Pine and burn times

[HotCoals]

I am cutting pine this year for burning next. I have shunned the wives tale thanks to folks on here. I have a 3.5cuft Cat stove. I split my splits on the large side to get longer burn times.

Do you Cat stove owners think you get longer burn times from larger splits vs small splits? I think i do but you can pack it closer with less puzzel work with the small stuff.

I think you can get longer burn times with bigger splits.
One reason would be the larger splits are usually wetter inside then you may think.
Another would be it just takes longer to burn through it and hit a air space.

 

[burleymike]

We burn only pine and get about 10 hours burn time. I did make a modification to my stove to allow me to shut it down a little farther than factory. This definately increased my burn time, I only turn it down if it is really windy. I use large splits or logs, before bed I put at least one 8"x"8 log or split then several smaller pieces depending on how cold it will be that night. I have never had a problem with overifiring, I suspect it would be possible if I loaded the stove full of 2x4 size pieces.

If I had the money I would certainly buy a Blaze King for the thermostat control and the long low burns. With the amount of sun and large windows it is nice to have a stove that does not burn 24 hours on a load because we would be sweating.

 

[WoodpileOCD]

I cut a ton of pine throughout the year, and never use it because I have a secondary stove and the points mentioned above about overfiring, etc......I usually end up selling it to people who use it in outdoor furnaces.....anyway, after reading this thread and others on the Blaze King stoves, I think I am going to look into getting one for my next stove in the kitchen....esp. considering all the pine I cut down and end up basically giving away.....

Uhhhh you should definitely use it! I burned almost the whole shoulder season on pine and still got easy reloads 8-10 hours later. Your stove should be fine.

+1
I've been using pine most of the year so far and my house has been toasty warm. Chimney still standing and I haven't grown warts. ;-P

 

[bogydave]

Northof60 burn spruce mostly, in the YT, Canada. BK Princess does well by his comments.
I burn spruce for shoulder season & above 30° & easily get over 12 hr burn times
Beetlekill from the Rockies burned lodge-pole pine in a BK king & did well with it.
Some variables , each set up stove system is a little different, house size & how well it's weatherized etc.
Some federal energy tax credits may be available for several epa models. I think this is still on-going.

 

[ScotO]

OK you guys got me convinced.....I have five very large pines to cut this coming month, and I am going to keep them and buck them up (except for the trunks, I'm milling them for wood to build that woodshed that's been eluding me for years!). I'm going to do as some suggested, keep the splits on the "larger" side, and we'll let 'em season til fall. Let the experiment begin! I use some chunks for starters here and there and I do like the quick heat that pine puts off. BeGreen, do you think it is the resin content in the different pines that makes some of it burn super hot an others not-so-hot? (you said you burn douglas fir). I have several fir trees to cut and a couple spruces. One or two whites.....lots of pine!!

 

[Dune]

OK you guys got me convinced.....I have five very large pines to cut this coming month, and I am going to keep them and buck them up (except for the trunks, I'm milling them for wood to build that woodshed that's been eluding me for years!). I'm going to do as some suggested, keep the splits on the "larger" side, and we'll let 'em season til fall. Let the experiment begin! I use some chunks for starters here and there and I do like the quick heat that pine puts off. BeGreen, do you think it is the resin content in the different pines that makes some of it burn super hot an others not-so-hot? (you said you burn douglas fir). I have several fir trees to cut and a couple spruces. One or two whites.....lots of pine!!

Eastern white pine as an outdoor building product can be a poor choice...arround here at least some thing causes extremly pervasive dryrot. Perhaps if you coat the wood with some kind of preservative it will be OK.

As to seasoning less than a year, not really reccomend, at least by me. The spruce, fir and white pine will be burnable assuming good drying conditions, but for pitch pine two years seems minimum and the other species mentioned are certainly well served by longer drying periods as well.

If you do plan to season softwoods for a short time, cut them short and forget the big splits. Big long splits would be great for two years out though.

 

[ScotO]

OK you guys got me convinced.....I have five very large pines to cut this coming month, and I am going to keep them and buck them up (except for the trunks, I'm milling them for wood to build that woodshed that's been eluding me for years!). I'm going to do as some suggested, keep the splits on the "larger" side, and we'll let 'em season til fall. Let the experiment begin! I use some chunks for starters here and there and I do like the quick heat that pine puts off. BeGreen, do you think it is the resin content in the different pines that makes some of it burn super hot an others not-so-hot? (you said you burn douglas fir). I have several fir trees to cut and a couple spruces. One or two whites.....lots of pine!!

Eastern white pine as an outdoor building product can be a poor choice...arround here at least some thing causes extremly pervasive dryrot. Perhaps if you coat the wood with some kind of preservative it will be OK.

As to seasoning less than a year, not really reccomend, at least by me. The spruce, fir and white pine will be burnable assuming good drying conditions, but for pitch pine two years seems minimum and the other species mentioned are certainly well served by longer drying periods as well.

If you do plan to season softwoods for a short time cut them short and forget the big splits. Big long splits would be great for two years out though.

thanks for the input Dune.......as for the building wood I'll be using the.large trunks some of the big white pines I have lined up......and I will definitely treat them with an oil-based preservative ......I'll really only be using the pine boards for the roof and trusses........the posts and floor will be P/T wood, to be bug-proof.....either way I'm gonna buck up some of the pine and pray for a hot-dry summer. I'll make the bucks a little shorter and make splits medium.....see how it goes. Either way glad I jumped in this post .....thanks for the input fellas!