Another (Slightly Different) Bark Question

Don't sweat it, burn it

Trooper, do yourself a big favor and forget everything you've heard about pine and creosote. It is all baloney. If you want to strip some bark that is okay but it is a big time and labor waster. Throw it into the stove.....but only after it has been dried in the stack.

Dry it, burn it, .....done.

I wouldn't strip the bark right before burning, but I sometimes peel off loose bark before I stack the firewood for a couple of years. I m convinced that bark slows the drying process, but it burns just fine. Backwoods said it right - pine doesn't cause creosote buildup any more than any other wood causes creosote buildup. Burning wet wood and burning without adequate air causes creosote buildup.

Agree with Dennis. Anything seasoned well will burn productively. Oh except willow.

The bark on Douglas Fir, I believe, is much similar to that of pine. Dry Douglas Fir bark burns very hot and in a brisk fire, there is little or no smoke.
The biggest danger to an all metal stove would be to burn a load of bark only. I have seen where it has warped non cast grates in a fireplace and also warped the sides of a Fisher stove! Burning splits with bark on should not be a problem. The bark on the old growth fir that I'm standing on is 6" thick.


The lower three logs in this picture are Douglas Fir with bark ranging 2" to 6" in thickness. The thick bark on the Douglas Fir was the tree's defense against fire. The thick bark at the base of the tree insulated the trunk from the damage of a ground fire.

Backwoods Savage said:

Trooper, do yourself a big favor and forget everything you've heard about pine and creosote. It is all baloney.

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I am no expert on burning pine (or any other wood, really), but I've done a lot of reading on the topic and one real difference I've seen noted is that pine tar ignites at unusually low temperatures. I think this may be the source of the misunderstanding that pine causes creosote problems. The extreme flammability of pine tars means pine will burn while still quite wet, making for a particularly cool and smoky fire -- perfect conditions for creosote buildup. In other words, it's easier to do it wrong when you're doing it with pine, and having done it wrong it's easier to blame the pine than to blame oneself.

Pine is fine . . . whether it be heart wood or bark.

Trooper said:

Thanks everyone. I'll just make sure, to quote someone here, that my wood is 'drier than a popcorn fart'.
I will also stop listening to the old-timers when it comes to burning pine

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Careful there. They tell me I'm an old timer....