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Author Topic: Block Wood or Slab Wood  (Read 6755 times)

jcc273

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Block Wood or Slab Wood
« on: August 30, 2013, 11:01:54 AM »

Alright so i do cut most of the wood i burn between my land, family land, and a permit to cut dead trees in Oil Creek State Park.  But there is place real close to where i live that delivers slab and block wood, was thinking about getting a load and trying it out:

Hardwood blocks . 4x4 , 4x6 , and 6x6 mixed sizes and lengths upto 20". Tri-axle load $550 delivered
Heavy all premium hardwood slabs cut 16-20" long. No edgings,nice pieces.Huge tri-axle load $440 delivered.
Loads average 5-6 cord. (4'x4'x8')

Anyone have opinions on these?  the blocks are more so im assuming they are better burning?  thoughts?  If this works out well i might be able to save close to the same in gas for my truck to haul haha.

Here is craigslist if you wanna see image:
http://erie.craigslist.org/for/3949754701.html
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Jarrod
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willieG

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Re: Block Wood or Slab Wood
« Reply #1 on: August 30, 2013, 12:43:04 PM »

around my area fire wood goes for 60 dollars per "face chord" (3 face chords in a 4x4x8 chord) that would work out to 900 dollars for 5 chords so either lot you buy would be a bargain as i think both would make good fire wood if given a chance to dry
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jcc273

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Re: Block Wood or Slab Wood
« Reply #2 on: August 30, 2013, 02:58:22 PM »

Awesome!  Thanks for the input, i think i'll order a load in the next few months here and give it a try.
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Jarrod
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Scott7m

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Re: Block Wood or Slab Wood
« Reply #3 on: August 30, 2013, 03:13:10 PM »

Here in my area hardwood slabs are free and the blocks are $80 for a 16 foot trailer with all you can pile on, which is a LOT
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jcc273

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Re: Block Wood or Slab Wood
« Reply #4 on: September 02, 2013, 09:57:01 AM »

Quote
Here in my area hardwood slabs are free and the blocks are $80 for a 16 foot trailer with all you can pile on, which is a LOT

There are alot of sawmills near my place and i know i can usually got pick up slab wood for free at several of them, but they are not cut and it is a pain to get them into my pickup and somewhat of a pain to cut.  i figured if this works out well maybe i'll get a trailer and use my time to get the free slab wood instead of cutting trees.

Is the amount of heat i will get from burning a cord of slab equivalent to what i would get burning a cord of cut wood?
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Jarrod
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Scott7m

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Re: Block Wood or Slab Wood
« Reply #5 on: September 02, 2013, 12:54:12 PM »

Quote
Here in my area hardwood slabs are free and the blocks are $80 for a 16 foot trailer with all you can pile on, which is a LOT

There are alot of sawmills near my place and i know i can usually got pick up slab wood for free at several of them, but they are not cut and it is a pain to get them into my pickup and somewhat of a pain to cut.  i figured if this works out well maybe i'll get a trailer and use my time to get the free slab wood instead of cutting trees.

Is the amount of heat i will get from burning a cord of slab equivalent to what i would get burning a cord of cut wood?

No not really, but it depends on the slabs and what there processing at the time, if there thick slabs it will be better but a cord of slabs has more bark/scrap than a normal cord of wood
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beeman

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Re: Block Wood or Slab Wood
« Reply #6 on: December 15, 2013, 07:22:55 AM »

i have been burning slabs and scott is right i have had more ash this year but the slabs are free down here found the easyest way is load on 16foot trailer hole when i get home i cut the wood on the trailer then throw of the chunks have to take pic
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cantoo

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Re: Block Wood or Slab Wood
« Reply #7 on: December 15, 2013, 03:23:01 PM »

I got 2 loads of slabwood in exchange for my brother borrowing my dump trailer. I reloaded it with my tractor and bucket  into my smaller dump trailer and parked it beside my owb. I've burnt a bunch of it but it really isn't worth the pain in the azz to throw it into the stove. It was all precut but it's mostly small pieces and a few bigger pieces. It really brings up the stove temp quick but take a long time ( few minutes) to fill the stove with it, keep in mind my owb is huge. 4' long pieces would be better. Around here precut slabs are $20 for a 6x12' trailer you load yourself or $50 and they load.
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jcc273

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Re: Block Wood or Slab Wood
« Reply #8 on: December 16, 2013, 10:42:29 AM »

I have been burning slab so far this year and yeah there is tons of ash compared to burning logs!  And yeah it does take longer to load up the stove but no big deal there, but my firebox is also not all that big.

I think next year i will probably go to mostly logs and mix in some slab.  I can stop by the amish sawmills on the way home from work and they will usually load me up with precut for $10.  So i might just make a habit of stopping by once every week or 2 and getting a load.
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Jarrod
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LittleJohn

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Re: Block Wood or Slab Wood
« Reply #9 on: December 16, 2013, 11:20:27 AM »

I burn both slab and block, kinda helps when you got your own sawmill (moodmizer); I do notice a bit more ash with slab but I generally only burn them in the spring and fall when load on the boiler is light.  Use bigber blocks, when winter gets cold (average of -12F last week) here in East Central MN.

3 years in and really liking the OWB, previous house had an indoor wood furnace; a lot cleaner with the beast outside
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fryedaddy

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Re: Block Wood or Slab Wood
« Reply #10 on: December 17, 2013, 09:40:39 AM »

I'd buy the blocks before slab.

Slab burns pretty quick or takes longer to load correctly.
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LittleJohn

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Re: Block Wood or Slab Wood
« Reply #11 on: January 20, 2014, 02:51:07 PM »

However slabs are nice in the spring and fall when you dont need a huge raging fire to keep everything warm and cozy.

P.S. I own a Woodmizer, so I have burned a few loads of slab in my day
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Digitaldreams

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Re: Block Wood or Slab Wood
« Reply #12 on: February 14, 2014, 09:43:41 PM »

Burned slab all this winter cause it was cheap and didn't have much wood stockpiled and my suppliers slab some are almost as big  as block must be some honkin trees they come from but keep up and ash stays low,had little more creosote but worth cost and easy to cut with chainsaw to furnace size lengths which mine holds about 24 inch lengths! Slab burns faster in mine than cord or logs so when it was sub zero I was down to 7 hour burn times if I wanted good bed of coals to start new load but at 20 bucks a chord of slab it was cheap enough to burn considering before I put in OWF I spent 2200 dollars to heat for winter with fuel oil!
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swede

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Re: Block Wood or Slab Wood
« Reply #13 on: February 28, 2014, 08:39:28 AM »

We only use slabs for warmer weather.  Can't imagine trying to get through a -30 night burning slabs
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LittleJohn

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Re: Block Wood or Slab Wood
« Reply #14 on: February 28, 2014, 10:29:07 AM »

We only use slabs for warmer weather.  Can't imagine trying to get through a -30 night burning slabs

Kind of like the learning curve on the OWB, a variety of wood (shapes and sizes) allow for different firing rates and burn times.  Vary wood with weather.

Also, filling (2 or 3 times) is still better than seeing the LP or Fuel Oil man and his BIG old truck  ;D
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