A serious question...what is it like burning Pine?

[PA. Woodsman]

Here in Pennsylvania I am very blessed and fortunate with so many hardwoods that I don't have to burn Pine, but I was just wondering what is it like burning Pine? I know that you have to make sure that it is dry and it burns fast, but I'd like to hear from you guys that burn it and I know for some of you guys it is the only wood available for you to burn; I wish that I could share all of these hardwoods down here with you guys! Just curious what it is like, how it differs from hardwoods, etc.

Thanks!

 

[Jags]

I am also a hard woods guy for the most part, but will burn pine (and currently have some in my stash). Nothing wrong at all with it. It actually doesn't do a bad job of coaling, it just happens sooner than hardwoods. Quick to light up, and will throw tons of heat, just not as long.

 

[BurnIt13]

Its awesome. Its my new favorite wood. Why? Because it dries super fast and is drier than my hardwoods at the moment. I get a cord or more per year dropped in log length for free by my neighbor who is a tree guy. I'm blowing through about 1.5 cord this year.

BTU's is BTU's. For arguments sake a full load of oak weighs 40lbs and the same size load of pine weighs 20lbs so it will have roughly half the heat value. This works well with my Englander 30 as it likes to run hot. With pine I can smother the fire or have a nuclear blast furnace if I desire. When I burn hardwood there are so many BTU's in a full load that the stove gets hot whether I like it or not, this doesn't happen with pine.

It also seems to produce a lot less ash although it actually doesn't. For the same volume of pine there is less wood. Pine is something like half the density of oak so it produces about half the ash.

It lights quick and is very controllable in my stove. The only downfall is a full load only lasts 3-5 hours depending on how hot I'm burning. So I'm going to blow through my 1.5 cord about twice as fast as my oak.

 

[NH_Wood]

This was my first year burning pine - had about a 1/2 cord for the fall (c/s/s for 2 years). I'll be taking more when it's available and there is often quite a bit to take since most folks around me think it's stove poison. As indicated above - it's real good for getting a good and quick hot fire when the draft is a little sluggish on more mild days. With a load of pine I can get my stove to 500 no problem and it will throw heat for quite a while. As temps dropped, I started mixing some with the hardwoods and it helps to get the fire hotter, faster. I stopped adding pine sometime in November and switched to my hardwoods. I have a little left for the spring, but not much. I think I have a chance to get at least 2 cord soon - will keep a cord for shoulder season inside and will keep the other for the workshop stove. Cheers!

 

[PA. Woodsman]

This was my first year burning pine - had about a 1/2 cord for the fall (c/s/s for 2 years). I'll be taking more when it's available and there is often quite a bit to take since most folks around me think it's stove poison. As indicated above - it's real good for getting a good and quick hot fire when the draft is a little sluggish on more mild days. With a load of pine I can get my stove to 500 no problem and it will throw heat for quite a while. As temps dropped, I started mixing some with the hardwoods and it helps to get the fire hotter, faster. I stopped adding pine sometime in November and switched to my hardwoods. I have a little left for the spring, but not much. I think I have a chance to get at least 2 cord soon - will keep a cord for shoulder season inside and will keep the other for the workshop stove. Cheers!

Everytime I see your posts and New Hampshire it makes me remember a trip there in 2001; we stayed in North Conway and I wish that I had a helicopter so that I could fly up to go to Merlino's steakhouse.....lovely country up there-I would love to live up that way.

Please send me a steak from there if you ever get up that way lol Medium please.....

 

[mass_burner]

If spruce counts as pine, its seasoned in 8 months, 22%. I think with a high efficient stove, it burns better. I can get 4+ hours out of a full stove. Splits easy. Also easier to load.

 

[Trktrd]

I normally use it for cold starts to get things rolling quickly. Now after the ice storm, I'm buried in pine so in the years to come will be burning it more regularly.

 

[eclecticcottage]

We burn it pretty much exclusively because it's what we can get (for free). It lights off faster and I find I need to turn the air down faster. Burns quicker and seems to create a lot less ash. We've only cleaned our ash out twice this year and we heat with wood-and the last time was a quick build up from a run of box elder we had to get through. I noticed that the secondaries have cool little sparks in them more with pine-kind of like glitter. It's also a LOT lighter to carry in! It pays to let it sit in the round for a month or two before splitting to let the sap run some, that sap is something else and it quite difficult to get off hands and out of clothes.

 

[loadstarken]

I get a ton of it up here in the PNW and I don't have a problem using it and I have learned how to keep it under control.

We never see the low temps here like the negative temps that are hitting the East coast so all of my wood species are all stacked together. I just feed the stove as it needs it and it works well for us.

I'll take any wood that my tree guy has for me except that crappy cottonwood. One time there was some cottonwood mixed into a load and I put it on the curb at the end of the driveway and it was gone in less than an hour.

 

[BurnIt13]

Not to derail....But I've got a half cord of cottonwood mixed in with next years wood as a tree came down on my property. What is so bad about it?

 

[ColdNH]

ill echo what others have said, I felled a few hemlocks and white pines on my property a year and a half ago, didn't want to waste it so I cut it up and seasoned it a year or so. burned it this fall. definitely my new favorite wood. The great thing about it, like others has said is that its SO easy to find for free. After I discovered I liked burning it I found roughly 5 cord of large rounds stacked on some guys driveway he was giving away in town. no brainer. I love that it doesn't take too long to season and it burns hot and doesn't produce too many coals/ash. going to be great supplemental wood for next winter. compliments hardwood nice.

 

[loadstarken]

I'm just not a fan of it because it never seems to burn right and just seems to smolder no matter how long I season it and it stinks when burning.

I'd just rather have it not taking up room on my stacks that other wood can take up the space.

My neighbors seem to like it though for free which I'm OK with.

 

[red oak]

Burns hot and fast and I happen to really like the smell - reminds me of Christmas! I don't burn a lot except as firestarter/shoulder season wood and in campfires. I don't like messing with the sap and my experience is that it's harder to split than most of the hardwoods around here.

 

[mass_burner]

How is it that you smell it while burning? While loading? I don't mind splitting, but its too hard on the stihl. The mess!

 

[NH_Wood]

Everytime I see your posts and New Hampshire it makes me remember a trip there in 2001; we stayed in North Conway and I wish that I had a helicopter so that I could fly up to go to Merlino's steakhouse.....lovely country up there-I would love to live up that way.

Please send me a steak from there if you ever get up that way lol Medium please.....

Ha! Haven't been to Merlino's, but I've been up to North Conway quite a bit and all around the White Mountains - it is a beautiful area. But.....I normally tell folks how bad it is to live in NH - trying to keep more folks out - especially the damn southerners from MA . Cheers!

 

[1970roadrunner]

In BC we have thousands of acres of dead lodgepole pine from the pine beetle-all free for the taking with a firewood permit. Its been dead for years and is ready to burn. I burn pine in the fall and spring, and burn douglas fir in the winter (also cut under firewood permit).

If its dry and seasoned, pine will burn just fine. Its easy to light. Just don't expect hardwood burn times with it.

 

[loadstarken]

Do they give permits to your neighbors to the South? I'd love to load my truck up with lodgepole pine! I wonder how much I could pile on my truck? It probably wouldn't be allowed to cross the border though. Dang!

 

[firefighterjake]

White pine . . . It's bliss . . . well maybe not bliss . . . but it burns fine. Lights up quickly. Great for shoulder seasons and kindling. Quick, hot fires, not a lot of staying power. A bit sappy to process, but I don't mind it. Wouldn't want to burn it right now with negative temps outside . . . but it's quite useful at other times of the year.

 

[legrandice]

I am still working on the last of 5 large pine trees that I had taken down four years ago. They were way too close to the house. I paid the tree guys to buck them into rounds and then split it up. It's great shoulder season wood and dried quickly. I have it mixed into my stack for this year and it's great for starting the stove. That being said, I don't think I would go out of my way to get more unless it was free and delivered. I can put in the same amount of work for more BTU with other wood.

 

[Wood Duck]

My favorite thing about pine is that it seems to heat up fast. When I want fast heat, or when the draft isn't working very well on a warmish or rainy day, pine is a great way to get the stove and flue hot quickly.

 

[n3pro]

Ditto to others. Because it seasons quicker, I usually split it bigger so less work to process. I love the instant ignition, smell, light so easy to move, often free since most consider it junk wood. Love the secondary action from it.

 

[Sinngetreu]

Its just like hardwood except different.

 

[Insomnivore]

Not to derail....But I've got a half cord of cottonwood mixed in with next years wood as a tree came down on my property. What is so bad about it?

Nothing.... It's -7°F as I write this and my entire home is a toasty and warm 71° thanks to cottonwood, pine and other hated burnables. Some say c-wood smells bad when burning. I like it. As they say, burn is burn. Nothing truer on a cold January night. I could care less what it smells like outside right now.

 

[windchaser]

Advantages of most (but not all) varieties of pine

-very easy to split
-fast to season
-easy to light and quick to burn
-hot while it burns but overall short burn time
-often does the "snap crackle pop" (if you like that)

There are a few pine varieties that have a very heavy sap content and are very difficult to split and take much longer to season but will still burn not bad

I like to use pine in the early and late season when it's not too cold or when a fire is first getting going. It's also great to make kindling with due to how easy it splits.

 

[Seanm]

Im a bit late to this party but here in the Elk Valley of BC we burn lots of Lodgepole Pine. Its easy to split, not to sappy, and is close by. I dont use lots of gas driving to distant lands to gather my firewood in fact I rarely have to go more than 15 minutes from my house. We have the beetle kill here as well but it seems that there is less in recent years but still available and between that and all the blow downs its easy pickings. Not all pines are created equal and some are lower on the btu charts than others!. This is my go to wood when I need a hot 4-5 hour fire on a 3/4 stove load and after that I switch to Larch for overnight burns. Very low ash as well.