How to DIY Wood Chunks from old Peachtree


 
Kyle in Woodstock

Kyle in Woodstock

TVWBB Guru
So I've got a few peach trees in my yard. They put out lots of small peaches, but never anything you'd want to eat. I don't put any effort into fertilizing them or caring for the way they should be cared for. They look pretty in the early spring which is probably why the previous owners of my home planted them.

Anyways, last year one of the trees was just about dead. I was able to pull it out of the ground roots and all without much effort. I threw the tree in the backyard and its been back there since.

For a tree like this, can I just cut it into small chunks and scrape off the bark, then use for smoking on the grill? I'm going to check to be sure for any bugs eating up the tree before using them to cook. Are the smaller limbs useful for anything or just the main trunk area of the tree?

I have a couple other trees still alive and kicking, but am considering removing them because I'm tired of the peaches falling to the ground and then decomposing with all the bugs....I've got a 2 year old and 4 year old daughter so they are always picking up old gross peaches.
 
Well, the dead one is probably already seasoned, to some extent. You should have no problem using any of that wood. It will just need to be seasoned.

My brother cut down three apple trees in Nov 2018. Just this past weekend, I used the wood to smoke three pork butt on my stick burner. That's about 1 1/2 year of seasoning.

My FIL cut down a pecan tree in April 2019. I have most of it cut into splits and I can burn it now.

I bought a cheap moisture meter that gives me a rough idea of how seasoned the wood is, I like for it to be under 20% moisture.
 
You think it's a good idea to go ahead and cut up the tree and store the chunks inside? Would that help season it? Also, by season do you mean basically waiting until moisture goes down so it isn't a "green" tree?
 
Kyle in Woodstock said:
You think it's a good idea to go ahead and cut up the tree and store the chunks inside? Would that help season it? Also, by season do you mean basically waiting until moisture goes down so it isn't a "green" tree?
Click to expand...

Right, you don't want green wood. It has too much moisture and won't readily burn. And it produces an acrid smoke. Its really tough to deal with and would especially not work well when burned in chunks. The smoldering effect would be even worse.

I store mine outside. Some keep their woodpile covered, I don't think it matters. Whatever less humidity would be inside, would be mitigated by not getting direct sunlight on the wood. The sooner you cut it down, the sooner it starts drying out. And smaller splits or chunks will dry out faster. The outside of the wood dries pretty quickly, but if ya cut into it , and measure the moisture inside the wood, its still wet. The more the inside is exposed, quicker it dries.

Now that said, ya might not want to cut it all up immediately, cuz ya won't use it that fast and it could get too dry. That's just something ya have to play by ear.

I have a problem with termites and carpenter ants. I can keep the termites out of the wood by keeping it up off the ground. I put down concrete paver blocks with 2X4's on top, to stack the wood on between a couple of T-Posts. But the carpenter ants will still find it. They don't ruin the wood, they just bore small holes. I try to shuffle up the stack every now and then to upset them.

Also, a " Kindling Cracker " is a great tool to make splits. Well, worth the money spent.
 
If that tree has been out of the ground for a year, then it's seasoned, peach trees aren't that big to start with. So yeah, cut it up, split it and use it.
I wouldn't chunk all of it at once, just a few logs at a time, and yes branches work fine, might burn up a little faster, depending on the actual size, just use more, lol
 
I finally got around to cutting up my peach trees.

One I cut down last summer, the other a couple months ago. The one from last year has been cut down sitting outside under my deck. Looks nice and dried out, but I'm going to still throw all of it up in the attic until next spring. And then pull the older stuff down to use next year and keep the freshly cut up there to season.

Got plenty of wood out of the two trees.

Pic of the one that's pretty much seasoned already.

20201117_112722.jpg

Picture of the freshly cut wood, filled a pretty big box from this tree.

20201117_112713.jpg


Top is fresh cut, bottom was cut 1+ year ago

20201117_112736.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top