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Your Favorite Type of Wood to Burn?

Started by PartTimeJack, May 16, 2012, 11:34:18 PM

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PartTimeJack

What is your favorite type or specie of wood to burn?
Mine would be Cherry and Hickory...mainly because it smells so good when you burn it, and they both seem to burn hot and at a even pace.
Just a Farmer learnin to be a Jack.

hardtailjohn

It depends on where I'm burning. If it's in the house, I like Lodgepole Pine. It burns fairly hot and doesn't generate much kreosote or ash...that equals less mess and my wife likes that. If it's in the boiler for the shop, I prefer to burn Western Larch or Douglas Fir. They seem to burn a bit hotter and longer, but have more of a mess than Lodgepole.
John
I'm so far behind, I think I'm ahead!

CTYank

Depends totally on the season and anticipated low temp.

For shoulder seasons, pine and silver maple are fine. Approaching peak heating season, black cherry and white ash morphing into oaks/black locust/sugar maple.

I can afford to get picky, because the little "Squirrel" burns so little wood. Even with the gas furnace "cold iron" for the past 6 seasons.
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KBforester

Trees are good.

Norm


gunman63

Junk, odds and ends, the left overs from my firewood processing, to me its free(not really)  but its stuff that i dont want to sell  to a customer.

pineywoods

Nothing but red oak. Burns hot, lots of btu's, very little ash or creosote.
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

thurlow

Burn mostly red oak, 'cause that's what I've got the most of;  will also burn other local hardwoods.......ash, hackberry, hickory, pecan, honey locust, etc.  A few years ago, the county highway department was cleaning up the sides of the roads;  neighbor asked if I wanted the black locust which had been pushed down.  I cut enough firewood to last about 2 years;  county then came back and piled and burned the tops and stumps.  It burned hotter/better/cleaner (for me) than anything else I've burned.
Here's to us and those like us; DanG few of us left!

chevytaHOE5674

I like anything that is free. Sometimes that is Aspen sometimes its Maple. hahaha

clww

Red and white oak or hickory. That's 85% of the hardwood trees we have in our area anyway, which works out well.
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MHineman

  I like Ash best as I can cut it, and split, and add it to an already burning fire in a few days, or start a fire with it in a few weeks.
  Soft Maple, poplar, and other light weight wood when I only need a small or shorter duration fire.  I do like some Hickory or Oak to mix in for longer medium heat fires.
1999 WM LT40, 40 hp 4WD tractor, homemade forks, grapple, Walenstein FX90 skidding winch, Stihl 460 039 saws,  homebuilt kiln, ......

DeerMeadowFarm

I'm not fussy. Most of the hardwood in my area is red oak, white oak and ash so that's what I burn the most of by default. I basically burn anything that I can get for free as long as it's hardwood. That includes cherry, maple, birch and hickory. Right now I am cleaning up trees from last year's tornado still and tonight I am picking up some wood that a guy I work with cut down and bucked for me. It's all white oak and cherry. I've taken 3 dumptruck loads from him already and he figures he has 2 more for me tonight.  8)

Ron Scott

Northern Red Oak is preferred, but use most all the northern hardwoods as they are freely available.
~Ron

JohnW

I don't have it very often, but I like ash the best.  It seasons well, and burns well at any speed.  Hickory's not that much different, but I don't have it vey often either.  There's nothing better than good firewood.

NWP

I like the smell of walnut burning.  Of course only low grade top material.
1999 Blockbuster 2222, 1997 Duratech HD10, 2021 Kubota SVL97-2, 2011 Case SV250, 2000 Case 1845C, 2004 Case 621D, John Deere 540A, 2011 Freightliner with Prentice 120C, 2012 Chevrolet, 1997 GMC bucket truck, several trailers, and Stihl saws.

sparky1

well Im really partial to the kind that family and friends drop off and stack in my wood pile, with out me having to lift a finger!! 8)  It happened a couple times last year. :)  It would be better if it happened more frequently though. 

If im burning im my fire place though I like elm without the bark.
Shaun J

ohsoloco

If I could only choose one it would have to be white oak. 

doctorb

Black Locust for me.  The firewood is arguably superior to all with respect to BTU's and burning, and the trees grow quickly.  The trees are certainly not as majestic in appearance as red or white oak, so I don't mind felling them.  Their water content is relatively low, even for high quality firewood, compared to oak.  So while any good hardwood is great fuel, give me Black Locust, if I had a choice and a magic wand. ;)
My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor.  So far, he's only become a doctor."

BBTom

Red elm would have to be my pick,  especially after it has died, lost its bark and stood to dry for a couple years.  Nice clean wood that burns very hot and long.  Of course I have to make trailer deck out of anything big enough to saw good.  Best wood I have ever used for trailer deck,  Extremely tough wood that gives but doesn't snap. 

Second choice would be Black Locust or Osage Orange(Bois De Arc).
2001 LT40HDD42RA with lubemizer, debarker, laser, accuset. Retired, but building a new shop and home in Missouri.

SwampDonkey

Sugar maple, sound beech, yellow birch. I say sound beech because a lot of ours is half dead and rotten from disease. So in other words I don't want beech if it's junk. ;D
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

MrMoo

We have alot of beech so that is what we burn. We also burn black birch surprisingly it has a high btu content. Some red maple.

tcsmpsi

My favorite kind of wood to burn in my woodburning stove in the house, is dry and well cured (sweetgum, oak, hickory, pecan, pine, cottonwood...).   In my outside woodburner on the deck, I like sasafrass. 
\\\"In the end, it is a moral question as to whether man applies what he has learned or not.\\\" - C. Jung

hockeyguy

Sugar maple, beech or red oak make me happy. They're plentiful around here and all burn well.

stavebuyer

My favorite is locust..dead and bark-free but I don't have any in my woodlot so I burn mostly hickory which is plentiful and comes in a close second for heat value.

hardtailjohn

It kind of tickles me.... what most of you are burning, we'd be hoarding like mad here!  ;D
I guess that location is everything!
John
I'm so far behind, I think I'm ahead!

WDH

I like hickory for its heating value, and usually the bark is tight and does not make a mess all over the place when you bring it inside.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

SwampDonkey

Hardwood I mentioned will slip it's bark just from the furnace drying it all the time. I like it though, because it's a good fire starter in fall and spring. Lights quick with some newsprint wadded in.  ;D 8)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

DDDfarmer

well we dont have those exotic woods here, so I will list what we have in my prefered order,

tamerack, birch, white spruce, black spruce, popular, balsam, bam.
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Dodgy Loner

I like red oak because I split everything by hand, and there's nothing easier to split.

However, if there is a pork shoulder involved, then give me white oak or hickory ;D
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

Corley5

Burnt Gunpowder is the Smell Of Freedom

SwampDonkey

I get a stick of hornbeam once in awhile in the firewood stash. It will definitely throw some heat as good as you can get. It's not rare in the woods, but mostly no bigger than fence post. But I have seen some large ones on fence row.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

taylorsmissbeehaven

I like the oak and hickory for long burn time. Locust is a treat in our area, but lost a bunch of old dogwoods to drought last year and while they are small in diameter they are dense. Man do they put off some heat! Anybody else have experience with dogwood?
Opportunity is missed by most because it shows up wearing bib overalls and looks like work.

doctorb

I agree that the dogwood is small but mighty!  Talk about tough, has anyone had any experience ciutting / burning American Holly?  It also is a very dense wood.
My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor.  So far, he's only become a doctor."

SwampDonkey

Serviceberry is to, and we get some 6" or 8" on occassion.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Magicman

One other attribute that the Red Oak that Dodgy Loner described above is that it leaves very ashes.  Some species such as White Oak, Pecan, and Ash seemingly leaves as much ashes as the wood you feed it.
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It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

WDH

Not to mention sweetgum.  I would not mention sweetgum because this is a family place  :D.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

pineywoods

There's 3 problems with sweetgum firewood.
1 IT's wet, takes a long time to dry
2 Hard to split, but easy if you slab off 2 inch chunks off the side.
3. Leaves a LOT of ash

Otherwise, it really is a half decent firewood.
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

JohnW

Oh yeah, sweat gum, what a treat to split.  I think I have another formula to try.  Drive a wedge in in the middle, but near the outside edge (and excuse me for such a terrible discription).  Drive a second wedge in the same split on the other edge.  You will, thereby, split the wood in two, but it won't be falling apart due to all those hanger on things up and down the full length of the split.  So knock out one of the wedges and use an ax to cut all the hangers on things.  You should be able to complete a split in 5 minutes or so.  So it warms you twice.  Much better than most wood while you're splitting, and probably not quite as well when you're burning it.

SwampDonkey

 :D :D

Reminds me of "Rock" hard maple I split this April in the yard. I had to score the 200 lb rounds with the chainsaw, some half way down through just to bust it up so I could handle 50 lb chunks onto the splitter. It usually took the first 20 swings to make a crack. I would pound the splitting maul with a post maul and some times both mauls bounced out of the split.  Best time we found to split hardwood was in the winter frozen solid. Usually March was when we got to it, sun feels warmer. But it's a few months to winter, and it had to be cleaned up in the yard. Hard way to make a living. ;D ;)

Some rave over apple wood. I've tried it. It would be OK for fall or spring wood, but nothing like rock maple, beech, yellow birch in winter. ;)
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

JohnW

Thank God for Rock hard maple to keep you humble, SwampDonkey.  Has anyone ever tried splitting persimmon?

thecfarm

Never seen sweet gum or split it. When growing up we had to split,with wedges and maul,elm a few times. My father would leave it behind the shed to "get the life out of it". Leave it there for a year and than it would split much better.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

tcsmpsi

My sawmill is my wood splitter.   ;D
\\\"In the end, it is a moral question as to whether man applies what he has learned or not.\\\" - C. Jung

Magicman

Thankfully I am in a area where I can be very choosy regarding my firewood species.  Red Oak only.   ;D
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

WDH

I burn mostly red oak, too, because that is more of what is dying from stress and the drought.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

RobertJoseph

Hornbeam, Maple, Hickory, Ash and Yellow Birch.....in that order.

To be honest, I burn whatever blows down or gets thinned, but those are my favs. Have ridiculous amounts of hornbeam and maple so they make up 90% of my firewood. Hickory is fairly scarce on my lot and much of the ash has been dying from ash yellows. Yellow birch and ash are nice for startup and use in the cookstove.

Also use the maple and hickory for grilling. Nothing beats cooking over wood.
Robert

lynde37avery

haha, you guys are gonna laugh. we burn about 5 or 6 cords and about 1/3rd of my wood for the season is trimmed ends and knots off from logs that go to the mill. and stump wedges from felling. and i get about 1/2 cord or so of slabs from the mill usually. but my favorite fire wood to burn would be cherry or round sticks of hard maple. burns all night loaded with those.
Detroit WHAT?

thecfarm

I burn alot of that stuff too lynde. I hunt down my dead trees and any ugly looking ones too. I burn just about anything that holds together to get into the fire. I'm am not fussy with my fire wood. And I have about a 150 acres to be fussy with too.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

ohsoloco

I used to gather up all of the bumps, knots, really short pieces, etc. and burn them in my bonfire.  Finally wised up and now collect them in crates I can move with my skid steer.  I probably gather at least an extra cord of wood every year from these ugly pieces that wouldn't make the wood pile  :)

ibseeker

Eucalyptus or pepper, doesn't matter which pepper...any dead pepper is a good one. Then again, my burning is probably a bit different from the rest of you.

I'd be interested in what wood you DON'T burn and why.
Chuck
worn out poulan, Stihl 250SC, old machete and a bag of clues with a hole in the bottom

PartTimeJack

Quote from: ibseeker on July 16, 2012, 07:56:33 PM
Eucalyptus or pepper, doesn't matter which pepper...any dead pepper is a good one. Then again, my burning is probably a bit different from the rest of you.

I'd be interested in what wood you DON'T burn and why.
Hedge...takes 10 years to dry, a 2 foot long piece weighs 100 lbs, and can melt your stove if it is a lighter stove... :D

But on the plus side it does burn for about 3 days... :D ;D
Just a Farmer learnin to be a Jack.

downeast

Got a deadly case of O.E. ( Oak Envy  :( ). There's little high BTU wood along this Downeast coast so you "dance with the one who brung 'ya ".

When we closed on this woodlot in the 90's it was 80% "doghair spruce and fir", mixed with Red/Soft Maple and Paper Birch, few Apples, some Green Ash, and little Red Oak. Most of the firewood since has been Birch and Maple, saving the rare dead standing oaks for serious cold spells. With good woodland management the apples, oaks, ashes, and White Pines are finally getting growth.

*DanG, I'd die to have those oaks, hickories, beech, or hedges to burn. Our tiny Beeches die well before maturity.

JakeLeg

Hedge for me too. Almost all we burn like to mix it with locust,ash or hackberry.

Cypressstump

I became really fond of Pinion while living in the southwest. It's a pine of sorts, brushy, twisted grain usually, saps like crazy when the live bark is damaged, those sap balls make excellent fire starter even in wet snowing conditions, always keep a few in the backpack. The fragrant smell is something to behold in my opinion. Puts out a lot of heat, burns well, not a lot of ash, and lasts decently long Unlike normal pines, people use the Pinion for home heating firewood with great results and very little soot buildup due to the extreme heat it generates..

But down here in La. it's Oak I like best, red, water, white, any oak.
Stump

Timberking 1220 25hp w/extensions -hard mounted
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2001 F350 4X4,Arctic Cat 500 4 wheeler wagon hauler
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wheelinguy

My favorite type of wood to burn has been what we have used for the past six years since we put in our OWB, FREE!!! 8)

gspren

   Ive got about 30 acres of mixed oak and poplar and some wooded pasture that is mostly cherry and locust and in 26 years Ive never needed to cut a healthy tree just for fire wood, last years cutting was almost entirely cherry and locust. I recently paint marked 6 dead oaks to come down when it gets cooler. My favorite trees are the ones that fall all the way down without hanging up!
Stihl 041, 044 & 261, Kubota 400 RTV, Kubota BX 2670, Ferris Zero turn

Roxie

We were grocery shopping at the Amish store on Saturday, and the owner of the store wrapped our ice cream carton in an old newspaper.  It was an Amish newspaper called the Die Botschaft and dated Dec 1, 2008.  It had the words to a song inside:

Beech wood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept one year
Chestnuts only good they say
If for long it's laid away
Birch and fire logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last
Elm wood burns like a church yard mould
Even the very flames are cold
Poplar gives a bitter smoke
Fills your eyes and makes you choke
Apple wood will scent your room
Will give an incense like perfume
Oak and Maple if dry and old
Keeps away the winter cold
But, Ash wood wet and Ash wood dry
A King shall warm his slippers by

Say when

doctorb

My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor.  So far, he's only become a doctor."

WDH

There are a lot of people that will be burning ash this winter thanks to that little bug :'(.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

mrcaptainbob

I have yet to run across a wood that this burner will not eat. As for willow, I do have a supply of that. It's great to restart warm coals. Amazing how it flashes. Like paper. Good to start the 'real' wood. I believe I might try a whole stove full of willow this coming winter to see how it lasts. I suspect a hot flame like that might get the water up faster and the stove shuts down sooner. We'll see....

thecfarm

I saw a bunch of weeping willow,I suppose one tree, at the dump. I have plenty of wood,but thought there's some wood for a OWB. It was a big one too,like most are. The wife rook a branch off from her son's tree and wants one here. She grew up with one and it brings back a lot of memories for her. I have a place all ready for it. Never have burned it or cut one down.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

doctorb

Plant it in moist rather than dry ground.  They love that.
My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor.  So far, he's only become a doctor."

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