Pine and other soft woods?

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Mr A

Minister of Fire
Nov 18, 2011
600
N. California
I've always heard that burning pine and other soft woods will gum up the works. Here in the Sierra Foothills, a lot of people have pine on their property and give it away. Is their a disadvantage to burning pine, other than it will burn fast, and not as hot? Check out this Craigslist ad for free wood, that's a lot of wood, and a lot of work!. http://sacramento.craigslist.org/zip/2893378847.html
 
As long as it's dried (seasoned) properly it won't "gum" up your chimney any worse then any other properly dried firewood. Although it may burn faster then some hardwoods, it can burn very hot. In fact if there is any danger in burning pine it's because it can burn so hot. If you already happen to have a lot of creosote build up in your chimney and you burn a load of dry pine and you are not use to it, you might let it get so hot that it starts a chimney fire. That's exactly why pine sometimes gets blamed for chimney fires, not that pine creates creosote in the chimney, but because it can get burning so hot, so much faster than hardwood.
 
I'm in the Sierra foothills, too, and I burn whatever type of wood is available, including Pine. It's the moisture content of the wood and the chimney temperature that determines how much creosote forms in the chimney, not the type of wood. Pine does burn faster because it's a soft wood, but that works great when you need a quick, hot fire. I use Oak for longer burns and Pine and Cedar for the times when I need to warm the house up quickly.
 
As the above two posters have stated; nothing wrong with burning dry pine and soft wood. Many only have soft wood to burn. It can burn quite hot and it will give you shorter burn times than hard wood.

If people are giving it away, take advantage of that all day and twice on Sundays.
 
I have a pine dump because I can't even give it away.
Although I see someone trying to get $100.00 a cord on craigslist, so maybe that's changing.

Fast and hot, so you need to load the stove a lot.
Great for a bonfire and when you want to play with fire in the back yard, or a campfire that doesn't burn till 10AM the next day.

We had a mild Winter and I've got almost none left so I'm going to have to try pulling some back out of the pine dump or go looking for some dead ones.
 
There are areas in the west where ponderosa pine is the primary fuel burned. With dry wood, the right burning techniques and a good stove, it's fine to burn. Blaze Kings were designed to do a good job of burning pine. Other softwoods like spruce, fir, hemlock, etc. are primary fuels for a lot of western mountain folk, the Pacific NW, and Alaska.
 
Can't believe I always read about burning pine

I live in Colorado mountains at 10,000 feet where it gets -30's in deep winter and it snows 4 feet at a time

Guess what kind of wood EVERYONE burns here? Yup... Pine

There is no other wood around except pine and Aspen.

Hard wood will just burn longer, the end.
 
Over on the Boulder side of the mtns. they also burn spruce. It grows slowly at high altitudes and makes a very good firewood according to an early member of Hearth.com.
 
I would love to have some hardwood for overnight burns, but I'm not driving 800 miles to get it... Haha
 
I've gotten quite a bit of free pine listed on craigslist as "junk wood" because it "clogs up your flue with creosote". I've never had a problem. Love pine especially for this whole season of shoulder season this year.
 
I don't turn my nose up at anything. Properly seasoned, if it fits in my stove I burn it.
 
I LOVE Pine! We just picked up about 15 scotch pines. Burns nice and hot. It's free around here alot too, but more OWB folks are snatching it up now so it doesn't sit long.
 
I'm a new believer in pine, too. I ran an entire spruce tree through my maple syrup cooker the past four weekends and man does it deliver the heat!!! I used to more or less give all the pine I cut down away.......not any more!! I'll be using it for the next shoulder season! Lots to cut down this spring and summer!!
 
Get it fresh cut, not down and rotting, and split it and dry it for a year or two and the stuff is great. I do overnight burns in my 30-NC with it and love the stuff. The biggest mistake people make burning pine is burning it before it is dry enough. Just because it will burn doesn't mean it is time to burn it.
 
Craiglist ad free spruce logs

All the logs were 18/20" at the butt x 30' long about 20 of them. they were completly limbed, on the side of the road.
I bucked them up as fast as I could, and took them home 5 mi.

PS I own 160 acres of mixed hard wood, very little soft wood.

Am I greedy maybe, but I love the fast hot heat that pine/spruce can deliver.
 
I can't believe that anyone on the west coast would be repeating the old pine story. Sadly, I've burned all my pine for this year. Now it's getting warmer and I only have oak and cherry. Pine would be waaaay better for my occasional warm up fires right now.
 
I'm from the same part of California. I burn a lot of softwood, we can get lots of lodgepole on National Forest land and I like it.

Culturally insensitive historical info follows:
The ad says "Digger Pine", which was said to be as useless as the indians it was named after. No good for timber, no good for firewood, it doesn't even make shade in the hot foothills where it grows.

People at higher elevations won't waste the time and energy to cut and split it, but I know people who live at the elevation where it grows and they burn it because there's little else, most of the oak having been cut.
 
Pine is fine . . . except for the fact that it causes baldness when you burn it in a woodstove.
 
NOW you tell me! >:-(
 
firefighterjake said:
Pine is fine . . . except for the fact that it causes baldness when you burn it in a woodstove.
uh-oh.....maybe I won't be burning it after all! :gulp:
 
I am a low btu per cord fuel burner. That includes pine, fir, cottonwood, willow, alder, spruce, hemlock, etc. These woods do not burn much hotter than other woods, they just have less btus per stove full. So yes, you will have to refill more often. You can still control the burn rate so you can burn the softwoods as hot or as cool as you would like.

Modern EPA stoves do a great job at chowing on low btu wood. So long as it is dry and in good sized splits.
 
firefighterjake said:
Pine is fine . . . except for the fact that it causes baldness when you burn it in a woodstove.

Can I still use the excuse that it's my heavenly halo got too bright that burned my hair out?
 
Mr A said:
I've always heard that burning pine and other soft woods will gum up the works. Here in the Sierra Foothills, a lot of people have pine on their property and give it away. Is their a disadvantage to burning pine, other than it will burn fast, and not as hot? Check out this Craigslist ad for free wood, that's a lot of wood, and a lot of work!. http://sacramento.craigslist.org/zip/2893378847.html

Cut it. Split it. Stack it. It'll be ready to burn by fall.
 
Softwoods are the only type available here. I've never had any trouble if the wood is properly seasoned. For pine that's about one year. Pine's only drawback is short burn time.
 
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