My father would hardly agree with burning pine.

[drewmo]

As a child, I used to help my father in the mornings cut 6-footers down to 16 inches, then spend the afternoon splitting them to quarters. Never, ever, did I see a piece of pine in the mix. However, many here say burning pine is OK. Some say in moderation. Some say only when you don't need as much heat as during the dead of winter. Make sure your coals are hot first, some have suggested. Others say add twice as much to make up the weight of regular hardwood.

I'm about to become a first-time owner of a wood stove, a Jotul F100. I have about 70%/30% split of pine/hardwood in my pile. Stacked and ready to go. Should last me the winter, I hope. Raised in New England, I'm currently living in France, somewhere in the foothills of the Alps. Pine, so I'm told, is burnt regularly here. Even wet, they say, but only after the stove has been going for a couple of hours.

Ugh. I reckon back to the days of my dad and his utter disgust of pine. Do I burn it?

 

[Roospike]

For "myself" pine and or soft wood is ok for starting fires , getting a coal bed started and or for quick heat. Burning 24/7 or full time i use hard wood and medium woods and normally dont waste time cutting soft woods.

As for O.K. to burn if one has nothing else than yes , pine would be alright but is not very desirable for a full time wood burner if and when other woods are available.

 

[MountainStoveGuy]

it heats my house 24/7.

 

[Shane]

I certainly wouldn't burn any wood wet. Aside from that pine is a fine firewood. Like anyone else I would burn a hardwood over pine but if that's what grows where you are I say burn it.

 

[BrotherBart]

I burned pine most of October and November and will burn the rest of a cord and a half of it before winter is over. For overnight burns I use oak but just for the heck of it am going to do one with pine this week. Just checked both chimneys today and they look great.

It's wood. Burn it.

 

[nshif]

I live in mostly a Pine forest with alot of Cedar and some Oak. I burn a mixture, say 25 % pine, 50% Cedar and 25% Oak. I save the Oak for all night burns (with some Pine thrown in) and burn the Cedar during the day ( with some pine thrown in ). works well for me

 

[PutnamJct]

I have a 30 or so foot high pine that broke about 10' up from the ground and fell over in the last storm. (It's now laying where it fell in the side yard, saw is busted)
I am a pellet burner so I offered the tree to my 3 immediate wood stove burning neighbors. They all turned me down flatly.
Hopefully if I cut it the rest of the way down and stack it by the road with a "free wood" sign someone will take it............

 

[Corie]

I was raised in the same school of thought. Poppy burned the all-nighter low and slow and under those conditions I suppose pine would be a big NO NO.

With modern reburn though, it's not an issue.

 

[Rhone]

I don't know about that PutnamJct but, you can try. Someone cut down a pine. Put a free wood sign, no interest. They decided to play a trick, thinking they only need get someone to stop maybe they'll take the pine. They cut down a small maple tree and strategically placed it so from the road, it looked like a big pile of maple and put a fresh "Free Wood" sign. It was like flies on sh*t two pickups flew in within an hour, took the maple and left every bit of pine. I showed up to do the same, too late it took me too long to hook up the trailer. As I was about to leave and not taking the pine the homeowner flies out of his house and tells me his story and how he tried to trick people into taking it. I told him, it's crap and I wasn't interested in it. That pine pile has been sitting there for over a year now... after reading about it here I'm thinking maybe I'll take it, see what it does. Since I have all red oak it's not like a split of pine per load will be any damage and hey, free wood is free wood.

I think simply, it has a bad reputation. Growing up my father refused pine left & right, and wouldn't touch it on his wood lot and that I guess has rubbed off on me. I'm curious to see for myself what it does in my unit with secondary burn, if it does okay I may be the only one in the area that collects it and there's plenty around, everyone else avoids it for the time being.

 

[Shane]

It definately has a stigma attached to it, and in some aspects rightfully so. I think that it goes a little too far to say don't burn it though. I mean there are alot of other preferred woods but the train of thought that one should freeze before burning pine for fear of safety is way out there.

 

[wahoowad]

It burns great! I burn it hot, not dampered down.

 

[Gooserider]

I have pre-EPA stoves, so I send much smoke up the chimney. As such I try to minimize my pine use, but I'm a cheap S.O.B. so I don't turn down free wood. Our chimney sweep was of the opinion that a split or two of pine every couple of loads wouldn't hurt anything or make our chimney any worse of a mess. I would guess that my current woodpile is perhaps 2-5% pine, well mixed in, so I'd say it won't be noticeable.

My father had an early VC cat stove (mid 70's), and the manual for it must have said "Don't burn pine" five or six times! We got rid of a lot of hemlock because of this, but the stove put out so much more heat than the old fireplace that it was worth it.

If we move to an EPA stove, everything I've seen here seems to suggest that pine is no problem at all in a non-cat stove, (which is one reason I'd go non-cat) but doesn't put out as much heat / last as long. No reason not to use it though.

I'm not as sure about cat stoves, I would probably go with not more than 10-20% pine on the theory that I'd want to be sure to burn off any extra crud left by the pine.

Gooserider

 

[ourhouse]

I use it to get the fire started and to get the temp up quick.

 

[hardwood715]

I have pre-EPA stoves, so I send much smoke up the chimney

I also have Pre EPA. but I try not to send too much smoke up there :roll: I scored some pine from Warren, a forum member from my home town, when I went to meet him. I mix it with hardwood when I burn it. I was taught by Warren to make sure you have a hot bed of coals before burning it. I use it for maximum heat, and this pine is well seasoned and lightwight compared to the rest of my wood, I mean LIGHT! After burning it a while, I inspected the chimney, and have not noticed any negative effects at all. When I first tried it, I started a fire with it, I DID see gunk on the stove walls. Brushed that crap off, PM'd Warren, and he reiterated that you gotta have a hot coal bed first! Burn it if its well seasoned like Warren's!

 

[babalu87]

Oak can be worse for your chimney than pine.

If its seasoned there is no reason not to burn it.
I sure wish I had cut more down for this season. With the slow start to Winter (sure looks like its here now! ) burning a few quick fires of pine to take the chill out of the house would have been nice.
At least a cord of pine for next season here, maybe even two.

 

[johnsopi]

Before finding this forum I had lot of believes that were founded on what one or two people had told me, and now with more information I can make a more informed choice. Like the old saying " get your milk from many farms but make your own butter"
I take Pine if it easy, but will hard woods 1st.

 

[NFreiermuth]

Guy's

If it's split and seasoned...

It get's burned. Yes, It's really that simple ;-P

 

[DavidV]

I have so much hardwood out in the back area of my yard that I'm running out of room 6 or more cords of hardwood. mostly oak. Free for the taking. never paid a dime for any of it and unless there is some crazy change the supply will continue as long as I feel like processing the wood. Why would I burn pine?

 

[smirnov3]

it heats my house 24/7.

Yes, but you don't count

You burn slow growing pine that is almost as dense as hard wood. If you don't live in the mountains, you don't have access to that kind of pine.

 

[MrGriz]

This is my first year burning wood for heat so I'm still figuring a lot of this stuff out (with a lot of help). At this point I will burn just about any type of free wood I can get my hands on.

 

[begreen]

Hardwood? Wazzat?

 

[drewmo]

Thanks everyone for your comments. Looks like I'll be burning my pine stock this winter, but hopefully will get a bit more hardwood to throw in the mix. I, personally, would feel more comfortable that way. I'm thinking of maybe starting the fire with hardwood, then switch to pine for the rest of the day/night. We have a small place, and like it relatively cold when we're sleeping, so, I won't be too bothered with the fire burning out before morning. By the responses in this thread and those in the poll, it looks like this issue could be debated for sometime to come. And what better group of fanatics than this group to hash it out. Pictures of the stove, once installed, to follow.

 

[begreen]

Usually I burn the opposite. Softwood first, hemlock or soft maple or fir, then hardwood on a good coal bed, if I've got it. Longer, less fussy burns that way.

 

[PAJerry]

Well-seasoned pine is great stuff. Ours was 2 years old- in rounds the first then split the second. Burns nice and hot but doesn't last too long. Creosote doesn't happen with well seasoned pine any more than any other wood. Burning good pine is probably better than burning poorly seasoned hardwood. My wife likes it because it is light and easier for her to put in the stove.

 

[suematteva]

Thanks everyone for your comments. Looks like I'll be burning my pine stock this winter, but hopefully will get a bit more hardwood to throw in the mix. I, personally, would feel more comfortable that way. I'm thinking of maybe starting the fire with hardwood, then switch to pine for the rest of the day/night. We have a small place, and like it relatively cold when we're sleeping, so, I won't be too bothered with the fire burning out before morning. By the responses in this thread and those in the poll, it looks like this issue could be debated for sometime to come. And what better group of fanatics than this group to hash it out. Pictures of the stove, once installed, to follow.

All the New England forefathers of woodsmen are consequently turning in their graves...One of their offspring is in France burning PINE. Burn it...clean the chimney 1-2 times a year and watch your temps.

3-4 years ago we started burning poplar and it was the same thing....What you burning that sheet for??? go through about a cord a year use it in the fall/spring...perfect for start stop cycles....burns fast and clean...heats the house.

It is very difficult for me to turn it down when you go to the brush dump and the rounds are sitting there in 16 to 48 inch lengths and all you have to do is throw them in the trailer or truck...

Bon Jour Mon Amie!