Whats Your Big 3 of Firewood?

[Magicman]

My Dad told me that during his early years Black Locust was the species of choice for the wood cook stove.

[RCBS]

Whatever is lying on the ground.  I have choice of red and white oak, sugar maple, black locust, honey locust, red elm, beech and white ash.

1st is black locust 

2nd is sugar maple or honey locust

3rd everything else

Truthfully, except for black locust I usually go for whatever is easiest to bring out of the woods/ shortest pull.  Red oak is a staple, white oak is a bonus.  I have a hell of a time splitting the hickory around here...stringy as all get out and fights all the way.  I have several girdled honey locusts that are great firewood once seasoned.  Love/hate seeing sugar maple on the ground.  I will grab red elm tops for rounds.  Black Locust is the only wood that I will go out of my way for.

[rthorp14]

I'd have to say oak, yellow birch and beech. Lately I've been burning a lot of ash. I will burn maple too but only if they blow down....it's kind of a sacrelige to cut down a perfectly good maple...lol

[SwampDonkey]

And not even a perfect one, could be on the lawn and one live limb left and yet it stands proudly.  ;D

[thecfarm]

rthorp14,welcome to the forum. Must own land? How do you get your firewood out of the woods?

[SwampDonkey]

Break out the mush meadows. *Another one for Al to scratch his head over. :D

[rthorp14]

And not even a perfect one, could be on the lawn and one live limb left and yet it stands proudly.  ;D

Ain't it the truth!

[rthorp14]

rthorp14,welcome to the forum. Must own land? How do you get your firewood out of the woods?

Thanks for the welcome!  This is an awesome forum. I have forty acres and I use a kubota L3010 with a Fransgard V3004. It handles most anything I come across.

[Al_Smith]

Break out the mush meadows. *Another one for Al to scratch his head over. :D

Mush meadows it is now .I'm convinced you folks in the frozen tundra do not speak the "Queens English" You don't even speak the Canadian version of English .

Let be quess .Could that be the substitute for buffalo chips but seeings it's Canadas' substitute which could be cow pies or moose nuggets .It would have to moose a poor old cow would freeze her udders off .

[SwampDonkey]

 : : I didn't know it was that complicated.  **marshmallows** ;D

[Corley5]

Is marsh mellow a state of mind/being  ??? ???  Or are we referring to the marshmallows used for 'smores  ;) ;D

[SwampDonkey]

haha  ;D

I was going to tell Al though, we wasn't governed by the king at first but his illegitimate son Prince Rupert.  ;D :D :D

[Al_Smith]

Rubert invented marshmallows ? Wow didn't know that .

[Magicman]

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, rthorp14.   

As you can see, it doesn't take long for most threads to turn to food.  Some lighthearted jests, and eventually someone will get it back on track.  This is a very informative and fun place, and we like pictures.   

[LittleJohn]

1: Free, preferrably split
2: Slab wood off of mill
3: standing timber

I know, I know not the best answer, but hey I also have two favorite beer types; free and ice-cold (best if together)

[yellowrosefarm]

Oak of any sort when I can get it, which isn't very often. Locust and Ash are next best and I like dry pine as well for it's creosote removing ability :laugh: It's the only wood that will burn fast and hot enough to scour the inside of my OWB firebox. One wood I don't like is Maple. It's ugly to split, takes forever to dry and leaves a weird puffy white residue inside the stove and pipe. Plus the smoke smells bad when the draft fan cuts off. Thats another way pine shines. Love the smell of that smoke on slow burn.

[SwampDonkey]

What kind of maple you burn'n? :D

[Al_Smith]

As you can see, it doesn't take long for most threads to turn to food.  Some lighthearted jests, and eventually someone will get it back on track.   

Now that was Swampish and his marsh meadows or what ever Rubert invented .Lawdy they stick those things in yams of all things .I can't imagine .

Now this pine business I don't get nor the maple stuff .

[pabst79]

Swamp, I also had a hard time with maple a couple years ago, it smelled like urine when split and burning? It was a bit punky in the middle, a bacteria? It was soft maple, I do like the smell of pine too, but cherry is the best, burning some right now could sit outside and smell it all night, would freeze to death however..

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, I never burn the soft maple species. But even sugar maple has a barn yard smell when left outside and not in a woodshed. But when burning it's not a bad smell, it's  unique smell though. As with any wood. I can tell when white birch is in the stove, as well as aspen, or beech. All wood is pretty much unique in odor.

[Al_Smith]

Oh pshaw nothing wrong with soft maple you just have to lay the air to it so it burns faster .Fact of the matter is I'm sitting as I type in 75 degree heat from a load of soft maple in the wood stove .

The truth of that is I couldn't get to the ash and oak piles because of the snow this evening after I got off work .The soft maple pile was close enough to get to .

[pabst79]

Oh I still burn lots of soft maple but, its all small dia. The stuff I had a problem with was more in the 14"-20" dia, and punky in the middle. smelled horrible thats for sure? smiley_chop

[thecfarm]

Sounds like the maple I cut out of the meadow.

[Al_Smith]

Well it's rotten .Even punky oak burns lousy .

Now you talk about something that smells like horse pee that's it .Half rotten oak or rain soaked oak sawdust .I think the stuff ferments or something .

[SwampDonkey]

You guys are a hoot. You can take the smell of hog and cow manure and horse pith, but not fermented wood. Oh well, gotta get your jollies somehow.  ;D :D :D