Can you burn old barn wood

Sure you could burn it.

Just say'en ...up here folks will pay good coin for weathered barn siding. But they're usually looking for minimums of 3-5 square for an inside den or barroom wall. If you have that amount or more you may want to reconsider.

experienced lumber can be worth quite a bit of $$.. you might want to find out what kind of wood it is, could be something valuable.. like old chestnut or something.. lots of that used in barns, and if the wood is any kind of sound, the exterior appearence is not that much of a deal, it is going to get planed and jointed anyways. I don't know where you are in KY, but there are lots of artists and woodworkers around..

I burn scraps of it, but its way mmore valuable to turn into things like flooring .

Well it's not a barn, but I've used boards from a camp that was built by my Uncle when he was a teen-ager . . . he's in his mid-60s now. Mostly these boards are being cut up and used as kindling . . . well the ones that I didn't re-use for siding on my woodshed.

I missed out on a timber frame barn that a friend of mine tore down and hauled away in dumpsters. It was before I burned.
It was an oak, post and beam 2 story structure. Nobody wanted it, even for free. I did get some of the beams, sold a couple, still have some. I would burn it, if it couldn't be used for anything else. It is probably old growth lumber. Very high quality wood.

I read the original post again. I also got some oak siding from that barn I spoke about. I did use some for a building project, made a picture frame from some and cut the best from the boards. The rest I am burning a kindling.

"Barn wood" brings premium price in Colorado. It has even been, at times, a high-theft item with people stealing it right off buildings. It's wood, it will burn fine, though.

I know someone who got caught tearing barn wood from an old bldg., by the owner, and avoided jail by offering to pay the guy good money. And, yes, he got to take the wood.

I guess it depends on whether you need the firewood or the money more.