Oak, Ash, Hickory, Birch or Maple?

[Jack22]

If you had to choose one or more of these seasoned woods, which ones would you prefer? And Why?

 

[KTLM]

If I could only pick one, Hickory. Like the burn times and fragrance.

 

[smokinj]

Hands down hickory.....Doubles as bbq wood.

 

[mywaynow]

Hickory, Oak, Maple, Ash no birch, and in that order. 2nd KTLM on the Hickory. Oak just burns great and hot. Maple for the fragrance, Ash cause it burns clean, hot and is abundant.

 

[Thistle]

Hands down hickory.....Doubles as bbq wood.

Totally.Has much less moisture content than most Oaks when green too.No Oak I know of will be flaming when you touch a torch to it,unless its 2-3yrs old.I use about 70% dry mixed Oak,with no more than 10% bought charcoal when grilling or smoking.Remainder is Hickory,Cherry,Apple etc.

 

[Cate68]

Another vote here for hickory.

 

[Jack22]

Thanks for the responses. Glad I asked because I always thought oak would be preferred. I will more than likely be having a wood stove installed this summer and for the first season I will be buying wood. I found a guy that will deliver for 200 a cord. He has all the above mentioned woods. I am in Warren county New Jersey so if you guys know of anyone selling seasoned wood in my area for a better price please let me know. Thanks.

 

[Mt Ski Bum]

none of the above... my wood of choice is sub-alpine fir

 

[EatenByLimestone]

YES.

You said you could choose one or more. Why play favorites? I hat hurting the feelings of firewood. I try to burn it all without prejudice.

Matt

 

[Wood Duck]

I would assume the wood is not actually seasoned as well as you would like it to be, and for that reason I would go with Ash for next year. I would also check what type of birch he has, In New Jersey I think you may be just as likely to get Black Birch as White or River birches. Black is great. Yellow is great. Both should season by next fall and might be my first choice. White and River Birches are OK, but I'd select Ash over either one. If budget allows I would try to buy now wood for the year after next, Ash, Hickory, Sugar Maple, Black Birch, or Oak are all more or less equal and at the very top of the wood BTU chart. Can't go wrong with any of them if you have sufficient time to season them.

 

[HotDogMan]

None of the above for me either. I prefer black locust and apple. Both burn long and hot in my 20+ year old add-on.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Thanks for the responses. Glad I asked because I always thought oak would be preferred. I will more than likely be having a wood stove installed this summer and for the first season I will be buying wood. I found a guy that will deliver for 200 a cord. He has all the above mentioned woods. I am in Warren county New Jersey so if you guys know of anyone selling seasoned wood in my area for a better price please let me know. Thanks.

If you don't have the stove, and haven't purchased the wood I'd go with ash also. And I'd try to scrounge some of the light to medium woods that will season fast like pine or the soft maples. Split them small and you will be ok this season. I'd try to purchase a few cords for 2 years down the road also since it takes that long for most of the oaks and hickories to dry out.

One more thing... you are going to burn more wood than you think you should the first year as you learn your stove. Plan accordingly.

Matt

 

[cygnus]

Thanks for the responses. Glad I asked because I always thought oak would be preferred. I will more than likely be having a wood stove installed this summer and for the first season I will be buying wood. I found a guy that will deliver for 200 a cord. He has all the above mentioned woods. I am in Warren county New Jersey so if you guys know of anyone selling seasoned wood in my area for a better price please let me know. Thanks.

Jack - You in North or South Warren County? Split and stack this ASAP for some good wood in the fall:

Free Firewood (Bedminster)08:56 3/18/2011, craigslist cNJ "firewood"
You will need a truck and some way to remove the two big sugar maples we cut down. They were dead trees for years and they are in 3-5 foot sections of trunk. There are about 20 sections. They will make excellent firewood.

David 561 531 0286 for directions
first one here and gets it gone gets it

 

[Jack22]

Thanks you everyone for the input. I am already in the process of gathering wood for future burning seasons so I can start seasoning it. I will keep in mind that the oak can take up to 2 to three years before it is ready. I will also remember that ash tends to dry out faster than the others. I think I will buy one of those moisture meters so I will have a better idea of what I am getting.

 

[Jack22]

Thanks for the responses. Glad I asked because I always thought oak would be preferred. I will more than likely be having a wood stove installed this summer and for the first season I will be buying wood. I found a guy that will deliver for 200 a cord. He has all the above mentioned woods. I am in Warren county New Jersey so if you guys know of anyone selling seasoned wood in my area for a better price please let me know. Thanks.

Jack - You in North or South Warren County? Split and stack this ASAP for some good wood in the fall:

Free Firewood (Bedminster)08:56 3/18/2011, craigslist cNJ "firewood"
You will need a truck and some way to remove the two big sugar maples we cut down. They were dead trees for years and they are in 3-5 foot sections of trunk. There are about 20 sections. They will make excellent firewood.

David 561 531 0286 for directions
first one here and gets it gone gets it

PM sent

 

[NH_Wood]

+1 on ash for the upcoming season to be sure of seasoned wood. If you can purchase wood for the year after, hickory and oak would be great. As for the maple - depends on type - if sugar - awesome - if red, good for shoulder season, but I don't like it for dead of winter - burns hot, but not for as long and doesn't coal as well. Cheers!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Oak, Ash, Hickory, Birch or Maple?

All of the above. I really do like a good mix and those are pretty good except we don't burn much birch. I am actually thinking about buying some oak or perhaps seeing if I could trade some ash for the oak. That would suit me just fine.

 

[Jack22]

Oak, Ash, Hickory, Birch or Maple?

All of the above. I really do like a good mix and those are pretty good except we don't burn much birch. I am actually thinking about buying some oak or perhaps seeing if I could trade some ash for the oak. That would suit me just fine.

I was wondering if anybody would say that they would prefer a mix of all the good hardwoods. Dennis, What is your reasoning for this? Do you prefer certain woods for certain heating situations?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

That's it Jack. In addition, I like to put one quick starter in the loads if we've burned the coals down a lot. It just helps get the fire going nicely quicker. In addition, we do not want as much heat during the daytime as we do at night simply because it get colder at night. Then we come to this time of the year. We did not have a fire last night which seemed really good and it has been a long time since doing that. But this morning starting a new fire was the first task. So, do I use ash or some of the soft maple? In this case, I used mostly maple and then a couple of ash.

In short, having a good mix of wood allows you to have just a little more control of the fire and the amount of heat you want. Save those long burning logs until you really need them such as mid winter nights or if you have to go away for longer than normal.

 

[firefighterjake]

Loaded question . . . too many variables. You don't say if this is white ash or green ash . . . or if we're talking white birch or yellow birch . . . or sugar maple or silver maple . . . there can be quite a difference in the way and BTUs of these different wood species. For example, white birch has fewer BTUs than yellow birch . . . silver maple has fewer BTUs than sugar maple. Also, as others have noted, it depends on the time frame . . . if you were cutting wood now for the upcoming year I would go with white ash and white birch . . . if I was cutting wood for use in two or more years I might consider oak.

That said . . . I'm an equal opportunity burner.

Never burned oak . . . although that should change in 2012-2013 as I will be burning some oak I cut last year . . . looking forward to the experience as oak is legendary for its BTUs and coaling.

Ash . . . I love it . . . this is my "go to" wood . . . it's always nice and dry . . . lights up quick and is a decent wood for me . . . and I have ready access to it . . . splitting it is also a dream.

Hickory . . . never burned it, but would love to try. Not even sure if we have any hickory around here . . . I know a lot of folks love it though.

Birch . . . Yellow birch is pretty high on the BTU chart and when I see some yellow birch I'll take it. White birch is not as high on the heating charts, but I like it . . . it's pretty . . . and more importantly my wife loves the fact that its paper like bark ignites very easily on a reload . . . I try to add some white birch to the woodbox when I know she is home and will be needing to reload the stove at some point.

Maple . . . I don't see a lot of silver maple, but we do have plenty of red and sugar maple . . . which next to ash are my "go to" wood species. I would guess the two species of maple and white ash make up 70% of what I burn . . .


My own feeling is you burn what you've got . . . and what you've got access to . . . if all you have are evergreens you may tend to burn them . . . if all you have on your land is birch you may use that . . . plus I feel that depending on what I want to achieve different species fill the need . . . in the shoulder season I burn a bunch of poplar and softwoods when I do not need the long, steady heat . . . and I save my better wood for the dead of winter . . . and in fact will purposefully toss large splits of sugar maple or yellow birch to the side of the woodshed when I come across them early in the heating season . . . saving them for a time when I need the long, high heat.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Oak is also a common BBQ wood. It's stronger than hickory. Some serious "experts" like a mix of oak and apple.

 

[Todd]

I've been burning 3 year old Oak all Winter and will be doing the same for at least the next couple years since I have a 3 year supply. Oak is very plentiful around here, burns long and hot and also splits very easy. If some other good hardwoods fall in my lap I won't turn them down but I'm far enough ahead now to be an Oak snob.

 

[Trundle]

none of the above... my wood of choice is sub-alpine fir

Ha Ha. I've got a bunch of grand-fir in the stove right now. smells really good when it burns.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I've been burning 3 year old Oak all Winter and will be doing the same for at least the next couple years since I have a 3 year supply. Oak is very plentiful around here, burns long and hot and also splits very easy. If some other good hardwoods fall in my lap I won't turn them down but I'm far enough ahead now to be an Oak snob.

Todd I recall when you got some of that oak and also remember wishing I had some just like it. 3 years old had to burn very nicely indeed!