Not Impressed with Black Walnut.....

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Hiram Maxim

Hiram Maxim

Minister of Fire
Hearth Supporter
Nov 25, 2007
1,065
SE Michigan
Ive had this Black Walnut C/S/S sense June 2008, came from a massive live limb that came down in a storm.

I split it into mostly squares 6"x6" and up to 8"x8".......stacks great in the stove!

However the BTU chart says its suppose to be the same as Black Cherry? :rolleyes:

Personally I don't see it, seems like it burns faster and leaves monster coals,with less heat?

After 4 1/2 years The stuff is dry, sounds like a baseball bat.....

Anybody burn a lot of the stuff??

Interested on others take of the doo doo!

Cheers Hiram
 
I have burned both black and white walnut and neither was that great. Nothing to go ga-ga over, but I would not pass it up either. More like box elder or one of the soft maples in heat output. Cherry and maple burn better IMO.
 
Walnuts are a middle of the road,2xxx btu/cord, box elder -17xx/cord, Cherry and Green ash about same as walnut in btu output
 
I am not sure but I think there may be more than one black walnut. We burned some a year ago and it was great but then we burned it growing up and it was like paper in comparison.

Pete
 
Mine has always put out average heat, but leaves a lot of ash.
 
Good in shoulder season,a lot like soft maple.I have some ready for next yr early fall
 
I burn a bunch of black walnut, but when it gets cold (round here that's below 32F) I usually switch to oak. It ain't the best but it ain't the worst either.
 
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You might want to consider selling it on Etsy or E-bay. In chunks. For wood turners or furniture making. They take the spalted wood and burls and crotches. I went to a woodworking show in Amsterdam and people were selling walnut in unmilled chunks. Big money.
I would be careful scrounging this tree. Number one tree involved in timber theft lawsuits.
 
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Walnut is one of the few "hard woods" that I currently have in my woodshed, I also have a bit of white maple. They both seem to burn about the same as my main wood supply Lodgepole pine.
I do like the smell of black walnut smoke when it is burning, but personally, I prefer the lodgepole pine, simply because the lodgepole I get is pre-seasoned, meaning I don't have to cut, split and store it for 2 or 3 years before I can burn it. So for me, any wood that I can't burn right away is kind of "doo doo".
 
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We have tons of black walnut around here so it is not hard to come across. They sell allot of the good trees but usually are only interested in the main trunk leaving tons of tops for firewood. It has gotten so bad around here walnut is going for a fraction of what it used to be worth. And if it is anywhere near a yard they will not even cut it for free. It burns ok but is not anything to get excited about. I would put it toward the bottom of the mid range hardwoods with silver maple. I would rather have many of the other mid range hardwoods like cherry, ash, or elm over black walnut. In my stove black walnut seems to burn slow, cool, long, good coaling, and allot of ash. If I want a hotter burn it takes more primary air than most wood leaving the before mentioned huge chunks of coals. It mixes better with faster burning woods like silver, pine, red ceder, or poplar for a longer shoulder season burn. I rarely burn pure black walnut loads and pretty much always burn it mixed with something else.
 
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I've burned it before but no longer go out of my way for it.(have actually passed some recently) Personally I feel cherry and soft maple(silver/red) perform way better for me. My biggest complaint is all the ash that is left behind.

Where is my latch? ;lol
 
I am no Fan of Cherry for firewood it's about the same. Pretty good for cooking though.
 
We cut a HUGE one down this spring, I ended up milling the entire trunk and split the rest of it, ended up with almost two cord. I like it for shoulder season, and for mixed loads. I wouldn't want to be stuck with it all winter in sub-freezing temps, that would suck. It's a good wood but not the best wood.

I think it smells heavenly when burning, though.....
 
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cptoneleg said:
I am no Fan of Cherry for firewood it's about the same. Pretty good for cooking though.
Click to expand...
Cherry is a PITA for the fact that it coals up fast, and although the coals last a long time, they don't seem to throw off lots of good heat. I love the smell of that when it's burning, too!
 
Below average for firewood...looks and and smells better than it burns.
 
Cherry is good heat but doesn't last as long as many others. I like cherry mixed with oak or locust and like cherry split for kindling too. Black walnut has been disappointing for all the reasons given above.
 
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It's BTUs
How much of it is your "This year's wood" ?
Burn it up as shoulder season wood.
 
Good wood to mix with others. I have a nice stack that willl be ready next year.
The light maroon color looks cool stacked up.
 
Walnut is kind of like an enigma for me; it doesn't burn the best or throw the most heat, but whenever I see it I think about it for a few seconds and think "oh, I'll take it" lol! But I DID have some a few years ago from a certain tree, in fact I STILL have some of it in my current usage pile, and this Walnut ROCKED!!!! It just seemed to be very much more solid and bigger than most that I get around here, and this stuff took off and threw heat like crazy! On the flip side of the coin, I've had Black Locust that sucked, so I guess it can vary from tree to tree in the same species.

Walnut is like a quarterback that will win more games than lose for you, but if a better one comes along put him in lol! It's like hot dogs-they're good enough and will fill you up but when the steak and the hamburger comes around it's time for a replacement! ;lol
 
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PA. Woodsman said:
Walnut is kind of like an enigma for me; it doesn't burn the best or throw the most heat, but whenever I see it I think about it for a few seconds and think "oh, I'll take it" lol! But I DID have some a few years ago from a certain tree, in fact I STILL have some of it in my current usage pile, and this Walnut ROCKED!!!! It just seemed to be very much more solid and bigger than most that I get around here, and this stuff took off and threw heat like crazy! On the flip side of the coin, I've had Black Locust that sucked, so I guess it can vary from tree to tree in the same species.

Walnut is like a quarterback that will win more games than lose for you, but if a better one comes along put him in lol! It's like hot dogs-they're good enough and will fill you up but when the steak and the hamburger comes around it's time for a replacement! ;lol
Click to expand...

Well said, and I couldn't agree more! Love the quarterback analogy!
 
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cptoneleg said:
I am no Fan of Cherry for firewood
Click to expand...
Scotty Overkill said:
Cherry is a PITA for the fact that it coals up fast, and although the coals last a long time, they don't seem to throw off lots of good heat. I love the smell of that when it's burning, too!
Click to expand...
I'll put a couple of Cherry splits on the front/top of a load, and it puts off floating flames for a couple hours. I like it.
Never burned Walnut and, based on these responses, probably never will. ;lol
 
Woody Stover said:
I'll put a couple of Cherry splits on the front/top of a load, and it puts off floating flames for a couple hours. I like it.
Never burned Walnut and, based on these responses, probably never will. ;lol
Click to expand...
don't get me wrong, i like burning both walnut AND cherry.......but not for staight 'middle of winter' loads. Cherry seems to 'coal up' too fast, and that heaping pile of coals just doesnt seem to put out a lot of heat. Both of those woods have their place in the stacks, though.
 
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Hiram, it should keep you warm for a while especially with the new insulation. How is that working out so far?
 
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