favorite kinds of firewood

[woodman6666]

For processing slick red oaks slide right thru.
For burning in my fireplace Cherry, Birch, and some hickory are the favorites we also use some oak.

 

[blacklocst]

Ash has got to be the Goldie Locks of fire wood, easy as pie to buck (easy on chains and back) split, (doesn't get any better than straight grain Ash) and burn, shoulder to shoulder and in between season wood.........it's just right.

 

[bigbadbob]

Birch; Can only get that in the interior of BC

.

Lots of fir here they clear cut and leave the dead fir usually 36inch stuff, some standing some blow down after their gone.
I get some birch.
Being in the interior the fir gets real dry and burns very good.
That birch likes 2 years to be real dry and burn like coal.
BBB

 

[REJ2]

My favorite would be what i have access to, hackberry, i get an occasional black locust and its great wood.

 

[howard270]

For me bois d'ark (hedge), then black locust second followed by elm then pecan. The reason they are in this order for me is due to availability.

This is what I have and what I burn. If I had a choice I would move pecan up to second, but don't have that much of it to cut. I also supplement some with mesquite, but not much do to the amount of work required to get a measurable quantity and the thorns.

 

[redprospector]

The closer to the stove and the drier it is, the more I like it.

Hauling wood probably takes more of the savings of wood heat than any other part of the process.

If I had to, I'd burn box elder from the yard before I'd drive more than a couple miles for "good stuff".

You mean Box Elder's not the "good stuff"?
It was growing wild all over one of the job's I did last year. I gathered up a little, & it sure beat's Ponderosa Pine pretty bad.

Ponderosa's not too bad. We have very little hardwood of any size around here.
My favorites?
1. Douglas Fir
2. Juniper
3. Gambel Oak
4. Box Elder (if I can find anymore)
5. Ponderosa Pine
My least favorite is Aspen.
I generally mix it all up, because otherwise I'd be burning what I like the least when it's coldest.

Andy

 

[sw18x]

1. Locust of course - love the heft of that nice dense wood. Never seem lucky enough to score any oak.

2. Say what you want about silver maple but they're a dime a dozen (free, actually) around here and it seasons up real quick.

3. Then there's this pine I got in the spring from a homeowner I was hauling maple for. It seemed real heavy then and I was afraid it would lighten up as it dried but now I'm glad I bothered with the two extra loads. My OWB is lovin' it, wish I knew more about pine to be able to tell the difference between the super light stuff and this good stuff here. View attachment 264934

 

[wndwlkr]

Free,Dry,& close to the fire box !

 

[Mac88]

Free, in any order.

Otherwise:
Hedge
Mulberry
Red Oak
Hickory

Because we have free access to all the above. So has it always been, so it shall always be! ;o)

 

[Philbo]

In my limited experience....

Shoulder/cool season - silver maple

Winter time days - maple mixed with fully seasoned white oak, or locust if it's cold enough

Winter time nights - locust mixed with oak...or just locust crammed full in the firebox...



This is what I've gotten for free for this burning season and it's working out well...the Oak takes too long to properly season though. I was working from a time frame of moving into a wood-burning house last winter and starting with very little wood to speak of, so even already downed (2-3 years) white oak has taken quite a while to lose moisture after being split and stacked. Burns pretty well, but my favorite is probably still locust even though it's hell on your chains.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Have to agree, free is good. But if I have my choice I would have to say Red Oak and White Ash get my vote. Day in and Day out seasoned Red Oak is hard to beat. Puts out very good heat, lasts as long as I need it too and usually splits well when green and straight grained. I love all the oaks, pin/black, white, and chestnut. Downside is a long seasoning time and its pretty heavy when it is green. Love White Ash, splits like a dream, burns pretty dog gone well and dries fast. I have access to a lot of hickory and it burns great but the mess from all the borers and the fact that its so stringy to split at times puts it down on my list a little. But I love having a little for those really cold nights. Heck, I burn it all, love locust when I can get it, have access to a lot of small to medium dead elm, black birch is another good one for me that I will take all I can get. PA is blessed with a lot of great hardwoods, we are fortunate. I even like a little red maple in the rotation for those mild days. I will say I do not like poplar, heavy when green but dries out to feel like a feather, burns up too quick in my stove, I'd be out there feeding the fire every few hours with that stuff. Always keep a little pine, hemlock or cedar around for kindling. But day in and day out in the heart of winter give me seasoned OAK and I will be very happy.

 

[PEKS]

Shagbark Hickory, all day long..
The extra challenge in the cut & split, is well worth it..

 

[beerbelly]

I have an old "oak stove" and a small house (850sq ft). The stove throws soooo much heat. I light it in the morning, and when I get home from work. 10 minutes, and the house is getting warm. Oak gets too hot for me, and i find it burns much better in an established fire rather than a new one. My hands down favorites are:

Cherry
Maple
Ash

All three produce great heat (for me) and cut & split very easily. I like small chunks & I am CONSTANTLY chopping kindling. It's just my thing.

Picking up my new Dolmar 5105 today!!! Too excited to sleep!!!!

 

[autoimage]

zogger +1 on the dogwood but too hard to come by unless they get the disease and get real lucky as a scrounger. so throw apple in there with smaller easy to handle good burning stuff

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Grandpa always told me "I've never had to pull a piece of wood out of the box because it wouldn't burn."

He's right, but with our indoor wood furnace I had to be picky with dry wood for longer burn times. Ash and elm were my favorites for that.

Now that I have an OWB, I burn whatever wood has been seasoned for a year or so. Half a firebox load lasts 24+ hours.

 

[macpolski]

Scored quite a bit of downed red and white oak this year after the storms. Heating for next year and the year after should produce some nice burning hot fires. This year, almost seasoned red oak. Red & White get my vote.

 

[autoimage]

i agree dusty...guess the oak kinda easy they lost a little colorView attachment 264974

 

[gregfox]

1 Oak, double seasoned, extra dry, any kind
2 Hickory
3 Cherry (only for the smell)

 

[apattie]

Love White Oak, but not alot around.
Red Oak easy to split and stack
Ash, enough said.
Have alot of Black locust, one fell on house 2' and another 2' fell on shed and destroyed it. About 2 cords in each.

 

[NHMike]

My favorites are:

1) Red Oak
2) Beech
3) Maple
4) Black Birch

I am fortunate, as I cut all of my wood from out back. I have very little White Oak, but a ton of Red & Black Birch. Where I am, I have very little maple on my property, but neighbors have lots of trees.