Pallets and Cherry Pits

[bigoak9745]

Anyone have experience burning cut up pallets or Dried Cherry Pits in their stoves? I know this is an odd question, but I have always burnt seasoned hardwood and now have an opportunity to get some free pallets and free dried cherry pits from a friend who owns a business. I have thought about getting 50-200 of the pallets and piling out back just as a surplus. I would eventually cut each pallet into 4 chunks if they are Ok to burn for starter or in early fall and late winter fires.The pallets are clean. He also can provide me with some dried cherry pits, which i had heard give off alot of BTU's. I do not have a pellet type stove. I have a Englander 30 wood furnace. So is it worth it to get some free good pallets? What about Dried cherry pits? I figure we are gearing up for a hard long winter here in northern Michigan. Let me know if anyone has experience with burning either.

 

[fossil]

Pallets are fine to burn, many of them are very dry hardwood. Just a PITA to process...cut up...and then the nails (which are next to impossible to remove) accumulate in the stove along with the ash. Depending on how you dispose of your ashes, this may be a problem, or it may not. I don't know diddley about burning dried cherry pits. Rick

 

[sapratt]

I picked up a few pallets and burned some. It burns good a little faster than I thought it would.
As for cherry pits. When you put wood in the furnace just throw some of the pits in.

 

[bluefrier]

Pallets are fine to burn, many of them are very dry hardwood. Just a PITA to process...cut up...

PITA, but you don't need to season it for a year like green wood. ;-)

 

[WES999]

I burn quite a lot of pallets; they are great for getting a fire started and the stove up to temperature quickly. I like to keep a supply of cut-up pallets in the basement; don’t really need to worry about insects. You just have to keep an eye on the stove temp because pallets burn hot and you can overfire if you are not careful.

 

[RedRanger]

Pallets are fine, as for the cherry pits--man, I would have one hell of a back ache spending that much time scrounging those things for burning. I mean, even on this forum-common sense should apply at least once in a while. %-P

 

[Creek-Chub]

Another vote for pallets. They burn hot and fast - think of the dryest hard wood you can come up with, in little 1/2 inch slabs. Couldn't tell you about cherry pits.

 

[scotsman]

Pallets work well. Just be sure they are not harboring soaked-in chemicals which produce nasty combustion by-products. Don't want to be putting stuff in the air that isn't compatible with human life. I am aware of some lawsuits (and deaths) which have been the result of burning what was assumed to be safe. However, if they are really clean, they should be good.

As for the nails, keep one of those fairly strong magnets that will allow you to strip off what you've collected and drop the picked-up nails. Don't get one of those that will hold up a horse that cannot be released or you may never get it loose from your stove. You may assume that I speak from experience. :red:

 

[Beanscoot]

Cherry pits would be perfect in a Pellet Stove, I bet.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Hello bigoak from Clare and welcome to the forum.

Pallets are okay but best mixed with some regular wood because it burns so fast and so hot. You don't need any overfiring. As for the cherry pits, they will burn okay but do take a long, long time to dry out so they may have to be piled up a couple years and then turned from time to time in order to dry completely. Again, you'd want to mix them with your regular wood.

Good luck.

 

[allhandsworking]

can you mix very dry pallet wood with cord wood that is not so seasoned? sounds a little dumb

 

[bokehman]

can you mix very dry pallet wood with cord wood that is not so seasoned?

I wouldn't bother. Green wood doesn't burn however hot it is inside the stove. And the moisture it gives off keeps the temperature in the stove below the level needed for the secondary combustion to light or burn properly.

 

[DoubleClutch]

I'm not sure whether this should be a valid concern, but cherry pits contain CYANIDE. Yeah, the same basic stuff they used in the gas chamber.

I don't know whether cyanide would be destroyed through combustion, but I would find out before burning a pile of cherry pits!

http://chemistry.about.com/b/2007/09/12/yes-apple-seeds-and-cherry-pits-are-poisonous.htm

 

[begreen]

In general it's a good idea not to breathe wood smoke. There are several compounds that can be antagonistic. FYI, also why it's not a good idea to breathe tobacco smoke. There is some cyanide in that too.

 

[DoubleClutch]

tobacco smoke. There is some cyanide in that too.

Yep, and sea water contains gold, too. Not enough to worry about, though.

I suspect that smoking tobacco is a whole 'nother ball game than smoking (or even inhaling small amounts of smoke from) cherry pits. But I don't know, honestly. Any chemical compound containing the CN- (cyanide) ion should be handled extremely carefully, IMHO. It's no joke. Especially, I suspect, if we're talking about big piles of cherry pits – as we seem to be, here.

 

[Wood Pirate]

my old man just bought a quadrafire that the salesman told him will burn pellets, cherry pits, and corn I believe.

Then again that was a salesman that told him that. He could be FOS.

 

[begreen]

tobacco smoke. There is some cyanide in that too.

Yep, and sea water contains gold, too. Not enough to worry about, though.

I suspect that smoking tobacco is a whole 'nother ball game than smoking (or even inhaling small amounts of smoke from) cherry pits. But I don't know, honestly. Any chemical compound containing the CN- (cyanide) ion should be handled extremely carefully, IMHO. It's no joke. Especially, I suspect, if we're talking about big piles of cherry pits – as we seem to be, here.

Actually, after carbon monoxide I thought hydrogen cyanide was the next most prevalent compound in tobacco (and marijuana) smoke. It's common in a lot of plant matter.

How much is emitted when burning cherry pits? I couldn't find that data, though I did find it recommended as a mix in many multifuel stoves.