New to the wood stove experience here. Just curious of the experts choice of wood if they had a choice, to use to not only get the best bang for the buck, but a better choice to burn for these stoves. Thank you in advance.
List of hard woods most desirable to burn
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Pennsyltucky Chris
Minister of Fire
Depends on what gorws around you.
Osage orange is the tits. And Black Locust.
Hickory, Beech, white oak are next.
Red Oak (if you wanna season it for 600 years) and Ash (seasons in 35 minutes) are good, too.
I burn a lot of red oak, ash and maple, with a healthy dose of beech, white oak and hickory.
Start cutting and seasoning now. FInd a reputabe dealer to get you through this winter. Then, buy a good saw and find yer own.
Good luck
Osage orange is the tits. And Black Locust.
Hickory, Beech, white oak are next.
Red Oak (if you wanna season it for 600 years) and Ash (seasons in 35 minutes) are good, too.
I burn a lot of red oak, ash and maple, with a healthy dose of beech, white oak and hickory.
Start cutting and seasoning now. FInd a reputabe dealer to get you through this winter. Then, buy a good saw and find yer own.
Good luck
Ohio has the highest variety of tree species in the US and Ohio River area supposedly has the largest specimens as well. So you will probably have a great many at your disposal.
What you burn will depend on whats harvested in your area for Commerce and what trees are falling victim to disease and bug infestations and storm damage. (if you scrounge)
If you wanna go green you can target invasive tree species like siberian elm.
Road crews cleaning up hedgerows yield sunloving species.
The trick at the start is collect as much as you can no matter what it is and get it dried.
You can also contact a local forester who can point you in different directions for suppliers, land clearing operations, public lands that can be harvested etc.
Dead trees are a great deal for adding to the pile and they dry quick. And if you have a good supply of Ash, Maple and Cherry to start then you can start adding the heavier, harder to season trees.
What you burn will depend on whats harvested in your area for Commerce and what trees are falling victim to disease and bug infestations and storm damage. (if you scrounge)
If you wanna go green you can target invasive tree species like siberian elm.
Road crews cleaning up hedgerows yield sunloving species.
The trick at the start is collect as much as you can no matter what it is and get it dried.
You can also contact a local forester who can point you in different directions for suppliers, land clearing operations, public lands that can be harvested etc.
Dead trees are a great deal for adding to the pile and they dry quick. And if you have a good supply of Ash, Maple and Cherry to start then you can start adding the heavier, harder to season trees.
Most wood is great if sufficiently dry, and there are advantages and disadvantages to each type of wood. Dry oak burns hot and long, but it doesn't heat up as fast as lighter woods. Dry pine doesn't burn as long as oak, but it starts up and gets your stove hot a lot faster than oak. So, in October where you probably start a new fire every evening to take the chill off, pine would be preferred over oak. In January I'd choose the oak because it burns a lot longer. If you factor in the effort to process the tree into firewood and the time it takes to dry the wood it gets even more complicated.
That said, I like Red Oak because it is easy to split but quite dense. It seasons slowly, however.
That said, I like Red Oak because it is easy to split but quite dense. It seasons slowly, however.
Pennsyltucky Chris
Minister of Fire
Eh,,,,,, debatable.
Hickory and Beech do some serious work.
i'll never knock oak, though.
All three poster's above me are right on the mark as far as wood types. They all mention seasoning wood or getting it drying. Since you say you are new to this - get wood around as much as you can, along the way get it split to a reasonable size, the smaller it is split and the more split sides versus barkthe quicker it will dry. Think a 12 inch rond piece stacked in your pile or the same round split into 4 pieces. The 4 pieces will dry quicker than the whole round piece of wood. Stack it where it will get some wind and sunlight but, by time winter gets here will will be covered on top so rain and snow do not sit on it. Even if it means having the wood in a spot for spring /summer then moving it. If you do not have time to get alot of seasoned wood or have a hard time finding it this year in Ohio, then make Ash part of your wood stack as it dies quicker than many others. Much depends on what type of unit you are burning, outdoor wood boiler or woodstove, etc. Good Luck and ask questions....
Around me . . . oak, beech, black locust and sugar (rock) maple are considered the primo woods.
Me . . . I like a variety . . . yellow birch, ash and cherry are decent wood. But then again, my wife likes to have some white birch on hand since its bark ignites so easily for those re-lights . . . you just don't get as long a burn.
Honestly . . . for me . . . I don't discriminate . . . I pretty much will burn any wood species providing it is seasoned and dry. Right now in fact I am mostly burning white pine and poplar.
Me . . . I like a variety . . . yellow birch, ash and cherry are decent wood. But then again, my wife likes to have some white birch on hand since its bark ignites so easily for those re-lights . . . you just don't get as long a burn.
Honestly . . . for me . . . I don't discriminate . . . I pretty much will burn any wood species providing it is seasoned and dry. Right now in fact I am mostly burning white pine and poplar.
woodsman416
Burning Hunk
Fred Wright
Minister of Fire
Best bang for the buck is wood that has been split & stacked long enough to fully cure. Burning partially seasoned wood is a flue clogger and a waste of BTUs.
That said, I agree with Chris. Hedge or osage orange is the Rolls Royce of firewood. Hickory, the oaks, black locust, hard or sugar maple, ash... these are all good species of firewood as they provide more heat per cord than lesser woods.
Several species are classified as hardwoods but are not desirable as firewood. Avoid sweetgum, willow, tree of heaven. These species will burn but the heat output is less than your better hardwoods.
That said, I agree with Chris. Hedge or osage orange is the Rolls Royce of firewood. Hickory, the oaks, black locust, hard or sugar maple, ash... these are all good species of firewood as they provide more heat per cord than lesser woods.
Several species are classified as hardwoods but are not desirable as firewood. Avoid sweetgum, willow, tree of heaven. These species will burn but the heat output is less than your better hardwoods.
Pennsyltucky Chris
Minister of Fire
Ash may be the easiest processing, fastest drying of all the quality woods. I believe it's around 24,000,000 BTUs per cord. That would make it like a B+ firewood, IMO. But the fact that you can legitimately season it in 8 months, and it splits like a dream, make it pretty desirable. I must have 3 cords of it right now, and I'm harvesting more almost every day that the weather permits.
But like we've been saying, if you're just starting out, find a reputable dealer who sells real seasoned wood. And start scrounging now for next winter. This is a way of life. There's no halfway burning.
Keep coming back. You'll learn tons.
But like we've been saying, if you're just starting out, find a reputable dealer who sells real seasoned wood. And start scrounging now for next winter. This is a way of life. There's no halfway burning.
Keep coming back. You'll learn tons.
D8Chumley
Minister of Fire
I was of the thinking Pine was unacceptable, until I found this place. I have about 1/2 cord I split in mid Spring, and I'm burning it right now. I'm a White Pine convert for sure, and I will be scrounging more whenever the opportunity presents itself
Craig S.
Burning Hunk
The best woods are the ones you have easy access to. That is you don't have to drive too far. Next, consider your processing equipment (if you are gathering it yourself). How big is your chainsaw? And are you splitting by hand or with a hydraulic splitter? And how big is the hydraulic splitter?
I was once gathering hardwood and softwood where there was another firewood gatherer. I saw some big heavy rounds of dense wood. I figured the other guy and I would be drawing straws for these. I tried to help him load up a few, and he says, "..no more, I hate this stuff, it's too big, and it's murder on my back......" I was surprised that he preferred the less dense woods because they were smaller, lighter, and much easier to handle.
BTU "ratings" are "overrated". If you had to work two or three times harder and drive twice as far to get a hardwood that has a +5 BTU rating over another less dense wood which one is better? The lower BTU firewood could be argued to have a higher energy rating because it saved you fuel (gas energy) and physical energy (so you were able to get more of the less dense wood). For example let's say you have 5 cords of 20 BTU rated wood and 3 cords of a 25 BTU rated wood (and it took you same amount of work to get each). Which pile gives you more heat in reality?
I was once gathering hardwood and softwood where there was another firewood gatherer. I saw some big heavy rounds of dense wood. I figured the other guy and I would be drawing straws for these. I tried to help him load up a few, and he says, "..no more, I hate this stuff, it's too big, and it's murder on my back......" I was surprised that he preferred the less dense woods because they were smaller, lighter, and much easier to handle.
BTU "ratings" are "overrated". If you had to work two or three times harder and drive twice as far to get a hardwood that has a +5 BTU rating over another less dense wood which one is better? The lower BTU firewood could be argued to have a higher energy rating because it saved you fuel (gas energy) and physical energy (so you were able to get more of the less dense wood). For example let's say you have 5 cords of 20 BTU rated wood and 3 cords of a 25 BTU rated wood (and it took you same amount of work to get each). Which pile gives you more heat in reality?
Craig S.
Burning Hunk
If you're looking for pine ... Too bad you're not in my area ... (broken link removed to http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/zip/4726651153.html)
1) Wood is cut to 16" and split and delivered for free. I've never actually found this kind of wood but I'm pretty sure it's my favorite.
2) Wood that is cut to 16" and left in the round and delivered to my house for free
3) Free machine piled logs that I can get my truck next to
4) Free downed trees with decent access
5) Free standing trees with decent access
Rebelduckman
Minister of Fire
Craig S.
Burning Hunk
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