I hate Basswood!

[moshiersr]

Anyone else burn much of it? I have some stuff that was from a dead tree, seasoned all summer, nice and light and dry. It burns hot for a little while but takes a long time to get going then burns out quick. It leaves no coals, just a fine ash that puts out the coals from the other species burning

I'll be happy when I'm through this row of wood in the shed! Basswood makes Poplar look like gold!


*/rant off.

 

[Custerstove]

Looking on the bright side, that must be a good wood for splitting into kindling. Chop up and stock pile your basswood and use that to fire up a cold stove in the morning. Mix in some hardwoods after starting. Everytime I find light pieces of wood, I chop them up - and can literally start a fire in minutes from a cold stove.

 

[the_dude]

I have quite a bit of basswood. I don't mind it, but it is all in how you use it. When I bring my wood up to the house, I separate the basswood and keep it in a separate row. I use it to create quick heat and a quick bed of coals. This morning, I had a decent bed of coal from my overnight burn. I put in 5 small splits of basswood, and got ready for work. Right before I left for work, the basswood had burnt down and created an excellent bed of coals. Loaded it up with oak, and off to work. I will do the same thing when I get home tonight. Basically, I use it as a quick way to beef up my bed of coals so I can throw in the "heavy" stuff. I burned quite a bit of basswood in the shoulder season as well.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Anyone else burn much of it? I have some stuff that was from a dead tree, seasoned all summer, nice and light and dry. It burns hot for a little while but takes a long time to get going then burns out quick. It leaves no coals, just a fine ash that puts out the coals from the other species burning

I'll be happy when I'm through this row of wood in the shed! Basswood makes Poplar look like gold!


*/rant off.

The biggest problem is that the bass was dead when you cut it. Probably not worth the effort to cut it up.

 

[mark2guy]

my dad and i cut and split some mysterious wood, we think it's basswood not sure, it's strange in that the dead tree was oval shaped the rings were really tight on one side and spread way far out towards the other end of the oval. we had the pieces on our wood splitter and it was so knotted that the splitter beam (3inches wide about 5 inches tall) actually bowed and the splitter stalled. we had a hell of a time unjamming it! when i first tried to burn it i had to use some really dry red oak to get coals then throw this stuff in. then it burns really quick and leaves little coals like the other guy was saying. the tree had broken off towards the base and the top was busted. it was winter when we cut it so i didn't see what for leaves it had on it.


is basswood okay to burn, it won't gunk up you're chimney real bad will it? this stuff has a tinge of a sweet smell too it.

 

[JustWood]

You have mail....... I mean ash. :coolsmile:

 

[the_dude]

That doesn't look like Basswood to me. I can't imagine basswood jamming up a splitter. All of the basswood I have handled basically splits when you look at it.

 

[savageactor7]

I cut down those trees as an invasive species...nothing to them.

 

[Jags]

Mark2guy - thats Ash (white ash), not basswood.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

+1, that is definitely not bass. But I'm surprised you had a problem splitting it even though it was knotted.

Actually, ash burns quite well and we are going to burn a lot of it for many years because all of them are dying. And we have no problem with burning ash as it burns quite well. One winter we had to burn green wood and we burned 100% white ash and got along very well. Just had to keep the draft open further and cleaned the chimney 3 or 4 times.

Still, although ash burns very well and is low in moisture you will still occasionally get some ash that just doesn't seem to want to burn well. But it is usually only a few logs and not the whole tree. Believe it or not, we had two splits this winter that had excess moisture so we didn't even engage the cat, it was that bad. Hissing like a snake. How long was that wood seasoned you might ask? Good question. Try 3 years! Yes, I also was shocked.

 

[BrotherBart]

Believe it or not, we had two splits this winter that had excess moisture so we didn't even engage the cat, it was that bad. Hissing like a snake. How long was that wood seasoned you might ask? Good question. Try 3 years! Yes, I also was shocked.

Sounds like you found that raccoons bathroom. :lol:

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Or any other critter that used it! lol

 

[mark2guy]

i thought it was ash, but my dad told me it wasn't! i think the tree had been dead for a long time. but my dad and i cut up some really nice oak (red oak i think?), that stuff burns perfect, nice and long!

 

[webby3650]

That looks like Chestnut Oak you got there Mark, very rare where I'm from.

 

[mark2guy]

i gotta start learning more about what tree's i'm cutting up, thanks for the info!

 

[Chris S]

Wood carvers love basswood, maybe next time you can find one to trade you for oak.

 

[Constrictor]

my dad and i cut and split some mysterious wood, we think it's basswood not sure, it's strange in that the dead tree was oval shaped the rings were really tight on one side and spread way far out towards the other end of the oval. we had the pieces on our wood splitter and it was so knotted that the splitter beam (3inches wide about 5 inches tall) actually bowed and the splitter stalled. we had a hell of a time unjamming it! when i first tried to burn it i had to use some really dry red oak to get coals then throw this stuff in. then it burns really quick and leaves little coals like the other guy was saying. the tree had broken off towards the base and the top was busted. it was winter when we cut it so i didn't see what for leaves it had on it.


is basswood okay to burn, it won't gunk up you're chimney real bad will it? this stuff has a tinge of a sweet smell too it.

Is it possible that its sassafrass? i cut some that smelled sweet and looked like that. Looks like Sass is low on the btu chart.