Hedge questions....

[TheBigIron]

Hello all!

Couple of questions for the experts out there... I have an abundance of hedge on the property where I cut my firewood along with other species of wood mostly red elm, locust, walnut, cherry and others to say the least.

Question 1. I've never burned hedge before and was wondering how many pieces should I put into my stove, and wood furnace. Some info from old timers in my area say only put like 1 or 2 pieces in the firebox with other species.. Warning of over firing my stove.

Question 2. Should this hedge be loaded with oak species or something different?

Thanks for the info...

Dave

 

[tigeroak]

If you have never burned it, it burns HOT. It is the hottest that you will burn. Start off with a couple in stove then as you get use to it and how it works in your stove add as you go. I burn it only when it is very cold and is mixed with others. DON'T poke it as you will have the best fireworks you will see, sparks FLY EVERYWHERE. Some say dry's in a year but I c/s/s/ and burn it after 3 years. Around here they have to move the hedge post after 50 years as it wears out the hole. It will be ok to store for years.

 

[Coach B]

I always mix it with other stuff. Tigeroak is correct about the flying sparks, I've never seen anything else like it. It does have the reputation for dulling chains fast. Other than that its the highest btu stuff around and will last forever in the stack. Hard to beat.

 

[TheBigIron]

Thanks for the info. I'll be sure to c/s/s this year so it can be ready for my furnace and other stove in a couple of years...

 

[CincyBurner]

I have an abundance of hedge on the property where I cut my firewood along with other species

If you have lots of Osage, look for the deadwood on the trees when you're bucking it. Osage will get borers (big ones), but it also has a characteristic for its deadwood to persist on the tree for years (probably because it doesn't rot quickly). I "harvest" the DW and set it aside to burn sooner. It seems like it can be ready to burn after a year. I've checked with MM, but who knows how accurate b/c the pins don't penetrate very deep.
Make sure to wear thick gloves when working with Osage as it has cruel, nasty thorns. I've heard of folk puncturing themselves and getting very bad infection.
To me burning Osage is reminiscent of burning coal. Even not a strong wood smoke smell, again like a coal smell.
Throw a big chunk in for cold overnights, and in the morning great hot bed of coals for fast restart. But it's the sleeping dog of woods. Kick or poke it around too much, or introduce too much air into it and it will release a fusillade of sparks that'll test the limits of your hearth pad.
For one season all I had to burn was Osage and 'not-quite seasoned' black locust - lots of coals. As others have said burn with other woods.

 

[TheBigIron]

CincyBurner,

Do you find hedge easy to split like black locust, or is it stringy like an elm? Hopefully it's not stringy like elm and splits fairly easy.

 

[Firefighter938]

The others are right, sparks galore. I wouldn't recommend in an open fireplace.
I agree with the old timers about caution with overloading your stove. Mix with other woods.

 

[claydogg84]

The same old timers that say burning pine in your wood stove will burn your house down? The fact is, you can overfire your stove with any wood. I haven't burned any Osage myself, but I've ran full loads of Black Locust numerous times (which old timers also told me not to do because of over firing the stove), without a problem.

 

[tigeroak]

This stuff ,hedge splits easy UNLES the tree is twisted then they are a bear. Every fill up as you are cutting dry hedge or live hedge you need to sharpen your chain. The dry hedge is worse than live , after you cut a tank look at your chain as it will look like you have been cutting rocks. I cut about 3 tanks, about a cord, and had to sharpen after each tank of gas. The chain had chips and small hunks taken right out of the chain and not any was on the ground to get into the dirt. I had a barrel stove in shop that was tight not to many air leaks and burned all different types of wood in it and got it red a few times BUT I put 4 chunks in one day and set air and about 1 hour later it smelled funny in shop and look at it and it was white and it set a antique trunk I was drying after I washed it out on fire and it was about 3 feet from stove. After it cooled down, the stove, it was not round.

 

[Firefighter938]

I would get a feel for the wood and how your stove behaves with it before I load it full of hedge. It is a different animal.

I am surprised you load full of locust also though claydog. I tried to get my pre-EPA smoke dragon to burn all night and loaded almost full of locust one evening. The stove was popping and pinging and reaching temps I had never seen before. That made for a scary, sleepless night.

 

[claydogg84]

I would get a feel for the wood and how your stove behaves with it before I load it full of hedge. It is a different animal.

I am surprised you load full of locust also though claydog. I tried to get my pre-EPA smoke dragon to burn all night and loaded almost full of locust one evening. The stove was popping and pinging and reaching temps I had never seen before. That made for a scary, sleepless night.

I find my Oslo handles it quite well. The old Defiant I could snuff the air our completely so it wasn't much of a concern there either, if it got out of hand. A full load of Black Locust in the Defiant was definitely more interesting than the Oslo as far as it wanting to runaway with some air.

 

[fespo]

It's a great wood as others have said. I just save mine until it's real cold for a long over night burn,

 

[osagebow]

You could also sell some to local bowyers on CL or have them help you cut for a few staves. It's the holy grail of bow wood. They will brave the thorns to get at it.

 

[warno]

I would mix it with other woods. I have a forced induction boiler and just a few pieces make it through the night no problem. The sparks are no joke with this stuff. When you open the door and there's a piece left on there try not to disturb it, when air hits the coals it seems they blow apart.

Start of with a few small pieces until you see how it burns then go from there.

 

[CincyBurner]

The stove was popping and pinging and reaching temps I had never seen before.

Like claydogg I too have burned full loads Osage and locust in my Oslo and never got the sense of it running away. It just cruises a long while.

 

[CincyBurner]

Do you find hedge easy to split like black locust, or is it stringy like an elm?

The straight, clear pieces are almost as easy to split as black locust for a good ratio of Btu/ swing. Definitely get a sense of accomplishment splitting Osage (v. frustration when splitting elm). Wood is beautiful gold, but fibers are like sharp steel bristles. Knots are a problem and Osage has its share of knots. Since I hand split, in past I've picked over the good, straight stuff, or cut out the gnarly portions which go into the uglies crate.

 

[Soundchasm]

The other day Begreen said he'd heard "Osage was the bomb", but I think it burns like the fuse!! I haven't struggled splitting any of it with my 5-ton electric, but the pieces were fairly fresh. I haven't noticed undue wear on the saw, but again, I think the stuff hadn't dried or hardened.

I prefer to "add" it to a fire. My first choice is not to start an Osage fire with the door cracked. Sometimes pieces will start spewing sparks like a fountain cone 4th of July firework inside the stove. Hit a piece with a poker and you can have 20 sparks simultaneously exploding out the door 180 degrees N/S & E/W. You can't possibly see where it all went.

But it's really cool most times. Just have a plan for opening the door.

 

[Soundchasm]

I think a lot of the forum (or it might have been just me) figured out a year or so ago that Osage's secret ingredient is latex. That's where it gets rot resistance, bow characteristics and probably it's BTU rating and burn style.

Here's a clip of of one split giving a little entertainment. FF to 40 seconds. This is an old air-tight stove and that firebox is huge.

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So compared to a docile species like Ash, it's got a little sumpin' sumpin' goin' on.

 

[heavy hammer]

I would I would just see how your setup handles it I'm in the same boat as claydogg last winter on those cold days I burned nothing but loads of just black locust it's hot but just pay attention. You can over fire a stove with anything for me big loads of locust in the stove means a lot less loads. The coals seem to last forever. Good luck with it. It's not a bad thing to have nothing but years of great hot burning firewood available. I have only ever burned a little of hedge can never seem to get my hands on it little jealous actually enjoy merry Christmas.

 

[TheBigIron]

I've burned black locust before and actually love the heat output from it, there is hedge in the area where I cut and just wanted to try it out for myself and see how it does in my furnace and stove...

 

[heavy hammer]

If you love locust wait till you try the hedge

 

[TheBigIron]

For some reason I've never tried hedge, just looked like the work outweighed the benefit but talking with some old school guys about it, they say it's well worth the time and effort for the heat, so off to the fence rows I go!!