What species wood produces best 2ndaries ?

Pine does it best for me- it burns faster, and is probably drier than my oak.

well if you go with the more smoke theory, then I'd say get some super-sappy pine/fir. Sap burns very dirty & produces plenty of brown/black smoke.

Or better yet, just get a bucket full of sap & dump it into your stove! :lol: (just kinding- I don't recommend doing that to your stove)

I haven't had access to a vast amount of different wood....but....when I burn ash...I notice that the secondaries are really cool...they come down and "bounce off the glass".....its really cool...looks like the glass is burnin....the envi blocks I have been burnin mixed with wood produces some good secondaries though....they do not last that long though not like good wood...

Seems to me most wood should produce decent secondaries . . . if you bring the stove up to temp and then start reducing the air. I haven't noticed much of a difference between elm, ash, apple, red maple, sugar maple, yellow birch, white birch, softwood (pine, spruce and fir) or beech. To me the key has always been the heat of the stove and the air control.

Now if you're asking for wood that delivers a bit of a fireworks show with sparks, pops and snaps . . . cedar and the softwoods seem to give a good show.

Pretty sure that gaswood give the best secondaries. Railroadtie wood might be a good choice as well...?

How about cottonwood? It burns fast and hot so it might be a good candidate for your experimenting.

How about "DRY" wood. The dryer the better.
Dry & thin splits , more surface area to off gas.
Less moisture to cook off.

Yes, DRY wood. That's what's important. It takes energy to drive moisture out of the wood and carry it up the chimney. Better to use that energy as heat for the house.

i have had a lot of luck with maple. when very dry and light weight it gasses fairly nicely.

Pine and Spruce. Dry for a yr... you can practically start the stove on shut down and watch the fireworks.

Osage orange puts on a great show with lots is sound effect. Very High BTU's!

black locust bark, well if you stuff a firebox full of any type of dry bark, it will produce lots of flames and secondaries.

Cedar produces really pretty secondaries, but they do not last very long.