whats the deal with black walnut

[o8f150]

i have heard several people around here say black wlanut doe not make good firewood that it doesn't burn it just smolders. I look at it as being close to oak or hickory since it is a hardwood. any imput???

 

[hanniedog]

I was burnging some 12" rounds earlier this week, definently needs a good bed of coals to keep it going. Split it once and she burns much better. This stuff was near 10% moisture so that was not a problem. Just have to figure out what works for different types of wood. No reason at all to not burn it.

 

[msvold]

I burn black walnut and I've been happy with it, seasoned for a year or more. When we were buying our woodstove, one of the dealers discussed firewood with us, when I said we had some black walnut, they stated that it is one of the firewoods that tend to create creosote, and said i should season it for two years then it would be fine. I try to take the bark off of it to allow it to dry better if possible, those pieces that are well seasoned, burn great, not quite as good as oak, but not far from it in my opinion.

 

[TMFARM 2009]

i usually burn a little every year. most around here goes to furniture mill down the road...i even get a little coffee tree here and there from fence rows both tend to burn about the same.

 

[SWI Don]

I have heated my house exclusively with walnut the first year I heated with wood. It works well in my catalytic stove also. Anymore the chance that I am burning a exclusive load of walnut is rare. There are probably a few pieces in my woodshed currently.

Most of my walnut comes from cleaning up behind loggers. They leave a mess that the landowners appreciate getting cleaned up. Leaving logs and log chunks on the landing after the log truck has picked up is not making a good impression on the farmer that has to use the area for equipment access.

Don

 

[indiansprings]

It's fine, not that far down on the btu charts, just a little behind red oak.
I cut up a bunch of walnut tops last year and sold it five dollars cheaper a face cord that oak or hickory. Had several customers request it again this year but I don't have any to cut.

 

[SWI Don]

It's fine, not that far down on the btu charts, just a little behind red oak.
I cut up a bunch of walnut tops last year and sold it five dollars cheaper a face cord that oak or hickory. Had several customers request it again this year but I don't have any to cut.

I have a friend that that is what he looks for exclusively to burn in his fireplace. I guess it is what the doctor ordered for aesthetic fires. It leaves a lot of fine fluffy ash which I never minded.

Don

 

[komatsuvarna]

I burn it and dont have a problem with it. Like everything else, gotta be dry dry dry.

 

[o8f150]

i know it will be at least 2 years before it is burnt. All that i have has been split and stacked for about 4 months now. I know 1 thing it is real light weight when it is split. About the same as maple but a lot harder

 

[gandrimp]

I am burning the last of a half cord I cut last year from a dead standing that was at least 10 years dead. It burns good and has a good smell, it leaves a white ash that is real fluffy.My only dislike is its not a real overnight wood as I have to reload every night at about 3am.

Back to the 10 years dead part, when I split this, it still had moisture in it.

 

[banjobart]

I have burned a lot of MI black walnut and find it to be the driest of woods when green, more so than even ash. It takes forever to rot so a tree that has been dead 10 years has heartwood that is as sound as live. It is the easiest wood to hand split, even big rounds. I grew up in a walnut grove and half of it has wound up in my stove, due to necessary removal.

It is softer than elm, hickory, ash, oak, birch, beech and most other MI hardwoods so it does burn faster and not last through the entire night like the above gentleman mentioned.

 

[Blowncrewcab]

I'm burning some Right Now that I got & split in April, it does fine, before I go to bed I'll put some elm in on top of it. I have burned BW every year and have been happy with it.

 

[radroy92]

Black walnut

People say all sorts of untrue things. My sister-in-laws husband claimed he couldn't get oak to burn. It's not the wood it the person trying to burn the wood.

Roy

 

[ngzcaz]

I was disappointed when I burned it last year. Maple, some oaks, ash and locust seem to make the nice hot lasting coals.

 

[Streblerm]

I don't have any problem burning it. I wouldn't put it on par with the top hardwoods. It burns more like soft maple to me. It cuts easy, like softwood and maple. If you can't ID it before you cut into it then the brown sawdust is a dead giveaway.

It has a "medicine" smell to my nose when green. I don't notice anything specific about the smell when it burns. I have a 30" DBH one in my back yard that isn't looking good. It is destined to become firewood unless I can find the mythical black walnut buyer.

 

[banjobart]

Mills will not touch a yard, fencerow or roadside walnut tree for fear of embedded steel. So you are right, it is a myth that the walnut tree in your yard is worth thousands as a veneer log. It is worth more as firewood unless you mill it yourself.

 

[AIM]

I never cared for it as firewood but it is by far my favorite trim wood.

 

[sunfish]

Walnut is fine firewood, just burns up quicker than Oak, Hickory, etc..

 

[05mxdiesel]

I scrounged a lot of black walnut earlier this year and some I am burning now. I also heard a lot of myths about it, but as far as I can see it burns great, dries fairly quick, but makes a lot of puffy ash. I even had someone tell me that you can't burn it because of the gases it gives off and another say that it doesn'tn flame up at all.

 

[Guido Salvage]

I milled some earlier this year and have some scraps as well as 1" boards and strips that I am using for kindling. Gave some to a friend that turns pens, but it is too soft for him. He likes the dogwood I took him much better.