Ease of splitting various conifers?

[turn_n_burn]

Well, the scrounging down here in the valley is getting pretty dry, and I'm gettin' ready to take the saw out to the woods and cut down some evergreens. Last time I went out, I found a half cord of Lodgepole pine already cut and bucked in a campground as leftovers (God bless whoever left that there) and cut down a dead Doug fir that was about 14" at the base. The lodgepole split VERY easily and straight, but the Douggie was a PITA. The knots were impossible, and I noticed the grain seemed to have a consistent, slow spiral as it went up the trunk, and I hated it, could not get it to fly apart like the pine.

My question- where I go, I have access to several species mixed pretty evenly, (Douglas, Grand, and White Firs, White, Ponderosa, and Lodgepole Pines, and some occasional Blue and Engelmann spruce, and Western Larch. In order from easy to difficult, how easy would these be to split? I'm giving the Larch special precedent, due to the BTU content.

 

[nathan125]

I do like me some red fir. We dont cut much Tamarack.
Ever you ever tried to burn Russian Olive ?

 

[Cynnergy]

Doug fir can be nice to split, it depends on the tree. No knots is preferable, obviously. It's the best firewood we have out here. I've always heard that grand fir isn't great for firewood, but I haven't tried to burn it myself.

 

[turn_n_burn]

We cut some Russian olive off our hillside about 5 years ago, and it was damn near impossible to burn, even after seasoning for 2 years. Left a ton of ash and reminded me of the smell of burning tires. We have a TON of that stuff growing in Payette county. What part of Idaho are you from, Nathan?

 

[nathan125]

2c

I scrounged a bunch of maple and elm last year. Elm leaves a lot of ash i think but it does burn long and pretty hot.
I want to give juniper a try, smells great I bet.
I did cut some russian olive. have yet to burn it. we will see. some people swear by it......

 

[Highbeam]

Doug fir is great to split unless you picked a nasty tree with big knots and a twist. Sometimes it even has a stringiness. When they are young, straight, and below the major knots it splits like pine. Of course, the hydro splitter doesn't complain either way but the resulting splits are much nicer to stack and burn when there are no knots or twists.

Go for btu, tamarack first, if the drivetimes are the same. Once you are not burning hardwoods, the btu is pretty much the same so not much difference really.

Myself, I'll skip the evergreens for red alder every time. Love that stuff.

 

[byQ]

I am by Twin Falls, Idaho. I was in the Sawtooth National Forest and I noticed cut firewood at a campground, too. So I helped myself (I figured someone must have left it). Than I went to another campground and again a stack of firewood. Now I understood - the foresters make these piles for the campers as they are clearing/tidying up areas - oops.

The best conifers are the ones that have to grow tall with as little limbing as possible. Coniferwise, I have been getting mostly lodgepole pine and subalpine fir. Lodgepole is really easy to work with - the rounds aren't too big/heavy and it splits easy. I'm going to try to get a few cords of Douglas Fir before the end of the year.

 

[Seanm]

I have some nice pictures of sub alpine doug fir that I was going to share but I cant find them. I have my eye on some standing dead fir and some blow down green fir but I dont have any more room for wood so they will have to stay in the bush till spring. I also have my eye on some very dead standing larch that will be for next year. If I had the room I would be going to town on this stuff but it will have to wait.