 Ironwood?
I'm a little confused about terminology for certain trees. Here in Ontario, what's called ironwood has a smooth, thin, tight, dark gray bark. And there's a definite winding or twisting or rippling pattern to it from bottom to top. Unless it's seriously old, it doesn't get much bigger than about 2-4 inches in diameter. It's also called osage orange, I think, and was used in the old days for fence posts and tool handles. It grows very straight, and it's a very, very hard wood, very tough on chainsaw chains (like elm and hawthorne), and all three are virtually unsplittable. Ironwood is an understory tree, commonly growing here among taller ash or silver maple. Fortunately, here at least, it's considered a trash tree, and I've cleared and burned a lot of it in my indoor wood stove over the years. Hope I can get more to cut into 4 foot lengths. There's also a lot of locust; it grows fairly straight, splits well, has yellow heartwood, and is quite hard. Dries fairly guickly, burns well, but thorny when you're felling it. Some varieties get quite large, and the boards were used for flooring in cattle barns. It, like elm, cedar and walnut, is a silicate wood; hence the chain dulling.
Speaking of splitting: I ordinarily wait until 4-foot logs, up to 8 inches in diameter, are frozen solid outside before splitting, because frozen wood splits much, much more easily. In summer, I wait a week or two after felling and bucking before going near them. I use an 8 lb. sledge and two aluminum wedges made in Germany.
Because I'm just starting out with my wood oven, I've been very nice to the electric company guys (called Hydro here). When they're limbing around hydro wires, I show up with coffees and take as much limb wood as I can fit in my vehicle. It's common for them to trim dead maple limbs, and these require no seasoning at all. Often, the homeowner gets first crack at the wood in the towns, but not along country roads (even so, most homeowners are interested in the larger stuff, split for indoor heating). Commonly, the crew would just chip the limb wood that I want, but I talk nice to them. Maybe find out if you can make contact with one of these crews. It's a lot less work for them if they only have to chip brush.
There might be arborists in your area that clear understory trees or limb larger trees in state forests or parks or tree farms. For them, it's necessary to ensure the health of the bigger trees. Might look into that one. They, too, would probably just chip the smaller stuff. I'd stay away from "Christmas" trees, especially spruce; just plain too resinous, no matter how dry. Pockets of resin definitely do explode, and it won't do your chimney any good to burn it.
I try to separate standing dead wood from green in my shed, leaving green maple or whatnot for at least a season to air dry. Far as I know, there's no easy way to speed this up, unless you want to build a small solar drier. Many people have done this to cure rough sawn lumber for furniture making. I've seen one such in northern Michigan; it was just a simple "greenhouse" made from old storm windows--with an evacuation fan. I'm considering it. There must be plans or advice on the web somewhere.
Mostly, because of where I live, I try to cut in winter, when the sap is down in the roots. This helps, too.
I've found that standing dead red pine works well, so long as you use it as an intermediate wood: kindling fire, split pine, hardwood on top. This gives the fire the brightness it needs to really get the hardwood going and burns the soot off very well. What's called Manitoba Maple here (really box elder) is a soft wood that would serve the same function (splits easily). Don't know about your location, but there are a lot of orchards around here, and I get trims from the growers. Most hybrid fruit trees are, I think, classified as semi-hardwoods, unlike, say, timber cherry used in furniture. Problem is that these woods are resinous, should be split (not easy) and need to cure longer than most. Like box elder, yellow poplar is considered a trash tree, and it, too, falls down by itself a lot. It's semi-hard, splits easily, drys well and fairly quickly. I've also used white cedar, cut in winter, and it only needs about a month to dry. In Quebec, years ago, they used cedar exclusively for bread ovens, but, then again, if you've ever been there you'd know why: it's absolutely everywhere.
Ornamental white birch only has a life-span of about 30 years, then it falls over on its own. I've taken down quite a few for homeowners, and if they don't want it, I do. Straight-grained and pretty hard; it burns very well; just strip off the white bark first (very resinous, would stick to your chimney like glue). Most ornamental trees fall into the same category.
As you probably know, in Europe, particularly France, they use tied up bundles or faggots of trims from trees that produce a lot of suckers (Lombardy Poplar, for example). I've done this with lilac to good effect, even pin cherry, and the bundles burn very fast and bright. Pretty well any shrub would do: red dogwood, for example
As you might have gathered, I don't pay for wood. Many times, people are just glad to get rid of it. If you are interested in doing it yourself, I'd advise putting the money you'd spend on wood into a good quality saw, either a Husqvarna or a Stihl, a bit more powerful than you think you need at first. It will pay for itself quick enough. I have a Husky 61 with an 18 inch bar that's ten years old and doesn't miss a beat. I paid about $600 for it, but it's paid for itself many times over. If you're new to it, maybe take a course and learn how to fell and maintain your saw, and safety procedures.
I'd really like to hear a lot more discussion on firing techniques: fire building, woods, curing and so on. My experience is based on indoor wood heating, and I've got a lot to learn yet on firing my bread oven in a regular and predictable way, because it has such a great effect on timing the proofing of my breads.
Hope some of this is helpful.
Jim  |