Douglas Fir versus True Fir

[clearblue16]

anybody care to compare qualities? which is best for burning?

 

[madrone]

doug.

 

[Highbeam]

I remember from school that doug fir is pseudo tsuga mensisii or something close. Meaning false fir. But I forget what true fir is equivalent to. Do you have the common name of true fir.

I'll tell you right now though that modern stoves don't really care what type of wood you feed them. I got a 9 hour burn (10PM to 7AM) last night on four blocks of cottonwood stuffed into my smallish heritage. As you know, cottonwood is about the lowest grade wood that you can acquire here in the NW. Had I filled the stove with doug fir I would have gotten the same 9 hour burn. Less total heat output maybe but the same 9 hour burn.

Good old large diameter doug fir logs are a dream to work with. Straight grained, nice smell, easy on teh saw. The butt ends (4-8' long and about 20" diameter) are available from the mills in Tacoma as a waste prodcut so I scored 4.5 cords of that last March. That's doug fir in the pics. In my sig I have the splitter pics where I was working on the same reject doug fir load from the mill.

 

[Bubbavh]

Dats purdy nice wood stackin!

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Doug Fir IS true fir. The End.

Also, don't let these east coasters fool you. Doug Fir is the bee's knees.

 

[madrone]

Doug Fir IS true fir. The End.

Also, don't let these east coasters fool you. Doug Fir is the bee's knees.

Almost, except it has its own genus. Technically, it's not like the other firs. It's better.

 

[madrone]

I'll tell you right now though that modern stoves don't really care what type of wood you feed them. I got a 9 hour burn (10PM to 7AM) last night on four blocks of cottonwood stuffed into my smallish heritage. As you know, cottonwood is about the lowest grade wood that you can acquire here in the NW. Had I filled the stove with doug fir I would have gotten the same 9 hour burn. Less total heat output maybe but the same 9 hour burn.

I also have no problems burning cottonwood. It's plenty hot, lights just fine, coals nicely. It sure stinks, though, and doug seems hotter. If I'm choosing between two free trees, I'm going with the fir.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Doug Fir IS true fir. The End.

Also, don't let these east coasters fool you. Doug Fir is the bee's knees.

Almost, except it has its own genus. Technically, it's not like the other firs. It's better.

 

[LLigetfa]

Dats purdy nice wood stackin!

It's obviously fake! I've been watching it for months... the grass hasn't grown any and the wood hasn't greyed.

 

[madrone]

Doug Fir IS true fir. The End.

Also, don't let these east coasters fool you. Doug Fir is the bee's knees.

Almost, except it has its own genus. Technically, it's not like the other firs. It's better.

(broken link removed)

The end.

 

[ctarborist]

oh madrone you beat me to it, yes pseudo tsuga means false hemlock named due to the distinct white lines under the needles of doug fir which look quite similar to the undersides of hemlock needles. true fir carries the latin name Abies ex. Abies Concolor (concolor fir) etc. not to be confused with Picea Abies which is norway spruce...yes it can get confusing.
CT. arborist

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Blah Blah Blah Blah. . .

Doug Fir is the only fir. The End.

 

[RedRanger]

As I at one time worked as a (log scaler). I can tell you that there is a lot of balsam being sold as douglas fir. Not that anyone is trying to be deceptive, it can be somewhat difficult to discern the difference--for both seller`s and buyers...

Seasoned properly, both are an excellent choice for the PNW. It`s not like we have a lot of choices anyway :coolhmm:

 

[Highbeam]

Both spruce and hemlock are way lower on the chart than doug fir.

We in the PNW have low btu woods like cottonwood/aspen/willlow and then the medium stuff like red cedar/hemlock/spruce and then the good stuff like red alder/fir/maple and then the really good stuff like madrona and fruitwood.

Any woodseller that you buy CSD from will advertise a maple/fir/alder mix as the standard and he might be honest. They will charge double for madrona or fruit and only a little less for the lower btu wood.

Good old doug fir is the bees knees and the most common tree you'll see on the hillside since it has been replanted after logging for about as long as loggers have replanted. The lower btu stuff grows wild and especially well in the wetter areas.

 

[Wet1]

Doug Fir IS true fir. The End.

Also, don't let these east coasters fool you. Doug Fir is the bee's knees.

Almost, except it has its own genus. Technically, it's not like the other firs. It's better.

(broken link removed)

The end.

LOL

 

[madrone]

I think what Bigg Redd was saying is that Doug is the One True Fir.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

Doug Fir IS true fir. The End.

Also, don't let these east coasters fool you. Doug Fir is the bee's knees.

Almost, except it has its own genus. Technically, it's not like the other firs. It's better.

(broken link removed)

The end.

LOL

I don't need your fancy "science" with all their "nomenclature" saying what "is" and what "isn't" "fir"

 

[osteotome]

What about "Red" Fir? I'm new to Central WA and I got about 7 Pick up loads of "mixed" forrest wood from DNR piles. I could make out the Tamarak and the lodge pole but a wood expert neighbor told me that most of it was Red Fir which made sence as the heartwood was red. In ID I burnt mainly lodge pole.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

What about "Red" Fir? I'm new to Central WA and I got about 7 Pick up loads of "mixed" forrest wood from DNR piles. I could make out the Tamarak and the lodge pole but a wood expert neighbor told me that most of it was Red Fir which made sence as the heartwood was red. In ID I burnt mainly lodge pole.

I think "red" fir is what the east-of-the-mountains types call Doug Fir

 

[osteotome]

Thanks Bigg Redd. I guess Yakima is East of the mountains. I must say I think this Douglas/Red Fir is giving me just as hot/long burn times as my tamarack and lodge pole does.

 

[ctarborist]

well actually "red" fir is abies magnifica shastensis (spelling may be off its been a while) also called shasta fir which technically speaking is a tru fir unlike doug fir.

but if it makes you feel better by just calling it " DOUG FIR EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS... END STORY" well than all the more power too ya.

But the truth of the matter is that doug fir is not a true fir, yes it does burn better then the true firs, and red fir is not doug fir and is a true fir
try saying that ten times fast. ;-P

CT. arborist, or as my kids call me "the plant nerd" LOL

 

[Bigg_Redd]

well actually "red" fir is abies magnifica shastensis (spelling may be off its been a while) also called shasta fir which technically speaking is a tru fir unlike doug fir.

but if it makes you feel better by just calling it " DOUG FIR EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS... END STORY" well than all the more power too ya.

But the truth of the matter is that doug fir is not a true fir, yes it does burn better then the true firs, and red fir is not doug fir and is a true fir
try saying that ten times fast. ;-P

CT. arborist, or as my kids call me "the plant nerd" LOL

Well allow me to retort: every time I've heard/seen anyone refer to red fir east of the mountains they were looking right at a Doug Fir.

 

[madrone]

Aw crap, this is getting fiddly. Red "Shasta" Fir grows in Cali and Southern Oregon. We don't grow it up north. The yokels east of the Cascades call Douglas "red fir". Although that's doubly wrong, they all know what each other are talking about. There's a few "white" firs, too, but they're all actually firs. I call them all "fires".

 

[Bigg_Redd]

The End.

 

[ctarborist]

Thanks for the clarification, sorry bigg red, I've never heard of a doug being called a red fir... see thats where common names can bite ya in the a$$ hence the reason for these screwy latin names.

the end.