Log Splitter
ArboristSite Guru
1) Hickory
2) Red Oak
3) White Oak
2) Red Oak
3) White Oak
Favorite kind of wood...
- Thread starter Wood Junkie
- Start date
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i burn nearly all trees. free is the key word---but i wont cut black poplar. poof in the stove. or any other like it, basswood included. that stuffs worse than balsa. catalpa is another bad one, they grow twisted, full of black ants, and poof in the stove, no thanks
sredlin
ArboristSite Operative
where I am from ash is about the best you can find--splits easy--almost dry when green
Best wood
IronWood, White oak, red oak, cherry, hickory, elm, ash. Ironwood is my favorite, but not much around!
IronWood, White oak, red oak, cherry, hickory, elm, ash. Ironwood is my favorite, but not much around!
windthrown
361 Junkie
Depends. In the fireplace inside, alder is hard to beat. Even flame, good heat, nice smell, light enough to haul into the house, splits easy, and tends to have few branches. Also gread for cooking with (great flavor wood). Drawback is felling; they shatter a lot and spit red juice when cutting. If I can get it, apple, pear and cherry are great woods to burn inside too.
For OWB heating, Madrone is the best for high heat. Dense wood, hard on the chainsaw if seasoned (like eucalyptus), but does not rot fast on the ground, and great firewood. White and black oak are not far behind, easier to cut, dense, good heating, but once on the ground they rot fast. Bigleaf maple is next best, then doug fir (good heat, but doug fir puts out a lot of creosote).
Then there are the sucky woods: cedar (not allwed to collect it in state and BLM areas, low heat anyway), pine (pitch and creosote, low heat value), sycamore (ashes, anyone?), willow (hard cutting, low heat, rots fast), grand fir (aka: piss fir, sap, low heat, rots fast), and then cottonwood (PITA to split, low heat, sucky all around firewood). I do burn all of these in the OWB if we are given it, or it is windthrow or has to be removed, but I do not go out of my way to collect any of it.
For OWB heating, Madrone is the best for high heat. Dense wood, hard on the chainsaw if seasoned (like eucalyptus), but does not rot fast on the ground, and great firewood. White and black oak are not far behind, easier to cut, dense, good heating, but once on the ground they rot fast. Bigleaf maple is next best, then doug fir (good heat, but doug fir puts out a lot of creosote).
Then there are the sucky woods: cedar (not allwed to collect it in state and BLM areas, low heat anyway), pine (pitch and creosote, low heat value), sycamore (ashes, anyone?), willow (hard cutting, low heat, rots fast), grand fir (aka: piss fir, sap, low heat, rots fast), and then cottonwood (PITA to split, low heat, sucky all around firewood). I do burn all of these in the OWB if we are given it, or it is windthrow or has to be removed, but I do not go out of my way to collect any of it.
b1rdman
Addicted to ArboristSite
Got this framed and hung over my fireplace...
Beech wood fires are bright and clear,
If the logs are kept a year.
Chestnut's only good, they say,
If for long its laid away.
Birch and fir logs burn too fast,
Blaze up bright and do not last.
Elm wood burns like a churchyard mold,
Even the very flames are cold.
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke.
Apple wood will scent your room
With an incense like perfume.
Oak and maple, if dry and old,
Keep away the winter cold.
But ash wood wet and ash wood dry,
A king shall warm his slippers by.
I don't know who wrote it but it's right on the mark in my experience.
I'm fond of Ash myself.
Beech wood fires are bright and clear,
If the logs are kept a year.
Chestnut's only good, they say,
If for long its laid away.
Birch and fir logs burn too fast,
Blaze up bright and do not last.
Elm wood burns like a churchyard mold,
Even the very flames are cold.
Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke.
Apple wood will scent your room
With an incense like perfume.
Oak and maple, if dry and old,
Keep away the winter cold.
But ash wood wet and ash wood dry,
A king shall warm his slippers by.
I don't know who wrote it but it's right on the mark in my experience.
I'm fond of Ash myself.
FishZapper
ArboristSite Operative
What do you guys think of Sumac? I have a bunch of it piled up, drying in the yard right now.
buckwheat
ArboristSite Guru
I would love to get more hedge (osage orange) and white oak, but they are both hard to come by around here. Mostly I go out of my way for locust and red oak. I find a lot of locust on farm land, and stands of red oak on mountain land.
I cut and burn a fair amount of maple, usually residential take downs, but I don't like all of the ash that it creates - almost as bad as poplar.
But like the man said: the best firewood is free firewood.
I cut and burn a fair amount of maple, usually residential take downs, but I don't like all of the ash that it creates - almost as bad as poplar.
But like the man said: the best firewood is free firewood.
As a fireplace user rather than a stove/insert/owb person, I've been happiest with ash and soft maple. Nice lively flames, not too much stuff getting shot out into the room, good burn time.
I've been burning a mix of white ash and shagbark hickory this year, and it's been beautiful. After a year of crap wood last year (mostly box elder, willow, and a bit of soft maple), the increase in burn time per log and the reduced quantity of ash has been nice. Heat output has been much nicer and more even, and in conjunction with my new fireback I've been seeing meaningful increases in fireplace room temperature without any measurable decrease in whole house temps or any increase in furnace cycling.
Next year's wood is already split and stacked, and consists of a mix of white ash, cherry, flowering/fruit trees (dogwood, redbud, apple), and catalpa. I'd like to get some more oak, beech or maple into the mix, but with all the EAB trees dying and whatnot, I'll probably be seeing more ash before I see anything else.
I've been burning a mix of white ash and shagbark hickory this year, and it's been beautiful. After a year of crap wood last year (mostly box elder, willow, and a bit of soft maple), the increase in burn time per log and the reduced quantity of ash has been nice. Heat output has been much nicer and more even, and in conjunction with my new fireback I've been seeing meaningful increases in fireplace room temperature without any measurable decrease in whole house temps or any increase in furnace cycling.
Next year's wood is already split and stacked, and consists of a mix of white ash, cherry, flowering/fruit trees (dogwood, redbud, apple), and catalpa. I'd like to get some more oak, beech or maple into the mix, but with all the EAB trees dying and whatnot, I'll probably be seeing more ash before I see anything else.
allthegross
ArboristSite Operative
Oak
found someone from town this year that just gave me about a cord and a half of white oak and a cord of cherry. it was all cut in 18 to 21 inch rounds all i had to do was load it up and split it. i have always said red oak was my favorite but have now changed my mind by far white oak is the best i think red oak and cherry are tied for second. now keep in mind i have not yet burned locust and hear that is a great wood also cant wait to find some. this is a picture of white oak covered in cherry
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff19/ALLTHEGROSS/woodpile009-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>
found someone from town this year that just gave me about a cord and a half of white oak and a cord of cherry. it was all cut in 18 to 21 inch rounds all i had to do was load it up and split it. i have always said red oak was my favorite but have now changed my mind by far white oak is the best i think red oak and cherry are tied for second. now keep in mind i have not yet burned locust and hear that is a great wood also cant wait to find some. this is a picture of white oak covered in cherry
<a href="http://photobucket.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff19/ALLTHEGROSS/woodpile009-1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket"></a>
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Wood Junkie
ArboristSite Operative
Sprig
Addicted to ArboristSite
Fir, the cady of woods for general burning, esp. natural second growth or old growth (rarer and rarer to find, mostly blow-downs), medium ash, good steady heat, no big surprises, lots of it here.
Alder, faster than fir, good heat, less ash but more creosote.
Oak, ooo-la-la, wish more'd die around here (jk)
Arbutus (hey, burning some now, imagine that), called madrone down south of here, cuts and splits beautifully green, will kill chains and mauls and teenaged splitters when well seasoned (only time I've seen sparks that weren't rocks, sand or metal, gah!), burns and coals up nicely, medium ash, almost no creostoe, only wood I don't mind throwing on the all-nighter green. Wish I had more!
Pine/grand fir etc., yuck, if free ok, good for daytime burns, pops, farts, poof-gone.
Cedar, nice kindling, you have a screw loose if you burn logs of this imho.
Willow, run away! Will burn okay if seasoned for a year+, hot, ashy, and some of the american varieties stink like dried pee (yummy, not), bleh, hard to split too, I think like elm, stringy junk.
Fruitwoods, gotta love 'em, apple, pear, and especially cherry.png "Love :heart:")
Maple, love it but burns too quick, little ash, good coaling, bit of creosote especially if burning wet (not green but water wet), want more of this too, great heat akin to alder and arbutus.
My 0.02$ worth of blather fer the evening/afternoon.
Serge
Alder, faster than fir, good heat, less ash but more creosote.
Oak, ooo-la-la, wish more'd die around here (jk)
Arbutus (hey, burning some now, imagine that), called madrone down south of here, cuts and splits beautifully green, will kill chains and mauls and teenaged splitters when well seasoned (only time I've seen sparks that weren't rocks, sand or metal, gah!), burns and coals up nicely, medium ash, almost no creostoe, only wood I don't mind throwing on the all-nighter green. Wish I had more!
Pine/grand fir etc., yuck, if free ok, good for daytime burns, pops, farts, poof-gone.
Cedar, nice kindling, you have a screw loose if you burn logs of this imho.
Willow, run away! Will burn okay if seasoned for a year+, hot, ashy, and some of the american varieties stink like dried pee (yummy, not), bleh, hard to split too, I think like elm, stringy junk.
Fruitwoods, gotta love 'em, apple, pear, and especially cherry
Maple, love it but burns too quick, little ash, good coaling, bit of creosote especially if burning wet (not green but water wet), want more of this too, great heat akin to alder and arbutus.
My 0.02$ worth of blather fer the evening/afternoon.
Serge
cuttinstuff
ArboristSite Operative
Hackberry. It is plentiful in this area and burns hot...
PA Plumber
Addicted to ArboristSite
If I could choose, Locust, Hedge,Hickory,Red Oak,Cherry,Ash,Maple,Beech.......................................................
windthrown
361 Junkie
You should live here in central west OryGun. We have lots of madrone (never heard it being called arbutus, its either madrone and madrona here), bigleaf maple, OR white and CA black oak (cut another standing oak snag down today into about a cord) and red alder. Actually all of these are trash trees around here except the alder, and I can get them readilly in slash piles. No need this year with our thinning project half done, we have 10 cords piled up and 10 more on the ground. Need more wood though. Always need more firewood! The OWB is always hungry for more!
bookerdog
The New Champ
I do like wild dogwood when I can get it.
logbutcher
Addicted to ArboristSite
Oak Envy
You burn what you got in the woodlot --in total % cut/year:
Home Wood Stoves
Red ("soft") Maple = 1/3
Paper/White Birch = 1/3
Dead standing Red Oak = WAS 1/5
Green/Brown Ash = 1/5
Shoulder season/quick warmup heat Fir/Spruces = 1/10
Rare Apple, Beech (diseased here) = sticks here and there
Shop and Hot Tub Stoves
Fir/Spruces = 90%
Hardwood shorts from butt pile above = 5 %
I've got a serious case of Oak (or Hickory or White Ash or Hard Maple) Envy
Our neighbours up the hill have acres of crowded, skinny, diseased Red Oaks away from the water that they Bambi-ize and will not thin. "You don't destroy trees, they are Living Things." 
And no, the fractions and %'s do not add up (for you MBA's keeping an eye on things :hmm3grin2orange: )
You burn what you got in the woodlot --in total % cut/year:
Home Wood Stoves
Red ("soft") Maple = 1/3
Paper/White Birch = 1/3
Dead standing Red Oak = WAS 1/5
Green/Brown Ash = 1/5
Shoulder season/quick warmup heat Fir/Spruces = 1/10
Rare Apple, Beech (diseased here) = sticks here and there
Shop and Hot Tub Stoves
Fir/Spruces = 90%
Hardwood shorts from butt pile above = 5 %
I've got a serious case of Oak (or Hickory or White Ash or Hard Maple) Envy
Our neighbours up the hill have acres of crowded, skinny, diseased Red Oaks away from the water that they Bambi-ize and will not thin. "You don't destroy trees, they are Living Things." And no, the fractions and %'s do not add up (for you MBA's keeping an eye on things :hmm3grin2orange: )
I like to use kiawe (mesquite). Out here it gets hard as a rock but splits fairly easily. Burns hot but a little fast. My favorite is ohia. Good, solid, long burning. Smells good and is great for hibachi. I will burn some red and blue gum if they are real dry.
goof008
ArboristSite Operative
+1. It makes no sense to walk past 5 dead ash to cut one live red oak. So I'm up to my ash in ash. I may take a pig nut hickory this winter to see how it cuts, splits and burns....and for the overnighters as I hear it should last longer than ash. We'll see.
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