Cedar, when to split?

[Jerry_NJ]

Gee, I hope the experts are still on-line, the fireplace season is basically over here in NJ.

I cut down a couple of Eastern Red Cedar trees along one of my tree lines today. Really two trunks of one tree, one of witch was dead. The trunks ranged up to about 6" in diameter maximum and I think I'll go for not splitting.

Question, and given cedar tends ot burn faster than hardwood, would I be right to not split 6" diameter cedar logs? All were cut to about 16" length.

From experience with hardwood, I have found that logs up to 6" diameter burn well if put into a hot fire coal bed. I note the red cedar has a red/pink colored center, perhaps 1/2 the overall diameter, surrounded by a very light/white colored wood. I think the red part is the softer of the two. Maybe burning unsplit 6" diameter logs is "burning chunk" : >).

I also recall cedar not splitting well, and the center tends to deteriorate quickly when fully exposed to air. Maybe cedar splits better after it has dried. Any estimates on how long it would take a 16" by 6" diameter cedar log to "season" to a good level for burning? If a tree has been dead for a year, is the wood of that tree considered seasoned as it stands? I'll look for this information on the references, but if someone has a hands-on experience they wish to share, I'd appreciate the information.

 

[Nic36]

From my experience, Cedar splits well dry or green. I recently cut some green cedar and it split VERY easy. The red center is the part that never rots and is harder than the outer white part. They use it for fence posts down here for that reason. Any cedar tree that has fallen on my property has not rotted at all, even after years of being on the ground. The outer white part may eventually rot, but the center never does.

I'm not sure about the seasoning part. Seems like I read that evergreen trees need about 2 years to season. I think splitting it may speed that up for the cedar you cut. I have cut up some dead cedar trees that have fallen, and they appear to be bone dry.

 

[RedRanger]

I wouldn`t be wanting to put large cedar splits into my insert. Drys fast and burns hot and fast. Maybe one cedar split for every 3 or 4 regular firewood splits. And it only takes about 5-6 months to dry. Very,very light wood.

 

[Jerry_NJ]

Thanks, I don't plan to use cedar extensively. It is that I have a large number of cedar on my property and I'd guess that produces about 1/4 cord of wood per year from thinning and downed wood. I also have white pine, which sometimes go down in a wind storm. I get small amounts of hardwood off my property, pick some up along the road, and purchase some.

sonnyinbc, your point about cedar being light and fast burning makes it seem to me that one would not have to split logs up to 6" diameter. Putting in chunks that big around would, I'd guess not burn as fast as, say, splitting it into two or three pieces and putting them in the fire.

 

[RedRanger]

Thanks, I don't plan to use cedar extensively. It is that I have a large number of cedar on my property and I'd guess that produces about 1/4 cord of wood per year from thinning and downed wood. I also have white pine, which sometimes go down in a wind storm. I get small amounts of hardwood off my property, pick some up along the road, and purchase some.

sonnyinbc, your point about cedar being light and fast burning makes it seem to me that one would not have to split logs up to 6" diameter. Putting in chunks that big around would, I'd guess not burn as fast as, say, splitting it into two or three pieces and putting them in the fire.

No, once it takes off, it will burn really hot and fast. I have been burning western red cedar for more than 30 years and have a respect for it in how quickly it will really heat things up. So the larger the chunk the more heat very rapidly,and perhaps somewhat like fat wood.

Now, this is my first year with a new epa insert, so I am more cautious than I used to be. with the old insert I could, almost close the damper, shut down the secondary, and shut down the primary. I don`t have the same luxury or lack of it with my new epa insert with the secondary burn etc. As someone who has lots of cedar to burn , I would say, err on the side of caution and treat it somewhat like "fatwood"..

My suggestion, split it small, no larger than 3" and just intersperse it with your other firewood. It`s your choice of course, but I know that I am not gonna load up my new insert with cedar splilts 6" in dia.

 

[Highbeam]

I had a little different experience with actual red cedar cordwood cut from big trees. I burned 100% western red cedar in my EPA stove the first part of this year. I had split it and burned it just like any other wood. 4-6" splits or rounds near the top of the trees, no problem, no runaways, very controllable and even a decent burn. Big chunks always last longer than small pieces, just like kindling. I only burn softwoods though so I can only comare to those and I feel that, as the btu charts agree, the cedar is almsot as good as doug fir in time of burn and heat output. Very easy to split green or dry, moderate ash producer, nice and noisy when burning, a major crackler.

I saved about a 1/4 cord of the red cedar to chop up into kindling for next year. It is very aromatic and easy to split down. The kindling is easy to light and makes enough heat for the load.

Maybe some trees are oilier than others. I have found pine fatwood and do NOT like burning it as it burns like grease- very hot and fast with enough air but smokes black soot all over the stove if you choke it down. I pull this fatwood aside for bonfires.

A big question is whether Eastern Red cedar is the same as western red cedar. I know that the old growth and older logs of the west will always be rotten from the inside out when you fall them. Hollow logs. The outside is what we use for fence posts. You can split the "shell" of the log for this purpose. The pioneers fell the cedars and left them on the ground to rot making way for more desirable doug fir trees in my area. I have run into these fallen logs fallen with axes (even the axe marks) in the woods and the outer shell slabs are all that's left.

 

[RedRanger]

I had a little different experience with actual red cedar cordwood cut from big trees. I burned 100% western red cedar in my EPA stove the first part of this year. I had split it and burned it just like any other wood. 4-6" splits or rounds near the top of the trees, no problem, no runaways, very controllable and even a decent burn. Big chunks always last longer than small pieces, just like kindling. I only burn softwoods though so I can only comare to those and I feel that, as the btu charts agree, the cedar is almsot as good as doug fir in time of burn and heat output. Very easy to split green or dry, moderate ash producer, nice and noisy when burning, a major crackler.

I saved about a 1/4 cord of the red cedar to chop up into kindling for next year. It is very aromatic and easy to split down. The kindling is easy to light and makes enough heat for the load.

Maybe some trees are oilier than others. I have found pine fatwood and do NOT like burning it as it burns like grease- very hot and fast with enough air but smokes black soot all over the stove if you choke it down. I pull this fatwood aside for bonfires.

A big question is whether Eastern Red cedar is the same as western red cedar. I know that the old growth and older logs of the west will always be rotten from the inside out when you fall them. Hollow logs. The outside is what we use for fence posts. You can split the "shell" of the log for this purpose. The pioneers fell the cedars and left them on the ground to rot making way for more desirable doug fir trees in my area. I have run into these fallen logs fallen with axes (even the axe marks) in the woods and the outer shell slabs are all that's left.

Guess I stand corrected.. Just felled a dead one and will try some large splits this winter. Thanks HB...

 

[Jerry_NJ]

Thanks, I'll just leave the cedar 6" maximum round, no split. It figures, and is supported by my many years of burning hardwoods, that heavy round piieces burn more slowly, seems logical, less surface open to the air/heat.

Sorry to read such bad results with pine, I also have some white pine that would be of a nice size for burning, and I'll try some in "chunk" shape that has been drying for a couple or more years, off the grouind so not rotten, but surely dry....hope not too dry.

I'm sure I'll pick this line/thread up again in the fall/winter when I start to brun wood again.

 

[Highbeam]

On the pine, there is the super pitchy fat wood part and then there is the rest of the tree. The fatwood part makes up only a small part of the burnable trunk. I have no problem burning the rest of the tree but if you find the fatwood part then set it aside. Many people look for this fatwood as match lightable firestarter.

The other bad part about pine is that it is sticky. Even when properly dried to 15% it can still leave sticky goop on your hands and hearth.

 

[jpl1nh]

I've been burning more and more pine, both Eastern white pine and red pine and my experience is the same as Highbeams, larger chunks burn longer, slower and are quite controllable. Then again, I'm using a cat stove too which I think allows me to burn cooler in general if needed. Haven't burned cedar, not too much in these parts. Also, as far as I know, there is no fatwood in Eastern white pine so that's not an issue. Jerry, you can always split large pieces later if you dfind they don'e work for you but it's tough to unsplit small pieces. ;-) I'd keep them large if I were you.