My neighbor dumped on me!!!

[man of stihl]

My neighbor came by and dumped off a load of mixed wood from some clean-up around their factory.
There is some nice pin oak and red oak in there, plus some poplar, and willow. I have never used any willow. Does anyone have any experience with it? I'll burn it in the firepit, if not in the heater...it's free wood..I'm gonna burn it somewhere!

 

[smokinj]

My neighbor came by and dumped off a load of mixed wood from some clean-up around their factory.
There is some nice pin oak and red oak in there, plus some poplar, and willow. I have never used any willow. Does anyone have any experience with it? I'll burn it in the firepit, if not in the heater...it's free wood..I'm gonna burn it somewhere!

Nice!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Willow is on the lower part of the scale. I simply will not even mess with it. It is very poor wood.

Will it burn? Yes. Will it give heat? Of course. It is just poor wood that won't give much heat for very long. Not even as good as that popple. Plus, it is pretty darned wet when you cut it. Do you get the idea I don't like willow?

 

[woodsmaster]

Willow burns hot , but very fast. It's extremely light when dry.

 

[PapaDave]

Willow is on the lower part of the scale. I simply will not even mess with it. It is very poor wood.

Will it burn? Yes. Will it give heat? Of course. It is just poor wood that won't give much heat for very long. Not even as good as that popple. Plus, it is pretty darned wet when you cut it. Do you get the idea I don't like willow?

Aww, come on Dennis.
Don't hold back, tell us how you REALLY feel!

 

[Clarkbar2311]

If its free its for me. Pine, willow, whatever...Nice free score.

 

[Dune]

Poplar good, pine good, willow, bad. Let it rot.

 

[ikessky]

I cut down a couple big willows in my yard a few weekends ago. Loaded it up in the truck and hauled it down to the city dump. That stuff stinks and was sopping wet. I remember my dad burning some willow when we were kids and had one go down in a tornado. He said the same thing as Dennis, it burns, but it's pretty low-end wood.

 

[LLigetfa]

Fortunately for me I have enough acreage that I don't need to haul junk wood to the dump. With Poplar/Aspen, I draw the line on whether or not to split/stack it by how much work it would be to dispose of it otherwise. In the years before I had a woodshed, I used the junk wood to make a base to stack the good wood on, keeping the good wood up off the ground.

If I cannot just leave Willow to rot where it lays, I will either put it on my burn pile or toss it in the bush. There's a bunch of small Willow on my burn pile now that I had cut from the edge of my yard.

I'm thinking of setting up a fire pit somewhere in my yard to burn my hardwood rejects that don't stack well. Could probably burn Poplar/Aspen/Willow in it too cuz that crap isn't coming in the house.

 

[LLigetfa]

I'm looking at your woodshed with that large overhang on the front, wondering how it can survive winds. Something like that wouldn't pass code around here. If the wind didn't rip it off right quick, the snow load would certainly do it in.

 

[man of stihl]

I'm looking at your woodshed with that large overhang on the front, wondering how it can survive winds. Something like that wouldn't pass code around here. If the wind didn't rip it off right quick, the snow load would certainly do it in.

As for the overhang...I just built the shed a month or so ago and have not got around to finishing it. It will have post under each corner of the overhang with a frame and joist to secure the whole thing. We don't have much snow. We do have winds though and I have got to finish that thing before it does get torn up.
As for ""code"..... I live 15 miles outside of the nearest city limits...we build what we can, how we can. Thats why I will not live in an area where somebody else tells me what and how I can or cannot build on property that I worked & paid for.

Thanks for all the comments...,the willow will get burned somewhere...it should make a nice bonfire in th pit.

 

[highmark800]

Free wood is free wood! I dont care what it is I will make it burn. I dont burn wood for the fun of it, I burn it to save money on heat.

 

[wsorg]

Nice neighbor!

 

[Dakotas Dad]

I'm looking at your woodshed with that large overhang on the front, wondering how it can survive winds. Something like that wouldn't pass code around here. If the wind didn't rip it off right quick, the snow load would certainly do it in.

Most of Mississippi isn't burdened with codes, and as far as I have ever seen when driving through in the winter to get to the gulf.. they aren't burdened with any "snow load" worries either..lol

and Free wood is free heat. period.

 

[Dune]

Free wood may be free heat, but willow will not warm your house if it is cold out. Probably O.K. to burn it in June, if you are looking to waste time or whatever.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Free wood may be free heat, but willow will not warm your house if it is cold out. Probably O.K. to burn it in June, if you are looking to waste time or whatever.

It's MISSISSIPPI.. some of you guys really need to get out some.. lol

January there is probably warmer then your June..

 

[LLigetfa]

It's MISSISSIPPI.. some of you guys really need to get out some.. lol

What do we know. Too far to go by dogsled plus we're too busy either burning wood or gathering wood to burn later.

I think the Mississippi is joined to the Great Lakes by canals so I guess I could paddle my way there in Summer if a portage across the Arctic Watershed.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

That would be a good paddle. we want to do headwaters to the gulf by bicycle. don't think she would canoe it. getting the time is the problem...

 

[LLigetfa]

That would be a good paddle...

Not as bad going with the current but a lot harder coming back home.

I've been to neighboring Alabama in the Winter. Flew in to Mobile and drove North. Not a lick of snow anywhere. We can get worse weather in the Summer here.

 

[maplewood]

I used to throw my Poplar away, but I'm burning it now. Gotta split it to get it good and dry, and I usually mix it with hardwood, to avoid overheating the stove.
If you've got the room, and don't mind a couple of extra trips to the stove, burn it.
It has some BTU's, and free ones at that!

 

[Dakotas Dad]

I've been to neighboring Alabama in the Winter. Flew in to Mobile and drove North. Not a lick of snow anywhere. We can get worse weather in the Summer here.

LOL, my family is from northern Minnesota, when she was about 50 my mom moved to Biloxi Mississippi.. she went to work at a casino where my brother and his wife worked. The first day she was there, she pulled up to enter the employee parking garage, and her first thought was " how the hell are people going to get up this ramp in the winter".. she called me that night to tell me how dumb she felt after about 5 minutes when the answer struck her. She never really did get used to the weather down there, and by the time she was 62, she had moved back to the great white north. I quit my monthly visits after she moved back north. same distance mileage wise but dang different in the winter when you get out of the truck. I didn't retire and move up there for a reason, even though I could have free property from my grandfathers estate, if I would just build a house and live on it..

 

[Got Wood]

I burned about a cord of Willow at the start of this heating season. The willow seasoned very quickly and I found it to be a decent "shoulder" season wood when you want to take a chill out but not pump out a ton of heat. I wouldnt make much of an effort to scrounge it but if it was dumped in my yard (like this) I would certainly use it.

 

[gpcollen1]

Burned about half a cord of willow last winter. It is great, as are many softer woods, for getting the fire going quickly in the AM, or any time for that matter. Not going to burn it all winter long if i want to heat the house but mixes in very well.

Have no idea why folks think they are above some soft wood...

 

[firefighterjake]

Aw man . . . now you guys tell me that willow is absolutely, positively no good and it will not heat my home . . . I wish you had told me this last year when I was heating my house with it, then I would have known not to burn it and instead of it being a comfortable 74 degrees+ I could have really been cranking and had the house up to 90 degrees or so.

On a serious note . . . willow will burn . . . willow will make heat . . . willow will burn quickly . . . willow when cut green is very wet (and in fact it will sometimes still sprout new growth if it is in contact with the wet ground even after being bucked up) . . . willow is not highly-valued for the BTU, but as Got Wood mentioned it is a fine wood for the shoulder season . . . or keep it around for the campfire. Free is free . . .

 

[ChrisNJ]

.[/quote]

..... I live 15 miles outside of the nearest city limits...we build what we can, how we can. Thats why I will not live in an area where somebody else tells me what and how I can or cannot build on property that I worked & paid for.

.[/quote]

Thats a great motto, I am jealous, but alas someday I will be free of the Man LOL.