burning pine..

[magna19]

live in pa,got a inside stove,got an almost unlimited supply of pine,plus i get hardwood also. my chimney is flue lined,in good shape,been burning for over 30 yrs now,stove is about 8 yrs old or so,in good shape.how long should you let pine season before burning a lot of it,the coldest times of the year is more than likly the time i will burn it,and during the day when i or someone can keep an eye on it,hard wood at night to hold it over.

free wood is good!!

 

[Steve2910]

how long should you let pine season before burning a lot of it

Until it rots into compost. Would never consider burning it here, other than in the burn barrel. FWIW, the Fireman around here appreciate coffee & donuts after putting out your chimney fire.

 

[dingeryote]

A full season on most pine is about 8-12 months here, and there are few places as humid.

Pine is not magical and it dosn't have special secret chemistry. Burn it green and you'll get creosote and risk a fire if it isn't cleaned. Same as any other wood.
Burn it seasoned, and it is no different than any hardwood...except it burns a lot faster.

The folks out west burn pine almost exclusively and have done so for a couple hundred years now without killing everyone off.

We rarely get pine, but when we do, it goes into the spring and fall pile and gets run like any other species.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Steve2910]

If you're having trouble with pine you are doing it wrong. There are places where there is nothing but softwoods for fuel and they have been burning wood for hundreds of years.

I guess if that's all you've got to work with... The OP is next-door "state wise" from me. Can't imagine the scrounging opportunities are that different than here in Maryland. PNW maybe, but here in the mid Atlantic, why bother w/ Pine?

 

[dingeryote]

I guess if that's all you've got to work with... The OP is next-door "state wise" from me. Can't imagine the scrounging opportunities are that different than here in Maryland. PNW maybe, but here in the mid Atlantic, why bother w/ Pine?

Why bother?

Pine is excellent for quick restarts in the morning, Taking the chill of early summer evenings, and for use in the shoulder season to AVOID creosote buildup, from damping down on a load of slower burning hardwood.

Heck, if it's free and sitting there, or worse...bieng "Disposed of" that's free BTU's. More importantly, running the pine and lesser species when appropriate saves the good stuff for when it's below zero, wind is howling, and the stove is hungry.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[turnkey4099]

Until it rots into compost. Would never consider burning it here, other than in the burn barrel. FWIW, the Fireman around here appreciate coffee & donuts after putting out your chimney fire.

So you've never burned pine, never knew anyone who has and are only repeating old wives tales. Lots of places burn nothing but the softwoods and chimney fires are rare indeed.

Harry K

 

[logbutcher]

Let's throw in ALL softwoods: pine, fir, spruce, cedars.
Ding and Del said it--some northern regions burn what they got if only softwoods. This time of year is our shoulder season that can last through June--fast, hot fires for mornings and evenings. Snap crackle and pop time. Now that the paper mills pay low for pulp, we burn more of the spruce and fir for heat along with blowdowns.
Why not ? Creosote comes from poor burning and unseasoned wood whether soft or hard.
Damn, I love the smell of the softwood fires so much that I'll run out nude for a sniff in the morning. :cool2:

 

[russhd1997]

I burn a lot of pine but prefer hemlock and spruce. No problems with stack fires and keeps the coals under control. I'm not gonna fell a pine and let it sit and rot because I wanted the oak behind it. I'm gonna twitch out both trees and burn them. BTU's is BTU's and waste not want not keeps my house warm and water hot.

 

[imagineero]

Nobody can give a definitive answer to that question, it depends on the species of pne, time of year it was cut, what size it was split, how it was stacked and your local climate. I wouldn't dry it any longer than other woods, and if split and stacked in the winter its certainly ready by the next winter in most climates.

The key to burning pine is keeping it hot, especially if your stove doesn't have any of that modern secondary burn stuff, and doubly so if your stove is small. Big stoves can carry enough heat in them to give a good thorough burn, but smaller stoves really do need to be cranking to get a good clean burn. Don't go throtting down, keep it so you're getting full combustion and you can keep the coffee and doughnuts for yourself. Chimney cleaning kits are cheap to buy and not that hard to use, but a hot flue is a clean flue. All this assumes that your flue/stove combination are properly setup and that you are getting a good draft, have the length of the flue right and setup for the right height for your roofline and local wind conditions.

Shaun

 

[ratso]

pine

Well i have been burning for years.No other wood puts out heat faster than dry seasoned pine. My morning coffee would get cold waiting for hardwood to heat the house.

 

[djones]

All soft woods are my fall and spring burn piles, free pine is also a deal I can't pass up, beats cutting my own and lots of people like clearing their home lots of pine, I say thank you and stack it up. Just burn it hot, crank up the air and let it fly.

 

[zogger]

I burn it

Check out these two piles. Josh and I cut a lot of this up yesterday, it's all going into my stacks mixed in with the oak. There's cords of wood there, why would I not want to use it? And talk about easy, this is my backyard! There's still some smaller branches and the one whopper base trunk piece to go to cut up. That sucker is big.

It sat from last year, I let it sit until the bark got loose, then knocked it all off, then cut it.

Man, lookit all that pretty pine Fiskars fun!

 

[Rsquared]

I burned quite a bit of pine this year.. Pine is fine.....

 

[Laroo]

Wow no pine!!! Here in the west your options are pine, quaking aspen, or cotton wood. I suppose you could try yer luck with sagebrush or cow chips I had no idea there was anybody anywhere who would refuse to burn pine!

 

[logbutcher]

Wow no pine!!! Here in the west your options are pine, quaking aspen, or cotton wood. I suppose you could try yer luck with sagebrush or cow chips I had no idea there was anybody anywhere who would refuse to burn pine!

Nailed it La-roo. (You're welcome.)
Been in places, extremely cold , that had no trees, therefore no wood. Only dried dung for cooking, no fuel for warmth. Be thankful you "pine" doubters. opcorn:

 

[zogger]

Tradeoffs

Wow no pine!!! Here in the west your options are pine, quaking aspen, or cotton wood. I suppose you could try yer luck with sagebrush or cow chips I had no idea there was anybody anywhere who would refuse to burn pine!

Every area of ther country has different stuff, and regional prejudices. For most folks in the east, you not only don't want to burn pine, but you shouldn't, because one time two hundred years ago someone filled up the stove with pine fatlighter, lit it off, proceeded to have a mini nuclear reaction, and got a chimney fire and their house burnt down. So to this day, hardly anyone burns pine except as campfire wood. But, like mentioned above, those who do if they choose to can vburn it, get it for free, and sell hardwoods or just not work hard to heat their homes. They bulldoze pines up and just burn them in bonfires here and there.

Unless someone is for real logging and taking saw logs or pulp, it is considered by most to be a "trash wood". Now I have burned it since the early 70s when I first started heating with wood. I have yet to have any problems with it.

Anyway, tradeoffs, you guys got pine, big mountains, wide open spaces, and elk (well, and grizzlies, too..). We have a huge variety of nice hardwoods, some decent spaces here and there between urban areas, some baby mountains..and giant hogs!

Hogzilla - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I've seen one near this size, down in mid georgia, dang close to that size, had a good shot but didn't take it. I am thinking "WTF will I do with it"? Didn't have any way to get it out of the woods, and not near the freezer for it at home.

 

[CTYank]

There's always going to be some anti-conifer suburban snobbery. Just human nature. Some folks wear their diamonds out shopping. Some could not care about diamonds.

Many of the Yankees I know only want to know if it's ready to burn. And save the best for when it's necessary. Like January nights with "blue northers" blowing.

 

[darkbyrd]

Went out of my way the other day to bring a load of pine and poplar to the house. There's no heat pump to make a 45 degree night comfortably cool in my drafty place, and a stove load of anything stronger would have me opening windows and still sweating the sheets soaked.

Learn to inspect and clean your chimney, and burn it hot once a day, and you'll have nothing to worry about. Free wood is good wood, and all woods have their time and place.

 

[ShaneLogs]

I also burn Pine and Sprice too. If you know what you are doing, You have any troubles with the softwood. I also burn some softwood too.

Just a word,

Shane

 

[Toxic2]

I cant believe that some people burn nothing but oak:msp_wink:..i burn 8 cord a year between my shop and house.. gotta be close to 20 percent pine.. damn those oak coals that build up and dont throw any heat..LOL