bigger stuff is 'out of bounds' if it's 'good' wood (ash or hawthorn) as the landowner wants that for home, but stuff up to the thickness of my arm is fair game. I carry a bag with all-sorts in it including a long length of paracord. This can be invaluable for pulling such pieces of wood free if they are out of reach. Caution as always from falling timber, but I'll often harvest more than is comfortable to carry so I leave it propped up against a tree to keep dry until I collect it for use. I do the same with wind-blown stuff that would otherwise lay on the ground and become sodden.

Tony's point is a good one though. Nearly everyone knows they should be looking for "dead standing" when firewood hunting, but don't think to look upwards enough to actually see what's available.