Bottom line burning pine "argument"

[smee]

Ok...
Jokes aside for a minute.
Is all pine ok to burn if seasoned properly? meaning stacked and covered for a year?
What about the "tar" in some species?
Will softwoods "produce more creoste"?
Thanks!

 

[mellow]

All Pine is fine if properly seasoned.

People run into issues burning pine fresh cut in their creosote laden chimney, since it burns hotter it catches the creosote on fire and gets the blame. But really any wet wood smouldered will cause creosote.

 

[DougA]

Dry pine burns great, actually too hot and too fast for some people. The only problem with pine is that it is the same amount of work cutting and splitting and stacking (CSS) for half the heat of most other hardwood. If you have it, burn it and enjoy.

 

[tcassavaugh]

my opinion on burning pine....or poplar or any other wood for that matter......if its free, its for me. as mentioned earler, its all about the seasoning. if its dry, its good. i like it for shoulder seasons or to mix it with hard wood to get the fire going quickly. if your a little hesitant, just watch it close for a few times. take stock in how it burns and adjust your techniques accordingly.

 

[Heftiger]

We only burn pine in these parts. Lodgepole is preferred, but plenty of people burn the ponderosa variety as well. Seasons quick!

 

[Squisher]

Yup nothing wrong with seasoned pine. Good for shoulder season to take the edge off the place without having a never ending fire that will cook you out all night long. If it was all I had or had easy access to I'd burn it 24/7 no problemo.

 

[BigFir]

There is no argument.......

 

[tarzan]

Nothing at all wrong with seasoned pine but as mentioned above, stay close by the first couple fires. If you burn mostly hard wood, pine will require quicker adjustment times and less draft.

 

[firefighterjake]

Haven't run across any wood yet that I would not burn in my woodstove given proper time to season . . . with the two exceptions being treated/manufactured wood products like OSB, pressure treated wood, etc. and petrified wood . . . I don't think I would bother trying to burn petrified wood.

 

[branchburner]

Ok...
Will softwoods "produce more creoste"?

I think part of the reason this myth evolved is that ANY wood produces creosote if not fully seasoned, but since pine can burn hot and fast, it is pine that is more likely to light off the previously accumulated creosote (likely to result from burning oak, for example, which in my neighborhood is rarely if ever properly seasoned).

 

[bunfoolio]

Burned 2 cords of white pine and 2 more cords of multiple hard wood last year. Chimney sweep came in September and said the chimney was one of the cleanest he has seen. All you need is dry wood!

 

[smee]

Thanks guys!
I had a respected doctor tell me "no, you are wrong" I told him what you guys are saying and just wanted to make sure I'm 100% right

 

[Round Stove Guy]

If you burn clean untreated kiln-dried lumber and do not burn it hot enough, you will get creosote. So, ALL WOOD you burn has the potential to be a problem if not burned correctly. If you ever get the chance to read a book or paper from David A. Tillman, do and buy it. I always thought the amount of moisture in a tree species was important and Mr. Tillman affirmed my hypothesis. If your tree has a lot of water in it, i.e. cottonwood, once you season it (dry it) - it will have more energy or heat than a wood like green ash. A high amount of weight when dry, only means it has a lot of carbon - weight. But when a tree is not rotten but light when dry, has a honey comb structure with a lot of hydrogen(trees give off oxygen, leaving hydrogen inside them). I am a tree/firewood geek and I accept it!

 

[HighTon]

Wow! $34+shipping was the cheapest on Amazon. I would be very interested in reading this book, but I think I'll keep shopping.

 

[Squisher]

Try being a Canuck. Stuffs getting real expensive with our pitiful dollar.

 

[rwhite]

I'd freeze if I didn't burn pine. Like someone else mentioned, I prefer Lodgepole. I put it there close to Doug fir. I'll burn ponderosa but I don't go out of my way to get it. No issue with creosote.

 

[Squisher]

Lodge pole vs doug fir? Close but definitely no cigar.

 

[HighTon]

I burn mostly juniper and have had several people warn me that it will clog my chimney. I've had someone tell me that it's worse than pine. I've had no problems. I've even had pine burners tell me that juniper burns too hot.

 

[Round Stove Guy]

I am NOT kidding, when I was looking for books, some listings were over $100 and I paid $61 with shipping. I have 3 of Mr. Tillman's books. I am not sure what it means but this book was published in 1981. You don't see books or articles published in 2000's, stating the composition of wood AFTER Ronald Reagen was president. I don't claim any political party as my own but it seams once he removed the solar panels from the white house, renewable energy was put into a closest and only now was the door opened and people are looking into "it". Like on another post, if wood is left in the forest to rot, it releases methane which is worse for the environment. So, if we have piles of wood being burned, we can just as well burn it into a stove or a power plant. I live in an area that 200 years ago had zero trees. But now we have so much trees that people don't see the value of what we have.

 

[eclecticcottage]

We pretty much just burn pine. It does burn hotter and faster than hardwood, but it works.

 

[rwhite]

Lodge pole vs doug fir? Close but definitely no cigar.

I agree, I'll take D-fir any day. But lodgepole is a far site better than ponderosa. I put P-pine down there with white fir, But if there laying next to the road I'll cut it up. I think juniper is right on par with D-Fir.

 

[jetsam]

Some pine is having an argument with my stove right now, but it appears to be losing.

House is nice and warm on a cold-ass night though!

 

[HisTreeNut]

The power company came by and took down a few trees that were too close to the power lines. Mostly pine and one or two tall skinny maples.
Going to c/s/s on my next set of days off. As long as it is dry...pine is just fine.

 

[firefighterjake]

Thanks guys!
I had a respected doctor tell me "no, you are wrong" I told him what you guys are saying and just wanted to make sure I'm 100% right

Doctor if what? Medical doctor? Just because someone has a fancy piece of parchment doesn't necessarily make them smarter in every topic ... heck in some things some of the smartest people I know barely passed high school.

 

[stevea621j]

I like pine for a lot of reasons. When it comes to cutting and splitting, I will take a long straight pine trunk over a knarly twisted hardwood any day. It is easy to light up and it burns hot. I have noticed though that some of the pine we have down south will have so much pitch that it will literally light up with a match and burn with thick black smoke as if it had been soaked in diesel, even when well seasoned. That is probably not too good.