Overcoming Fear of... Hemlock, pine next...

[SuburbanFarmer]

After researching many old posts here, I am gong to stop ignoring hemlock trees as a source for firewood. (Here in S. NH the hemlock variety has two lines on the underside of the needles and small almost thimble-sized cones.) Largely ignored by most, maybe because it is easily mistaken for pine? (Standing at the base of a large one and looking to the next oak to fell, I only realized it was a hemlock when the oak got hung up in it!) Per the BTU charts, hemlock has less energy, but judging from the dead trunk branches that I gather for kindling, I'll bet well seasoned hemlock makes great fire-starting material.

Folks in other areas of the country may find our ‘phobia’ of burning evergreens amusing. We often see stacks of cut pine logs just sitting in the woods visible from the road. Many have been quietly rotting for years… I myself have snickered at the guy with the sign on the ‘free wood’, thinking that he had to find a sucker to take it so he didn’t have to haul it to the landfill himself.

Can anyone offer any advice regarding the aging of this wood or about gathering dead evergreens? Will it season any faster than oak?

 

[Highbeam]

Yes, it will season faster than oak. If you cut and split it now, it will be ready for fall. Evergreens bleed pitch, not sap. Oh and if you find an evergreen with the whole base covered in white frosting looking stuff you've found fatwood.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

After researching many old posts here, I am gong to stop ignoring hemlock trees as a source for firewood. (Here in S. NH the hemlock variety has two lines on the underside of the needles and small almost thimble-sized cones.) Largely ignored by most, maybe because it is easily mistaken for pine? (Standing at the base of a large one and looking to the next oak to fell, I only realized it was a hemlock when the oak got hung up in it!) Per the BTU charts, hemlock has less energy, but judging from the dead trunk branches that I gather for kindling, I'll bet well seasoned hemlock makes great fire-starting material.

Folks in other areas of the country may find our ‘phobia’ of burning evergreens amusing. We often see stacks of cut pine logs just sitting in the woods visible from the road. Many have been quietly rotting for years… I myself have snickered at the guy with the sign on the ‘free wood’, thinking that he had to find a sucker to take it so he didn’t have to haul it to the landfill himself.

Can anyone offer any advice regarding the aging of this wood or about gathering dead evergreens? Will it season any faster than oak?

Advice for gathering dead evergreens? Just do it. There's no tricks or special knowledge.

And yes, it will dry faster than oak. Much faster.

 

[Slow1]

"Evergreends bleed pitch.." I have seen references to this before. I too plan to gather softwoods this summer if things work out for me (I met a tree service guy who might drop some off free since 'nobody wants it'... ) When I split and stack them am I going to find that I have some sort of a big mess under the stacks this fall or is just something to be aware of? I'm going to do it anyway, but just curious what to expect here (not like I'm stacking green wood in the house or anything.... but if it 'bleeds' I may well be careful about leaving a pile on the end of the driveway for any length of time right after getting it (I process my wood next to the driveway you see).

 

[BandSawyer]

I burn some hemlock. Usually I make sawlogs out of the trees because of its value as lumber. Whatever does not get sawn goes into the woodstove.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Pretty soon you'll be picking up willow and poplar when it's free too!


Matt

 

[DaveBP]

Hemlock limbs are harder and denser than the wood of the trunk but the trunk is much easier to cut and split. Hemlock doesn't have pitch like a pine. The hemlock will dry faster than the oak.

A pound of dry hemlock has as much heat in it as a pound of dry oak. Lot of hardwood snobs around here, but I say burn what you have. Everything burns better when it's dry. Wood that's not dry might burn longer if you can keep it going and stay out of the way of the smoke.

There, that ought to get some more opinions.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

.

A pound of dry hemlock has as much heat in it as a pound of dry oak. Lot of hardwood snobs around here, but I say burn what you have. Everything burns better when it's dry. Wood that's not dry might burn longer if you can keep it going and stay out of the way of the smoke.

Word.

Matt

 

[myzamboni]

"Evergreends bleed pitch.." I have seen references to this before. I too plan to gather softwoods this summer if things work out for me (I met a tree service guy who might drop some off free since 'nobody wants it'... ) When I split and stack them am I going to find that I have some sort of a big mess under the stacks this fall or is just something to be aware of? I'm going to do it anyway, but just curious what to expect here (not like I'm stacking green wood in the house or anything.... but if it 'bleeds' I may well be careful about leaving a pile on the end of the driveway for any length of time right after getting it (I process my wood next to the driveway you see).

It usually only oozes out onto the surface where is beads and hardens. You might get a few drops here and there that might leave the wood.

 

[madrone]

My favorite thing about free wood is that it burns.

 

[mtroo]

The split/cut pine will not stain or harm your driveway. But, I must confess I'm a little confused. About all we have here in Montana is pine and it's all I've ever burned in my masonary fireplace. I am considering a hearth mounted soapstone, but should I be concerned about pine? Is the perceived problem the potential to overfire? Or is it dirty? I wish I had hard wood to burn as the pine seems to burn a little quicker than what I remember from my childhood in Michigan.

 

[myzamboni]

The split/cut pine will not stain or harm your driveway. But, I must confess I'm a little confused. About all we have here in Montana is pine and it's all I've ever burned in my masonary fireplace. I am considering a hearth mounted soapstone, but should I be concerned about pine? Is the perceived problem the potential to overfire? Or is it dirty? I wish I had hard wood to burn as the pine seems to burn a little quicker than what I remember from my childhood in Michigan.

As long as you let it season you should not have a problem. It does burn quicker than hardwood, but longer in a woodstove than in a masonry fireplace.

 

[Bigg_Redd]

My favorite thing about free wood is that it burns.

MY favorite thing about free wood is that it's free.

 

[Slow1]

My favorite thing about free wood is that it burns.

MY favorite thing about free wood is that it's free.

I'm thinking that my favorite thing about pine is that around here folks look down their noses at it and generally don't want it... thus it falls into the "free" category. I think I'm going to start loving it just as soon as I find a way to get hooked up with some sources and get a system in place to process it. Ok, so I'll haul more into the house but it is lighter and it does smell good (or does the smell go away once it is well seasoned?)

 

[Bigg_Redd]

My favorite thing about free wood is that it burns.

MY favorite thing about free wood is that it's free.

I'm thinking that my favorite thing about pine is that around here folks look down their noses at it and generally don't want it... thus it falls into the "free" category. I think I'm going to start loving it just as soon as I find a way to get hooked up with some sources and get a system in place to process it. Ok, so I'll haul more into the house but it is lighter and it does smell good (or does the smell go away once it is well seasoned?)

You don't need a system - you need a truck, a saw, and a Fiskars splitting ax.

 

[Highbeam]

The typical evergreen will start out with bleeding pretty thin sap which will thicken into a nasty tarry pitch and then finally harden into a crystal. That hardened pitch has been a great place to find fossils and such for those fossil diggers. Is it amber? The name of the "rock" that the pitch becomes?

I have had dry seasoned red cedar actually drip the pitch onto the floor in my house when I brought it in from the cold to be burned but the other evergreen tree's pitch seems to stay firm and not drip.

 

[madrone]

I think the thing about any low BTU wood is assessing the cost/benefits. They tend to season faster, be easier to split, easier to light. OTOH, they burn faster, so you'll feed the stove more, and probably need a slightly bigger woodpile than with dense woods. Free wood is free wood, so if space is not an issue, why the heck not get all your heat for free. I have limited space in my yard, so I'm a little selective, but only a little. I'll take whatever I can get until I'm near capacity, then I tend to hold out for higher BTUs. But if I had twice the yard, I'd take anything.

 

[lexybird]

it might be free and thats a nice perk but its still wood you gotta cut stac k split season and restack it takes up space on the property and youll have to feed the stove with it and becuase of its low btu rating youll be doing twice as much of all those chores for same heat of the quality hardwood

 

[chachdave]

But its free wood lexybird.

 

[Slow1]

I imagine that the value of "free wood" is different for different folks. If you have access to free hardwood (or free of $'s, "just" costing your labor) then perhaps the value of free softwoods may not seem worth the effort. However, if you are looking at paying $150/cord for unsplit hardwood and you can get softwood for free in the same condition then that can be quite a difference.

 

[North of 60]

it might be free and thats a nice perk but its still wood you gotta cut stac k split season and restack it takes up space on the property and youll have to feed the stove with it and becuase of its low btu rating youll be doing twice as much of all those chores for same heat of the quality hardwood

Lexy I think your gonna have to send me up some Oak so I only have to load my stove once every 24 hrs. :lol:
By the sounds of it your saying that my burn times would double. Then it would be worth it to order me up a load.

 

[lexybird]

the burn charts based on density would show some oak being nearly double the density of hemlock ,heat wise probably not ,but pound for pound its close to double might be easier to just move down south if you want oak lol around here we usually only load the stove with one oak slab(maybe 2 if its really cold ) in the fall and then it is reduced to coals by march lol

 

[lexybird]

But its free wood lexybird.

if your time your gas oil ,wear and tear and labor have no value, then yes its totally free

 

[Bigg_Redd]

But its free wood lexybird.

if your time your gas oil ,wear and tear and labor have no value, then yes its totally free

*sigh*

 

[SuburbanFarmer]

But its free wood lexybird.

if your time your gas oil ,wear and tear and labor have no value, then yes its totally free

I often think about what the pellet stove guy said when I asked about stove choices: "If you have free wood, then wood makes sense'..." I guess that's why New Englanders leave pine and take the oak. I've changed my thought process from thinking that 'the hemlock is just in the way' to get at the oak... Having it ready sooner and as a fire starter is a plus, also limbing and bucking the hemlock's straight trunks is faster.

Not sure if this should be a new thread topic, but do you have any 'efficiency tips', to save time (and / or gas) when working in the woods? I discovered one by accident - I had a bunch of 4" mostly birch trees bunched together that I was skidding out when I got my tractor stuck. I had to leave the load, so I just 'sliced' all the trees into stove length on the spot. It was much like slicing stalks of asparagus with a chef's knife!

I pile the tops in strategic off-the-trail places with the thought that I will be able to ‘slice them up’ in a year or two for kindling. What ‘tricks of the trade’ have you learned to get the most cutting for your time / tank of gas?