Question for pine burners!!!

PARKBOY said:

Do you also burn cedar as well?

Click to expand...

I only occasionally burn pine, so I don't know if I'm a "pine burner" by your definition, but I burned about a half cord of red cedar along with my hardwood this winter, and I have another half cord for next season that's not quite dry yet.

It burns fine, but the BTU content is low. Less than white pine. Even a little less than cottonwood, according to a chart I looked at. Pops and crackles like mad when you first get it going, so watch the flying embers, but other than that it burns ok.

Pine and Aspen for heating. Cedar shake for start up. What makes you ask? Just curious.

I use cedar for kindling spliting the straight stuff, then anything with knots goes in the stove...

I don't usually, mainly because I live east of the [continental] divide where there isn't much cedar because it is a drier climate than west of the divide... most of the cedar over here in Mt is located in the NW corner of the state (which has a temperate rainforest climate like the Pacific Northwest). But if I get my hands on some, I'd definitely add it to my wood pile!

I have a lot of standing dead cedar. I dedicate a lot to starting fires, whether its shavings or really small splits. I also use it during the shoulder season and in the fireplace; especially when the crackle and spit have a desired effect on my wife.

RNLA said:

I use cedar for kindling spliting the straight stuff, then anything with knots goes in the stove...

Click to expand...

+1

eastern red cedar burns fast loud crackle fun to burn in open fireplace

Nothing wrong with burning pine; nothing wrong with burning cedar. The only caution is always to not stuff the stove with this wood.

At our first house we burned a lot of cedar, a friend was in the tree cutting business and he would not sell softwoods so I got them for free. I don't prefer it because of the low BTU content but it is wood and it will burn which is all I care about.

A few years ago we cut down some junipers and that seemed like more of a hardwood yet smells like cedar.

I load my stove up at night with pine as tight as I can get it. After making an adjustment to the air intake on my stove I don't have any overfiring problems. With pine I needed to be able to cut the air down a little more than the factory minimum setting all the pitch will make it burn too fast and hot. After changing the air setting I can load it up and get great burn time with stove top temps between 450°-675°. I suspect with hardwood I would need to supply more air.

I burn a mix of woods, as i get mixed logging truck loads.
While my favorite wood i get is birch, i also burn pine, spruce, cedar, larch, hemlock, poplar, and cottonwood.
It all burns just fine IMO, and the stove just needs reloading a little more often burning some species is all.

I burn a fair amount of cedar -- eastern white -- but like pine it tends to burn fast and hot . . . mostly use it as kindling or for use in the shoulder season.

PARKBOY said:

Do you also burn cedar as well?

Click to expand...

white cedar , white pine and hemlock all get thrown in the same pile.

I burn alligator juniper which is a type of cedar . It burns hot but not very long . I mix it with oak , it works great especially with the oak not being as dry as it should be .

Better burning (cedar/pine) for heat, than composting it for, well, compost!