Differwnce between fir and alder

[sepulvd]

Does anyone have pics of both split and going to buy some fir tommrrow and he has both. The guys sells them at differwnt prices only a 10 buck difference but i know both have different btus

 

[blacktail]

Alder has smooth bark, Fir will have rough textured bark, unless it's pecker poles from young firs. Fir will smell like Xmas trees. Alder doesn't really have a smell. I'll see if I have any pics. There is no "stringy-ness" to alder when split so the splits will be very clean on the split faces. Fir can be a little stringy, so the faces may not be as smooth. I'll see if I can find any pics.

 

[blacktail]

Alder.

 

[blacktail]

Big Fir and one pic of mixed Fir & hemlock pecker poles.

 

[Applesister]

Fir (douglas ) 17.4 MBTUs
Red Alder 14.8 MBTUs
Alder, the hardwood has lesser BTUs but is the hardwood
Fir is the "softwood"
Alder is a smoking wood, it may be the more expensive of the 2. Dont know.

 

[Applesister]

Alder has smooth bark, Fir will have rough textured bark, unless it's pecker poles from young firs. Fir will smell like Xmas trees. Alder doesn't really have a smell. I'll see if I have any pics. There is no "stringy-ness" to alder when split so the splits will be very clean on the split faces. Fir can be a little stringy, so the faces may not be as smooth. I'll see if I can find any pics.

That is a great pic of the chainsaw front on.

 

[sepulvd]

Thanks for the help. That is a great pic

 

[blacktail]

Thanks.
Fir usually goes for more money. It's well liked as firewood. A lot of the Fir available today (maybe most) is smaller stuff. I think the bigger old growth Fir is what really gave Fir its reputation as firewood. Old growth is tight grained and dense. The stuff more common now (if your supply is related to logging operations) is much lighter.

 

[BigFir]

It is common for the fir to have a redish tinge to it. Also the thick bark can come off fairly easy. It is all I burn and have no complaints. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think Alder can have kind of a papery bark like birch?