When autumn comes to northern New England it’s time to cut, split and stack cordwood. The cordwood we cut this year is for next year burning. It takes approximately a year to dry the wood to less than 10% moisture content before it is burned.

The reason why we don’t want to burn cordwood that has not been dried is because it will burn poorly and form creosote in the chimney. Creosote becomes the main cause of chimney fires which can cause the chimney liner to crack and cause house fires. Dry wood will not cause creosote in the chimney and will burn much more efficiently than wood that is not dry.

We buy cordwood by the log length and cut it up with a chainsaw. A typical truck load of log length cordwood contains between eight and nine cord of wood. It is much cheaper to purchase cordwood by log length and cut and split yourself than to buy cordwood that is already cut and split to stove / fireplace length. Our cost is approximately $100 a cord for cordwood. If you buy it already cut and split it will cost upwards from $250 a cord. If you pay this price for cordwood to heat your house you may as well burn fuel oil or gas.

Take a look at our video “cutting cordwood step 1”. It illustrates how to cut log length cordwood and the safety precautions you should take to prevent injuries.

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