The hidden danger of pine :)

[joefrompa]

Hi all,

Burning about a cord of pine - stuff goes fast!

Anywho, I opened up the stove a crack, then an inch, then all the way the other day. BAM - I saw an explosion of piney goodness that threw a red ember OVER my shoulder (onto my off-white carpet), another chunk hit my chest, and some more hit the glass at an angle and rebounded onto my brick hearth (near little stuff like dried pine needles...ahem...).

I've had a couple pop out of the stove onto the ash lip or something, but this was the first time I had it really explode on me.

Still gonna burn it. Nothing gets the stove ready for the semi-seasoned stuff like a load of lightweight pine

 

[Delta-T]

you should rename the thread "the hidden joys of pine".......free fireworks show.

 

[joefrompa]

Have you ever had a thump that sounded/felt like a car bumped the side of your house? I have when a knot of pine filled with sap burst.

I've had some explosions that literally sounded like a 9mm going off inside the stove.

 

[Delta-T]

I've not had something like that happen, that seems very....exciting/scary. I've also never fired a 9mm in my house, so I dont know what that would sound like...I'll take your word for it

If you put a full can of baked beans into the stove and wait a few minutes...you'll get a noise I think would be similar....except there will be beans everywhere.

 

[Highbeam]

Who spilled the beans?

 

[SolarAndWood]

A little air can really get pine going. I put very little in the smoke dragon in the camp at a time while I don't even think twice about filling the stove at home with it.

 

[CTYank]

Hi all,

Burning about a cord of pine - stuff goes fast!

Anywho, I opened up the stove a crack, then an inch, then all the way the other day. BAM - I saw an explosion of piney goodness that threw a red ember OVER my shoulder (onto my off-white carpet), another chunk hit my chest, and some more hit the glass at an angle and rebounded onto my brick hearth (near little stuff like dried pine needles...ahem...).

I've had a couple pop out of the stove onto the ash lip or something, but this was the first time I had it really explode on me.

Still gonna burn it. Nothing gets the stove ready for the semi-seasoned stuff like a load of lightweight pine

Sounds to me like it has more moisture within than you reckoned. Some conifers have a natural tendency to toss glowing embers, you may have steam propulsion to really launch chunks.

(Black locust is another of those woods that build up little steam pockets, if the wood is not thoroughly air-dry. The wood's strong enough to remain intact, but the steam jet will momentarily extinguish nearby flames.)

 

[joefrompa]

This stuff is not super seasoned (some of it is questionably seasoned, as some chunks feel like you are lifting air while others feel like a water balloon is hanging off the end).

Occasionally you'll see the sap sweat out of the surface on one side and then suddenly catch on fire....the sap turns into a fireball that engulfs half the inside of the stove. Its great!

For the most part, the pine doesn't hiss with moisture. But it definitely visibly sweats on any part not immediately engulfed in flames.

I'd be more worried about creosote build-up except that I have a 13' insulated liner that is almost straight up. I'm sure I'll have plenty of build-up at the end of the year, but so far I've burned only about one cord.

 

[LLigetfa]

At my former home I had lots of Balsam Fir that I absolutely hated and refused to burn. It would snap, crackle, and pop like firecrackers. My neighbor ran a sleigh ride service and had several chalets that he would rent out. He took all the Balsam Fir for the open fireplaces in his chalets. I often worried that his drunken guests would burn down his chalets with it.