Dead standing white pine

[barmstrong2]

This is what I was looking at today on the road work job we were doing.

Just in this pic, there are 12 dead standing white pines, average diameter of about 14". How many of you would make an effort to get this wood?
Now, just to start a discussion... I'm getting the expected comments from coworkers here in the northeast. I mentioned these trees to one of my coworkers and got "Great for campfires, but, you don't want to burn that in your woodstove!" Before this forum, I'd have said the same thing. Knowing what I know now, I have no fear of burning this wood, or any other wood that has been properly seasoned.
The other day, while talking with another coworker, I mentioned that the wood i have stacked in the woodshed is 2 and 3 year seasoned. The wood I was dragging around in my truck was not for this season, but, for 2017-18. I was immediately engaged in a debate that "anything more than 2 years old is gone by and is too dry to burn in your woodstove. You'll have a chimney fire."
I'm not even going to talk about firewood with these guys anymore.

What are your thoughts on the white pine?

 

[Diabel]

If you have space and time to process it then take it.
If you come across a similar row of sugar maples tomorrow then go for the maples.

 

[jatoxico]

If it's an easy grab go for it. I like having some pine on hand.

 

[billb3]

It burns hot and fast. Which means you have to be careful not to load up the stove . Which also means you'll be loading more often. So more work. But it is heat.

I like it for getting the stove going again in the morning as I'll have just a small amount of coals.

 

[Seanm]

How many of you would make an effort to get this wood?

I would get this wood. I drop quite a bit of lodgepole pine that is standing dead. I bet with the exception of the rounds close to the butt this wood will be good to go this year. Like Diabel says take it if you have room.

 

[bag of hammers]

I'd cut enough to fill my truck right up for sure, its right there, an easy load and that would be a couple years' worth of shoulder fires, morning fire starts, etc. for me. I have lots of maple & yellow birch right now but if hardwood was at a premium then I'd be back for more. There are a few softwood only burners on this forum who I'd guess might jump at a large white pine scrounge. If its not getting in the way of scrounging a higher btu option, then why not..?

 

[Wood Duck]

It is always a question of how much effort. For dry pine I'd make a certain level of effort. For oak I'd make more effort. For willow or aspen I'd make only a little effort.

You say you are on a road crew, so I assume you can pull a truck or trailer up and drop the pines near the vehicle. In that case I'd definitely go for it. I like pine because it heats up fast, and with my small stove I have a lot of cold starts where pine is ideal. I also tend to have a lot of dense hardwoods like oak in my stacks, and pine makes a nice mixture with oak because the pine burns fast and gets the oak going, while the oak burns longer.

 

[sootsucka]

I'll take any you don't want. When do we start?

 

[barmstrong2]

I'll take any you don't want. When do we start?

Well, I have a huge poplar blowdown that the homeowner wants gone by the weekend and, as a bonus, he has a pile of 4' hardwood he doesn't want. That's been stacked for 4 years, off the ground. My truck is (over) loaded at the moment with maple and birch and a little stack of oak from the neighbors yard. In a small community, it doesn't take long for word to get around that a guy is willing to clean a blowdown for the wood.

I clean up the brush, too. That's the deal. I'll take it all. I just want the firewood.

 

[sootsucka]

Oak you must be down south of me lucky guy. I make piles of brush where I get to cut to say thanks for the wood

 

[barmstrong2]

Oak you must be down south of me lucky guy. I make piles of brush where I get to cut to say thanks for the wood

Just north of Lewiston. You?

 

[sootsucka]

Grand isle

 

[barmstrong2]

Grand isle

Yep. That's way up there. Had family in Van Buren for a while. Right next door, right?

 

[sootsucka]

Yes it is the next town over.

 

[barmstrong2]

I visited for a weekend one time. It was -40 and it hurt just to walk outside. It ain't for wimps, that's for sure.

 

[sootsucka]

Haha it does get abit cold here. New to me first year up here I'm from New York originally

 

[Bad LP]

Have a friend who burns pine in the shoulder seasons. He burns the branches that snap out of his trees because he has to clean them up anyway so why not burn it while sitting around the wood stove. Of course he's also the same guy who is not afraid to stuff the Christmas tree into the fire place versus dragging it outside. Neighbors called him once asking if he knew flames were coming out of the chimney.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Don't assume it's dry. I dropped a dead pine tree on my property and it was soaking wet...but not rotten at all. It also dried out very quickly. Not dry enough to burn, but it went from soaking wet to very light and dry'ish in a month.

 

[firefighterjake]

As SportBiker said . . . don't assume it's dry and completely ready to burn . . . it may or may not be ready.

As for the original question . . . if you have the time and energy and/or need the wood AND the wood is free (and the land owner doesn't have an issue with it being cut up) . . . go for it.

I burn pine . . . in fact the few fires I have had in this unusually mild fall weather we've had have been almost exclusively pine. It's a wood that I will not go out of my way to get, but typically have a bit of pine somewhere in the stacks seasoned or ready to go. Great for shoulder season fires, kindling and getting those fires going on an early morning reload.

 

[barmstrong2]

Thanks. I won't assume anything. I'll check it all with a mm. I don't need any right now and planned to stack it anyway. I might contact the landowner and go get it. It's roadside so it will need some finesse bringing it down to avoid power lines but it's not bad. I've got some others to get to first.

 

[kennyp2339]

I was immediately engaged in a debate that "anything more than 2 years old is gone by and is too dry to burn in your woodstove. You'll have a chimney fire."
I'm not even going to talk about firewood with these guys anymore.

lol - and my 401-k will just keep going up & up because its there for the next 27yrs.. But seriously grab some of that wood an experiment with it, just make sure its dried, I think you will be as surprised as I was when I started burning pine, pleasantly surprised.

 

[sportbikerider78]

Called 3 wood dealers in my area. They all had some form of aversion to selling pine.

One guy...."i've never heard of anyone heating their house with pine".

Me..."thats very interesting. Do you have any?"