Favorite Firewood

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Andyshine77
Joined
Jan 25, 2004
Messages
11,305
Location
Cincinnati, OH
i split with a maul, and hackberry is hands down the worst splitting timber i've come across....wouldn't take a truckload of bucked up rounds if you gave it to me...lol
Rock Elm is much worse than Hackberry IMHO, I really don't care for either myself. They both do burn clean. Burn what you git I say, right now it's Ash, Ash and more Ash.[emoji6]
 
Ted Jenkins
Joined
Apr 18, 2016
Messages
3,502
Location
Twin Peaks
I recently was given some split dry wood, but half of it was cedar. The worst junk in the world. I have a hard time giving it away. I could sell it as pine, but that would be just plain dishonest and whoever I sold it to would be very disappointed with me to say the least. It is OK for my wood stove, but a very short term heat producer. So probably will stack it behind my house for fire starting material. Thanks
 
LogSawyer74
Joined
Feb 7, 2013
Messages
880
Location
Eastern OK
i split with a maul, and hackberry is hands down the worst splitting timber i've come across....wouldn't take a truckload of bucked up rounds if you gave it to me...lol

Maybe different variety of hack?? The 4 or 5 I've css here have been pretty easy splitters . All I have is a maul too. It's dries out really quickly and burns decent. Not near post oak (my favorite stove wood), but decent enough.
 
sawjunky23

sawjunky23

Just here for the free beer!
Joined
Sep 16, 2014
Messages
862
Location
Land of 10,000 lakes.
Maybe different variety of hack?? The 4 or 5 I've css here have been pretty easy splitters . All I have is a maul too. It's dries out really quickly and burns decent. Not near post oak (my favorite stove wood), but decent enough.
I burn quite a bit of hackberry. Never had huge issues splitting it but some is fairly stringy. I think it's about the softest hardwood. It does ok by me and not many people around here want it so it's usually mine for the taking
 
johnnyballs

johnnyballs

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
May 20, 2012
Messages
150
Location
marilla , ny
Rock Elm is much worse than Hackberry IMHO, I really don't care for either myself. They both do burn clean. Burn what you git I say, right now it's Ash, Ash and more Ash.[emoji6]
no rock elm around here that i know of but the hackberry i came across were city trees growing between the sidewalk and the street...growing all twisted...maybe trees growing out in the country have a straighter grain or something...but you're right about the ash,ash, and more ash...
 
Marine5068

Marine5068

Addicted to ArboristSite
. AS Supporting Member.
Joined
Nov 20, 2009
Messages
2,308
Location
Madoc, Ontario, Canada
My fav hasn't changed, it's always hard Sugar Maple which we have lots of in Ontario. Red and White Oak is next and we do have a good amount of Ash, Elm and Ironwood here too.
The Poplar and Aspen is plentiful as well as White Pine, Spruce and Cedar for kindling.
I regularly cut and bag aspen and pine to sell as campfire wood. Its sells out quick.
 
trukn2004

trukn2004

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Jan 23, 2015
Messages
232
Location
York ME
I have only burned one season, but so far my preferred list is as follows:

Sugar Maple
Red Oak
Ash

I burned some eastern red cedar too, but it is a lackluster firewood. For how pretty it is, and how little I have, I will send those trees to a woodworker in the future, or hatchet them small as starter wood.

My stacks have been growing and include the following in addition to the ones above

American Beech: Pain to split by hand, but supposedly going to be a good heater
Shagbark hickory: tough on the saw, split ok, probably going to give it one more year to dry
Basswood: such a silly tree. Only have a little and it will go up like paper im sure


Out of all of it, my dead fallen Red oaks, and dead ash are the best processing woods out there. I can plow through a stack of rounds in no time with the fiskars and not be tired.
 
trukn2004

trukn2004

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Jan 23, 2015
Messages
232
Location
York ME
Cedar makes great kindling or campfire wood. And wood carvers love basswood because it's so soft. There is a use for every wood!

Yea, the basswood was a broken and dead tree. by the time I figured out what it was, I had cut it to length. stuff would be super easy to work though, for sure.
 
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