Pine

[nayoung31]

Hello Everyone...we had a nasty storm last night and as a result had a huge pine tree fall in the backyard. (missed hitting anything important thank goodness).
My question is, can pine be burned in a woodstove? (obviously it would have to sit till next year if so )I've heard it's not good to burn pine because of the sap but wanted to put it out there and get opionions on the matter.
We have a Hearthstone Heritage.
Thanks!

 

[Delta-T]

simple answer...it is wood, you can burn it. Be aware, there are many folk tales about burning pine....it causes blindness,impotence,attracts mountain lions and a host of other things, some you may believe, other you may not.

This is one of those proverbial "cans of worms".

 

[branchburner]

Cut, split, stack and cover - a year and you're good to go. Contrary to popular opinion, it is a good low-density fuel.

The sap does make it a mess to handle, however. And white pine (if that's what you have) is fairly heavy until it dries out a bit, but then light as a feather.

 

[argus66]

ya i burn it as well mostly oct nov. and then in april and may. just give it a yr to season up. it burns hot and fast so it also good to get a good fire going.

 

[AK13]

It is amazing how common the misconception about burning pine is. The good news is there are plenty of people giving away free pine on craigslist!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

It could also be pitch pine. NJ has the pine barrens and that would be good pitch pine territory.

Matt

 

[Dune]

Either way. Cut it all and let it sit for a few weeks, the sap will dry pretty fast. Then split it, stack it. Next year enjoy it. Pine is good fuel.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

And when we get sap on our hands, we just put a little Miracle Whip on the hands and the sap comes right off. Good to know especially if you have kids.

It still amazes me how many people are told that story about pine. Yet, I've seen people burn pine all my life and was amazed when I first heard bad stories. I thought, "What?!" Just another old wives tale.

 

[ecocavalier02]

wishi had some pine for this time of year.

 

[formula_pilot]

I have noticed that when starting from a cold stove with pine, the glass on my Jotul gets a very noticeable brown film in the corners, and since the stove is new, I keep getting compelled to clean the glass. It does not stop me from burning pine however, there is a small load in there right now, waiting for me to light the match.

 

[PapaDave]

I have, unfortunately, burned all of the pine I had on hand. No creosote in the flue, my house didn't spontaneously combust into a mass of flames, and I'm still here to pass that info along.
Somehow, someway, this old misconception has got to stop. Just knock it off, cut it out, cease, desist. (Not directed at the OP)

 

[Dune]

I have, unfortunately, burned all of the pine I had on hand. No creosote in the flue, my house didn't spontaneously combust into a mass of flames, and I'm still here to pass that info along.
Somehow, someway, this old misconception has got to stop. Just knock it off, cut it out, cease, desist. (Not directed at the OP)

Let's leave it as is, but answer honestly those who ask. I like getting most of my firewood cut and delivered for free because it's pine.

 

[agartner]

I just have to say it..."Pine is just Fine".

 

[Lumber-Jack]

The myth that pine causes chimney fires is of Eastern origin, and it has a bit of biased truth to it. It probably developed something like this....

You take your typical Easterner who, year after year, burns predominantly unseasoned Oak, blissfully developing a good thick coating of creosote in his chimney. Eventually one day he finds, or someone offers him, some nice dry Pine. He then proceeds to burn a load of this nice dry Pine in the same manner as he usually burns the wet Oak expecting much the same sort of results, but instead the fire burns much hotter (the way it is suppose to) than it has ever done in the past, thus igniting the creosote, that has been developing in the chimney for years, and he has a huge chimney fire. The fire department comes and puts out the fire (hopefully saving his house and family), later the fire chief asks the homeowner how the fire got started? To which the homeowner replies, “all I did was burn a load of Pine.” Thus perpetuating the myth that the Pine was the “cause” of the chimney fire and it is "dangerous" to burn in your stove.

Just remember the significant difference between pine and oak (if oak is what you're use to burning) is that pine not only seasons faster than oak, it also burns faster and hotter too.

 

[Stove-Parts-Unlimited]

We live in Montana, it gets to -40 here quite often, and we have our stove going at least 6-7 months a year. We burn lodgepole pine here a lot, if we need to fire to go without putting more wood in for more than 8 hours, then we will put in some larch, but pine puts out good heat and we have never had bad creosote build up from it. I guess it all comes down to the kind of pine it is.

 

[ShenValSteve]

The wood police come confiscate your stove, truck, saw, dog(s), and oldest child if you burn pine around here.

I've not burned any. Hardwood is easy to come by around here. I will try some pine when some comes along for free.

 

[PapaDave]

I have, unfortunately, burned all of the pine I had on hand. No creosote in the flue, my house didn't spontaneously combust into a mass of flames, and I'm still here to pass that info along.
Somehow, someway, this old misconception has got to stop. Just knock it off, cut it out, cease, desist. (Not directed at the OP)

Let's leave it as is, but answer honestly those who ask. I like getting most of my firewood cut and delivered for free because it's pine.

Dune, and everyone else too, sorry for the rant. :sick: Lost my mind for a minute.
Nancy, as long as you get the pine dried out (sounds like you had that in mind), it'll be fine. It does tend to burn quickly. I had a spruce limb (pretty good sized) drop a couple weeks ago, too, and it took me about a week to get to it. It's now in the stacks awaiting it's destiny as fuel for my stove.
Lots of spruce on the property, and I plan to start cutting some next year to add to my arsenal.
I didn't know about the trick Dennis mentioned with the Miracle Whip,... I'll have to try that.

 

[KingNFM]

I didn't know about the trick Dennis mentioned with the Miracle Whip,... I'll have to try that.

I had a bunch of unsplit rounds of pine dropped off a few weeks ago. Some of them I've been splitting by hand and some I'm waiting on my buddy with the splitter to get done. However I have yet to get any sap on my hands at all. I'll tell you my secret, it's these miraculous inventions called gloves. They work wonders!

 

[PapaDave]

King, that's one "trick" I use quite often. I have a pair that has a layer of sap on then that seems like it's 1/4" thick. Gloves are now dang near waterproof. :lol:

 

[KingNFM]

King, that's one "trick" I use quite often. I have a pair that has a layer of sap on then that seems like it's 1/4" thick. Gloves are now dang near waterproof. :lol:

Yea, but I'm evil. I take my gloves off and lay them on my son's bike seat to keep them off the ground. I can't wait till he goes for a bike ride and gets stuck to the seat....lol

 

[firefighterjake]

Pine: Cut, split, stack, season, burn. End of story.

 

[woodjack]

Be very careful. Burning pine emits a chemical that's the same as the active ingredient in viagra.
Don't ask me how I know. ;-)

 

[PapaDave]

Be very careful. Burning pine emits a chemical that's the same as the active ingredient in viagra.
Don't ask me how I know. ;-)

Sniffin' the old smokestack, eh woodjack?

 

[RandyG]

Down here in central Fla, our pine trees are loaded with sap, when they season you get a core of fatwood, which is what I usually use for a fire starter only, cut in small splints. Just those small pieces give off a ton of black thick smoke and get very hot quickly.I would think it would be very easy to overfire a stove burning this wood and possibly damage your cat! I think maybe those quys burning pine have a much different species than I have down here. I personally will never be putting it in my stove, I'm even a little uneasy about using fatwood to start my fires.

 

[firefighterjake]

Down here in central Fla, our pine trees are loaded with sap, when they season you get a core of fatwood, which is what I usually use for a fire starter only, cut in small splints. Just those small pieces give off a ton of black thick smoke and get very hot quickly.I would think it would be very easy to overfire a stove burning this wood and possibly damage your cat! I think maybe those quys burning pine have a much different species than I have down here. I personally will never be putting it in my stove, I'm even a little uneasy about using fatwood to start my fires.

No worries . . . I burned through some pine (white pine which also has a ton of sap) that had a bunch of the sap and pitch sealed inside . . . long story, short . . . I had cut down a large tree many years ago and attempted to burn the big bucked rounds without splitting them and in effect they just charred and sealed the wood . . . in any case I eventually split the wood and discovered that when I burned it that it would burn pretty intensely . . . more so than normal . . . in fact I started calling it "diesel wood" due to the ferocity of the burn and the black smoke that came off the wood.

That said . . . while I burned this wood . . . I pretty much used it for my shoulder season fires . . . and therefore did not stuff the firebox full of it . . . just 2-3 pieces . . . no worries . . . it burned hot and fast . . . but temps were well within the accepted parameters of normal burning.