Scrap wood

[woodchip rookie]

So its the "norm" to not burn pine but what about good, clean, kiln-dried 2x4's? I know a sappy ass pine tree would be a no no but what about the good clean stuff? Had anybody ever burned strictly pine for a whole burning season then compared the amount of deposits compared to "good" hardwoods? I have an old modded Fisher stove & that little dude burns HOT. I dont have cool-burn issues with this stove. Just wondering how much pine I can get away with safely. I know it burns fast and little pieces like 1x4's and 2x4's wont last long but during the day when I can tend to the stove more often I wouldnt mind loading every hour or whatever then at night I can dig into the giant pile of free ash that I have

 

[Ash_403]

I don't have an answer to you question about burning strictly pine, as compared to hardwoods... regarding deposits. There is an abundant supply of hardwoods here. I personally don't have any issues with burning pine, and have burned some.

You can burn sufficiently dry pine. Thousands of people do it every winter with no ill results. Sometimes that's the only type of wood species available In a particular area.

 

[woodchip rookie]

Thats what I thought. Like in the NW. Isnt all they have up there is pine? Like fir trees and stuff?

 

[olyman]

get the pine dry,,and burn all of it you want..it wont creosote the chimney anymore than any other wood,,less you choke the fire down,,then they all do...........back when I first started to burn wood,,i burnt ANYTHING..some wasn't worth throwing in the stove....and ashes?????? the only wood I WONT burn,,is walnut,,that garbage produces WELL over twice the amount of ash as any other wood..........

 

[cre73]

Dry seasoned wood is good wood don't matter the species. Green oak will cause as much creosote as green pine. As for dimensional lumber especially kiln dryed dont overload your stove with it. It will over fire your stove.

 

[turnkey4099]

I grew up in Northern Idaho in the late 30s, the 40s and early 50s, everybody except for a rare few burned wood for heat and cooking. Guys working in the sawmills would load their trucks with the "mill ends" (stuff left after the raw lumber went through the trim saws) and use that for heat. All "needle wood", pine, fir, tamarack, usually cedar trim ends would be tossed aside.

People even built entire houses, barns, shops laying them up like bricks, took a lot of nails though

As with all species, the question isn't "how does it burn" but "what does it cost?" If free, anything at all is the best wood you will ever get for heat.

 

[TimberWolf530]

The less dense woods like pine are not desirable because you have to load your stove more often with them. If you are in an area where hardwoods are abundant, you can afford to be choosey, and not take soft woods. However, the farther north you go, the less hardwoods there are, so you burn what's available. Hard, soft, or somewhere in between, doesn't matter, it needs to be seasoned to burn cleanly. Yes, you can burn untreated dimensional lumber, but not treated, and not plywood.

 

[cantoo]

I work at a housing plant so I burnt mainly spruce dimensional lumber in my Hotblast for years. I also smothered it down and never had any issues, in fact it worked better because it kept the fire smaller. Burn times where fine because my wife worked out of our house. Very little ash build up either. I have an owb now and use spruce quite abit in the summer, quick hot fires are better for domestic water. I throw a bit of ash wood in just to keep some coals to restart the fire.

 

[woodchip rookie]

We have a ton of dead standing ash here but I dont have to cut pallets down. Or buck them. Or split them. Or season them.

 

[unclemoustache]

Yep. Pine is just fine for burning. Like any wood, just make sure it's properly seasoned. As for lumber, I heat my shop mostly with construction scraps (not treated stuff, though).

For heating your home, use the quicker burning stuff for daytime, but then at night stuff in a good load of the densest wood you can get to have it burn through the night.

Also, save the good wood for the coldest part of the winter and burn the softer stuff when it's not so cold. Some people mix their woods as well - I keep them separate for the most part.

 

[turnkey4099]

Yep. Pine is just fine for burning. Like any wood, just make sure it's properly seasoned. As for lumber, I heat my shop mostly with construction scraps (not treated stuff, though).

For heating your home, use the quicker burning stuff for daytime, but then at night stuff in a good load of the densest wood you can get to have it burn through the night.

Also, save the good wood for the coldest part of the winter and burn the softer stuff when it's not so cold. Some people mix their woods as well - I keep them separate for the most part.

I put 3 cords in the shed and about another 3 in the 3 season porch. Wagon load of locust, wagon load of willow, repeat until full. That allows a free chocie of 'good' or 'poor' depending on what the fire needs.

 

[woodchip rookie]

which ones "poor"?

 

[unclemoustache]

There are many BTU charts online. Here's a good one to help decipher good from not-so-good.

 

[woodchip rookie]

Wow. Thank you for posting that. Saved.

 

[turnkey4099]

which ones "poor"?

Willow of course.

 

[robespierre]

The list of wood btu values differ from site to site.Eucalyptus shows 18.4 btu's on this list however I have seen Eucalyptus listed as high as 34 btu's. I wonder what tests they conduct to arrive at these numbers.Huge difference.
If euc was 18 btu's I might not have worked to get so much but in my experience this stuff burs hot.Hotter than oak in most cases.

 

[woodchip rookie]

Everybody else I have seen post about it says its a monster to cut. That tells me it's super dense.

 

[TMFARM 2009]

i have burnt most anything including coal.plywood,pallets,straw,paper rolls. use what you can get a hold of, just keep an eye on it.
my kindling was always pallets, some are ash oak some pine. but cutting pallets will roll the bar edge after a while. so don't use a good one for pallets.
i would run a pallet through to gain coals, then put in a lunker for overnight.

 

[row.man]

I only use the sawzall for pallets, I'm not taking chances with ruining my chain on nails.

 

[zogger]

Pine is fine, been burning it as long as I have been burning. My philosophy is, if I have to touch it, it goes in the stacks. Get years ahead, your wood will be as dry as your local conditions can get it. dimensional lumber scraps are excellent, kiln dried is DRY so watch the quantities, it will burn fast and hot.