Unseasoned firewood supply

[malcolm]

I have a big wood store and would like to take advantage of that by storing wood for a couple of years to save on drying costs. We got a new law a couple of years ago that makes it illegal to sell unseasoned logs. Having someone else dry the logs in a kiln rather than letting me dry them over a longer time using air doesn't seem all that environmentally friendly. The energy costs to dry the wood must be huge as the price of logs has more than doubled. It is not necessary to waste that energy as I can air dry the wood.

Is there a workaround? I have a splitter and maybe selling chunks of tree rather than logs might be legal. What do you guys do?

 

[noj]

I believe that if you buy more than a tonne at a time then the rule doesn't apply.

Round here the borough charges tree surgeons to dump their waste, so they'll drop a lorry load on my drive for free. I've not paid for firewood in 10 years.

 

[paulc]

I believe that if you buy more than a tonne at a time then the rule doesn't apply.

Two cubic metres or less requires the logs to be "certified" as having a moisture content under 20% if you are selling it as fuel.
I purchase logs from a local tree surgeon, usually 3-4m³ at a time, and then cut & split them to suit my needs. Stacked under cover for a year or two, then moved in to the wood shed to bake over summer. This usually gets them down to 15-18% ready for the fire over winter. I see no point in sending the logs off to be kiln dried when I can let nature do the job for me (OK, takes a little longer, but I can wait).

Apparently, there is a fad doing the rounds of having a stack of logs as a decorative "feature". No fire to burn them on, so just an ornament to harbour bugs & collect dust.

 

[Zebra]

Wood store envy......

 

[malcolm]

I didn't realise the rule didn't apply to loads over two cubic metres. A truck load is a handy amount for me. I'll get in contact with my local tree surgeon.

The wood store got a third bigger last week. Some wood arrived and one of the bays was full of bulk bags of sand that I couldn't be bothered to move.

 

[Cubist]

As far as I'm aware theres no law to prevent me seasoning firewood on site at home - but there is to prevent someone selling me firewood above 20%.

If you have suitable timbers growing nearby and have the time energy and kit - cut it to length, split anything over 75mm diameter, stack it and let is season by itself. Depending on the timber it can be ready for the fire - below 20% - after as little as 6 months but some timbers may require 18-24 months.

Check out Norwegian Wood by Lars Mytting - a good read and good advice to boot.

 

[88v8]

Seasoned wood to the legal moisture content doesn't have to be kilned, it just has to be stacked and stored by the supplier.
We buy here and as you can see they sell both seasoned, and kilned.
I did once buy kilned when I needed more and they'd run out of seasoned, but in general I just buy seasoned.

I welcome the new law as in the past we've had 'seasoned' from other suppliers that was anything but.

Ivor