5 Woodpile Dangers That Can Put You in the Hospital. Number 3 Grows on Half of America's Firewood
Harlan Sawyer
269,384 views
Tomorrow morning you'll carry an armload in with your gloves still in your back pocket. There are
five things in an ordinary American woodpile that put people in hospital beds every winter, and
four of them you can find in ninety seconds with a flashlight.
In 1977 my saw partner Manny cleared a fence line, piled the vines with the deadwood, and burned
it. He stood in that smoke about twenty minutes. Two days later they took him to Elkins with his
face swollen shut and his throat closing. He never touched a leaf.
I'm Harlan Sawyer. Forty-two years in the timber, 1969 to 2011.
The five:
pressure treated lumber and how to spot it by the rows of slits (arsenic until the end of 2003) -
what lives in the bottom two rows, and the eight-dollar fix - the hairy vine, which is poison ivy
on a dead log, still active for years, and what burning it does to your throat - the white bloom
on wood stored indoors - and the ash bucket, which isn't in the pile at all, and is the one the
fire departments write up every January.
Number three is on about half the cords I've split in the last ten years, on my own ridge, on
trees I cut myself. You cannot see it once the bark is off.
Tell me your state and whether you've ever found a hairy vine on your own firewood. I think most
of us have burned one without knowing.
Stack it dry, friend. It keeps.
Sources mentioned: EPA (never burn treated, painted or stained wood; CCA removed from residential
use at the end of 2003), CDC (never burn poison ivy; urushiol stays active on dead wood for
years). Ash: metal can with a metal lid, outdoors on dirt or concrete, four days minimum, and a
carbon monoxide detector in the sleeping hall. I'm not a doctor. A darkening bite, a reaction to
smoke, or a chest that won't clear is a doctor's business, not mine.
#firewood #woodstove #poisonivy #woodheat #homestead #oldways
20 Comments
Treated, painted, or any wood that has a finish throw it away. Any wood with mold always keep it outside until you put it in the stove.
Your most important advice is the metal ash can. 4 days minimum before discarding and never ever put the ashes in your garage cans. I've seen garbage trucks catch on fire because of a reckless home owner who dumped ashes in their trash. I've been heating with wood for over 50 years, and this video is spot on. Here in Indiana, we don't have to worry too much about poisonous spiders and snakes, but on rare occasions, they can be present. At 75, I still enjoy processing firewood, and it's by far my favorite way to heat my home. Yes, it's a lot of work, but rewards are worth the amazing warmth and comfort for the entire family.
It's my therapy, and I will keep burning and bucking until I am physically unable to do so. That's not anytime soon, I have 5 years of dried firewood in a barn, and it burns perfectly!
KEEP YOUR HEARTH WARM AND YOUR WOOD PILE DRY.
PEACE BROTHERS AND SISTERS BE SAFE AND PRAY
WesVDW.
In addition to the chainsaw slinging poison ivy juice, you can get a good dose of it from using a weed whacker to mow along a fence line or around the trees in an orchard. Always wear long pants and then remove them with care after you're done.
5 Woodpile Dangers That Can Put You in the Hospital. Number 3 Grows on Half of America's Firewood
Harlan Sawyer
269,384 views
Tomorrow morning you'll carry an armload in with your gloves still in your back pocket. There are
five things in an ordinary American woodpile that put people in hospital beds every winter, and
four of them you can find in ninety seconds with a flashlight.
In 1977 my saw partner Manny cleared a fence line, piled the vines with the deadwood, and burned
it. He stood in that smoke about twenty minutes. Two days later they took him to Elkins with his
face swollen shut and his throat closing. He never touched a leaf.
I'm Harlan Sawyer. Forty-two years in the timber, 1969 to 2011.
The five:
pressure treated lumber and how to spot it by the rows of slits (arsenic until the end of 2003) -
what lives in the bottom two rows, and the eight-dollar fix - the hairy vine, which is poison ivy
on a dead log, still active for years, and what burning it does to your throat - the white bloom
on wood stored indoors - and the ash bucket, which isn't in the pile at all, and is the one the
fire departments write up every January.
Number three is on about half the cords I've split in the last ten years, on my own ridge, on
trees I cut myself. You cannot see it once the bark is off.
Tell me your state and whether you've ever found a hairy vine on your own firewood. I think most
of us have burned one without knowing.
Stack it dry, friend. It keeps.
Sources mentioned: EPA (never burn treated, painted or stained wood; CCA removed from residential
use at the end of 2003), CDC (never burn poison ivy; urushiol stays active on dead wood for
years). Ash: metal can with a metal lid, outdoors on dirt or concrete, four days minimum, and a
carbon monoxide detector in the sleeping hall. I'm not a doctor. A darkening bite, a reaction to
smoke, or a chest that won't clear is a doctor's business, not mine.
#firewood #woodstove #poisonivy #woodheat #homestead #oldways
At one stop , I went to the door todrop off the delivery ticket and saw a plastic bucket tat had some hot ashes in it that had melted and dropped a few embers on the wooden porch deck. I grabbed some snow and put things out and notified the customer.
At the time, I was working for a company with nationwide coverage and when the company wide newsletter came out later that month I discovered there was a write up about the event and my actions. Nice to get a bit of recognition but I only did what any reasonable person would do.