Eastern white pine

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ScottF

ScottF

New Member
Aug 7, 2008
411
Southern NH
I have a lot of Eastern white pine on my lot. Whenever it is necessary to take a tree down for whatever reason( Dead or uprooted due to winds) I dispose of the wood at the local landfill.

I do burn white birch. I dont have a problem with burning softwood and I understand how hot and fast it burns compared to hardwood. I have never burned it however, because I have always been told that it creates lots of creosote due to the pine pitch in the wood.

Question is this. Does the creosote dissipate after you season it properly? Does it create a chimney fire hazard. Does anyone have any experience or any information to offer? Is it even worth the time to process it ? Thanks for any info
 
I say as long as it is properly seasoned you won't have a problem with any kind of wood. It will burn hotter and faster than hardwood, but why waste it in a landfill. Use it in the spring and fall or mix it in with hardwood. It's still free heat.
 
In this area people just dont seem to burn it. We have always been told that the pine pitch tars up the chimney . If you go to the local landfill it is full of pine logs. All the tree guys and landscapers dispose of them. Maybe it is a fallacy that it it tars up the chimney. Just wondering if this theory has any merit?
 
Please send it to me! Or at least make pellets from it. FWIW, I believe that most of the country (by geographic mass) does not burn hardwood.
 
I have lots of white pine.
For me, "worth" it depends on how much other wood I have.

It cuts up fast, it's easy to split as long as it's not full of (big) knots.
It does burn fast. In Februaury that can be frustrating when it seems to just vaporize in the stove.

I've thrown a lot out. There have been some Marches and Aprils I'd wished I hadn't.
I can't give it away. Even the local campgrounds don't want it, even if you have it campsite-ready.

If it's not dry , the pitch will bubble out and your smoke will be quite visible. I usually wait for the bark to fall off by itself to indicate ready. Handle enough of it and you can almost tell by the lack of weight.

It can also be nice to have for when (relatives) run out and eye yor stacks and keep mentioning they are out.
Take all the pine you want. :) (mine's usually not split, easy to roll rounds)



Edit:
Call me cautious, but I would not burn this years' downed pine this year. Not in an airtight stove.
 
I cant give it away either. None of my relative want it either. In this part of the country nobody wants it. Like I said landfill if full of logs people dont want. I dumped 20 large trees last year. I have access to lots more but dont want to waste my energy.
 
ScottF said:
In this area people just dont seem to burn it. We have always been told that the pine pitch tars up the chimney . If you go to the local landfill it is full of pine logs. All the tree guys and landscapers dispose of them. Maybe it is a fallacy that it it tars up the chimney. Just wondering if this theory has any merit?
Click to expand...

Sounds like you have an abundance of free firewood. I think back in the days of the old air tight stoves people burned alot of wet pine, shut the air down to make the burn last longer and the result was major creosote.
 
I'll take pine. I don't go out of my way for it, but if I'm out of stuff to split or if it's already cut up into rounds I'll grab it. I'd season it a year, unless it's split into small pieces.

If you burn scrap lumber or pallets there is a good chance you are burning kiln dried pine (~6% moisture). Just be careful, not to fill the fire box with it, mix it with a species that doesn't burn as fast and hot. You also want to make sure that the pallets don't smell funny, who knows what has been spilled on them. Stay away from particle board too or anything with glue, paint, or stain.
 
I always heard the same thing you did and my wife is STILL afraid of softwood because of the myths even after showing her the articles and posts here. This year I cleaned out a section of my woodlot full of pine and spruce. I must have a few cords of the stuff there now. I decided I was throwing away money by not using this after it has seasoned. I figure I can use it in the fall/spring and on days when Im around to feed the stove. As others have said, its free heat.
 
I dont think the issue is with the other soft woods as much as it is with the eastern white pine. It is loaded with pine pitch or sap. I think the issue is that the sap creates a lot of creosote. I dont know if this is true or not but most people around here believe that it is.
 
All my wood that is split/stacked/sitting in rounds (with the esception of a wheelbarrow of oak, cha-ching) is pine. All of it was free, and it is all I will burn this winter. I will only touch the oak if we get a real cold spell(highly unlikely).

You will burn more pine to equal what you usually burn in hardwood, but you can also mix it with you hardwood in your stove. Why burn hardwood for a quick fire to take the chill off when you can use pine instead?

Us left coasters don't mind the pine. Personally, I like that when split, the pine seasons in 6 months.
 
There would be an awful lot of cold people way up North if they couldn't burn pine (or one of its cousins). The coldest areas usually have the least amount of hardwoods (think Canada, Alaska, Northern States, etc.)
 
Pitch doesn't cause creosote. Condesate does.
Pitch is a fuel.
Pitch is a fuel when it is dry. When it is not it has water in it, just like the rest of the wood cellular structure.

You might get more creosote from trying to control a hot burning softwood rather than a hardwood, but I doubt it.
I'd bet hot pine smoke gos up the chimney faster than oak and would cause less creosote than hardwood would.

It's most likely folklore myth from burning this year's cut down pine that is not dry.
and trying to slow the heat output.


Wouldn't surprise me at all that if one took green pine and oak and burned them in sidee by side stoves, throttled way back to try to control the heat output, that the oak fared worse than the pine, or maybe no difference.

Moisture and smoke particles (the grey stuff in smoke) is the devil in the chimney.
Getting rid of the grey stuff coming out of your chimney is what safe and environmentally responsible burning is all about.

Keep it clean. Burn dry wood.
 
Does anyone have any experience or any information to offer?

> Yes, with an Alaskan MK III portable one man sawmill the tree can be processed as a beam or board length wood.

http://www.granberg.com/products.html
 
Fossil is an expert Pine burner ...he'll tell ya how to burn it safely when he checks in.
 
ScottF said:
I dont think the issue is with the other soft woods as much as it is with the eastern white pine. It is loaded with pine pitch or sap. I think the issue is that the sap creates a lot of creosote. I dont know if this is true or not but most people around here believe that it is.
Click to expand...

I am far enough East that I can be in the ocean in 45 minutes and I burn a lot of pine. The sap in pine drys when it is seasoning and when some does seep out it burns right there on the surface of the wood. For the last two months of last season I left the hardwood on the stacks and burned nothing but pine in both stoves and both liners don't even really need to be swept this year even though I will do it out of habit.

EPA stoves burn the gases off of pine just like they do the gases off of hardwood. But I hope everybody stays scared of the stuff. Next year I am going to tell tree service guys that they can avoid landfill fees by cutting all they can to 16" rounds and dropping them off here.
 
Oh, gee whiz, I just don't have the energy to talk about this anymore...gotta go split & stack s'more Pine. Here's an excerpt from one of many available articles on the subject:

"All the water contained in the wood is turned to saturated steam as the wood burns. It enters the stack as steam and water droplets at a temp. of around 212 degree F. This is considerably cooler than the condensation point of the creosote gasses, 250 degrees. Thus, the presence of the steam cools the chimney, the gases condense and creosote is formed. This is true whether you burn hard or soft wood. The moisture content is all that matters. You can’t eliminate it but, burning seasoned wood will keep it to a minimum."

The full article can be found here:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/creosote_from_wood_burning_causes_and_solutions

Rick
 
fossil said:
Oh, gee whiz, I just don't have the energy to talk about this anymore...gotta go split & stack s'more Pine. Here's an excerpt from one of many available articles on the subject:

"All the water contained in the wood is turned to saturated steam as the wood burns. It enters the stack as steam and water droplets at a temp. of around 212 degree F. This is considerably cooler than the condensation point of the creosote gasses, 250 degrees. Thus, the presence of the steam cools the chimney, the gases condense and creosote is formed. This is true whether you burn hard or soft wood. The moisture content is all that matters. You can’t eliminate it but, burning seasoned wood will keep it to a minimum."

The full article can be found here:

https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/creosote_from_wood_burning_causes_and_solutions

Rick
Click to expand...

Your pine is evil too. Same deal. Sixteen inch rounds at the end of my driveway. ;-)
 
BrotherBart said:
...Your pine is evil too. Same deal. Sixteen inch rounds at the end of my driveway. ;-)
Click to expand...

Of course, I did have to move my stove to the other end of the house. Seems the heat generated from burning Pine has an (as yet) inexplicable tendency to be repelled by the north magnetic pole. %-P Rick
 
fossil said:
BrotherBart said:
...Your pine is evil too. Same deal. Sixteen inch rounds at the end of my driveway. ;-)
Click to expand...

Of course, I did have to move my stove to the other end of the house. Seems the heat generated from burning Pine has an (as yet) inexplicable tendency to be repelled by the north magnetic pole. %-P Rick
Click to expand...

Naaa, Rick. The heat is not being repelled by the North Pole, its just trying to go south for the winter. ;-P
 
I'll take free pine any day. Perfect shoulder month wood, or to mix in with your hardwood to make it last longer.

Anyone in central Maine that wants to get rid of free pine, don't hesitate to contact me!
 
I had a piece of hardwood once. Mixed it in with my pine. Seemed to burn OK. %-P Rick
 
fossil said:
I had a piece of hardwood once. Mixed it in with my pine. Seemed to burn OK. %-P Rick
Click to expand...

What is holding up that corner of the table since then?
 
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