Red Pine worth the hassle for my Econoburn?

I"d say since half the work is already done you may as well split and stack / burn it. Dont Know on seasoning time. I'd guess 1 year after split. I burn pine scraps in my gasser but have never tried just pine. It would probably be great shoulder season wood if you dont have that storage hooked up. Less BTU = less idling.

I use pine, and it burns quick. I use it when starting fires, kindling, 3-4 pieces of pine then hardwood on top. Just an FYI, I have heard that red oak can cause premature wear on the refractory nozzle and target on Tarms, not sure about Econoburn.

It's worth the "hassle" for my Tarm. Red pine, jack pine, white pine and aspen are just about exclusively what I burn because that's the wood I have. I season split/stacked two full summers before burning. Stacks are covered with scrap metal roofing sheets to keep the rain/snow off and still allow good air circulation. I don't know if one summer is enough to get the MC down to what a gasser needs, as I opt for two summers of seasoning.

You'll really like your 1000 gal of pressurized storage, which is what I have, and now will be starting my 4th heating season with the pressurized storage. Absolutely trouble free. I did the water test/treatment routine which for the fairly nominal expense thought well worth the investment in a long term boiler install.

A gasser will fare better with pine than an OWB or standard wood burner but it's still "gopher" wood compared to red oak. It doesn't coal as well as dense hardwoods in my gasser but it works well enough. Nofossil burned mostly pine for one winter that I recall and he has storager. Since the "mess" is in the yard I can't tink of a better way to clean it up than with your gassifier. It may not happen all in one season so be patient. Also it won't rot out on you very quickly if kept dry. Of the two I believe the pine is listed higher on the btu chart than the spruce so you might want to cycle the spruce out first.

See the other thread on Hemlock. I've been burning Spruce this summer and it is fine. Less heat per volume, but fine. Garn stops smoking quickly and it is amazing how few ashes it creates. In the Garn though, I'm burning flatout for a couple of hours and then I'm done for the day. Or, this summer, for the next few days. So if you have storage, burn it hot and fast (it will) and be done....

bpirger said:

See the other thread on Hemlock. I've been burning Spruce this summer and it is fine. Less heat per volume, but fine. Garn stops smoking quickly and it is amazing how few ashes it creates. In the Garn though, I'm burning flatout for a couple of hours and then I'm done for the day. Or, this summer, for the next few days. So if you have storage, burn it hot and fast (it will) and be done....

Click to expand...

I have been doing the same Bruce. I found balsam the worst for start-up smoking, perhaps because it was small splits, very dry, and I was using a firebrick in front of the intake. Sure beats propane for hot water when I have so much slabwood from the sawmill!

I have a place I can get wood from. Sometimes I accidentally pick up a piece of willow. I find myself saying,, well it's already picked up. The work is half done so burn it.

I've burned red pine in my Econoburn, with reasonably decent results. As long as it is dry, the heat output is respectable, though not remarkable- not all that far from red maple

www.mountainfirewoodkilns.com/firewood_ratings.pdf

The key thing is DRY. Unless it has a roof over it, the stuff seems to soak up and retain moisture like a sponge, and then it acts more like a heat sink than a heat source.

I have found I prefer wood that nets more heat per unit effort/ space, but if you have it and it is dry, it works pretty well.