High elevation white spruce

[Bignoyd]

I wonder if anyone else experiences this. I spend the summers collecting free firewood. Occasionally some of the white spruce I collect ends up burning really well. It dries heavy and burns hot for hours. I’ve had the same experience with poplar. Some of the stuff burns slow and leaves a ton glowing embers.

 

[MongoMongoson]

Next time you pick up a piece of your high-elevation wood, take a look at the rings. I bet they are pretty close together. I would ve interested to see some pictures of the end grain.

I swear black cherry burns longer and coals better in the UP of Michigan than it does when I cut fence line trees here in Southern Wisconsin. Likely a similar phenomenon... as the UP is near the northern limit of the black cherry in the Midwest. The trees just grow slower.

Of course, if it isn't fully seasoned when you burn it, it will burn slower and leave more coals, too.

 

[Bignoyd]

That’s a great idea. I was thinking somehow the composition of the wood was different. I’ll go through my white spruce pile and compare the rings and see if any are noticeably tighter.

I’ve also noticed that trees killed by beetles tend to be far less sappy. Maybe it’s my imagination but seems conceivable.

 

[begreen]

High altitude spruce grows a lot slower than lowland spruce. It's a much denser wood. I helped build this bridge sitting on high-altitude spruce timbers. Strong stuff. This is at about 5500'. The stuff higher up is even denser.