Anyone burn spruce?

[IA Burner]

Normally I would go for higher BTU content wood, but a friend of mine has a landscaping business. He just called and said that he has some spruce if I want it.

It is already bucked into rounds, and he will deliver it and dump it next to my woodpile.

Low BTU content or not: free & DELIVERED has a good sound to it.

What do you say? Anybody burn spruce?



(Oh, and on an unrelated topic: Go Cyclones!!)

 

[oldspark]

Never burnt spruce but free and delivered sounds good, the clones have made history.

 

[Redbear86]

its about the best thing you can get out here, better BTU than pine

 

[schlot]

Sorry, nothing to do with wood, but that ISU win against Oklahoma State was awesome, but more importantly our thoughts are with all the Oklahoma State sports family for the loss of the Women's basketball coach.

 

[oldspark]

OU is next!

 

[IA Burner]

Schlot: Good game to choose! I was there as well. I have seen some bad football in that stadium over the last 20 years. This makes up for all of it!

 

[EKLawton]

i'll take it if you dont want it will he deliver in PA

 

[Wood Duck]

I have burnt spruce. It is nice firewood, more or less like White Pine. I'd take it, especially for free.

 

[bogydave]

I burn allot of spruce. Good wood IMO.
Free & delivered, you bet.

 

[colin.p]

I cut down a dead 35 ft spruce in my front yard, a couple of years ago. Bucked it into 12-14 inch lengths and when I went to split it, I found that it had to be the darned toughest stuff to split. So many knots, that ran (I swear) from one side, clear to the other. I said screw it and piled it away for two years. I finally got around to it and ripped the rounds with the chainsaw, made alot of nice "noodles' - great for fire starting. Anyway, it burned nice and hot, didn't last long though, but I would certainly burn it again, if given the chance. Made very good fire starter material.

 

[shawng111]

I cut down a dead 35 ft spruce in my front yard, a couple of years ago. Bucked it into 12-14 inch lengths and when I went to split it, I found that it had to be the darned toughest stuff to split. So many knots, that ran (I swear) from one side, clear to the other. I said screw it and piled it away for two years. I finally got around to it and ripped the rounds with the chainsaw, made alot of nice "noodles' - great for fire starting. Anyway, it burned nice and hot, didn't last long though, but I would certainly burn it again, if given the chance. Made very good fire starter material.

I had the same experience, already bucked so it was hard to pass up, and yes lots of knots that hold that wood together like glue, no problem for the hydraulic splitters, but if you're like me and just an ax, prepare for some noodles.

 

[bogydave]

I cut down a dead 35 ft spruce in my front yard, a couple of years ago. Bucked it into 12-14 inch lengths and when I went to split it, I found that it had to be the darned toughest stuff to split. So many knots, that ran (I swear) from one side, clear to the other. I said screw it and piled it away for two years. I finally got around to it and ripped the rounds with the chainsaw, made alot of nice "noodles' - great for fire starting. Anyway, it burned nice and hot, didn't last long though, but I would certainly burn it again, if given the chance. Made very good fire starter material.

I had the same experience, already bucked so it was hard to pass up, and yes lots of knots that hold that wood together like glue, no problem for the hydraulic splitters, but if you're like me and just an ax, prepare for some noodles.

Before I got a Hydraulic splitter, I'd split it mid winter, -10°f or colder & it splits with a maul just fine.

 

[John the Painter]

Good wood to burn.Bad wood to split. >:-(

 

[PapaDave]

I still have some in the she for next spring. Also about 1/3 cord in the back stacks and 2 more trees to c/s/s.
Take it, dry it, and burn it.

 

[bpirger]

I burned about 2 cords this summer heating my DHW in my Garn. It was quite dry and burned fast and quite hot. What surprised me the most was the lack of ash it creates. When I burn hardwood for a few weeks, I need to remove ashes. But I burned spruce all summer and it hardly accumulated any ashes.

In any event, when good and dry, burns great for me! Might have to handle with gloves when it is freshly cut else you will get sticky...

 

[firefighterjake]

Yup . . . I don't go out of my way for spruce, but if it's in the way or in the case of the dead spruce that fell down at my parent's house . . . I'll burn it. Good shoulder season wood or good for kindling. Can sometimes be tough splitting if there are a lot of branches . . . with the spruce I burned it snapped and popped quite a bit . . . quite entertaining . . . as long as it isn't doing the fireworks show while you're loading the stove.

 

[maplewood]

One of the best conifers.
Dries nicely.
Good score!

 

[Wood Duck]

Around here there are no native spruce, so the spruce you see are all planted and generally ornamental trees that grow with lots of branches the whole way from the ground to the top of the tree. These are tough to split. If you have spruce that grew in a plantation or a forest you'll get trunks where the branches have naturally fallen off, and those tend to be a lot nicer to split.

 

[Mt Ski Bum]

I've burnt plenty of Engelmann Spruce before.... great firewood.

 

[Mt Ski Bum]

.Bad wood to split. >:-(

really? I'ven ever had any more difficulty than normal splitting spruce... seems to split easily for me...

 

[Lumber-Jack]

.Bad wood to split. >:-(

really? I'ven ever had any more difficulty than normal splitting spruce... seems to split easily for me...

What is normal for you? What are you comparing it to?
I avoid spruce because of it's tough to split and I don't have hydraulics. Also it has less BTUs than the other conifers I usually burn, douglas fir and lodgepole pine.
But if I needed some wood to burn, and had the room for it, I'd take it.

 

[hemlock]

Lots and lots of spruce. Nice firewood, and even better when its free. Seasons quickly, and burns hot - great for the shoulder seasons. But yeah, it can actually be surprisingly brutal to split (knots).

 

[MNBioman]

I hand split spruce in Alsaka to heat my home for about 15 years and loved it. I now live in northern Mn and use hard woods but I always like spruce. When I lived in Yakutat Ak I would I hade to use an 076 stihl with a 4' bar to cut the trees up and I had to use a wedge and spliting mall to split the pieces. I would set the problem pieces aside until I got a day that was down around zero because they split easier when they are frozen. Spruce lways seemed to burn good even with a high moisture content.

 

[bogydave]

I hand split spruce in Alsaka to heat my home for about 15 years and loved it. I now live in northern Mn and use hard woods but I always like spruce. When I lived in Yakutat Ak I would I hade to use an 076 stihl with a 4' bar to cut the trees up and I had to use a wedge and spliting mall to split the pieces. I would set the problem pieces aside until I got a day that was down around zero because they split easier when they are frozen. Spruce lways seemed to burn good even with a high moisture content.

You were in the "big tree" country there. (& rain country) I've seen pictures of monster tress coming out of SE Alaska.
Still some logging going on. Sitka spruce still a cherished wood for music instruments.
Government shut most timber outfits down.

 

[WoodpileOCD]

I cut down a dead 35 ft spruce in my front yard, a couple of years ago. Bucked it into 12-14 inch lengths and when I went to split it, I found that it had to be the darned toughest stuff to split. So many knots, that ran (I swear) from one side, clear to the other. I said screw it and piled it away for two years. I finally got around to it and ripped the rounds with the chainsaw, made alot of nice "noodles' - great for fire starting. Anyway, it burned nice and hot, didn't last long though, but I would certainly burn it again, if given the chance. Made very good fire starter material.

I had the same experience, already bucked so it was hard to pass up, and yes lots of knots that hold that wood together like glue, no problem for the hydraulic splitters, but if you're like me and just an ax, prepare for some noodles.

Before I got a Hydraulic splitter, I'd split it mid winter, -10°f or colder & it splits with a maul just fine.

Dave, the next time I get a spruce, I'm going to wait until it get to 10 or 15 below before I split it. Might be awhile, say 10 years or so between cold snaps like that around here (NC). Thank God for that too. :roll: