Eastern Hemlock begging to join my woodpile

[wahoowad]

I have access to several large (24" diameter +/-) hemlocks that have been neatly bucked to 16-18". I'm not opposed to burning some well seasoned pine but have no knowledge about hemlock. In fact I'm intentionally setting aside some softer woods like poplar and Virginia Pine for early season burning next year. Any reason to avoid the hemlock? For you Virginia guys, how does it compare to Virginia Pine?

 

[stoveguy2esw]

hi wood,
ive not burned any in the woodstove but i did burn some in campfires at cave mountain lake (one of our favorite camping haunts, seems to me its a bit denser than the va pine , i know it burnt pretty hot in the campfire, i imagine it would do well for day fires and such, but i doubt you would get an overnight burn from it, save the oak for night time.

mike

 

[wahoowad]

You mentioned pitch...I actually noticed a heavy ring of sap on the cut surface of the log. I'm not sure how long these trees have been cut. Probably this summer or fall I think. I was actually worried about it having too much sap, although it's gonna sit a year outside after I split it. I brought a couple logs home, wondering whether to go back and get more.

 

[velvetfoot]

I had a large dead hemlock cut down this fall. Were the hemlocks you're looking at cut down because of disease? My hemlock was at least 30" in diameter. I bucked it up and split most of it on the electric splitter. The rounds from the lower parts of the tree were so big I had to split them with wedges into quarters with wedges in order to lift them into the wheel barrow. They split pretty easy. To me it has a funny smell when green, but I'm no expert. I still have a bunch of branches I have to 'process' to clean up the yard. I still haven't stacked the wood - it's in a big pile on the side of the stacked wood. I didn't notice any sap at all. The tree wasn't dead that long. Whatever got it moved really fast. There were holes on the bark, but I could not see any damage underneath, but I don't know what to look for.

 

[suematteva]

Definitely one of harder softwoods..They used to use hemlock for the beams in homes and barns because it was stronger than pine and spruce..

As you said it is good for early and late season..

 

[DiscoInferno]

I've got a lot of hemlock in MI; I found that (even after several years of seasoning) in a fireplace it can't sustain a fire by itself, and just smolders. I don't have a proper stove there yet, but I imagine it would do better in one. It's definitely denser than white pine or balsam fir, the other softwoods I've got.

 

[wahoowad]

Denser is better. Sounds like I'll go get a little more!

 

[ourhouse]

Hard for a soft wood and burns good and hot.