burning softwood.???

[Knotdodger]

I didnt want to search. So the tree crews were cutting alot of pines ,, birch,, and poplar the last week along the road. County property. All the pine is in log form. Birch was just topped and dropped. A few people were out gathering the wood. Still a few semi loads out there.

I was loading some pine logs in my truck. Then someone next to me says " you going to burn pine??" Its full of creosole.

Hehe ,, I have did alot of reading on Creasole. Its from not burning properly seasoned wood .. More less. So I have two face cords of pine. And 1 of 3" to 6" birch... I like it. Of course Oak is nice. But I burn pine , Poplar and every thing else I can find to cut up ... Exept willow.. I hate willow...hehehe

How many of you guys in the North central and east burn softwoods with no problem.. ????????

Here for me its like always free wood. No one seems to burn pine.

OH Yeah,, Sorry but I dont know one fir or pine from the other.. But am going to study on michigan trees so I dont feel so stupid about the subject.....

Just making conversation fella's.. Have a good one.

 

[reaperman]

If it were me, I'd load up on the birch first, its a hardwood, not a softwood. Than followed by popple, which burns hot, and forget the pine. I dont have pine trees in my area, mostly oak, ash, and popple. So I'm not too up on the evergreens.

 

[John Bartley]

I lived in Iroquois Falls for several years about 30 years ago. We had no real hardwood there. We burned poplar as the main fuel with birch being saved for the cold weather. We used jackpine or spruce for kindling. It used to get pretty cold during Jan and Feb there, and we lived in an old house, so we burned about 15 bush cords of poplar each winter. When you're burning that much, you've got the draft open quite wide, so the chimney stays hot right to the top and the creosote doesn't get a chance to condense on the inside. We'd clean the chimney once per year. We did our cutting in the winter. We'd cut to pulp length and pile in the bush. Once the bush dried up we'd go in with a tractor and wagon and haul out to the yard. We had a buzz saw powered by a Cockshutt 20 that we used to cut the pulp into 16". We'd split by hand.

cheers

 

[Mike Van]

You can burn some pine, works better dry of course. Beats burning snowballs or #2 fuel oil.

 

[bowtechmadman]

I'll burn any type of wood in my owb. I suppose I'd be pickier if I was burning inside where I had a chimney to worry about cleaning. As it is on my OWB I only have a 3' chimney so I'm not picky when it's free. I do try and burn the softwoods and less desirable hardwoods in the fall and spring milder temps.

 

[gtstang462002]

If it is free I burn it. If I am burning pine I try to mix it with a hardwood. The pine obviously burns faster but creates a good bed of coals for the hardwood to sit on. Been doing it this way for 3 years now with no major creosote buildup.

 

[Sprig]

If it is free I burn it. If I am burning pine I try to mix it with a hardwood. The pine obviously burns faster but creates a good bed of coals for the hardwood to sit on. Been doing it this way for 3 years now with no major creosote buildup.

Yup, and pine is great daytime 'gitcher place warm' stuff, but as someone mentioned, I'd be scoopin' the birch, not burned much of it but sure was nice, sort of alder or maple-ish. Most of what I had last year was balsam/grande fir (white pine kin, not really a fir like douglas), burnt fast and hot so for the night burns I'd leave a piece or two in the rain to get water wet, it did noticably slow the burn down but with a bit of extra build-up in the flue, no biggie imo. Exception I see is what is referred to here as 'pitch-pine', burns like he!! and can get scarey hot, like its name says, very gummy/sticky/pitchy/sappy, real nice to clean up after too (not!).
As so many know already, free is the best possible price!

& happy fires alla 'round!

Serge

 

[Knotdodger]

You can burn some pine, works better dry of course. Beats burning snowballs or #2 fuel oil.

Hehehehehe... Nice

I stacked the pine and birch in the same row for quick light ups..

 

[WidowMaker]

Yup, and pine is great daytime 'gitcher place warm' stuff, but as someone mentioned, I'd be scoopin' the birch, not burned much of it but sure was nice, sort of alder or maple-ish. Most of what I had last year was balsam/grande fir (white pine kin, not really a fir like douglas), burnt fast and hot so for the night burns I'd leave a piece or two in the rain to get water wet, it did noticably slow the burn down but with a bit of extra build-up in the flue, no biggie imo. Exception I see is what is referred to here as 'pitch-pine', burns like he!! and can get scarey hot, like its name says, very gummy/sticky/pitchy/sappy, real nice to clean up after too (not!).
As so many know already, free is the best possible price!

& happy fires alla 'round!

Serge

===========
Despite it's name, Douglas Fir is actually a species of Spruce, Who woulda thunk it....

WidowMaker

 

[Mikecutstrees]

I burn pine all the time. just make sure like any firewood it's dry. I usually try to mix it in with some hardwood so I don't have to fill the stove so often. I burn willow too but it really sucks but its better than paying to get rid of it....

 

[StihltheOne]

Around here, pine is fine, as it and cottonwood are about it, fer wood at all, the state tree in Wyoming we claim is the electric pole. Just use what ya can get, be happy. It is certainly is not the best wood in the shed, but if it is the only it wood, I would say that maybe it is 'specially if it free. I burn 6+ cords per year in the house of pine, and about the same of cottonwood and get this... Russian olive... in the shop. If you have not ever delt with "RO" I would invite everyone that you don't like to help. It is not fun.

 

[cjcocn]

About all that we have here is poplar, (jack) pine, spruce, and birch.

I would scoop the birch, then the pine, and the poplar would be last on my list.

Most of my wood is jack pine and it burns plenty hot enough for me. Ideally I would burn only birch, but there is a ton of dry jack pine left on the ground by the local logging operations and I grab as much of that as I can.

I had about 6 cords of poplar that I cut down from my front yard last summer and am trying to burn it up this winter. It was relatively free and was easier than hauling it somewhere, but otherwise I don't plan on burning poplar again once this batch is gone. Thankfully I am rebuilding a tractor in my garage so I have an excuse to build a fire in there more often than I normally would. That should help me get rid of the poplar.

 

[Woodjack]

"Pine is fine"

There was an article in the NY Times Friday(?) about burning wood in a fireplace. Nothing really of value that everyone here doesn’t already know from reading these message boards. However, there was a quote from Ashley Eldridge, director of education for the Chimney Safety Institute of America, and Bob Fish, who owns Vermont Master Chimney Sweeps in Londonderry.

From the article: Both he (Eldridge) and Mr. Fish are quick to dispel a myth about which woods burn best. “Burning soft woods and creating too much creosote is an old wives’ tale.” Mr. Fish said. Mr. Eldridge further explained: “Because of pine’s inherently resinous nature, people think tar will remain in the chimney. The truth is, pine is great for starting a fire because that pitch is often flammable. It will light up very quickly, so if you’ve got a larger fire, it makes an ideal kindling. Whereas a piece of hickory, because of its density, it’s not going to go off when you put a match to it.”

Here’s a link to the article:
http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/01/11/travel/escapes/11your.html?scp=1&sq=waking+up+an+idle+hearth

 

[Dok]

Lots of people burn pine around here. My neighbor burns it green :jawdrop: and unlike hardwoods it will burn when green. I use pine to start the fire and then switch to oak, but that is because where I cut its all oak. Locally its all pine, so that's what the neighbors burn. My experience is pine burns almost as hot as oak but doesn't burn as long.
Dok

 

[ciscoguy01]

Pine

Did anyone realize that evergreens, meaning pine/spruce/firs, are the main source of wood in Alaska??? There's VERY little hardwood, and by that it's only a very small amount of birch and popple. Anybody that says you can't burn has NO clue about wood period. It should be seasoned or at least dried a little, and normally when you burn it you'd want to make sure it's burning hot enough. Ponderosa pine has good very good BTU value, better than birch as a matter of fact and poplar... The entire state of AK can't be wrong, and I think we'd hear about tons of homes burning down from chimney fires up there if it were that much of a problem. Heck, I've always burned anything I could get my hands on. It's heat, isn't that the main idea in it. They make guages for your chimney that will tell you the heat ranges to prevent creosote buildup. If burned alot, a chimney can burn out and it won't hurt anything. The problem arrives when the ceramic lining is broken or cracked, then the creosote will seep out and cause the fire. If you have a good chimney that's cleaned every year, as well as burning hot enough, you can burn anything in your stove. Ignore the people that say different. A million people can't all be wrong...

eh?

 

[turnkey4099]

Did anyone realize that evergreens, meaning pine/spruce/firs, are the main source of wood in Alaska??? There's VERY little hardwood, and by that it's only a very small amount of birch and popple. Anybody that says you can't burn has NO clue about wood period. It should be seasoned or at least dried a little, and normally when you burn it you'd want to make sure it's burning hot enough. Ponderosa pine has good very good BTU value, better than birch as a matter of fact and poplar... The entire state of AK can't be wrong, and I think we'd hear about tons of homes burning down from chimney fires up there if it were that much of a problem. Heck, I've always burned anything I could get my hands on. It's heat, isn't that the main idea in it. They make guages for your chimney that will tell you the heat ranges to prevent creosote buildup. If burned alot, a chimney can burn out and it won't hurt anything. The problem arrives when the ceramic lining is broken or cracked, then the creosote will seep out and cause the fire. If you have a good chimney that's cleaned every year, as well as burning hot enough, you can burn anything in your stove. Ignore the people that say different. A million people can't all be wrong...

eh?

Same out here. Evergreens are about all that is commonly available other then lucking out on urban removals. Burned almost all pine back when a kid. King of the "common woods" here is Tamarack followed by Red Fir. Neither available anywhere near me (within a 100-150 mile round trip). I burn almost all Willow. Yep, it is right at the bottom of the list for BTU/lb value but when I an get all I want withing 10-15 miles of the house, be out and back in 1/2 day with almost a full cord on the truck... Does keep one's physical condition up getting out of the chair to feed the fire often though.

Harry K

 

[ciscoguy01]

Yip

Same out here. Evergreens are about all that is commonly available other then lucking out on urban removals. Burned almost all pine back when a kid. King of the "common woods" here is Tamarack followed by Red Fir. Neither available anywhere near me (within a 100-150 mile round trip). I burn almost all Willow. Yep, it is right at the bottom of the list for BTU/lb value but when I an get all I want withing 10-15 miles of the house, be out and back in 1/2 day with almost a full cord on the truck... Does keep one's physical condition up getting out of the chair to feed the fire often though.

Harry K

Preach on brotha. Free wood, even if it's pine, is quite a bit cheaper than #2/kerosene/ and electric. Anytime you can heat for free and it only requires a little bit of your back to do it I'd say its worth it. When confronted with the choice I think it's pretty easy for me to decide. Matter of fact, when I put the new stove in, I'm going with a 12" pipe and am gonna burn all the pine I can get my hands on... Popple or anything else too... Some people eh? hehehehehehehe I'm burning willow and popple right now at my grandmother's house. She has an abundance of it and it's free and close and helps her keep her heating bills in line. There's some maple/birch/oak and ash mixed in there also, but most is the other. She's happy and I check her chimney regularly, it's never got a bit of creosote in it...

eh?

 

[Woodjack]

For me, the question isn't so much about btu's per lb, but whether it's safe to burn or not. I live in a forest of hardwoods (oak, maple, hickory) and also, a lot of pine. I love burning very dry pine. It's lights like paper, burns a nice clean fire, and gets all my damp hardwood going. I just don't want my beautiful fire to burn down my beautiful home.

 

[Mikecutstrees]

woodjack, I may be confused but are you saying that your afraid of the pine burning too hot and burning down your house? If thats the case then you have things all backwards, the damp hardwood is the wood you should worry about burning down your house. It burns too cold to heat up the flue correctly and leaves a creasote buildup which is dangerous. Again maybe I was confused by your post. Burn only dry wood..... any dry wood is fine.

 

[Woodjack]

This is my first year burning wood so I'm on a steep leaning curve and playing catch-up. I had heard that pine creates creosote, but I learned that's not necessarily true. As for my damp hardwoods, it's mostly all I got. It's seasoned but a lot of it is wet. Delivered wood comes seasoned and wet from rain and snow. I scavenge the forest, but most dead wood that's seasoned to burn is damp. I don't know what else I can do but burn the best stuff I got.

Sometimes I have trouble keeping my flue above 250 degrees. Is that dangerous? And where exactly should I be putting my thermometer, on the flue or the stove?