Oh that EVIL pine...

[SWNH]

Filled my woodshed last September with about 4.5 cords. About half was Eastern White pine (hey, it was free). Been burning it during the day, since I work from home and can keep feeding the Oslo. We pack it full with hardwoods just before bedtime and get heat all night. As you can see, the woodshed is getting empty.

Most was 10" diameter stuff just split in half, so only 2 splits fit in the stove at one time (full 22" lengths). It's dry enough to start with a a TINY pile of coals. We're down to mostly hardwood. I MISS THE PINE! Burns lively, less ash, NO huge coal build-up, and heats GREAT. Yea, I'm loading the stove more often, but so what. I enjoy 78 temps even when it's -15 outside.

I've got another 10 cords in racks (5 of that wonderful pine), but I have to dig them out. Ah well....looks like the snowblower will be busy again.

Oh yea...I cleaned the chimney a few weeks ago and there was LESS build up than the previous year (all hardwood). External masonry, so there will ALWAYS be some build-up (about a gallon of crispies).

 

[bboulier]

Based on reports on this forum, I am adding pine to the wood that I scrounge this year. A lot is available this year. Pines and other evergreens were especially hard hit by a recent very heavy snow.

 

[JeffT]

Peter,nice setup.Looks like a beautiful place.

 

[woodman44]

We run a wood business for campgrounds and we sell tons of virgina pine and they love it. One thing about virgina pine, it is very hard to split and I would not try it without a splitter.

 

[maplewood]

Gotta love pine. Make for beautiful flames, too.
It takes patience to load more frequently, but we all are loading more than Mr. Propane or Mrs. Oil. It's just who we are.
I confess I used to leave the softwood to rot in a past life. Now that my Econo is eating less wood than my old beast, I can fit about 1/3 softwood in my wood room. Happy days! The softwood is free (from my own property), saving me about $500/year!

 

[NH_Wood]

Hey neighbor! I'm in Rindge! I have a massive pine that is growing into my shed - it's coming down this summer - will be well over a cord - looking forward to giving it a try for 2012/2013. Great woodshed! Cheers!

 

[richg]

I have enough pine on my property to last 100 lifetimes. In fact, a lot of it has already been cut into rounds that I just chuck into the brush/scrap pile. After reading this thread, I might have to split some up, at least for kindling purposes.

 

[westkywood]

I do the same with soft Maple. I burn it while I'm home during the day and burn the hardwood at night. . I'll always try to have lots of softwood on hand...

 

[maxed_out]

That is one sweet wood shed. Where did all the wood go?

 

[SWNH]

That is one sweet wood shed. Where did all the wood go?

All in the Oslo. Last year I burned thru about 5 cord (all hardwood). I will probably got thru 6 this winter, since alot was pine. Of course, it has also been alot colder this winter.

I have 20 4x4x4 bins of pallet wood for the shop furnace.

 

[SWNH]

I have enough pine on my property to last 100 lifetimes. In fact, a lot of it has already been cut into rounds that I just chuck into the brush/scrap pile. After reading this thread, I might have to split some up, at least for kindling purposes.

Burn, burn, burn! Season it, split big, and enjoy all that free heat. Yes, you have to reload often but if that's not an issue...

 

[thewoodlands]

Looks like you'll be warm for sometime.


Zap

 

[Captain Hornet]

We have loads of southern yellow pine here that have been killed by the Pine Beetle . There is so much dead pine that I'll never burn it all in my lifetime. Most of it real tall, over 100 ft because it grows long looking for the sunlite. The beetle's kill it by boreing into the trunk near the ground. The wood from about five foot and up is usually solid. The tree well fall or be hung up but in any case well have no support on the bottom. A really dangerous thing to be around or try to cut. The big ones have trunks that are two foot across. We usually just let them be tell they get on the ground. By that time they well be so wet that they well rot and be no good for firewood. There are many oaks and hickory and we try to burn them. So that's why we don't mess with pine. David.

 

[burntime]

I always burn hardwood. For what ever reason I ran short this year. Have about a cord left. I picked up a load of pine cutoffs for free. I just mix them in and it seems to be working :lol: I even load the stove with to a third and just burn them. I am off so it does not matter to stuff the stove every 3 hours. I have about 3-4 fords already split for next year and 2 ash trees that as soon as I can see them thru the snow again I will be able to split them. Next year will be better for sure.

 

[WhitePine]

......I have about 3-4 fords already split for next year and 2 ash trees that as soon as I can see them thru the snow again I will be able to split them. Next year will be better for sure.

I have a neighbor like that, but his are VWs. Not sure which goes best with ash. ;-)

 

[burntime]

I read it 3 times before I caught it... Good one...

 

[billb3]

How long was the pine split and seasoned before it was put in the shed ?
I wouldn't burn 4 month seasoned pine.

I've tried to give pine away to campgrounds around here. Even split they don't want it. They already have huge piles in the overflow parking lots.

I don't mind burning it.If I had more time and more oak , cherry and maple than I do, I'd sell it all and burn just pine.

 

[SWNH]

How long was the pine split and seasoned before it was put in the shed ?
I wouldn't burn 4 month seasoned pine.

Neither would I. It's been split/stacked in single row racks outside for about 18 months BEFORE going in the shed.

 

[trailrated]

I'm not the most experienced wood burner yet, but I like pine. Most of my burning this winter has been with pine. Had quite a bit split and stacked since last year. Splits easy, makes good kindling, burns hot and fast. No complaints from me.

 

[Skier76]

I burned a good amount of pine this year in the Castine as well. The stove is at our weekend place. I'd use the pine in the AM to get things going....and in the evenings when I was there to tend it. I could toss a few splits in and just let it run wide open. As mentioned, no ash, no coaling. It allowed me to save the hardwood for the colder part of the winter...which we're in now. I'm just about done with the pine and I do miss it. I'm going to see if I can scrounge some over the warmer months. I may talk to the tree service that'll be by to grind out a stump we have.

 

[Wingman]

Same here, wife keeps feeding the pine during the day andI do the mulberry and oak late evening/over night.

 

[RNLA]

I love to hear and read the pine evils. I run a tree service in Washington and out here on the west coast pine is not the most desired wood but is certainly an accepted species. When properly seasoned it burns hot easily. On the list also is another conifer called Douglas Fir, this stuff is somewhere around 26 million BTU's per cord. So my point is "soft wood" is kind of a relative thing. You burn what you got, if well seasoned. I just removed a Douglas Fir yesterday in my neighbor's back yard 3ft. at chest height, 90-100ft. tall this should yield about 1.5-2.0 cord when c/s/s... :coolsmile:

 

[Jutt77]

I burned 95% pine this winter and around 5% hardwood (Elm, tiny bit of oak). I never have to empty out coals of pine like I do the white oak. Of course, I can't burn the pine overnight.

My next years softwood stockpile will consist of around 5+ cord of ISeeDeadBTU's favorite wood...Cottonwood. Stuff burns alot like pine and its free around here.

 

[Lynch]

what would be a good rule of thumb for seasoned pine 8 months or what?

 

[madrone]

what would be a good rule of thumb for seasoned pine 8 months or what?

A year is a good bet for most everything except oak, but 9 months is probably the minimum. You may be able to burn it before that, but the longer it seasons the better it burns.

That's after splitting, of course.