First Fire of the Season. First time to use Pine

[Kenster]

We finally hit my trigger temperature of 40 last night so I laid out and lit a fire. It actually got down to 33 degrees.
I have almost half a cord of very dry pine that I got from a neighbor last summer. The tree had been down in her yard for over a year, dead a long time before it fell. Her handyman had hauled away all the limbs and left the trunk. I offered to remove it. When I split it in July it was incredibly dry. Each split was very light for it's size. Last night it measured 13%.
I laid three large splits in the bottom of the stove, put in four or five two inch water oak limbs and topped it with a handful of newspaper knots and several of my pencil sized starter sticks that I make out of cedar fence posts.

Within ten minutes I had a roaring fire. Got the stove top up to about 550, put the Vigilant into horizontal burn mode and let her cruise.
At bed time I packed the stove with another big pine split and three good size two year old oak splits. At 8:00 this morning the stove top was still reading 425 degrees and two of the oak splits were still in big chunky coals. Two hours later it's still holding about 350.

Unfortunately, that was probably the last night of cold temps we'll have for the next couple of weeks.

I know where there are four or five solid looking, bark-blown, pine trunks that I can have. They are laying on top of a big burn pile nearby. We have an outdoor burn ban so the wood is safe for some time! I need to get me some more.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

But aren't you afraid of burning your house down Ken? What the heck, get some more; you'll fall in love with it.

 

[Skier76]

Ive gotten a lot of free pine over the last few years. I find its great for quick, hot fires. Or if you have a bed coals, its womderful for to knock them down before doing a full reload of hard wood. Makes for great kindlg too.

 

[red oak]

Exactly! Nothing wrong with pine if it's dry.

 

[quercus_kelloggii]

I'll burn pine (pinus ponderosa) here, and it is plentiful.
BUT I find it to be the hardest, most work to split out of
all the wood types I utilize (ca black oak. Incense-cedar,
Douglas-fir). I have a little stash of pine, like burning it, but
pretty much quit processing it due to splitting. I split by
Hand and have no issues with other woods...

 

[littlalex]

As a new and sometimes frustrated Vigilant owner I must commend you! Sweet burn.

Hope I can get it cooking as sweet soon.

Regards,
Littlalex

 

[ScotO]

I don't use pine often (I usully sell most of the pine that I cut down to people with outdoor furnaces, and believe me I cut A LOT!!)...but occasionally, I do put some pine on the fire, esp. in the morning when it is snowing outside....there's something about the smell of that pine burning that is warm and cozy.....

 

[WoodpileOCD]

After reading here last year, I started gathering pine that was free and easy to get to. I was able to get about 1/3 of a cord that was already cut into 18 - 20 inch rounds and stacked neatly on the curb because people here have grown up with the same myths I have. I've been burning it for the last 3 weeks along with some poplar and so have been able to keep my stash of hickory and oak for later. I get lots of heat out of it and it lasts a lot longer than I expected it to. I am very please and won't pass it up again. What I've been burning has been about 18-20% on the MM.

With regards to splitting it, I think most of what I have is yellow or white pine and it falls apart at the sight of my Fiskars.

 

[n3pro]

Burn a lot of pine. One thing with all the knowledge about selling firewood on craigslist is - oak is gold is worth lots, pine "give a penny take a penny" is worth nothing . I have a magical box that turns your junky pine into a nice heating fuel for me.

 

[trailrated]

I love pine. My only wood stove is in the garage so at times I'm not burning 24/7. Makes quick hot fires, great kindling, and burns quick if you only need a few hours of heat.

 

[Mt Ski Bum]

welcome to wonderful world of burning pine!

 

[BrowningBAR]

As a new and sometimes frustrated Vigilant owner I must commend you! Sweet burn.

Hope I can get it cooking as sweet soon.

Regards,
Littlalex

What the frustration with the Vig?

 

[raygard]

I like burning pine too. My FIL brought a whole stack load of wood pallets around yesterday and I zipped them up with the circular saw. Lit my first fire of the winter season last night in my VC Encore, and promptly cracked a glass door (I had just tighten the inside screws as it was leaking a little last season). But the pine got hot real quick.

 

[Kenster]

I pick up a load of pallets occasionally when I see a stack outside a business. I stack my wood on them. Sometimes I get the real lightweight ones that don't hold up really well.
I may just have to try busting them up and burning them. At least use them for kindling.

 

[WoodpileOCD]

Here is mostly what I've been burning this fall. This and some Poplar. Collected it in March. Split and stacked it immediately and it is around 20% on the MM and has kept us nice an toasty so far this year.