Free BTU's

[Bill Hudson]

So if it is a variety of woods it is best left to the land fill?

When I had a wood burning fireplace that is where my ashes went. Nutrient content is too variable and unpredictable. Buy your plant nutrients in a bag with a guaranteed analysis, an analysis that is subject to regular verification by state agencies.

Bill

[Barnyard]

Thanks Bill, now when we sit around the fire at the Bash I won't be concerned if there are any nails in that old barn siding that gets tossed in.

[Virginia Mike]

Bob,
Try smashing them apart with a hydraulic spliter, then blocking with a buzz saw. Faster.

[Bob Perry]

Bob,
Try smashing them apart with a hydraulic spliter, then blocking with a buzz saw. Faster.

Thanks for the suggestion, but having done this for >30-40 years I've settled in on what I think is fastest and easiest.

[Rudi]

A number of our farmers in the Maritimes - especially those who are primarily forage/hay suppliers add lime or wood ash - to the soil on a yearly basis. One of our friends adds about a 1/2 ton/acre to help improve his yield. He also applies it to his paddocks for the Alpacas.

Yup, Bill is correct, you need soil analysis to properly determine how much lime/ash/fertilizer etc., to apply as a general rule of thumb. My father-in-law regularly applied his winter wood worth of ash to his big garden every year and that garden produced big time. He also tilled his soil every spring to thoroughly chop up the remnants from the previous year's crops at the same time as mixing the ash in. I know that most of my land needs big time amendments as much of it has little to no nutrition it it, just what has been left year after year the last few years from our terra-forming project. My plan this summer is to spread ash, disc, seed with red rye and then disc it in around the 1st week of July then replant. I need to add a lot of vegetable matter/green manure and other amendments to help balance the soil.

One of the problems in the Maritimes is Acid Rain that hits us from the US industrial heartland and of course Southern Ontario. It has been proven that our soils here are quite acidid (which explains a lot of the problems I have had over the last few years raising foodstuffs), and wood ash is more soluble than lime or fertilizers so it helps balance the ph much quicker. And we get a lot of acid rain, it is one of our major agricultural challenges. Acid rain is a fact of life here and I am really glad to see that we have a mitigating agent here in abundance. I really like mother nature's fixes

Here are some interesting articles that I found googling one particular paper : Wood Ash paper by Lise LeBlanc of LP Consulting

Disposing of wood ash at a landfill unnecessarily fills up the land fills. After spending a few years on the planning committee for our Waste Disposal System - Westmorland-Albert Solid Waste Commission, it became very clear to me that we need to re-purpose much of what we use/expend in our daily lives. We also have a project here that is working wonders and it is our Gardener's Gold program which uses sewage solids mixed with bark and greens - composted and then utilized. This product allowed CFB Gagetown to regreen/reforest the bases artillery ranges that were contaminated with cordite etc. No other mulch or soil amendment product tried in the previous 40 years worked but Gardern's Gold did.

It all depends on where you are and what your soils are like. I do not like blanket solutions as they do not satisfactorily address local conditions. We do not have Extension Offices like the US does but we do have our Experimental Farms and such which provide much of the same data for our farmers up here.

[coppersmythe]

morning all from the deep south. bob , looks like you got it down pretty good in the video, if nails ever become a problem ( old eyes? ) we use a blade for the skilsaw that cuts metal and wood. it is amazing, we ( well, i watch the contractors do it) have to cut out the rotted decking on the roofs at lsu, and broke quite a few teeth cutting nails that could not be seen. i dont know the name ,but we call it a blue blade. we have been using one for a year now and still sharp.coppersmythe.................

[brichter]

Looked more like Kevin than "Kevin and me".

[CapeCodCubs]

I get cut off yellow pine 2x4,2x6,2x8 and 2x10 scraps from our saws at work. All pieces are under 2' long and burn super hot. No work like that involved, guys at work load my truck up, all bundled or boxed up, dry and ready to burn in the CubHouse.

[BigBill]

In the past since 1976 i been heating with wood. Its all about the cost plus my house is warmer too.

I heat with pallets and small branches till the really cold weather sets in. As it gets colder at night i go with the firewood i would find on the ground when loggin firewood to sell. The punk wood as its called would have a pink colored oak on the inside with the larger diameter trees. I burned it all from pallets to blow downs. I took 7 cords of firewood off a willow tree. I let it sit for 3 years to dry out some what. The smell was so bad i only burned it after 12am at night. Using my temp gauges on the stove and stove pipe i even burned pine too with the metalbestos stainless chimney. When the hardwood fire was up to temp i would put on small split pieces of pine. The heat of the hardwood would eat up the pine sap in the fire. In the metal chimney it was ok but i won't do it with the clay chimney.

I would heat my house, my shop and my shed with wood for free and sell the good wood for $$$. Pallets is a cheap way to heat the house too.

[Bob Perry]

That's a big 10-4 there BigBill. I discovered the satisfaction of burning wood over 40 years ago, and it is work I enjoy, from going into the woods skidding logs, right through what's used for kindling. I have learned a lot and feel good about the way I do it. All of the aspects of getting it in are work, but it's a work I enjoy.

I can only laugh when a video is posted showing somebody working, and all the guys in their comfy chairs start making comments like "Oh that's too much work, you should have done it this way." They remind me of the people who sit and watch the DIY shows on TV then go around thinking they know more than the guys who actually do things.

Thanks BigBill, people like you give me hope.

[CapeCodCubs]

I can only laugh when a video is posted showing somebody working, and all the people in their comfy chairs start making comments like "Oh that's too much work, you should have done it this way." They remind me of the people who sit and watch the DIY shows on TV then go around thinking they know more than the guys who actually do things.

.

You in the comfy chair!! How dare you!!!!!!

(This is the little old lady across the street who suggested faster and more effiecient ways to process pallets)
Poor thing

Last edited by CapeCodCubs on Wed Jan 09, 2013 4:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[daddydip]

HA HA HA HA HA Yup, I Like that Bob, I like burning slab wood from the sawmill also, but since all the folks have gotten up to speed on that I had might as well get that wood out of logs.(price has went up drastically compared to back when) I think I am going to gpo over to John Rocks, two miles up the road and see if he still has pallets for hauling away.

Last edited by daddydip on Thu Jan 31, 2013 11:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[CapeCodCubs]

Here is Bob, Kevin and some unknown thug about to rough up the neighbor with the comfy chair.
.


We dress in red and we are the IH Correct Police!!!!!!

Last edited by CapeCodCubs on Thu Jan 10, 2013 1:56 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Bob Perry]

[Steve Butram]

Spent Saturday into Sunday morning on A pallet factory fire. They had an estimated 150,000 pallets on site and the closest water supply was 4 miles away. We saved about 50,000 of them. Biggest fire of my career.30 fire departments and over 100 firefighters on scene for most of the night. Plenty of BTUs waisted. LOL