Burning Block Wood

ckdeuce said:

I have a chance to buy 4 1/2 cords of "Block" Hardwood. They are 4x4 and 4x6 blocks cut from heavy duty pallet ends. Anyone use such wood? I have a Hearthstone Mansfield and am concerned about overfiring due to the fact that the wood is dried hardwood. I imagine (since the wood is square blocks) that if I fill the stove correctly by stacking the wood instead of just tossing it in that it would burn at a good rate.

Thoughts?

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I only use scrap wood to supplement. it burns way too hot to fill a stove up with it IMO.

ckdeuce said:

I have a chance to buy 4 1/2 cords of "Block" Hardwood. They are 4x4 and 4x6 blocks cut from heavy duty pallet ends. Anyone use such wood? I have a Hearthstone Mansfield and am concerned about overfiring due to the fact that the wood is dried hardwood. I imagine (since the wood is square blocks) that if I fill the stove correctly by stacking the wood instead of just tossing it in that it would burn at a good rate.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Burn pallet wood all the time. I adjust accodingly with the draft as it does burn hot. Also mixing in splits helps get a hotter burn to rise temp up faster.Hell some of the pallets are poplar which ranks with pine ,but it works ok for my use. Free as well,so its makes sense.If the price is right i'd go for it.

ckdeuce said:

I have a chance to buy 4 1/2 cords of "Block" Hardwood. They are 4x4 and 4x6 blocks cut from heavy duty pallet ends. Anyone use such wood? I have a Hearthstone Mansfield and am concerned about overfiring due to the fact that the wood is dried hardwood. I imagine (since the wood is square blocks) that if I fill the stove correctly by stacking the wood instead of just tossing it in that it would burn at a good rate.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

I used to burn that exclusively at one time,until they tripled the price,told them to keep it.Anyway it burns great and I never had a problem with a runaway stove just keep an eye on your air in the initial start up.

I burn hardwood ends from a local mill - would be around the same size as you described - oak, maple, some birch mixed in. Maybe not as dry as pallets but they are dry, and they do burn great. You can stack them tight together in the stove like one big block which I find slows the burn down considerably, or just toss one in with other splits to get the heat up quicker. Other advantages from the milled stuff: it's clean - no bugs, bark, etc., and it's very easy to handle (my better half likes this). I think its a great way to supplement your wood supply, especially if the price is right.

ohlongarm said:

until they tripled the price

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hmm - the skids they drop beside the road do seem to be getting loaded a bit lighter lately... maybe I could be going down that same path here (hope not). I try to scoop some at the end of the burning season when there seems to be less interest - hopefully that will keep the price in check (right now, it's not too bad....).

ckdeuce said:

$370 delivered for 4 1/2 cords. Thought that was fair.

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That sounds like a steal!

ckdeuce said:

I have a chance to buy 4 1/2 cords of "Block" Hardwood. They are 4x4 and 4x6 blocks cut from heavy duty pallet ends. Anyone use such wood? I have a Hearthstone Mansfield and am concerned about overfiring due to the fact that the wood is dried hardwood. I imagine (since the wood is square blocks) that if I fill the stove correctly by stacking the wood instead of just tossing it in that it would burn at a good rate.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

I have been burning the same stuff most of the winter, I think it is great as we cant get hardwood around here.You are correct stack the wood in there and get a nice long burn.Great stuff.

I have oak blocks from heavy duty crates that are 1.25 x 6 inches and I cut them to 18 to fit my stove. They are very dry but never kiln dried like a 2x4 so its just rough cut lumber.
They burn hot Be very careful and try just a little at first.. don't just fill up your stove or you could have a problem.
I like my boards because on the super cold nights, I use them to fill in the little cracks between, above, and on the sides of the regular splits. There is a significant difference in how much longer my stove burns so they do help..

ckdeuce said:

I have a chance to buy 4 1/2 cords of "Block" Hardwood. They are 4x4 and 4x6 blocks cut from heavy duty pallet ends. Anyone use such wood? I have a Hearthstone Mansfield and am concerned about overfiring due to the fact that the wood is dried hardwood. I imagine (since the wood is square blocks) that if I fill the stove correctly by stacking the wood instead of just tossing it in that it would burn at a good rate.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

Sounds like a good deal. The size should be much better than what most folks burn when burning pallets so I doubt overfiring will be a problem. Just go easy at the start and see how it goes. You might want to stack with a little air space in the stove rather than fitting it in all tight with the square blocks. Those pose a problem that regular splits don't.

And why is it that most folks automatically assume pallet wood is super dry? Most pallets are put together not with super dry wood but with green lumber. If the pallets are used over and over and over, yes, they will get super dry. However, many pallets are used one time and therefore would not be super dry. In addition, it depends upon what wood is used to make the pallets. Most are made with what we always called junk wood. That means a little bit of everything.

I have used what sounds like the same stuff before. I use it as mix wood burns or stack pack it in for long slow burns like Bagofhammers said. No mess is great also, price sounds good too.

Todd2

don't get used to it. Most skids are switching to plastic recycled material.

Backwoods Savage said:

You might want to stack with a little air space in the stove rather than fitting it in all tight with the square blocks. Those pose a problem that regular splits don't.

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Yes - great point. I took a neatly stacked skid and kicked it over into a pile for that exact reason (started getting mold on some blocks) - stacked out in the southern facing yard with lots of wind - tarp on top - still lost a few in the middle of the stack, before I found them and just tossed the whole skid into a big pile.

bag of hammers said:

Yes - great point. I took a neatly stacked skid and kicked it over into a pile for that exact reason (started getting mold on some blocks) - stacked out in the southern facing yard with lots of wind - tarp on top - still lost a few in the middle of the stack, before I found them and just tossed the whole skid into a big pile.

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He meant in the stove.

Id be all over that deal. I thought someone else bought the same thing and built bins to toss them into for drying/storage, anyway, good deal, hope you like them.

Machria said:

He meant in the stove.

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Oops - you're right - tired eyes