burning mill scraps?

[FishKiller]

Been awhile since i last posted, made a few chimney repairs over the summer and have the stove cranking again this season. so here is my question.
I have a friend who owns a tree service business and sells firewood. he usually gives me a couple cords a year to supplement my supply in exchange for a few days work. however, a few years ago he bought the equipment to start milling logs, everything from a computer controlled band saw to a kiln. he's been giving me the "cut offs" for free, like the pieces left behind from the milling process. its all hardwoods, mostly red/white oak and hickory but it has a lot of bark. i don't have any problem with burning the pieces that have a lot of "meat" on them, and after a couple years on the rack i plan on it. my concern is with burning the pieces that are mostly bark, is there any problem with this? (its already bone dry)

 

[JustWood]

Bark is wood. Burn it. Save the thinner pieces for kindling.

 

[Jags]

Burning bark is fine. It may produce a little more ash, but that ain't no thing.

 

[FishKiller]

Great! that was my initial thoughts. those mostly bark kindling pieces really take off, maybe higher sugar content in the bark?.

 

[Jags]

maybe higher sugar content in the bark?.

Give it a lick and find out.
Bark is less dense, easier to catch fire.

 

[Twisted Priorities]

I've been burning slabs ( the wood left from squaring a log on the mill ) in my shop wood stove for 13 years. It's easy to split, stack and dry. The slabs burn faster compared to splits for the same btu's, but hey, it's free wood. I keep the splits for the house that way I don't have to tend the fire so often.

 

[peakbagger]

Most mill small mill owners regard slabs as PITA and if you take it off their hands you are doing them a favor. Large mills sell it for biomass boilers but they have to have a high horsepower chipper to break them down

You will end up with a lot of ash and long burns are harder.

 

[red oak]

I used to get mill scraps from a guy about a mile from my house. He would give me a truckload each year. I would cut them up and have more than enough kindling for a year. It worked pretty good but I don't get them anymore because he decided he wanted to charge me one year.

 

[FishKiller]

a truckload? i have a tundra and a tandem axle landscape trailer.... 5 loads and i haven't put a dent in what he told me to take. he burns it in his kiln, but not at nearly the rate he makes it. he's even willing to run a few loads of green scrap through the kiln for me if i need wood in a hurry. the dry stuff i have burns real quick and hot, and has good for getting it going. i have been selective in only taking the pieces with 4"-8" of meat on them and turning them into nice splits. it sounds like those thin bark pieces are good too, so i will be going back for me this weekend.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

About the only warning is that if you stuff a stove with slab wood it might cause a bit too hot of a fire. Better to mix it with other firewood.