I got the sassafras blues

I am not a big fan of sassafras either, but have tons of it and mix it with locust etc. Think I remember the avatar, having watched quite a bit of lee van clef. A great actor

I will still chew on a tender branch for the flavor. Can't say I seek it out to burn.

Sassafras is a beautiful little tree and it makes great, easily split kindling when you have to cut one, but as a heat source, not so good. Hardly better than Deodar Cedar!

Can't beat the aroma when splitting it. Except for Red Oak maybe.

No way Pauly. Sassy wins every time.

Cedrusdeodara, good to have you back. Stick around longer this time!

I've been using dead Sass for stacking wood. I'll either stack directly on straight trunks 4 or 5" in diameter, or buck and split bigger ones and use them for blocks to elevate pallets. It's supposed to be fairly rot-resistant and it'll be interesting to see how long they last.

Woody Stover said:

I've been using dead Sass for stacking wood. I'll either stack directly on straight trunks 4 or 5" in diameter, or buck and split bigger ones and use them for blocks to elevate pallets. It's supposed to be fairly rot-resistant and it'll be interesting to see how long they last.

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yep, plus large pieces are easy to carry. I am burning some this year to get my locust going.

If I remember right from the Boy Scouts, Sassafras will burn well even green because of natural oils it produces. Not sure it its the best thing for a wood stove though....

Brewmonster said:

Sassafras is a beautiful little tree and it makes great, easily split kindling when you have to cut one, but as a heat source, not so good. Hardly better than Deodar Cedar!

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Sassafras are the only tree that I know of that sports THREE different leaf shapes on the same tree.

Check it out sometime. You will see a single lobed leaf, a triple lobed leaf, and a double lobed leaf (looks like a mitten). Kind of cool.

Makes good tea (roots) too.

CenterTree said:

Sassafras are the only tree that I know of that sports THREE different leaf shapes on the same tree.

Check it out sometime. You will see a single lobed leaf, a triple lobed leaf, and a double lobed leaf (looks like a mitten). Kind of cool.

Makes good tea (roots) too.

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My Dad use to make sassafras tea when I was a kid. Still prefer a coke though.

If I remember right from the Boy Scouts, Sassafras will burn well even green because of natural oils it produces. Not sure it its the best thing for a wood stove though....[/quote]


Many species have oils in them. I don't think dried sass is bad for your stove. My boy scouts are learning to split by hacking at a tire full of small "Root beer tree" rounds. Makes 'em feel like Paul Bunyan.

osagebow said:

If I remember right from the Boy Scouts, Sassafras will burn well even green because of natural oils it produces. Not sure it its the best thing for a wood stove though....

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Many species have oils in them. I don't think dried sass is bad for your stove. My boy scouts are learning to split by hacking at a tire full of small "Root beer tree" rounds. Makes 'em feel like Paul Bunyan.[/quote]

Make sure you also teach them to measure a full cord properly. Bought 3 cords from a Boy Scout troop out here, ended up with about 2.33 cords, and when I called them out on it they said it was because I stacked it too tightly and they refused to budge. Should have measured before I handed over the cash, but I expected an organization like that to be more upstanding. Now I flag their ads on the local classifieds whenever I see them.

BCC_Burner said:

Many species have oils in them. I don't think dried sass is bad for your stove. My boy scouts are learning to split by hacking at a tire full of small "Root beer tree" rounds. Makes 'em feel like Paul Bunyan.

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Make sure you also teach them to measure a full cord properly. Bought 3 cords from a Boy Scout troop out here, ended up with about 2.33 cords, and when I called them out on it they said it was because I stacked it too tightly and they refused to budge. Should have measured before I handed over the cash, but I expected an organization like that to be more upstanding. Now I flag their ads on the local classifieds whenever I see them.[/quote]


Well that certainly does not appear they are teaching the right things to boy scouts!

Looking for a bargain buying a fundraiser product might be a problem. We sell obviously overpriced popcorn , and the girl's overpriced cookie cartel is legendary. I still buy every year.
Kids are selling firewood in 2013-
Can't fathom flagging them, IMHO.

I don't come across sassafras very often. I have a friend that burns it when he comes across it though. He loves it for making kindling, and/or mixing medium splits with his black locust.

CenterTree, mulberry also has polymorphic leaves.

Cheers.

Mr. Van Cleff, I cut up my first mulberry tree this summer and am excited to burn it in a couple years with all the positive feedback. I have burned hedge so I know about the snap, crackle, pop. It is indeed cool to saw a yellow heartwood and see it turn to a rusty brown. Mine split easy too. ^5s.

BCC_Burner said:

but I expected an organization like that to be more upstanding. Now I flag their ads on the local classifieds whenever I see them.

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I understand your frustration BCC, with the cookies (Mr. Bow) and the wood. Flagging them? That one is a classic. Their just trying to get their wood badge for gods sake. Wait, no wood badge, oh yea never was a boyscout.

I get good burn times with sass in shoulder season, great wood IMO. Have gotten 10+ hours with "useable heat". Was split and stacked for 11 months

USMC80 said:

I get good burn times with sass in shoulder season, great wood IMO. Have gotten 10+ hours with "useable heat". Was split and stacked for 11 months

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M80, your stove rocks. Mine sucks bigtime compared to yours, at least my burntimes do..........

well I'm sure the burn times will be reduced in the middle of winter but pretty confident I will get 8 hours

Hickorynut said:

M80, your stove rocks. Mine sucks bigtime compared to yours, at least my burntimes do..........

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doesn't the freedom have a 2.9 cubic foot firebox?

BCC_Burner said:

Make sure you also teach them to measure a full cord properly. Bought 3 cords from a Boy Scout troop out here, ended up with about 2.33 cords, and when I called them out on it they said it was because I stacked it too tightly and they refused to budge. Should have measured before I handed over the cash, but I expected an organization like that to be more upstanding. Now I flag their ads on the local classifieds whenever I see them.

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I understand your frustration with it being that different. According to the USDA you measure a Cord when it is first stacked by the person that stacks it first. So if they stacked it and it was a cord it was a cord, even if you take it home and stack it and come up with less. If the wood was never stacked, just piled and delivered and dumped, then your stack would be the first and the one to measure. I think this is partially because no two people will ever stack an exact cord the same way, and wood shrinks as it dries and it shrinks the most across the grain which would directly affect the height of the stacks.

Not saying you're wrong just thought you might find this interesting.