burning hedge.

[woodcutter69]

is it ok to burn hedge if I mix it in a little. I have a lil house wood furnace that sits outside. I have a huge hedge tree that I have to take down and would hate for all that wood to go to waste. what about burning it a little green would that keep it from burning so hot.

 

[ShoerFast]

is it ok to burn hedge if I mix it in a little. I have a lil house wood furnace that sits outside. I have a huge hedge tree that I have to take down and would hate for all that wood to go to waste. what about burning it a little green would that keep it from burning so hot.

Welcome to the site!

Shutting the air down, burring the wood forther back from the air can reduce the burns heat.

Hedge would make very good hobby wood, rot resistance and hard as any application could need. At about half the weight of Dessert Ironwood.

 

[coog]

is it ok to burn hedge if I mix it in a little. I have a lil house wood furnace that sits outside. I have a huge hedge tree that I have to take down and would hate for all that wood to go to waste. what about burning it a little green would that keep it from burning so hot.

Most of the serious woodburners I've met here in Kansas will pass on every other species in order to cut and burn hedge.I don't know that you should burn it in an open fireplace, but it will be great in your outdoor boiler.Just keep in mind that a little goes a long ways, and it's not a good idea to over-fire any woodburner.Watch out for the thorns!

 

[bluequill56]

Hedge is one of my favorites. I take all I can get. But, yes. Mix it. I don't know about in an OWB, but I do know a full load in a stove can cause overheating and be potentially dangerous. Been close to overheating in mine, and the gentleman that lives two doors down from me has some SERIOUS sag in the top of his Lopi from overheating with a full load of Hedge. It will burn a little cooler green, but I have a hard time reccomending burning green wood.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Hedge (Osage Orange) burns a LOT hotter than other woods. When I am feeding hedge to the wood stove, I dont try to fill'er-up for a long burn. I like to leave some room to get a couple chunks of green Elm in there incase the heat goes out of whack. If it is staying within reason I will add a couple more pieces in the night. With a tighter draft control and better stove I would worry less about it and get more sleep in the dead of winter. That is in the works and hope to post pics

The eX filled the stove a couple of times with nothing but thumbsized hedge sticks we used for cooking. I coludn't get within 3 feet of the stove to open it. Once I did the sparks just flew when they got enough air for the resins to ignite. I figured out what she had done the second time. After that I stopped keeping kindling around for her to destroy things with. She's gone, the house is still standing and I keep plenty on hand again.

 

[coog]

I think you just gave me the outline for a Blues song! You burned me, baby,stay outta my hedge!

 

[ShoerFast]

Just wondering if anyone ever runs into hedge burl, or real contrasty or interesting grain designs?

It would be worth a lot more then firewood!

 

[aquan8tor]

me too! I have a few turning blanks of mulberry with some burl that I keep meaning to turn; I had a bunch of spalted stuff that I had to rough first. Mulberry & hedge look identical to me; I can't tell them apart unless they have bark on, honestly.

 

[woodcutter69]

Thank you for the responses, I think I will keep this wood, I just got done cutting another big branch off of tree. I sure love the dolmar 5100s I just bought, just rips rite thru that hedge. next step is to drop the tree, but will have to break out the husky 372xp for that. I will let it season and I will go ahead and burn, does it season longer that other species?

 

[TreeBot]

Just wondering if anyone ever runs into hedge burl, or real contrasty or interesting grain designs?

It would be worth a lot more then firewood!

I stopped and took some pics of this the other day.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Welcome to the site!
...At about half the weight of Desert Ironwood.

That's mind boggling. Hedge (osage orange) is considered by many to be the densest wood in the USA, even denser than shagbark hickory and about the same as live oak, according to all the books that I have read.

Can you provide a source so that I can study desert ironwood? Even if "half" is an exaggeration, if it is denser than hedge, I would like to read up on it. If so, I would also have to wonder why it has not been sold as an exotic.

TIA.

 

[ShoerFast]

That's mind boggling. Hedge (osage orange) is considered by many to be the densest wood in the USA, even denser than shagbark hickory and about the same as live oak, according to all the books that I have read.

Can you provide a source so that I can study desert ironwood? Even if "half" is an exaggeration, if it is denser than hedge, I would like to read up on it. If so, I would also have to wonder why it has not been sold as an exotic.

TIA.

Tia

Here is just the first comparison, there are a lot more, but this one shows the ones that will sink,,,,,, like a rock!

Trees With Dry (Seasoned) Wood That Sinks In Water :

Olneya tesota
(Desert Ironwood): 1.15

Guaiacum officinale
(Lignum Vitae): 1.37

Cercocarpus betuloides
Mountain Mahogany: 1.10

Diospyros ebenum
Ebony: 1.12


Very Heavy Wood :

Prunus ilicifolia
Hollyleaf Cherry: 0.98 Diospyros virginiana
Persimmon: 0.83

Quercus engelmannii
Engelmann Oak: 0.94

Carya ovata
Shagbark Hickory: 0.83

Acacia greggii
Cat's Claw Acacia: 0.85

Ostrya virginiana
Eastern Ironwood: 0.80

Quercus chrysolepis
Canyon Live Oak: 0.85

Lyonothamnus floribundus
Catalina Ironwood: 0.80

Quercus agrifolia
Coast Live Oak: 0.83

Robinia pseudoacacia
Black Locust: 0.79

Prosopis glandulosa
Mesquite: 0.77

Maclura pomifera
Osage Orange: 0.77

Heavy Wood:

Cornus nuttallii
Pacific Dogwood: 0.75

Carya illinoensis
Pecan: 0.72

Arbutus menziesii
Madrone: 0.71

Betula alleghaniensis
Yellow Birch: 0.69

Fraxinus velutina
Arizona Ash: 0.68

Quercus coccinea
Scarlet Oak: 0.67

Umbellularia californica
California Bay Tree: 0.65

Cercis canadensis
Redbud: 0.63

Quercus kelloggii
California Black Oak: 0.64

Tectona grandis
Teak: 0.63

Juglans californica
California Black Walnut: 0.63

Acer saccharum
Sugar Maple: 0.63

Medium Heavy Wood:

Chilopsis linearis
Desert Willow: 0.59

Liquidambar styraciflua
Sweet Gum: 0.59

Cercidium floridum
Palo Verde: 0.55

Prunus serotina
Black Cherry: 0.56

Psorothamnus spinosus
Smoke Tree: 0.55

Acer saccharinum
Silver Maple: 0.53

Celtis reticulata
Western Hackberry: 0.53

Swietenia macrophylla
Honduras Mahogany: 0.51

Acer macrophyllum
Big-Leaf Maple: 0.50

Magnolia grandiflora
Southern Magnolia: 0.50

Soft Wood :

Pinus ponderosa
Ponderosa Pine: 0.46

Sequoia sempervirens
Coast Redwood: 0.40

Calocedrus decurrens
Incense Cedar: 0.40

Picea engelmannii
Engelmann Spruce: 0.35

Pinus lambertiana
Sugar Pine: 0.36

Quercus suber
Cork Oak Bark: 0.24

Abies concolor
White Fir: 0.36

Ochroma pyramidale
Balsa: 0.17​

Hedge is around Sp. gr., 0.7736; weight of cu. ft., 48.21 lb (21.87 kg). So give or take, close to half the weight of DI

 

[ShoerFast]

I stopped and took some pics of this the other day.

Thanks for the pictures Tree Bot

Now thats some excitement in that tree!

 

[Wood Doctor]

And desert ironwood is a domestic tree? Interesting that hedge is rated below the density of hickory in this table. I have a 2' length of 4 x 4 Lignum Vitae in my wood shop and I am trying to figure out what to do with it. Lignum is so dense that you would swear it was metal instead of wood.

Here is another one that is rather dense and never makes the tables: Chokecherry. I don't think that's the same as Hollyleaf cherry as shown in your table, but the density would be about the same.

p.s. TIA means "Thanks In Advance"

 

[ShoerFast]

And desert ironwood is a domestic tree? Interesting that hedge is rated below the density of hickory in this table. I have a 2' length of 4 x 4 Lignum Vitae in my wood shop and I am trying to figure out what to do with it. Lignum is so dense that you would swear it was metal instead of wood.

Here is another one that is rather dense and never makes the tables: Chokecherry. I don't think that's the same as Hollyleaf cherry as shown in your table, but the density would be about the same.

p.s. TIA means "Thanks In Advance"

Thanks!

Desert Ironwood comes from the Senora Desert, (and Mexico) I have one firewood sized block that is estimated at about 1500 years old!

 

[aquan8tor]

This is a truly massive osage, probably 6 feet diameter at the base. It looks bigger in the pic, but is covered by Virginia Creeper vines. I'm guessing from the age of the plantation house behind it and the location of it in the yard that it was meant to be where it is, so it's probably been there since well before the Civil War.

 

[btlook1]

Most of the serious woodburners I've met here in Kansas will pass on every other species in order to cut and burn hedge.I don't know that you should burn it in an open fireplace, but it will be great in your outdoor boiler.Just keep in mind that a little goes a long ways, and it's not a good idea to over-fire any woodburner.Watch out for the thorns!

Coog is right. Here in Southeast Kansas I burn almost all hedge all winter. It's not the best cutting wood but it's the best burning there is once it's seasoned. I do mix in some hackberry or mulberry sometimes but not when its cold and the wind is blowing. IMO hedge is better than seasoned Oak firewood!

 

[KsWoodsMan]

And desert ironwood is a domestic tree? Interesting that hedge is rated below the density of hickory in this table. I have a 2' length of 4 x 4 Lignum Vitae in my wood shop and I am trying to figure out what to do with it. Lignum is so dense that you would swear it was metal instead of wood.

Here is another one that is rather dense and never makes the tables: Chokecherry. I don't think that's the same as Hollyleaf cherry as shown in your table, but the density would be about the same.

p.s. TIA means "Thanks In Advance"

I'm not quite sure of the accuracy they provided for Hedge either. If the charts for BTU's and weights per cord of Hedge are accurate at 4,728 pounds and 32.9 MBTU per cord then it should have a specific density of 0.95. Cured Hedge blocks will ring like metal when struck. A specific density of 0.77 seems more like Red Mullberry, whick is higher in BTU's than Red Oak but less than Pecan/Hickory, White Oak, Black Locust and Persimmon.

As mentioned it is hard to tell the difference between Hedge and Mulberry to just look at the wood. The bark gives it away easily.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I'm not quite sure of the accuracy they provided for Hedge either. If the charts for BTU's and weights per cord of Hedge are accurate at 4,728 pounds and 32.9 MBTU per cord then it should have a specific density of 0.95. Cured Hedge blocks will ring like metal when struck. A specific density of 0.77 seems more like Red Mullberry, which is higher in BTU's than Red Oak but less than Pecan/Hickory, White Oak, Black Locust and Persimmon.

As mentioned, it is hard to tell the difference between Hedge and Mulberry to just look at the wood. The bark gives it away easily.

+1! Mulberry, when cut alive, is yellow green. When it seasons, it turns deep burnt orange, starting with the log ends. Hedge is much denser than Mulberry when dry and I have never seen a Mulberry tree with big thorns.

I burn about 1 to 3 cords of Mulberry a year. My only complaint is the sparks that it throws while burning, even when burned dry. Sure, it burns hot, but those sparks can be dangerous. And, if you want to hand split it, be prepared for a workout. Mulberry is snarly wood.

 

[Ductape]

Would someone in Hedge territory PLEASE UPS me an armful of this mythical wood you all talk about???!! I'd like to see what all the hub-bub is about.