Hardwood firewood ??'s

[realzed]

Was wondering if anyone would care to pass in their own estimation and experiences  as to what types of firewood give the best amount of heat verses others - sort of a rating of wood, if you will..
If you had to choose, what in your opinion would be the top 5 or 6 species to look for and buy for best heat, cleanliness (chimney-wise), splitting, handling (weight), and speed of drying criteria - or any other reasons possibly why..
This is for my own interest based mainly on being a 'soon to be buyer' and assuming I have some choice of wood species available to me based on woods found in the Northern US States close to the Ontario Canadian border or actually in Ontario to be more specific..
Thx!

[Magicman]

These charts may help with the "heat" portion of your questions:

Firewood BTU Charts - BTU of Firewood Cord

[barbender]

There are a lot of charts available for different species available in your area. In northern hardwoods, red and white oak, and hard maple would be at the top of the list. There are more species present the farther east you get from my location, and I am not familiar with those. But in a nutshell, the heavier the wood is when dry, the more btu's it has in it.

[JohnW]

Don't forget hickory, a great firewood if you find any.  Also, Osage Orange is very interesting.  I hope you see some sometime.
(Osage Orange Firewood - Burning Hedge Trees)

[20ozjolt]

hemlock suprised me... rots so fast was expecting it to be as bad as cottonwood...

[doctorb]

Black locust is one of my favorites.  Doesn't rot easily.

[Blue Noser]

hemlock suprised me... rots so fast was expecting it to be as bad as cottonwood...

I always mix a hemlock tree into our firewood, it makes the best kindling as it splits so easily.

[thecfarm]

hemlock suprised me... rots so fast was expecting it to be as bad as cottonwood...

I don't have cottonwood on my land.  The Eastern Hemlock,Tsuga canadensis, I have,will last a while even in the woods. I use ALOT of dead wood in my OWB. 

[jmur1]

Hi realzed:

BTU charts provide valuable info -  but mean nothing if the wood is not seasoned.  Wood should be stored in a dry spot (preferably stacked) off the ground (to prevent wicking) with a dry breeze to assist in the drying process.  If this is done you should have nicely seasoned wood in about 10 months to 1 year.  Many different opinions are out there on the time and the percentage but all agree on the outcome - dry wood provides nice even heat.  A quick internet search of how dry firewood should be will give you many sites backing this up. 

jmur1   

[TKehl]

I'll add that some wood will dry quicker than others.  Seems like Elm benefits from two years drying after cut and needs to be kept covered, then it actually burns pretty good.  Oak should get at least a few months, but doesn't seem to get any dryer past a year.  Not a big deal if tin blows off the Oak in in a rainstorm.  Cedar doesn't need much time at all to dry.

Just observations from my place.  Your climate and species probably vary.  

[John Mc]

I'll add that some wood will dry quicker than others.  Seems like Elm benefits from two years drying after cut and needs to be kept covered, then it actually burns pretty good.  Oak should get at least a few months, but doesn't seem to get any dryer past a year.  Not a big deal if tin blows off the Oak in in a rainstorm.  Cedar doesn't need much time at all to dry.

Just observations from my place.  Your climate and species probably vary.  

My experience is exactly the opposite on Oak: Most species I can get to dry in less than a year - cut & split in Spring, stack in single rows off the ground exposed to sun and wind, and it's down to less than 20% moisture content (often around 15%) by the time heating season rolls around. Not Oak. I have to season it over at least two summers to get it ready to burn.

Red Oak has one of the highest "green" moisture content of any of the "premium" firewood hardwoods, and it seems to hang on to that moisture longer.

[John Mc]

I've posted these on here before, but one of the better firewood species BTU tables I've seen is this one (also attached as a PDF - with permission of owner, in case the link ever goes stale): Sweep's Library - Firewood Heat Value Comparison Charts  Many of the tables out there contain errors (often from compiling the information from a variety of sources ignoring differences in measuring techniques or specified moisture content). These guys made the effort to correct for that.

Another handy table (for those of use who occasionally get behind in putting up firewood) is 'Green Wood Moisture.pdf' (also attached) which shows the green moisture content by species -  helpful if you have to burn green wood, or are in a jam for seasoning time and need to pick a species to work with.

[realzed]

Hi realzed:

BTU charts provide valuable info -  but mean nothing if the wood is not seasoned.  Wood should be stored in a dry spot (preferably stacked) off the ground (to prevent wicking) with a dry breeze to assist in the drying process.  If this is done you should have nicely seasoned wood in about 10 months to 1 year.  Many different opinions are out there on the time and the percentage but all agree on the outcome - dry wood provides nice even heat.  A quick internet search of how dry firewood should be will give you many sites backing this up.

jmur1  

Thanks for the info - any wood I hope to get will probably be dried 1 1/2 to 2 seasons - so it will work out well.. but I am not fully aware of beech, ash or hemlock etc. and some of the other types of woods that I've seen mentioned in ads that state what some loggers deliver from areas other than around here.
We've most just got some oak (red I think), white and yellow birch, poplar, spruce, a bit of cedar and maple that grow in this area. so I was curious how the species compared when looking at type verses BTU's and drying times etc..    

[TKehl]

Oak should get at least a few months, but doesn't seem to get any dryer past a year.  Not a big deal if tin blows off the Oak in in a rainstorm.  

Just observations from my place.  Your climate and species probably vary.  

My experience is exactly the opposite on Oak: Most species I can get to dry in less than a year - cut & split in Spring, stack in single rows off the ground exposed to sun and wind, and it's down to less than 20% moisture content (often around 15%) by the time heating season rolls around. Not Oak. I have to season it over at least two summers to get it ready to burn.

Red Oak has one of the highest "green" moisture content of any of the "premium" firewood hardwoods, and it seems to hang on to that moisture longer.

???  The only Red Oak around here is Blackjack Oak, which does take longer to dry.  Our woods are mostly White Oak.  Not sure if that or the climate makes the difference.  Maybe both. 

[Woodcutter_Mo]

 In my area, I have the best luck with various oaks. My favourite is a mix of black jack oak and Post oak. The black jack burns hot and fairly clean and Post oak holds coals well. I also burn alot of the regular red oak, black oak and white oak as well and they all burn good. Hickory also burns well. I also will burn other woods along with the oak or hickory. 

 There was what I believe to be an oak hybrid that I burned earlier this year that burned very well. I'll have to post in the tree I.D. section to find out exactly what it was as we have several on our property, but it looked similar to a black oak but the inside was similar to black jack in texture and burned as such. (I was going to cut it for lumber until I seen it check in rings similar to black jack oak)

[petefrom bearswamp]

I season mine 1 to 2 years outside and then is stacked in my woodshed in the back of my shop

I am a little behind from my normal winter's supply for 2018-1019
This is about 2 months worth.
Stacks are 23" wood, 7 ft high and 18 long.
Beech, Sugar maple, White ash and a little Black cherry
My furnace is an older Classic and not too efficient.



 

[Kwill]

Red oak,white oak, post oak, black jack and hickory in my area.

[upnut]

For the longest time my motto was "if it burns it's beautiful..." and cut accordingly. I have since eliminated a few: box elder( bugs and stench) soft maple(gofer wood) black locust(burns nice but stinky) pi$$ elm(gofer wood) basswood(gofer wood) cottonwood(gofer wood)....BTW gofer wood means throw some in the stove and go fer more, often! Shag bark hickory is great for heat but a pain to cut, tough to split and draws bugs. My new bride(30 years ago) topped off the wood stove with hickory...house got so hot it melted the butter in the kitchen cupboard!  Top five in my area: ash, cherry, dry dead red elm, beech, hard maple.


Scott B.

[Crhall]

Fireplace wood- oak, maple, ash, hickory although i dislike splitting it.

OWB wood- hickory or oak mixed with hedge (osage orange) that yellow wood is like gold to me,  it cuts my wood usage in half, I'll use every piece i can off tree. But too hot and sparks for inside burning. So thankful I have woods full of that scrubby tree, downfall is its rough to work with..

[ArcticTiger]

The denser the wood, the more energy. And to get use of most of the energy contained in the wood, the firewood  has to be dry. Dry wood also deposit less soot and tar in the chimney, and smokes less.  
There are some "tricks" to have in mind to get nice, dry firewood: Generaly the trees contain less moisture during the winter months, compared to in the growing (summer) season. So the trees should be cut before the sap starts to flow. And the air  generaly has the least amount of moisture in late winter and early spring, and will more easily pick up moisture from your wood.
So, if you cut your trees during winter months, and then get it cut and split as soon as possible (feb-march), it will speed up the drying process. 
If you then store the firewood of the ground, exposed to the sun and wind, and keep it covered from rain, its a great chance you will have very nice dry firewood when the heating season starts, whatever species of wood you have.

Of course the hardwoods are the most desirable, and therefore also has the highest price. The softwoods are often considered a "waste" and you can sometimes get the logs cheap or for free. And they DO burn, even if they contain less energy, so, even if you have to load your stove a little more frequent, nothing can beat free stuff ;D

[WLC]

It's a simple choice for me as we really have only three species to choose from.  White birch, Cottonwood and Spruce.  I usually throw in a little spruce in the pile for kindling, but burn 99% birch with the occasional piece of cottonwood that wound up in the woodstove pile instead of the campfire ring pile.  

[starmac]

The birch here tends to rot quick if you cut it limb it and deck it, without bucking and splitting it.
I know several loggers that cut it in the winter and leave it lay, without limbing it, it will leaf out in the spring just like it is still growing and doesn't rot. The claim is in leafing out it pulls the sap out and it dries a lot quicker, true or not I don't have a clue. But it does work.

[WLC]

Yep starmac I agree.  I've seen birch logs laying in the woods and when I got up to them it was a rotten tree with good bark on it. I cut mine at all times of the year, but like cutting it in the fall and winter.  I usually limb and drag it up to the shop.  What can be sawed on the mill gets cut to log sizes and the rest piled up for firewood till I get time to buck and split it.  I've cut several down in Feb and March that leafed out come spring time that I didn't get limbed and bucked.

[John Mc]

It's definitely best if you can cut & split Birch soon after you drop it. One trick an old-timer taught me: If you can't get to cutting and splitting it right away, just run your saw down the length of it once. You don't have to go very deep - maybe 1/4" - just enough to split the bark. That crack in the bark goes a long way towards slowing the rot. I'm guessing it just lets some of the moisture out: there's a reason the Native Americans made canoes out of it, I guess.

[MAF143]

We have tons of dead and dying ash here and that has been the bulk of our heating wood for the last 15 years.  I hate cutting live trees, but...  A lot of the dead standing ash is starting to go "punky" and snap off.  It doesn't seem to last long once it hits the ground.  

I have been girdling a lot of Honey locust to kill them off to open up canopy for "nicer" species, oak, walnut, etc...  There was a few locust trees laying back in the woods last year that had fallen.  They had been down for several years.  I cut that up to try as firewood.  The heartwood was very hard and heavy.  It burns hot and keeps coals well.  I'm liking it.  I did not notice any smell to it inside the house, but could get a snoot of it when the wind was wrong going out to the truck.  Not too hateful, but not the sweeter  smell of some of the "nicer" species.  I will be cutting more of that for heating.

We have an indoor high eff wood stove in the basement that mostly heats the whole 2700 sq.ft. house.  The furnace kicks on some but the wood does the bulk of the heating.

I have cut some standing dead hickory and burned, but not really liking it too much since once I bring it into the basement wood racks, the bees seem to come out of it.  I spray it to get rid of most critters, but the big bees seem to not notice.  This past winter we had several of the European Hornets flying around the lights in the basement.  They seem pretty docile, but they look pretty impressive due to their size.  The shop vac makes quick work of them.  I haven't even come close to getting stung yet, but this does make me leary of Hickory.  Maybe if it was cut live and processed for the next heating season, this wouldn't be an issue.  I've never had bug problems with ash.

Maple sometimes gets the powder beetles becoming active as the wood warms in the basement racks as well.  But spraying seems effective for that.

I've cut and burned some red oak that had been struck by lightning.  It made a good hot fire, but the smell as it was drying was pretty nasty, reminded me of cat &!$$.  I'll be letting that dry down wind out past the last barn from now on.

Ash is still my overall favorite for heating, but is starting to become more and more rare or punky in our woods.  Added bonus is that it burns well with a very short drying period if you get in a pinch.

Honey Locust has potential, but I haven't processed and burned any fresh cut yet.  Hoping that it will season in a 8-10 month span or I will have to alter my cutting cycle.  Hoping that the girdling of them while standing may allow them to dry a bit while standing to keep me ahead of the curve with them.

I do cut and use some Sugar Maple when we get blow downs.  Not too bad of wood, but it needs burned within two years of it coming down.  Standing dead lasts somewhat longer.

I have a bunch of beech I need to cull out of the woods because there have been many snap offs up high leaving dying trunks.  I don't have much experience with it personally, but I'm told it is a very good firewood.