Pine: What to do with it?

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smokinj said:
that pine tar sucks

That's what I hate too, it gets all over everything. If I happen to come across an easy score of Pine I'll take it, but won't go out of my way for it.
 
BrowningBAR said:
So, what is the length of time needed to season pine?

12 months? 18? 24?

Does it take less time than wood that is more dense?

Since there are somewhere around 115 different species of Pine, you'd really have to be more specific. Rick
 
I am a Westerner and have used pine for years. Burned with it in our cabin growing up and still use it the way my dad did then.

I use it to get the fire going in the morning- 2 smaller sized splits and then I put a piece of hardwood on top of that once it gets going. Heats everything up really quickly especially when using the Super Cedar fire starters.

Once I have a hot fire going I do use hardwoods because, for me, they burn longer - I get more for my money. A cord of pine will last me 3 or 4 years. I go through about 3 cords of hardwoods per winter.
 
I been burning mixed loads of pine & hardwood for 5 years now. I like the pine because it kindles up two or 3 times faster than hardwood to a big blaze.
When I get a load of predominately hardwood in the stove, I am wondering why it takes 3 times longer to get into a big blaze until i remember that there is no pine wood in the stove.

pine equals big hot fire really fast, like a race car and hardwood equals hard to start, long time kindling up to a blaze but lasts a long time once you get it going good,like an old desial truck that dont want to start easily.

I like mixed loads of hardwood & pine the best because I get the best of both worlds, a fast and easy start with some long time staying power once the hardwood finally decides it is hot enough to want to burn.

You have to watch(decrease as appropiate) the primary air with pine as it burns hot & fast
with not a lot of air & you may or may not have to readjust the primary air for the slower burning hardwood. I usually check my stove at 10 to 15 minute interavels to insure that the primary air is appropiately adjusted to the way that the stove is burning. after the fire has settled down to red embers, i set the stove for overnight burn and don't check it but once an hour.

Once you are down to red embers, the wood is too spent to be able to be dangerious in respect to a too open primary air setting.
 
Adirondackwoodburner said:
use it in your outdoor firepit. that is all I would do with it

Pine likes to spit in an open air condition (fireplace/firepit). It is much more mellow in a woodstove (at least until you open the door and start poking it).
 
Skier76 said:
We just purchased a weekend house in Southern VT. We're going to install a wood stove this spring/summer. (Piping and chimney is already there, previous folks took the stove with them).

Currently, there's a pretty decent stack of pine logs in the back yard...I'd say anywhere from 18-14" long...12" or so in diameter. Problem is, they look a bit "old". I've been running around doing other things, but took a few seconds to give one a good whack with my maul....stuck right into it.

I know pine isn't the best wood to burn; I plan on getting some hardwood and stacking it this summer to burn next season. But I'd also feel bad about wasting all this wood. I'm thinking of renting a splitter, and making a big collection of kindling. Since we'll be using this house a lot on the weekends, having some pine kindling to get things going could be a good thing.

I will take some pics of the wood this weekend and post them up if needed.

Any thoughts on my plan? I'm open to suggestions.

What does this mean? Is it punky? Is your maul a POS? Did you take a weak-sister cut at it?

If the wood is sound burn it in your stove. If it's punky burn it outside.
 
SlyFerret said:
I like to have some pine on hand for the shoulder seasons.

I checked with Englander and was told that it's perfectly fine to burn in my 30-NC, as long as I'm running it properly, the secondary combustion system will still burn clean.

You can't damp pine down for an extended burn like you can with other types of wood, but it's great for a quick shot of heat to knock the chill off when you only want a short burn cycle.

-SF

Yes you can.
 
spoke with my log guy last weekend and asked if he had any pine

he's gonna drop 3 cord worth of logs for free in the next week

figure it will be great for the shoulder seasons and getting the fire going in the winter
 
Bigg_Redd said:
BrowningBAR said:
So, what is the length of time needed to season pine?

12 months? 18? 24?

Does it take less time than wood that is more dense?

3-4 months.

If you have your own kiln to finish it off to bring it down below 18% moisture content. 3-4 months just allows you to burn it. You can save up to a couple of cords a year with burning dryer wood that is SEASONED . Less draft open to get the same heat= longer burn times.
N of 60
 
north of 60 said:
Bigg_Redd said:
BrowningBAR said:
So, what is the length of time needed to season pine?

12 months? 18? 24?

Does it take less time than wood that is more dense?

3-4 months.

If you have your own kiln to finish it off to bring it down below 18% moisture content. 3-4 months just allows you to burn it. You can save up to a couple of cords a year with burning dryer wood that is SEASONED . Less draft open to get the same heat= longer burn times.
N of 60

*sigh*

ok.
 
madrone said:
Adirondackwoodburner said:
use it in your outdoor firepit. that is all I would do with it

Your loss.

I dont think so. I jsut dont burn softwood when I have 50 acres with a lifetime supply of hardwood. Softwood to me is outdoor wood and camp wood. Its not worth the time and effort I would need to put into it for what I would get out of it in the winter months when I have hardwood...plain and simple.
 
Adirondackwoodburner said:
madrone said:
Adirondackwoodburner said:
use it in your outdoor firepit. that is all I would do with it

Your loss.

I dont think so. I jsut dont burn softwood when I have 50 acres with a lifetime supply of hardwood. Softwood to me is outdoor wood and camp wood. Its not worth the time and effort I would need to put into it for what I would get out of it in the winter months when I have hardwood...plain and simple.

I'm with you in a way... we get our firewood off a 400 acre farm, 200 acres of woods with lota of maple, hickory, birch, ash, popple and pine. even though we could have cut 100% maple and hickory, this year we cut 60% ash because it was so accessable and easy. we did 10 cords in just a few days because we were attacking 20" 100' ash trees. makes it pretty easy.
 
YUPPERS, AND YOU HAD SOME HEAVY DUTY HELP i SEE TOO!
 
Adirondackwoodburner said:
madrone said:
Adirondackwoodburner said:
use it in your outdoor firepit. that is all I would do with it

Your loss.

I dont think so. I jsut dont burn softwood when I have 50 acres with a lifetime supply of hardwood. Softwood to me is outdoor wood and camp wood. Its not worth the time and effort I would need to put into it for what I would get out of it in the winter months when I have hardwood...plain and simple.

Those Adirondack pines and firs make great kindling, get a hot fire going quickly, take the chill off an August evening and make spectacular camp fires. I have found that ours split and stack with a lot less effort and time than our hardwoods. However, I can't fault you for using those abundant hardwoods when it comes time to heat the house as I do the same thing.
 
Just split and stack it. When it is dry make the decision. I say if it is not rotten burn it.
If you ever burned 2X4 scraps and saw how hot they burned that was most likely some variant of pine.
 
Hurricane said:
Just split and stack it. When it is dry make the decision. I say if it is not rotten burn it.
If you ever burned 2X4 scraps and saw how hot they burned that was most likely some variant of pine.
most of the 2x4's around here are doug fir. The reason they burn so hot is one they are kiln dried to about 5% moister content, and there is lots of surface area so you get a high fuel to air ratio. Kiln dried lumber can destroy a stove, good ole split pine cant.
 
MountainStoveGuy said:
Hurricane said:
Just split and stack it. When it is dry make the decision. I say if it is not rotten burn it.
If you ever burned 2X4 scraps and saw how hot they burned that was most likely some variant of pine.
most of the 2x4's around here are doug fir. The reason they burn so hot is one they are kiln dried to about 5% moister content, and there is lots of surface area so you get a high fuel to air ratio. Kiln dried lumber can destroy a stove, good ole split pine cant.

Ive been burning kiln dried dimensional lumber and pallets all season. if you use them in moderation they are perfectly fine. i use 2-3 pieces of lumber , let em burn for 10-15 min or so then add hardwood. voila, instant heat. and if you call now, we'll throw in a happy wife and kids at no charge!
 
MountainStoveGuy said:
Hurricane said:
Just split and stack it. When it is dry make the decision. I say if it is not rotten burn it.
If you ever burned 2X4 scraps and saw how hot they burned that was most likely some variant of pine.
most of the 2x4's around here are doug fir. The reason they burn so hot is one they are kiln dried to about 5% moister content, and there is lots of surface area so you get a high fuel to air ratio. Kiln dried lumber can destroy a stove, good ole split pine cant.

The BK will smolder a full load of that stuff with no problem. They recommend 12%mc or less. Any full blazing load I have had can rid the visible flames within a minute after turn down. The smoke will roll in the stove for hours feeding the CAT.
 
We're pretty much out of seasoned hardwoods now so im lettin my dad burn whats left of the oak. Im burnin some nicely seasoned pine splits we have around for backup. It's burnin nice and hot and I do love the smell of burnin pine! :coolsmile:
 
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