Turn down of certain wood...

[STIHLSamantha]

Just a quick question for you guys...

My hubby and i are constantly trying to clean up dead and down stuff, and we use it to burn for ourselves and offer it to other people either for a price or free, but my question is, many times we find dead and down pine and poplar and when we offer it to people (no charge of course) and even offer to bring it to their house just to get rid of it, they turn their nose up at it like it is unburnable or something....i mean, wood is wood, it burns and brings heat, and if they don't have to pay for it, what's the sense of turning it down? Does anyone else feel the same about accepting free wood...even if it is soft wood or the softest of the hardwoods....just a little confused, that's all...

 

[mysawmyrules]

Depends on were you live, up here we only have spruce, pine, poplar or birch that is redily available so nobody turns anything away.
Jon W

 

[dumbhunter]

soft wood to burn

around here in my neck of the woods the only time you burn soft wood is to git rid of a stump or just to sit around like at deercamp. other than that we all consider it taboo to burn in a stove for heat.

probably due to much available oak and hickory here

and the dreaded creosote legend

 

[Lignum]

around here in my neck of the woods the only time you burn soft wood is to git rid of a stump or just to sit around like at deercamp. other than that we all consider it taboo to burn in a stove for heat.

probably due to much available oak and hickory here

and the dreaded creosote legend

Totally agree with that. I burned pine and spruce the first year I have my stove, with no problems at all. Taboo about the pitch and creosote is all.

 

[mga]

hey...i ain't proud....i burn pine and poplar along with other mixes of wood.

recently however, i've noticed that when people put pine out by the road, it doesn't last long before someone grabs it.

 

[Butch(OH)]

There are snobs in every walk of life including woodburning. I am of the "if it burns its good wood" crowd beacuse I have an OWB. If I had an indoor EPA stove I would be more particular about what I burned because time between reloads can be a problem. Also realize the some people have a large supply of good hardwood, this would not include me. My land lays low and is covered with mostly elm, walnut and sycamore so thats what I burn.

 

[Wood Scrounge]

I burn any wood that is free. I find if I mix a few pieces of seasoned poplar in with the hardwood I get a hotter fire faster.

 

[JPP]

So, pine is OK to burn?
I tried that one year and had a healthy glaze of creosite in my stove pipe, which took some heavy duty scrubbing to clean out. Never again.
I only burn pine in campfires and bonfires now. Worthless junk to me.

I burn oak, cherry and hickory in my stove and my pipe is clean and creosite-free at the end of the season.

 

[mga]

if pine was the disasterous wood as many claim it to be, half the homes in the country would have burnt down by now.

chimney maintenance and seasoning all wood well should make any fireplace or wood stove a nice thing to have.

 

[Rowan]

Woodstove

I generally will not burn poplar, basswood, or softwood because I heat with a small airtight (Pacific Energy - Vista Classic). I find it burns up too fast. The fire box is not that large so I have to fill it very often if its softwood.

I'll keep a bit of poplar and basswood around for spring and fall when we're just trying to take the chill off. But in the heart of winter I don't even consider it. If someone's giving it away I won't turn it down. Its great for bonfires in the summer etc. But if in the bush and cutting for firewood, I'll walk by a dying poplar and leave it for the woodpeckers.

 

[gink595]

I generally will not burn poplar, basswood, or softwood because I heat with a small airtight (Pacific Energy - Vista Classic). I find it burns up too fast. The fire box is not that large so I have to fill it very often if its softwood.

I'll keep a bit of poplar and basswood around for spring and fall when we're just trying to take the chill off. But in the heart of winter I don't even consider it. If someone's giving it away I won't turn it down. Its great for bonfires in the summer etc. But if in the bush and cutting for firewood, I'll walk by a dying poplar and leave it for the woodpeckers.

+1. I would burn it if it were in an emergency shortage, like most of this year was. I would burn about anything. But now that I have about a 3 yr. supply I have found myself to just keep walking to the not so desirably stuff. But if it were cut and free, just to be delivered sure!! I guess if I'm going to put forth the effort to cut it than I'm going to get the best of the best.

 

[ShoerFast]

Here, Central Rockys

Aspen is fine (popular), is your just trying to cut the chill,,,,it's not a very hot burning wood.

Pine is fine, needs to be well seasoned, makes a black soot, but not a bad , dangerous buildups if seasoned. (you'll see it on glass insert doors real soon)

Spruce is nothing you want around if you have an open fireplace, or are any distance from carpet, you can't get Spruce to not pop and spit coals everywhere.

Cottonwood and rottenwood are the same dam tree in my book, heavy hard to split, won't coal up real well and just dose not heat well enough for the work involved in it. I will trip on Cottonwood carrying good wood to the truck.

Just put a bit in on 275 acres of prime Douglas Fir and a good quantity of Scrub Oak. Putting out a couple of feelers for the Scrub Oak, a gal in the wood business offered me $170 a cord, cut, didn't need splitting,,,,, Anyone ever cut more then a campfire worth would put Scrub Oak on your ****-list also. I did not respond back.

Douglas Fir is a wood that just sells for me, hot as the lower end hardwoods, splits well, seasons well, and is about the best thing going here.

 

[chainsawaddict]

Ill burn about anything, but Ill cut, load, and stack hardwood before Ill take free cottonwood. its worth the work to me. That said, my stove is burning some pine right now Its really nice on these not so cold nights. heat the house up before bed and let it burn out.

 

[StihltheOne]

Man you guys are just spoiled. In our neck of the woods, $100+ per cord for semi loads of log length pine, of various size and quality is the norm, prabably more this year. Cottonwood is pretty plentiful, get the big bar out boys!! 48" dbh is about avg of what I have been cutting. We burn about anything. It has been said that our state tree is the telephone pole. lol Yep, burned them too. Russian olive is everywhere, but... ifins ya ever experience this tree, just run. It burns ok when well seasoned, but good golly does it stink, smells like burnt bad coffee or burnt beans. I sit here and just shake my head when I read about you guys and your oak, hickory, beech......

 

[gink595]

Man you guys are just spoiled. In our neck of the woods, $100+ per cord for semi loads of log length pine, of various size and quality is the norm, prabably more this year. Cottonwood is pretty plentiful, get the big bar out boys!! 48" dbh is about avg of what I have been cutting. We burn about anything. It has been said that our state tree is the telephone pole. lol Yep, burned them too. Russian olive is everywhere, but... ifins ya ever experience this tree, just run. It burns ok when well seasoned, but good golly does it stink, smells like burnt bad coffee or burnt beans. I sit here and just shake my head when I read about you guys and your oak, hickory, beech......

Hahaha, makes me appreciate where I live. I think??? Wyoming is beautiful most of my family is there or surrounding.

 

[dumbhunter]

i guess i should be glad were i live, since oak and hickory dominate our market, i am not saying i would not burn a lesser wood as this year i have burnt from walnut to mulberry, willow to maple, if it burns and puts out heat i burn it, but i do stay away from soft wood.

 

[wdchuck]

Turning down free wood has to do with time, when time has run out, even a beggar doesn't turn down wood that will keep the cold out.

From a standpoint of preferance, firebox size on a woodburner dictates the heat that can be received, the smaller the firebox, the denser the wood that is preferred.

In my case, with a woodfurnace, coaling woods are less preferred, not enough heat generated to activate distribution fan, so I'll be picky for the bittermost part of winter, but the milder temps can be combatted with more easily found wood species.

 

[Wood Scrounge]

Turning down free wood has to do with time, when time has run out, even a beggar doesn't turn down wood that will keep the cold out.

From a standpoint of preferance, firebox size on a woodburner dictates the heat that can be received, the smaller the firebox, the denser the wood that is preferred.

In my case, with a woodfurnace, coaling woods are less preferred, not enough heat generated to activate distribution fan, so I'll be picky for the bittermost part of winter, but the milder temps can be combatted with more easily found wood species.

This is very true the last 1/8 of this past season I was burning a lot more poplar only because that’s what was seasoned. My little insert needed to be fed a lot but the poplar burned and heated the house. I was able to load up the VC Defiant with Poplar and could get a healthy 5-6 hours. But I will never turn down free wood, some I will not sweat for like Willow but Pine and poplar that are seasoned are fine backup or short term wood.

 

[Adkpk]

I burn it all! I always try to keep pine in the wood pile. It's great fire starter. And good to throw in a piece on damp or very cold nights to charge up the draft. Hey, Sam how's it going?

 

[JPP]

Man you guys are just spoiled. In our neck of the woods, $100+ per cord for semi loads of log length pine, of various size and quality is the norm, prabably more this year. Cottonwood is pretty plentiful, get the big bar out boys!! 48" dbh is about avg of what I have been cutting. We burn about anything. It has been said that our state tree is the telephone pole. lol Yep, burned them too. Russian olive is everywhere, but... ifins ya ever experience this tree, just run. It burns ok when well seasoned, but good golly does it stink, smells like burnt bad coffee or burnt beans. I sit here and just shake my head when I read about you guys and your oak, hickory, beech......

You live in Wyoming?I'll drive some oak out your way in exchange for a deer hunt.