Mixed woods

[James02]

I have a nice mix for this year, pine, maple, (better than last year) oak, and BL...My question is loading...When loading for the night, should I put the softer wood, i.e. pine and maple, on the bottom and the denser on top? Really on just planning to use pine for start ups ans such though. Tks!!

 

[blujacket]

Save the Oak & BL for the overnight loads..

 

[TimJ]

well, we are assuming you have a good bed of coals when you take to loading for the night, so from where I sit no pine necessary on a cold night

 

[PapaDave]

I use the pine for shoulder seasons and startups, then the denser stuff for when the REAL cold weather hits.
The maple will get used for the weather in between or mixed. I'll play it by ear.
I never load pine for an overnight burn. I'd wake to an uncomfortably cool house.

 

[Wood Duck]

I put the more dense wood in the back on the bottom, where it will burn more slowly, and the lighter stuff in front and on top. If I have a good bed of coals and I am loading for the night it will be mostly dense wood and only a few pieces of lighter wood. I usually add some lighter wood to get the fire burning quickly, allowing me to shut the air down sooner.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Definitely but the pine mostly in early fall and late spring. You can also burn this in mid winter during the daylight hours if you are home. Save the maple and oak for nights for sure. Then I'd put the oak on the bottom rear and fill the rest with maple. A really cold night? All oak.

 

[Locust Post]

Definitely but the pine mostly in early fall and late spring. You can also burn this in mid winter during the daylight hours if you are home. Save the maple and oak for nights for sure. Then I'd put the oak on the bottom rear and fill the rest with maple. A really cold night? All oak.

Then on a really really cold night get that black locust cruisin along. Also nice to just put 1 piece of that in any time you are looking for coals at the end of a long burn.

 

[firefighterjake]

By the time I get ready to do my final load of the night the stove has been cruising along for many, many hours . . . I never put any softwood in on the final load -- that's when I put the good stuff in as there usually is a nice bed of coals that will get things going in short order no matter what I put on top.

Of course, the next morning when I'm starting things up, a few softwood pieces work quite nice for getting things going nicely.