toxic wood

[ButtonRock]

   We purchased an outdoor wood furnace for the farm last year. I knew that I should not burn poison ivy in it for obvious reasons but was wondering if there are any other species I should stay away from. Every year we have an octoberfest and was planning on burning white cedar because it makes the whole place smell special, now I am wondering if this is such a good idea. TIA  

[Bro. Noble]

Don't burn anything that has been treated with preservatives.  Make sure that the wood isn't too green.  Box Elder that has much moisture at all will soot up your flu fast.

Noble

[Jeff]

I wouldn't burn anything resinous like conifers. Gums up the works and when she catches fire watch out! I guess an outdoor burner would be safe, but if it has a masonary chimeny such a hot burn could tear it up.

[sawyerkirk]

Id on't see any reason you shouldn't burn white cedar in your furnace, we burn "everything" in ours and have never had a problem

[Tillaway]

I burn whatever is convenient, nothing treated though.  Conifers are ok to burn, but if you burn allot of pine be sure to clean the flue every year.  Jeff is right, you will get a creasote buildup and a flue fire eventually burning pine.  It does take several years of build up though unless you use an air tight stove, then you really need to clean every year..  My brother had a flue fire at his house once, I noticed about 3 feet of blowtorch like flame coming out the chimney while out hunting one day.  Boogeyed back to the house  to put out the wood furnace, then crawled into the attic to make sure nothing was burning up there.  The fire ruined the chimney liner.

[CHARLIE]

DonT ever burn Oleander! It's poisoness and so is the smoke from it. Of course unless you live in the South, you probably won't see any.....

[Don P]

I've heard but don't know for sure, not to burn heaths...Azalea, rhododendron, blueberry. Its never been a problem cause theres always been good wood around.
Horselogger cooked up some cherry steaks awhile back, yummy
I've done apple wild turkey and then smoked cheese on some dying embers at home that we liked. I like the smell of those woods.

[DouginUtah]

While not specific to burning, here is a list of woods which are toxic to man.

http://www.mendelu.cz/~horacek/toxic.htm

(This is my first post here so I may not have the system figured out yet--espcially my web page links which are in my profile/signature.)

[Tillaway]

Welcome Doug, those are good links. :P ;D

[CHARLIE]

Welcome to the forum UtahDoug! Great to have you join. I hope you enjoy it as much as I.

[ButtonRock]

  Thanks for the replies, we have already had fires in the chimney, contacted the manufacturer and they said not to worry about it because it was designed to handle it the chimney is quarter inch steel. Quite a sight at night , blue fire like a jet exhaust.

[CHARLIE]

If the chimney was in a house, I'd be concerned about it. 1/4" steel or not, that chimney gets hot and could ignite anything flammable that is close to it.  I wouldn't think a chimney fire would be or should be a normal occurrance. :

[Lenny]

I burn whatever i cut,hardwood , pine,act. I find if you open the stove up and let the flue get hot once a day your flue will stay clean. more so with A air Tite

[OneWithWood]

We have a Central Boiler external boiler, C-40 I think, and we burn hardwoods almost exclusively 'cause that's what I got 8)
Every once in a while we open up the door and just let it roar ;D
As long as the surrounding area is not dry it is a great way to clean the flue in a hurry and keep the creosote buildup in check.  We are careful to not boil the water.  I still run a brush through it whenever I clean out the ash.
We never ever burn any treated wood!!

[Corley5]

I burn mostly hard maple with a mix of beech, ash, and some ironwood.  Every few days I open the stove up and throw in a couple cardboard boxes and let her burn.  Then I tap the the sides of the pipe and all the scale falls back into the stove.  I take the pipe down once a year and replace it if necessary and have never cleaned it during a heating season.  Works for me and no chimney fires.  My chimney consists of 8" pipe that goes into an 8" metal-bestos chimney where it goes through the ceiling and out through the roof.  It's a straight shot with no elbows which is ideal.