Dwarf Alberta Spruce

[Skier76]

This is honestly the last stuff I thought I'd ever be burning....

My sister inlaw and brother inlaw have a number of these around their pool. They cut a few down awhile back and saved one or two (sans the branches) for use in their firepit. They ended up giving me some maple they had (again, they were going to use it in their firepit) and a chunk or two and a small trunk of the spruce.

Fast forward to this past weekend. I was able to split the chunk in half with my new Fiskars. I tested it with the moisture meter and it had a really low number...like single digits. It surprised me because when I first hit it, a bit of water came out by the blade of the fiskars.

My wife was tending the fire and tossed the chunk (unsplit) in the stove. Than darn thing burned for a long long long time! There were a few hardwood splits in there (regular sized, 16-18" long) and they were coals before the spruce had burned out.

Anyone ever burn this stuff before? I was pretty surprised by it's performance.

 

[Duetech]

Probably lasted so long because the hardwood couldn't get it to light. I have burned a fair amount of spruce and there is usually a layer of moisture just under the bark. About an inch or so in. That is probably what kept the spruce from burning quicker than the hard wood. If that is not the case then maybe you have stumbled upon a super wood for home heating.

 

[SolarAndWood]

I got a cord out of a neighbors trees this Spring and it burns great. That or pine has been going on the bottom of just about every reload. It is bone dry already.

 

[smokinj]

This is honestly the last stuff I thought I'd ever be burning....

My sister inlaw and brother inlaw have a number of these around their pool. They cut a few down awhile back and saved one or two (sans the branches) for use in their firepit. They ended up giving me some maple they had (again, they were going to use it in their firepit) and a chunk or two and a small trunk of the spruce.

Fast forward to this past weekend. I was able to split the chunk in half with my new Fiskars. I tested it with the moisture meter and it had a really low number...like single digits. It surprised me because when I first hit it, a bit of water came out by the blade of the fiskars.

My wife was tending the fire and tossed the chunk (unsplit) in the stove. Than darn thing burned for a long long long time! There were a few hardwood splits in there (regular sized, 16-18" long) and they were coals before the spruce had burned out.

Anyone ever burn this stuff before? I was pretty surprised by it's performance.

I always run some softwood in every load just seems to be a hotter fire.

 

[Skier76]

I'm amazed with how hard the stuff is to split. I'm going to try to split that trunk piece this weekend in the cold. My only thought it it's dense wood since they don't grow all that much in size. Who knows though.

I'm with you guys on the pine. I use that exclusively to start fires. Also, when I do my middle of the night reload, I throw a few small pine splits on the coals, then my hardwoods on top of that. The pine really helps get hardwoods lit.

 

[JustWood]

My dad mixes large white spruce rounds with hardwood in his OWB and loves it for + 20 degree weather. Same thing with him , hardwood coals and some of the round left 12 hours later.

 

[Skier76]

Maybe I'm on to something here. I should start posting on craigslist: "Updating your landscaping? I'll take your Dwarf Alberta Spruces! (pacasandra may incure a service charge...) "