Keep/burn bark, or toss it?

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tymbee

Member
Dec 2, 2011
92
Upstate NY
Finally getting around to splitting about 8 full cords of oak-- mostly red with some white. As it's been cut to length and stacked for well over a year, most of the bark just falls off when starting to split. I've been tossing the larger pieces aside and have hauled away 3 large tractor buckets full so far.

Wondering if it's worth keeping to burn at some point, perhaps at least as kindling? The pieces of bark are very solid and quite thick so my thought is that it would make sense to dump it somewhere to dry out more until fall. Or on the other hand, maybe not worth the effort?

Any bark burners out there-- what would you do?
 
I keep a pretty good amount of the nice oak strips - dries pretty quick and makes excellent kindling. The rest of the bark gets tossed on top of my stacks (they are covered with rubber roofing) and I grab as needed for the fire pit. Cheers!
 
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i hear of a lot of people using it as kindling, but every time i throw random bark in to start a fire (stove or fire pit) it smokes a lot more than my liking. if the fire is already going well, or it's attached to the wood it doesn't seem to though.
 
I trash most bark. Maybe keep some hickory bark, but most other stuff gets tossed around the property in various places.
 
Iron wood bark is great for kindling.
 
Bark makes good ground covering for your splitting area. Keeps weeds, grass, and mud down.
 
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I use it for mulch around our trees and in our flower beds. It lasts longer than ground mulch.
 
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I use it for mulch and trail maintenance mostly but plenty of it gets burned right there in the fire I have going while splitting. I don't save any for kindling because I just use Super Cedars to start fires. Really good stuff like what you are speaking works for quick, hot fires during the shoulder season if really dry or as a burst of fire light around the campfire pit when it is getting late in the evening and the fire is getting low.
 
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if it's loose and junky, I toss it. If it comes off in flat sheets, I pack one piece inside another piece inside another until I have a bark "split". they get tossed into the stove with the rest of the wood. I like to do this especially with maple bark, it comes off in curly 'sheets'.
Hickory bark gets saved for cooking and smoking (and did you read the post recently about using shagbark hickory bark for making syrup?). But, I gotta admit, my favorite trees to cut in the woods are those long dead standing white oaks...you know, the ones that have NO BARK AND NO SAPWOOD. Stuff is clean and easy to stack...
 
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Most of the chunks I've tossed in the piles are pretty solid. I'll have to dry some for awhile then see how well it burns than decide if mulch, kindling, or "bark split" is the way to go. :)
Bark1.jpg

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Scotty Overkill said:
if it's loose and junky, I toss it. If it comes off in flat sheets, I pack one piece inside another piece inside another until I have a bark "split". they get tossed into the stove with the rest of the wood. I like to do this especially with maple bark, it comes off in curly 'sheets'.
Hickory bark gets saved for cooking and smoking (and did you read the post recently about using shagbark hickory bark for making syrup?). But, I gotta admit, my favorite trees to cut in the woods are those long dead standing white oaks...you know, the ones that have NO BARK AND NO SAPWOOD. Stuff is clean and easy to stack...
Click to expand...
 
tymbee said:
Most of the chunks I've tossed in the piles are pretty solid. I'll have to dry some for awhile then see how well it burns than decide if mulch, kindling, or "bark split" is the way to go. :)
Bark1.jpg

Bark2.jpg
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Yeah, you got a nice pile of bark there. Get some bundling twine, tie up some bark bundles, and use them in your scampfire pit this summer. If you plan on saving them for your stove this fall, you're gonna want to keep them out of the weather.....
 
Burn it!

P1000966.JPG

I have recently started burning bark in my chimnea. It takes a little while to get a good fire going, but once you do it makes a really nice blaze and creates quite a bed of coals. Thinking about trying it in the barbeque.
 
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MrWhoopee said:
Burn it!

View attachment 103452

I have recently started burning bark in my chimnea. It takes a little while to get a good fire going, but once you do it makes a really nice blaze and creates quite a bed of coals. Thinking about trying it in the barbeque.
Click to expand...
Ah, a little bark with your wine - nice! Cheers!
 
How well do you all think it would compost? Started a compost bin for my garden (first year with a 40X60' garden) and never thought about using the bark - I'm thinking I'd have to break it down real small. Cheers!
 
Burning bark. This is where the old saying of, "Heap big smoke but no fire," came from. You can burn it if you wish. We just use it for mulch and for putting in the wet areas of the trails in the woods. Sometimes we just leave it lay and rot right there.
 
I save some birch bark for fire starter.
Other bark makes good mulch, not worth saving to burn.
 
I take all the bark to the landfill except oak and hickory.
That burns pretty good... for bark that is.
 
I collect some bark for kindling - I put it in bins and let it dry over the summer. It has to be dry otherwise it doesn't start the fire well. I'm also going to use it for mulch this year as I have a lot more than I need. Using it in campfires also works really well.
 
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The only bark I burn is the bark that is stuck to the split. If it falls off it becomes mulch around my stacks. I have even used my splitter to remove some of the thick bark we get on the red oaks around here and most times when I do that I find grubs. Some times that stuff can be 1 1/2" thick and just seems to be a nice place for insects to hang out besides the fact that I think splits without bark dry faster.
 
Most of the bark that falls off the splits just gets tossed to my work area to keep down the weeds . . . but sometimes I may save some bark if it is a nice chunk of birch bark as this makes a nice fire starter.
 
Like most have said, I use it for ground cover around my stacks to keep grass and weeds from growing.
 
tymbee said:
Most of the chunks I've tossed in the piles are pretty solid. I'll have to dry some for awhile then see how well it burns than decide if mulch, kindling, or "bark split" is the way to go. :)
Bark1.jpg

Bark2.jpg
Click to expand...


Save that stuff. I'm going to have a pile just like it this fall when I move a bunch of oak into the shed.

If you have a chipper/shredder...that's the best mulch you can get after you compost it for a year.
 
I usually toss my bark but have in the past kept some for kindling.....to me it seems like more work and mess than it is worth although it will burn well. Considering all the dirt and bugs are in the bark I usually opt to rake it all up and dump in the woods or bring it to the town landfill to discard. Locust bark comes off in large pieces and dries nicely and will get the fire going nicely
 
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