All Around Best Firewood

[Somesawguy]

While I burn whatever I can get, I like Oak the best so far. It does take awhile to dry, but it burns well, and last much longer. It produces great long lasting coals and little ash.

So far, I have Ash, Oak, Maple, Cherry, and even some Lilac that the neighbor wanted gone.

 

[Hedgerow]

Steve NW WI,

Sugar maple is a personal fave of mine to burn in my wood stove, i think it's as good or a little better than oak.
Not the easiest thing to split with a maul though.

Mine too... I got 2/3 cord of sugar Maple squirreled away in the back of the machine shed that's been split and stacked for over 2 years now...:msp_sneaky:
The bugs don't seem to bother it... It's my private stash... everything else will be sold by December...

 

[haveawoody]

Somesawguy,

Same for me i seem to burn pretty much everything.
How was your lilac to burn? i passed on picking up a bunch of it earlier this year because it was all small stuff, lots of it but all 1"-2".

 

[haveawoody]

Hedgerow,

LOL now that sounds like me, private stocks of all sorts of long aged wood.
Sometimes i get that (what the heck was this wood pile syndrome) LOL


Your 2 year old Sugar is going to be mighty good this winter.
I find most of the real heavy wood likes that second year to cure, then it's heat city.

My personal staches are usualy Rock Elm(Ontario version Not Red Elm), Apple,Pear,Hickory,Sugar Maple, Black Locust, White and Red Oak.
In that order of stash away first
And a decent supply of Silver maple to get them to start burning.
Silver Maple is great because it burns nice and clean and easily, splits easy and cures in 90 days or less.

 

[jra1100]

I was just wandering around the site and found this thread. I live in north central Iowa, and we have a lot of trees to choose from. My favorite is Red Elm, we have gobs of dead Elm here, mostly white, but a fair amount of Red. I like what I call pecker poles. They are old dead trees not over a foot at the base, 18 inches at the most. They are barkless and most of the limbs have fallen off. Just drop them and cut and throw on the truck. Very little splitting and they are ready for the Longwood furnace. Also burn a lot of oak that went down with what is known locally as the big wind, that was back in 87. Huge storm with straight line winds came through and took you thousands of trees, including lots of Oak on some property that my cousin owns. These things are dry as cardboard and devoid of bark and small limbs. A 18 inch long by 10 inch log will burn all night. Would love to get my hands on some Osage, but the same cousin has a large stand of Black Locust on another property and I can cut there, so I will try it out and see if it lives up to it's reputation. JR

 

[Cerran]

I burn some hardwood here and there (oak, maple, apple, locust) but after getting used to Doug fir and western larch I actually prefer it. Generally I can process a cord of Doug fir or Larch in about half the time I can process a cord of hardwood. Granted I don't have some of the hardwood giants of back east but there is something to be said for tall straight trees that take minimal time to cut down and process and it's 3/4 the btu value or more of oak.

 

[svk]

I'd love to have the really good stuff to burn. Besides a rare patch of rock elm or ironwood that grows up here, we just don't have the high end hardwoods.

So with that being said, my favorites would be the occasional bur oak that grows large enough to split followed by red or pin oak, yellow birch, red maple and white birch. As others have mentioned, red oak is nice as it splits really easily while putting out lots of heat.

 

[lindnova]

If one it would be bur oak. I have a lot of it, it dries in 2 years, lights easy and burns long and hot.

JRA1100 - I agree on the dead elms. I have the same thing. Lots of them will be 18" on the base, 50 ft long with no branches. Easy good quality wood and the 3 yr dead ones split pretty good.

 

[Dirtboy]

I mostly get maple, ash, red cherry or elm out of the back, and the occasional red oak-all of which are great. But my favorite would probably be beech.

 

[fields_mj]

I've always liked Hickory. I don't care how it smells or how it splits. I care how it burns, so the more knots the better. I want as much payback as possible for my effort, and Hickory has alwasy done a good job of that. Having said that, I was able to cut several loads of black locust a few years ago, and it has become my favorite by far. Burns like hickory, but that stuff lasted forever in the wood pile. I kept some of it back for the cold weather just incase I ran out of hickory. I burned the last of it up last year. It lasted 5 years in the wood pile and never did start to rot.

I've never burned hedge, but I suspect it would have similar properties. My only problem with hedge is that I've never seen it get very big. I've cut hickory and locust that's 20" or more at the base.

I also burn a lot of white oak because it's available. It does well, and I like it, but it doesn't burn as long or as hot as the hickory or hedge. I'll cut some ash and cherry once in a while, but I mostly split it for kindling. Same for hard maple. About the lowest I care to go on the BTU scale is red oak, but I've always been able to be picky..

 

[mn woodcutter]

In my pile I like hard maple, red elm, bur oak, and ash in that order.

 

[park_guy]

We snag any dead standing red elm we can find...the best size is the unsplit log that just fits inside the stove door. Lasts most of the night if you put it in before going to bed!

 

[El Quachito]

My favorite all around wood is Old Growth Douglas fir. Others may burn hotter or leave more coals but OG fir is my favorite, with an emphasis on all around.

 

[CTYank]

Down here in the CT panhandle, pick of the litter, no questions, is shagbark hickory. That's followed closely by apple, sugar maple, black locust, beech, white ash, and on. They all have their particular strengths, but hickory has no deficiencies IMO. Been working on some for next heating season.

Oops, forgot red oak, sorry. Slot that in around 5th or 6th. Still excellent, once dry after 3 yrs.

 

[longbowch]

I vote black locust. Straight, not many limbs, splits easy, and burns hot!

 

[olyman]

ill fight the thorns of locust around here.. thats like burning anthracite coal,, or better.............

 

[Dascro]

Lots of Cherry around here so that is what I burn most. And I like it. We also have hickory which is what I've been burning this year. Not as easy to split and dry as Cherry, but man does it throw the heat!!!

 

[benp]

Mine too... I got 2/3 cord of sugar Maple squirreled away in the back of the machine shed that's been split and stacked for over 2 years now...:msp_sneaky:
The bugs don't seem to bother it... It's my private stash... everything else will be sold by December...

LOL -

I understand your reply is old Hedge, but are you kidding me?

You have umpteen amounts of hedge apple that I would kill for and you are worried about secret squirreling away sugar maple?

I have discussed ad nauseum with the neighbor the ramifications of me swinging through your neck of the woods with a gooseneck on my way home from my parents trip to Kentucky.

Yeah it's not pretty if I got caught. Even with the dog driving....and he's a good driver.

I drool everytime you show those barns filled of the mustard colored wonderment.

The best that I have available to me is red/white oak and sugar maple. And that is sparse.

 

[Hedgerow]

LOL -

I understand your reply is old Hedge, but are you kidding me?

You have umpteen amounts of hedge apple that I would kill for and you are worried about secret squirreling away sugar maple?

I have discussed ad nauseum with the neighbor the ramifications of me swinging through your neck of the woods with a gooseneck on my way home from my parents trip to Kentucky.

Yeah it's not pretty if I got caught. Even with the dog driving....and he's a good driver.

I drool everytime you show those barns filled of the mustard colored wonderment.

The best that I have available to me is red/white oak and sugar maple. And that is sparse.

There are a couple trees I just don't have here..
Sugar maple and Hickory...
I would trade Hedge for those every chance I get...
A. I like to BBQ..
B. They don't fill my stove up with klinkers...
It's a "I like what I don't have" thing...
I'll be cutting "yellow wood" tomorrow if ya wanna swing by and pick some up...
Hahahahahaha!!!!!!!

 

[Hedgerow]

Down here in the CT panhandle, pick of the litter, no questions, is shagbark hickory. That's followed closely by apple, sugar maple, black locust, beech, white ash, and on. They all have their particular strengths, but hickory has no deficiencies IMO. Been working on some for next heating season.

Oops, forgot red oak, sorry. Slot that in around 5th or 6th. Still excellent, once dry after 3 yrs.

Love Hickory...
One drawback here..
Damn locust borers love the stuff..
Them sonsubitches will reduce a stack of Hickory to powder in 5 years..
Gotta use it year #2 or 3..
Or spray em'...