Hey...Pine Actually Burns Pretty Good!!
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mass_burner
Minister of Fire
one reason to avoid pine/spruce is what it does to your chainsaw/gloves. i bucked some green spruce and had sap all over the place. maybe i should have waited a while.
In New England burning pine is certainly a major breach of etiquette. I have recently given in to burning cedar mostly as fire starter. I don't tell any of my neighbors.
Well I put on a load of lodgepole pine yesterday at 6pm. I just checked at 10am and the cat is active with stove top at 360*. Last night it was 24* and it's 36* now. Main living are is 75*. Pine seems fine. I'll reload at 6pm again tonight with more of the same.
mass_burner
Minister of Fire
eclecticcottage
Minister of Fire
Yeah, if you've got fresh stuff, buck it to movable pieces and leave it for a few months! I'm still getting sap out of my jacket from moving some a year ago.
We're burning mostly scots (scotch?) pine right now.
I was unaware of pine not producing creosote. Unfortunately, I'm not as smart as you, so sorry.
BCC_Burner
Feeling the Heat
I was unaware of pine not producing creosote. Unfortunately, I'm not as smart as you, so sorry.
All wood produces creosote if it is burned before it is properly seasoned pine. Seasoned pine will burn just as clean as any other well seasoned wood.
Creosote is a result of bad burning practices, not tree species burned.
On second thought....I think I'm going to plow through the 1.5 cords of pine and hold off as long as possible on the oak. The oak is 2-3 years and stacked in a single row but I don't have the best location for it. Some of the larger splits are still in the low 20's.
I split the pine last April/May. I'll have to measure it to make sure its dry but if it is I'll keep as much oak for next year as possible. My loose pile of shorts and uglies was already down to 13-18%, and that was on some pretty large pieces.
Since pine is as light as a feather compared to oak and I have to move a winters worth of wood closer to the house, I'll stack a cord of the pine on my ricketty farmers porch and stack the oak on pallets next to the house.
I split the pine last April/May. I'll have to measure it to make sure its dry but if it is I'll keep as much oak for next year as possible. My loose pile of shorts and uglies was already down to 13-18%, and that was on some pretty large pieces.
Since pine is as light as a feather compared to oak and I have to move a winters worth of wood closer to the house, I'll stack a cord of the pine on my ricketty farmers porch and stack the oak on pallets next to the house.
mass_burner
Minister of Fire
hmmm, i split/stacked my spruce about the same time mar/apr. have about 3 8x5 rows. i'll do a MC to see where its at. could it be ready by now?
It was more of a tongue and cheek response to the stigma that surrounds burning pine. Most people I know won't burn it do to the fear of creosote build up. I don't burn pine because get a grapple load of logs. I pay the same amount for pine as I do for oak. I do not want to pay for pine.
So would you easy coast guys consider Douglas Fir, "pine"?
We don't really get hard wood over here in the west. Maple, is considered and hard wood and expensive!
Fir is about all there is to have.
We don't really get hard wood over here in the west. Maple, is considered and hard wood and expensive!
Fir is about all there is to have.
eclecticcottage
Minister of Fire
For the most part, I'd say yes, most people around here consider (almost) anything with needles instead of leaves some sort of pine. I've even gotten to a point where I call our spruce trees pine trees because it's easier. I think maybe the only tree that gets away with being called what it is, is a Blue Spruce. Otherwise, it's a pine tree.
Wow what an accurate, funny and memorable way to say that! Thanks. Pine really is terrific to use for firewood. Just be careful to correctly season it as with all woods.
Burning dry Pine in a pre EPA stove IMHO would never be a problem, EPA's stoves are not a mgaic box, you still have to be smarter then the stove to make it burn clean.
mass_burner
Minister of Fire
got it. i'm not a native new englander. but even my wife who never lit a stove in her life said not to burn pine because of creosote.
Nope . . . but I suspect it would be classified as a softwood . . . much like eastern white pine.
However, many folks (as mentioned) consider any tree with needles to be pine . . . me . . . I like to be a little more specific . . . and accurate when talking about my stove chow.
Biscuit wood? Get things hot fast . . . few minutes in the oven and then let 'er cool down . . . pull them out in a few minutes.
Bret Chase
Minister of Fire
yup... at least for the "poor folk" that didn't have a summer kitchen.... Hell, even now I wish I had a summer kitchen.... my 10K btu A/C can't keep up with the 4 10k btu gas burners on my stove... never mind the oven.
What about Eastern Hemlock? I know it is NOT pine, but I suspect it would have similar characteristics.
A teensy, tiny bit better than white pine. I stack the two together.
I've burned pine for 50 years ( not exclusively)
In fireplaces, in smoke dragons, in tiny 0.6 cu ft steel stove.
It burns hot and fast.
Really can't blame anyone for rejecting it for harder species, I certainly have.
I also have about 3/4 cord of it. It's great for hot fires.( comes in handy in February when you're trying to heat a 45 degree house back up ) It's great for fire pits. It's great to burn.
It's great if you enjoy carrying in loads and loads of it to constantly fill a firebox half way over and over again all day and night long.
It's also usually pretty close to free around here.
I figure I'd give an update rather than start a new thread. Yes, pine is my new favorite wood. Mostly because its the driest wood I've ever burnt which has made it a pleasure to work with.
I moved 1.25-1.5 cords of it close to the house and I will blow through that before I get into my hardwood. It is a mixture of oak, maple, and cherry. It was CSS two years ago and I thought it was only about 20% oak. I seem to have had a brain fart somewhere along the line as it is more like 75% oak. So its not as seasoned as I would like with MC in the low 20's%. I am going to use all of the pine as it is all burnable and save as much of the oak for next year.
I woke up at 5:30am to a -3F outside temp this morning and the stove room was 72. The rooms farthest away where 64 and the upstairs was 68. I added a 3/4 load of large pine splits at 9pm last night. The stove was cold and there where no coals, but I'm not complaining. Added another 3/4 load of pine and it was settled in at 500/500 by 6am.
It looks like I can get about 5 hours out of a full load of pine with enough coals to easily start a fire. I'm liking it.
I'll be asking my neighbor (a tree guy) for more free pine this year. He has to pay to get rid of it...so I'm sure I can get all I want.
I moved 1.25-1.5 cords of it close to the house and I will blow through that before I get into my hardwood. It is a mixture of oak, maple, and cherry. It was CSS two years ago and I thought it was only about 20% oak. I seem to have had a brain fart somewhere along the line as it is more like 75% oak. So its not as seasoned as I would like with MC in the low 20's%. I am going to use all of the pine as it is all burnable and save as much of the oak for next year.
I woke up at 5:30am to a -3F outside temp this morning and the stove room was 72. The rooms farthest away where 64 and the upstairs was 68. I added a 3/4 load of large pine splits at 9pm last night. The stove was cold and there where no coals, but I'm not complaining. Added another 3/4 load of pine and it was settled in at 500/500 by 6am.
It looks like I can get about 5 hours out of a full load of pine with enough coals to easily start a fire. I'm liking it.
I'll be asking my neighbor (a tree guy) for more free pine this year. He has to pay to get rid of it...so I'm sure I can get all I want.
Western pine is a lot different than eastern pine. We mostly have white pine and pitch pine in my area. Both will burn, but if I can get my hands on oak, locust, maple, cherry, etc, theres no way im wasting my time with the pine. Id be loading the stove way too often and although it burns hot, I also get a cold stove much quicker and much more ash to deal with. I know out west theres more lodgepole and ponderosa, etc which prob burn a lot better than what we have around here. I split and burn our pine mostly for camping or outdoor fires.
But when someone drops 1.5 cord on my property for free.....I'm all over it. All I have to do is split and stack. I've been having 4 fires a day the past week as its been in the single digits and teens. I'm blowing through it twice as fast as I would seasoned hardwood.
It doesn't seem to burn any hotter than my oak. In fact I find it easier to control and can consistantly keep a 500 degree stove and flue, something my Englander 30 with a full load of hardwood doesn't doesn't normally do. Its a nuclear blast when loaded with hardwood.
I'm a believer.
It doesn't seem to burn any hotter than my oak. In fact I find it easier to control and can consistantly keep a 500 degree stove and flue, something my Englander 30 with a full load of hardwood doesn't doesn't normally do. Its a nuclear blast when loaded with hardwood.
I'm a believer.
Packed tight in the 30 and you will still get 8 hours of heat. I am not seeing a huge build up of ash.
I buy all my wood. I picked up a ton of dry pine at 65 a cord. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
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