Bark

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Locust Post

Minister of Fire
Jan 12, 2012
1,063
Northeast Ohio
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I posed this question along with a shot of my chimney cleaning today but it got moved to the old stove forum. So I'll ask it stand alone. I have been burning some slabs the last couple years just because they were very reasonable and close to home. I had a friend tell me that he had heard the bark created more creosote than the wood itself so to be careful burning slabs stand alone a lot. I do not burn them by themselves much, but have on occasion if I get home later in the evening and only have a few hours left before the night load. Has anyone else heard anything to that effect.
 
I doubt bark will create more creosote but it dose seem to make more ash. I burn a lot of oak, some of the bark can be 1" thick or more. When I'm splitting if its that thick I sometimes remove it. Also I find bark will hold more moisture for longer periods of time and attract insects.
 
Never heard that bark causes more creosote.
If it's good & dry, it should burn the same as dry splits with bark.
Are you burning low temp fires when you burn the slabs? The moisture comes off pretty quick in the burn, creo forms at the beginning of the burn, usually.
An " ole wives tale", is my guess.

Went & looked at the pics, https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/forums/viewthread/90089/
not much creo, how long since last cleaning?
You probably haven't been burning hot fires either, with the weather.
The top of the stack is where I get some build up, gases & pipe are allot cooler up there.
Always a good idea to inspect monthly & clean when needed either way.
 
Hey Bogy....I was pretty happy with amount of creo. not bad at all. I was just wondering if anyone had ever heard that before with the bark. The friend that told me that has been around wood burning most of his life and is in sawing and lumber now. That does not rule out "old wives tale" though. Could be something that was passed on and is just hear say or maybe why it was thought, was the bark holds more moisture. That was the real problem and just got blamed on the bark.
 
Given the option I would have all the bark removed because it is a space eater in the stove and stack but if it is not coming off easy it stays! During CSS if it is loose it goes - same goes for when I am moving CSS'd wood from stack to the house. Great for starting and kindling but my best all nighters come from clean, dry, barkless splits and rounds. I would guess that in my house 90% of the mess from heating with solid fuel comes from bark so less is best IMO - but that has nothing to do with creasote.
 
Maybe the basis for the idea that bark causes creosote is because wood with the bark on tends to be wetter than barkless wood and so with bark you get a less hot fire. I remove bark when I can do it conveniently because when it loosens a little from the wood, bark holds water between the bark and the wood. I don't have data to prove it but this must make the wood season more slowly. Even during a spell of dry weather it is easy to find wood that is moist under the bark while all the rest of the wood is very dry on the outside. I may be losing a few BTUs but I will continue to remove bark when it comes off without a fight.
 
Your friend is wrong . . . honestly in my opinion the two main reasons creosote is produced -- 1) People are burning their stoves at too low a temp in the stack and 2) People are burning unseasoned, green wood.

Other than these two things I don't see any other problems in burning pine, slabs, bark, etc. in a stove . . .
 
i burn alot of slab(work in the hardwood business)it all burns,creosote is a function of poor burning habits,not the type of wood
 
Hey Dave, with all the snow you have this year do you just "walk" up to the roof for check for creosote? Lol....we are in mudville, I have a load of ash, oak, ironwood, and maple that I can't get back to the piles. :-S
 
Thanks guys.....I don't have any intention on not burning my slabs. I have a pile drying for next year already. I generally just mix some in with other pcs. so I can get the stove good and full. I had never really questioned the logic behind his statement that bark gives more creosote nor had it stopped me from burning slabs. But after giving it some thought and some good points brought up here I have to agree that is is unfounded (old wives tale that was passed on by an old husband).
 
I count on the birch bark on the splits to get the fire going fast, I use loose bark for fire starter too. Bark has BTUs. Birch bark is great stuff :)

wl:
Wind blew over 50% of the snow away when it was a dry powder. Some drifted areas over 5', almost concrete hard.
Snow/rain mix today. The ground is 20°, an ice rink on any snow packed areas.
Now the top 3" of the snow is wet, when it freezes a snow machine could go anywhere. May even drive an ATV on top.
Avalanches closing some areas on the Seward Highway.
 
firefighterjake said:
Your friend is wrong . . . honestly in my opinion the two main reasons creosote is produced -- 1) People are burning their stoves at too low a temp in the stack and 2) People are burning unseasoned, green wood.

Other than these two things I don't see any other problems in burning pine, slabs, bark, etc. in a stove . . .

If my chainsaw cuts it I burn it. good kindling is hard to beat !
 
JoeyD said:
I doubt bark will create more creosote but it dose seem to make more ash. I burn a lot of oak, some of the bark can be 1" thick or more. When I'm splitting if its that thick I sometimes remove it. Also I find bark will hold more moisture for longer periods of time and attract insects.

+1

I try to let the bark fall off after its dried just to illiminate the bugs. But I Keep a trash can full of old bark in my garage year round and use it for kindling. If its good and dry it takes a flame well due to having so much exposed area. I don't think it makes any more creosote but if your burning wood that still has bark the wood may not be completely dry which would result in more creosote.
 
Good info here. I had noticed that the thicker bark (oak, elm, maple) is tougher burning & can slow start-ups, so I wouldn't have thought to use it for kindling, but based on what others are saying I assume it's because my stacks are mostly uncovered & barks stays wetter. One more benefit of a wood shed I guess.
 
I use chunks of oak bark in particular when I don't have a large coal bed. If I put it in front of the dog house air inlet with the splits on top. It burns white hot & really helps to get the fire going. I also use the larger pieces on the sides. I find it really helps to get the secondary burn going since I have been using two year red oak & it is not as dry as I would like. I think the bark gives off volatile oils that readily ignite.
Al
 
bogydave said:
I count on the birch bark on the splits to get the fire going fast, I use loose bark for fire starter too. Bark has BTUs. Birch bark is great stuff :)

wl:
Wind blew over 50% of the snow away when it was a dry powder. Some drifted areas over 5', almost concrete hard.
Snow/rain mix today. The ground is 20°, an ice rink on any snow packed areas.
Now the top 3" of the snow is wet, when it freezes a snow machine could go anywhere. May even drive an ATV on top.
Avalanches closing some areas on the Seward Highway.

Dave I am burning mostly birch in my King too. I've learned the hard way to stack all the wood I need to fill the stove right next to it before I open the door. If I take too long to load it the flames are rolling black smoke and flames out the door.

I think there is more btu's in birch bark than in the wood its self. Last fall I split a cord of birch and most of the bark came off when I was splitting it. So I hauled it to my fire pit and burnt it. I was standing 20 feet away and it was still too hot.

Billy
 
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