Cedar ?

[Jay106n]

Does cedar have any value in wood burning world? My friend dumped a pickup truck load at my house that he cut down at his house and needed to get rid of. I've never dealt with cedar before, its pretty sappy and smells piney.... Is it even worth splitting?

 

[Lake Girl]

The btu value is low but it can be used for fire starters and a fast, small fire for this time of year to take the chill off.
(broken link removed)

Previous thread... https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/does-anyone-burn-cedar.47124/

 

[Jay106n]

The btu value is low but it can be used for fire starters and a fast, small fire for this time of year to take the chill off.
(broken link removed)

Previous thread... https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/does-anyone-burn-cedar.47124/

Thanks for the links. Is it safe to burn in a stove (chimney)? I guess i'll just save it for bonfires.

P.S. I did not know Shagbark Hickory was so high on the BTU list, my yard is FULL of them. Too bad I'm not interested in cutting them down.

 

[illenema]

It will pop and snap and send projectiles into the room without a good screen or glass door.
I burned about 1/4 chord of it last year. If anything is left unburnt it has a pleasant aroma .
Great for a quick flame and kindling

 

[firefighterjake]

Fantastic for kindling . . . not so bad for those early fall and late spring fires when you need a quick, hot fire to just take the chill out of the house.

 

[Seanm]

Cedar smells like cedar to me with pine having a very separate, distinct smell. Keep the knotty pieces in split form for shoulder season fires and the straighter stuff cut into kindling. It is rot resistant so should last you a good while but make sure you process it right away if its green. As like any wood it burns great when seasoned properly.

 

[Seanm]

I guess i'll just save it for bonfires

This would be a shame. Any dry wood will be fine for your chimney. Low btu but it has its place for sure!

 

[Jay106n]

Thanks! I thought it was a junk wood. I do lots of campfires, so I figured that is what is was good for. Now I'm thinking of splitting into small pieces as kindle.

 

[ccmac]

I use cedar for kindling as well. It is as valuable as my oak, hickory, maple, or cherry wood. As someone else mentioned....it has it's place. Enjoy it for being a quick drying, light, easily ignitable wood.

 

[billb3]

I burned red cedar ( juniper) and some white american cedar ( cypress) one Winter in a small stove. Like pine it burned fast and hot. Had lots of it and also made fence posts and rails. There isn't too much of the white 'cedar' left here so haven't had any in a long while.

 

[Rebelduckman]

I do about half and half Cedar and poplar for my kindling. Definitely not junk wood. Stockpile all you can and you won't have to worry about getting your fire going good

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Cedar is the best outdoor firewood you can have, I only give my best friends my cedar and they are always asking for more.... It lights up the neighbor hood....

 

[bag of hammers]

Love to split a round and bring small pieces inside just for the aroma - fresh cut /split cedar smells fantastic. Good fast heat when you need it. Great kindling. Toss some cedar uglies in the outside fire pit and enjoy the light show and the snap crackle pop.

 

[Highbeam]

I've burned cords and cords in my woodstoves. Real cedar, western red cedar that is, burns just great. In full size split form it is not nearly as sparky and poppy as when you cut it small for kindling. They get really big here like four feet DBH. If one of them blows over I will not be wasting it.

Fire pit wood is a weird thing. Of course the first thing you burn is stuff like pallets that is unsuitable for the stove. Then you burn the chunks and uglies that would make your stacks tippy. Then you start getting into high quality wood that would otherwise heat your home. It seems so wasteful but you really need a campfire every now and then.

 

[firefighterjake]

I've burned cords and cords in my woodstoves. Real cedar, western red cedar that is, burns just great. In full size split form it is not nearly as sparky and poppy as when you cut it small for kindling. They get really big here like four feet DBH. If one of them blows over I will not be wasting it.

Fire pit wood is a weird thing. Of course the first thing you burn is stuff like pallets that is unsuitable for the stove. Then you burn the chunks and uglies that would make your stacks tippy. Then you start getting into high quality wood that would otherwise heat your home. It seems so wasteful but you really need a campfire every now and then.

Agreed . . . I start out with a large pile of my chunks, punks and uglies . . . but then when I go to the wood pile to get a load of camp fire wood I find myself looking back over them and culling out the truly bad ones since I keep thinking "Well that piece isn't that twisted" or "Well it's a bit punky, but maybe it will be better by the time I start burning in September." In the end only the worse of the worse goes to the burn pit.

 

[Highbeam]

There are people that actually buy a cord of firewood just to burn up in the pit. I guess it is relatively cheap entertainment compared to going to a movie, restaurant, or bar. The beer is cheaper at home and you don't have to drive home. Perhaps we woodburners value our fuel supply differently.

 

[Jay106n]

So yesterday I split up a bunch of this cedar. The moisture meter reads 17%. I am planning on a small outside camp fire tonight. Think this stuff is good to burn? Its green, but they have a dry moisture reading. If its this dry green, I can only imagine what a summer of seasoning would do. I'd rather not tap into my seasoned oak/maple if i dont have to.

 

[Rossco]

Cedar is the best wood to build a deck with.

Don't burn it! .... Mill it!

 

[Ashful]

Cedar is the best wood to build a deck with.

Don't burn it! .... Mill it!

Used to be, back when they harvested them mature enough to use heartwood. Unfortunately the sapwood they mostly mill today rots too fast, and is too fragile, when compared to African hardwoods available at similar price.

Im still a fan of it for siding, though. Just finished doing my barn over in cedar clapboard. Painting now...

 

[Jay106n]

Cedar is the best wood to build a deck with.

Don't burn it! .... Mill it!

It came to me already bucked up soooo yeah its getting burned one way or another. Somebody used the log length sections from the source to build some sort of archway in his yard

 

[Dix]

I've had quite a bit of cedar to burn the past few years, since Sandy .... it's come in quite handy in both stoves.

I recommend it highly as a place in your arsenal !

Great for shoulder season, great for kicking off a stubborn reload in mid winter, when all of a sudden you hear the dreaded hiss of unseasoned firewood.

 

[Lake Girl]

bring small pieces inside just for the aroma

I have some cedars in my front yard. I know it's officially spring when I can smell the cedars walking up the stairway to the front door

 

[Jay106n]

I have some cedars in my front yard. I know it's officially spring when I can smell the cedars walking up the stairway to the front door

My whole neighborhood smelled great while splitting it!

 

[kennyp2339]

Where I live, the land around my house was cleared for farming back in the late 1800's, as the town developed the farms were pushed out, I estimate the area was done with farming before WWII, the first tree's to grow were red cedars, they slowly go choked out from the black walnuts, maples, ashes and oaks. I have tons of dead cedar laying on the ground or standing dead, all of it measures between 8"round to 20", I might go in the woods and grab a few racks worth an see how it burns next year, I'll keep most of the pieces on the large side and give it a shot, should be interesting.

 

[Ashful]

Where I live, the land around my house was cleared for farming back in the late 1800's, as the town developed the farms were pushed out, I estimate the area was done with farming before WWII, the first tree's to grow were red cedars, they slowly go choked out from the black walnuts, maples, ashes and oaks. I have tons of dead cedar laying on the ground or standing dead, all of it measures between 8"round to 20", I might go in the woods and grab a few racks worth an see how it burns next year, I'll keep most of the pieces on the large side and give it a shot, should be interesting.

Same here, except the years (this farm is mid-1700's to 1960's). A whole woods of cedar behind me, until Sandy blew half of them down. Only wood I have that burns green, right off the stump (in fire pit, not stove).

My sole use for cedar is kindling. It produces almost zero heat, and burns very fast. Ours is light as Balsa.