2x4 pieces

[Enviro1700]

Hey I work construction and have access to a lot of 2x4 scrap pieces. I have a couple cords of maple but likey not enough for the season. I live in gods country lol so I can get more hardwood if I need it. Wood is not my primary source of heat either. (typing this on my Wii sucks lol). Anyway anyone burn 2x4 pieces? People tell me not to because they claim there is more creosote but i always burn hot never oxygen starved and except for cold starts never have smoke from my chimney whatsoever and my firebox and glass are always clean. The btus are lower but you can load the hell outa the stove to then throw hardwood in after. You burn a ton of it but free heat is free heat. Anyone know if its true about softwood and creosote? Would secondary burn eliminate it if so? Is there a higher posibility of over firing using milled lumber(hardwood or soft)and overfilling a stove?

 

[sgt7546]

I got a truck load of untreated/un painted 2x4 and other dimensional lumber scraps about a month ago. Been burning them ever since with no ill effects. I just wouldn't put a whole pile in at once as they do burn hot/fast and the chance of over-firing is there. I usually put a couple pieces in with my "almost" seasoned wood and it takes off just fine.

 

[Lumber-Jack]

Hey I work construction and have access to a lot of 2x4 scrap pieces. I have a couple cords of maple but likey not enough for the season. I live in gods country lol so I can get more hardwood if I need it. Wood is not my primary source of heat either. (typing this on my Wii sucks lol). Anyway anyone burn 2x4 pieces? People tell me not to because they claim there is more creosote but i always burn hot never oxygen starved and except for cold starts never have smoke from my chimney whatsoever and my firebox and glass are always clean. The btus are lower but you can load the hell outa the stove to then throw hardwood in after. You burn a ton of it but free heat is free heat. Anyone know if its true about softwood and creosote? Would secondary burn eliminate it if so? Is there a higher posibility of over firing using milled lumber(hardwood or soft)and overfilling a stove?

There is definitely a danger of over firing with kiln dried lumber. As for it creating more creoste,,, actually the opposite is true.

The myth that pine (soft wood) 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 (or other harwood), blissfully developing a good thick coating of creosote in his chimney. Eventually one day he finds, or someone offers him, some nice dry Pine (or 2x4 softwood). He then proceeds to burn a load of this nice dry Pine (softwood) in the same manner as he usually burns the wet Oak (hardwood) 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 (softwood).” Thus perpetuating the myth that the Pine (softwood) was the “cause” of the chimney fire and it is “dangerous” to burn in your stove.

Unseasoned wood is where you'll get a lot of creosote, and hardwood is more likely to be unseasoned than softwood because it takes so much longer to season hardwoods, up to 3 years for some oak.

 

[nate379]

My Dad has been heating his shop with 2x4s for nearly 15 years.

I use scraps in my stove for starting fires. Works well.

 

[shawneyboy]

Kiln dried scrap lumber = Hot quick burn. Dont load the stove up with them or you will overfire. Creates more creosote = B.S. If burned properly you will be very happy to have it in your wood stack. Hell there are many here who can tell you about burning pallets, some even for an entire season. Burn on.

 

[greenbrierwv]

They work very well for startup and burn very hot. id get as much of that as you can store. you will be glad you did.

 

[firefighterjake]

Hey I work construction and have access to a lot of 2x4 scrap pieces. I have a couple cords of maple but likey not enough for the season. I live in gods country lol so I can get more hardwood if I need it. Wood is not my primary source of heat either. (typing this on my Wii sucks lol). Anyway anyone burn 2x4 pieces? People tell me not to because they claim there is more creosote but i always burn hot never oxygen starved and except for cold starts never have smoke from my chimney whatsoever and my firebox and glass are always clean. The btus are lower but you can load the hell outa the stove to then throw hardwood in after. You burn a ton of it but free heat is free heat. Anyone know if its true about softwood and creosote? Would secondary burn eliminate it if so? Is there a higher posibility of over firing using milled lumber(hardwood or soft)and overfilling a stove?

There is definitely a danger of over firing with kiln dried lumber. As for it creating more creoste,,, actually the opposite is true.

The myth that pine (soft wood) 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 (or other harwood), blissfully developing a good thick coating of creosote in his chimney. Eventually one day he finds, or someone offers him, some nice dry Pine (or 2x4 softwood). He then proceeds to burn a load of this nice dry Pine (softwood) in the same manner as he usually burns the wet Oak (hardwood) 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 (softwood).” Thus perpetuating the myth that the Pine (softwood) was the “cause” of the chimney fire and it is “dangerous” to burn in your stove.

Unseasoned wood is where you'll get a lot of creosote, and hardwood is more likely to be unseasoned than softwood because it takes so much longer to season hardwoods, up to 3 years for some oak.

+1 . . . CL is spot on about the danger of over-firing, no real concern with creosote in burning any softwood as long as it is seasoned and the fact that dimensional lumber is quite useful as kindling . . . or in helping to get marginally seasoned wood burning . . . OK, he may not have mentioned that last bit . . .

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Add another to the agreement. Burn it; just don't try to burn it all at the same time.

 

[Wood Duck]

If you bring home an armful of 2x4 scraps every day, before long you have cords of the stuff. I think you'll have to burn a little differently than regular firewood, such as maybe load the stove a little less or give it a different air control setting to get the even burn you probably want. 2x4s will burn fast, could get too hot if you're not careful, and will burn away faster than hardwood, but they'll be nice and hot. Creosote is not a problem with kiln dried wood or with pine/doug fir unless you really choke the air down. I think the 2x4 wood should produce secondaries just as much as any other wood - as far as I understand it, secondaries come from the burning of smoke and unburned wood gases, and pine or douglas fir should give off gases that can produce secondaries just like any other wood. I'd burn all the free scraps I could get. I think there is something satisfying about burning free waste wood that would otherwise end up in the landfill.

 

[billb3]

Unless you're building backyard sheds from green sticks, kiln dried pine / fir burns like <<kindling = hot and fast.
It's great for short quick fires . It's a bit of a chore for big time heat because of the constant loading and you do have to be careful about putting in too much at once.

 

[FLINT]

burning 2x4s is definitely no problem. i don't even notice that they get crazy out of control burning or anything. probably depends on your stove and draft controls as well.

I talked with a woodstock rep on the phone and he said that it was totally fine to load up a woodstock stove with lumber - he said that because they (woodstock soapstone company) store all of their wood inside in their warehouse/storeroom, they only use kiln dried lumber in their showroom stoves. as long as you keep the air low enough, you are golden.

 

[ikessky]

I try to dig as much as I can out of the scrap pile. I also have access to hardwood trim cut-offs and seconds. I use all this stuff as kindling and it works out really well. I've never tried to keep a fire going with it, but like everyone else said, it is possible. Just be careful with loading and the air settings so you don't get an overfire.

 

[roddy]

i dont know if the pine causes creosote theory is of eastern origins as carb lib states,we always figured it was them west coast hippies high on the gange that were burning their houses down in a state of careless bliss,and blaming bad pine when the 5-0 came knocking....

eastern (ontario) rod

 

[santacruzbluz]

Burn them, for sure. They are very easy to split into smaller thicknesses. You can stand them on end and hit them just right with the claws of a hammer or a hatchet, and bust one piece a foot long into enough kindling to start a a fire. My main source of kindling is cut off 2 X 4 ends, most douglas fir, split up into much smaller pieces.

 

[Gunks]

I burned a lot of 2 x 4s last season. Cleaned the chimney this spring and no creosote. Like others have warned just don't overload your stove with them. Too bad the place I got my 2 x 4s from went out of business a few months ago.

 

[santacruzbluz]

I don't know about other areas, but the lumberyards here have bins out back, by the road, where they dump all their cut off ends from cutting stakes, and various other things they do. They fabricate various things there on site. The wood is there for people to take as firewood. There are often hardwood flooring pieces. They know what you can burn and what you shouldn't. Might be worth checking with your local yards to see what they might have.

 

[FLINT]

i dont know if the pine causes creosote theory is of eastern origins as carb lib states,we always figured it was them west coast hippies high on the gange that were burning their houses down in a state of careless bliss,and blaming bad pine when the 5-0 came knocking....

eastern (ontario) rod

I always figured it was a slightly different version of carbon liberators hypothesis.

I've observed that the vast majority of people seem to cut wood in the spring, summer, or even fall of the same year that they plan to burn it - so definitely very little of their wood was actually seasoned properly. Since pine has more moisture/water/sap in it when green than do many hardwoods, then its possible that totally green pine produces more creosote than totally green hardwoods. But actually, I have no evidence that this is even the case. who knows.

 

[Enviro1700]

Hey thanks all for the respones. Sorry I am so late getting back here but my computer has been down. I will definatly be burning all the 2x4's 6's etc i can get. I have another question my wood hasn't been burning great. Had a great summer and most of its been chopped and stacked for 6 months plus it was pretty much dead before it was felled. Anyway i bought a hygrometer tonight and tested my wood. All the wood is in the 15-18 range so should be ok. But when lit its hissing and needs 3/4 draft to burn properly. Is wood nearer the 20 % mark still to wet to burn?

 

[dafattkidd]

Hey thanks all for the respones. Sorry I am so late getting back here but my computer has been down. I will definatly be burning all the 2x4's 6's etc i can get. I have another question my wood hasn't been burning great. Had a great summer and most of its been chopped and stacked for 6 months plus it was pretty much dead before it was felled. Anyway i bought a hygrometer tonight and tested my wood. All the wood is in the 15-18 range so should be ok. But when lit its hissing and needs 3/4 draft to burn properly. Is wood nearer the 20 % mark still to wet to burn?

Try mixing the construction debris in with your cord wood. It will help it bun better. Are you testing the outside of the splits? You should be splitting the wood and testing the center of the splits. Either way if you're having trouble getting your wood going if you mix in some of that 2X material it will bring some dry balance to the firebox. That' s what I did all last year because of my unseasoned wood.

By the way, I'm a carpenter and I burn construction debris almost every day- screw, nails and all.

 

[firefighterjake]

Hey thanks all for the respones. Sorry I am so late getting back here but my computer has been down. I will definatly be burning all the 2x4's 6's etc i can get. I have another question my wood hasn't been burning great. Had a great summer and most of its been chopped and stacked for 6 months plus it was pretty much dead before it was felled. Anyway i bought a hygrometer tonight and tested my wood. All the wood is in the 15-18 range so should be ok. But when lit its hissing and needs 3/4 draft to burn properly. Is wood nearer the 20 % mark still to wet to burn?

Try mixing the construction debris in with your cord wood. It will help it bun better. Are you testing the outside of the splits? You should be splitting the wood and testing the center of the splits. Either way if you're having trouble getting your wood going if you mix in some of that 2X material it will bring some dry balance to the firebox. That' s what I did all last year because of my unseasoned wood.

By the way, I'm a carpenter and I burn construction debris almost every day- screw, nails and all.

+1 to everything DaFatKid said . . .

If I had to guess (like DFK) I'm guessing you just tested the outside of the splits instead of resplitting the wood and then using the moisture meter.

Also, as DFK said . . . you can use the cast-offs you're collecting to get your stove up to cruising temps by allowing the kiln-dried lumber to dry out the moisture that is remaining in the wood.