How dry is my Pine?

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prajna101

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Oct 15, 2009
137
Portland OR
I have been eyeing a big trunk for over a year. Its a scotch pine and has been down for a long time it looks like. Ends are totally weathering and the bark is falling off. It is a low priority find but one end of it is about a foot from a parking lot so, convenience wins. I was near it today with a saw and lopped off a round to check it out. It looks great inside. So I bucked up the whole thing. It is probably 1.5 cords.

I dont have a moisture meter. But I took some splts that are light and seem dry and tossed them in the stove. They lit immediately and burned REALLY hot. Once going I shut the air down and there is no smoke coming out of the chimney. They are coaling now after a couple of hours so a pretty good burn. No blackening of the glass.

I burn mostly hardwoods, so this is a bit new to me. I am concerned about the whole "pine" thing. But feel that it should burn just fine if seasoned. Should I go ahead and burn it? Or set it aside till next year? Its just so easy its hard to burn up the good stuff when I could just toss this in the fire. Plus, I dont have a ton of room to store wood. I would prefer it to be hardwoods taking up that space.

I figure I could just burn through this then go clean my chimney and there should be no problem Right?

Any other reason not to burn it?

todd
 
Dry wood is dry wood. I am sure it will heat your home. There is no wood that deposits more creosote than others. AS LONG AS IT IS DRY. Hardwoods take longer to season so they actually have more of a chance to be not seasoned properly and leave more deposits. http://www.mastersweep.com/wood.htm try this to make sence of it. I have never burned a peice of hardwood in my life but heat 24/7 with pine and spruce for 8-10 monthes a year. My stove, house ,chimney, and family are just fine but I have been loosing my Hair. :ahhh:
 
Yes - if you burn it, you will need to replace, not clean, your chimney. Then replace the stove, the baffles, and the cat. And all your shingles will be covered in creosote too.

Pine is fine to burn... :)
 
north of 60 said:
My stove, house ,chimney, and family are just fine but I have been loosing my Hair. :ahhh:
Click to expand...

Like I ask my children whenever they loose something:

"Where did you last put it?" (If you didn't burn sooo much pine, you wouldn't have lost your mind and, hence, would know where to find your hair.) ;-)
 
OK let me rephrase. I have no problem with pine. Everyone I know heats with it in Idaho.

So, What is worse, my somewhat seasoned hardwoods, or my unknown pine?

I am pretty sure my scotch pine has been down longer, but in in log form on the ground. My hardwoods have been down less than a year, split, and covered.

What do I burn first?

t
 
(I dont have a moisture meter. But I took some splts that are light and seem dry and tossed them in the stove. They lit immediately and burned REALLY hot. Once going I shut the air down and there is no smoke coming out of the chimney. They are coaling now after a couple of hours so a pretty good burn. No blackening of the glass.)

I think you answered your own question then.






(I am concerned about the whole “pine” thing. )


Good thing you have no problem with pine. :roll:
 
If your weather hasn't turned real cold I would burn the pine during the day and some of the hard wood at night to give a longer fire. Pine is light when it is dry and will ignite rather quickly. I wonder if the pieces you burned were from the end of the log or if they were more towards the center? There may be a higher moisture content towards the center of the log. I have some spruce that is moist even after two years of being cut. It's about 40" diameter laying on its side and when I split it I find the center of the rounds still moist to the touch.
 
I would rather burn pine that I know is dry than oak that might not be dry.
 
I have about a hundred or so Scotch and they do rot pretty quick.These trees have been the only ones I haven't tried too hard to salvage.
 
If the smaller rounds are dry like you say burn them first then move to the bigger ones to give them a little bit longer to dry.As far as cresote build up pine and any other softwood is safe to burn as long as it's dry and you remember it burns hotter faster than hardwood so over firing doesn't happen.
 
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