Pine the junk wood

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sapratt

Feeling the Heat
May 14, 2008
397
Northwestern, Oh
I got a bunch of pine from my dad. I was splitting it the other day and my neighbor stops by.
He asked why did you get all that junk wood for you can't burn it in you stove. I told him the if its good and
dry it will burn just fine. I've told him a few times that pine is ok to burn. He just won't buy it though.
 
It's a provincial attitude. He needs to live in the west for a few winters. Looks like I'll be burning fir for the next heating season. No problem here heating my home with "junk" wood as long as it's well seasoned.
 
I scrounge all my wood, so regardless of species it is considered 'junk' by whoever is giving it to me for free.

BTW, I love burning pine.
 
no man said:
I got a bunch of pine from my dad. I was splitting it the other day and my neighbor stops by.
He asked why did you get all that junk wood for you can't burn it in you stove. I told him the if its good and
dry it will burn just fine. I've told him a few times that pine is ok to burn. He just won't buy it though.

You can't burn PINE in you stove!!! Man am I in trouble. :eek:hh:
 
My dad was somewhat the same way when he mentions it. He said the tree was cut down 2 yrs ago
and he never asked me about it cause it was pine. I told him if it is dry its no different than anyother
wood. Dad told me he's never heard that before. It's always been about how bad pine is to burn.
 
Use it as the first course on the ground for your stacks and put your good wood on top of it.
 
LLigetfa said:
Use it as the first course on the ground for your stacks and put your good wood on top of it.
That's why people like it for firewood, not to burn but to stack on. :lol:
 
Its kinda funny that the coldest climates/locations have only the (junk) wood to heat with and we all do just fine. :bug:

Ask your neighbor what express train travels to Yukon & and Alaska delivering hard wood so we can heat our homes safely.
 
north of 60 said:
Its kinda funny that the coldest climates/locations have only the (junk) wood to heat with and we all do just fine. :bug:

Ask your neighbor what express train travels to Yukon & and Alaska delivering hard wood so we can heat our homes safely.
Burning pine in the new EPA stoves maybe makes more sense than the older stoves, I can not imagine trying to heat my house with the old stove and pine, I know it depends on the stove type but how long of a burn will you get with a load of pine?
 
north of 60 said:
Its kinda funny that the coldest climates/locations have only the (junk) wood to heat with and we all do just fine. :bug:

Ask your neighbor what express train travels to Yukon & and Alaska delivering hard wood so we can heat our homes safely.

Siver maple seems to get the same rep around here but I will burn it....Have about half cord of pine as well guess what? I will burn it.
 
oldspark said:
north of 60 said:
Its kinda funny that the coldest climates/locations have only the (junk) wood to heat with and we all do just fine. :bug:

Ask your neighbor what express train travels to Yukon & and Alaska delivering hard wood so we can heat our homes safely.
Burning pine in the new EPA stoves maybe makes more sense than the older stoves, I can not imagine trying to heat my house with the old stove and pine, I know it depends on the stove type but how long of a burn will you get with a load of pine?

6-8hrs in extream cold -30c and colder. 8-12 hours of good heat depending on the outside winter temps above -30c . Up to 16hrs in the shoulder season. Temps around freezing. Remember a northern pine tree is pretty dense due to the short growing season. An 8 inch diameter tree is over 75 or more yrs old. Very tight rings and lots of pitch to feed the CAT converter.
 
Gee, if pine doesn't burn well why do we have to evacuate when our pine forrest burns? :roll:

Fear of burning Pine is like fear of monsters under the bed. When you learn what it is best for it is good to have.
Cedar or redwood is a good first layer on the ground but other pine is more susceptible to rot than hardwoods.
Pine is easier to start on fire so GREAT kindling. We mix pine into the oak pile to start our fires.

Bark beetles took out MILLIONS of pine around here a few years back so we are burning it before it burns us out. :bug:

:) Jay
 
Boom said:
Bark beetles took out MILLIONS of pine around here a few years back so we are burning it before it burns us out. :bug:

:) Jay

We have the same deal with the spruce beetle around here. It knocks off my burn times by about two hours or so.
 

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I work with a guy that says you can't burn pine because it takes over a year to season, and even then it will cause problems, but thinks his oak is ready after two or three months. Go figure, he is one of those guys that does everything wrong but thinks he is the best at everything.
 
Joey D,

What do you burn usually? We have practically the same stoves and live near each other. I just started burning last January so I'm curious how well you do with your stove.
 
DaFattKidd said:
Joey D,

What do you burn usually? We have practically the same stoves and live near each other. I just started burning last January so I'm curious how well you do with your stove.

I burn mostly oak and some black cherry. I just finished my second season burning and I managed to knock my fuel consumptiom down from 800+ gallons to around 350+ gallons a year. That is using oil for hot water also. For the most part I'm happy with the stove but I do wish it was a little bigger on those cold windy winter nights.
 
False rumors like "don't burn Pine" actually help those who do know "...the rest of the story..."
You can't straighten out folks like that, but you can take their unwanted Pine off their hands.
:lol:
 
I got a cord or so of junkwood along the driveway for next year, and I'll be getting a delivery of nice dry lodgepole junkwood sometime this summer. Loves me some junkwood. My uncle and my grandfather both warned me about pine for years, even though they both grew up in the west. Not that you shouldn't burn it, but that it creates a lot of creosote. I've had worse trouble with hardwood for sure. That stuff takes forever to season.
 
I'm a newbie on here, but I will burn Ponderosa pine - which is readily available around here. I don't prefer it, but I will definitely burn it. Seasons really fast in the hot summers here. I've read that Douglas-Fir, also around here, has similar BTU's as black oak as well and it splits like a dream. Right now I've got a mix of woods;

pine > 1.5 cord
oak > 1.5 cord
doug-fir < 1/4 cord
incense-cedar < 1/4 cord


I got my wood cutting permit for the nat'l forest and got a good amount of oak, still have two load tickets left (out of the 8).

last year i burned some white fir and that stuff goes up real fast. nice and easy to burn but doesn't leave much coal base but heats if I keep feeding it.

I don't worry about creosote but I have a easy to clean 6" pipe that I can brush out mid-season if I feel like it.

My main issue w/ 'junk' wood is the screen on my pipe cap? will clog up w/ particles sometimes. Anyone have that issue? I should do a search and create a new post if nothing comes up on that.
 
quercus_kelloggii said:
I'm a newbie on here, but I will burn Ponderosa pine - which is readily available around here. I don't prefer it, but I will definitely burn it. Seasons really fast in the hot summers here. I've read that Douglas-Fir, also around here, has similar BTU's as black oak as well and it splits like a dream. Right now I've got a mix of woods;

pine > 1.5 cord
oak > 1.5 cord
doug-fir < 1/4 cord
incense-cedar < 1/4 cord


I got my wood cutting permit for the nat'l forest and got a good amount of oak, still have two load tickets left (out of the 8).

last year i burned some white fir and that stuff goes up real fast. nice and easy to burn but doesn't leave much coal base but heats if I keep feeding it.

I don't worry about creosote but I have a easy to clean 6" pipe that I can brush out mid-season if I feel like it.

My main issue w/ 'junk' wood is the screen on my pipe cap? will clog up w/ particles sometimes. Anyone have that issue? I should do a search and create a new post if nothing comes up on that.
Not sure about the black oak BTU's but Douglas Fir has about the same BTU's as Red Maple on the chart I have.
 
The chart I found on the 'net claims to be from the Calif. Energy Commission, not sure how great that is, but it lists;

Ca Black Oak at 27.4
Douglas-Fir at 26.5
Ponderosa Pine at 21.7

it does list some eastern hardwoods;

Red Maple (soft maple) at 18.1

so maybe it is a screwy list, this is where I got the data: firewood-btu-ratings

Makes doug-fir look pretty good all things considering, heck even ponderosa pine...
 
That pine makes great lumber. Not so sure on the firewood though. Workes if thats all you can get.
 
Cluttermagnet said:
False rumors like "don't burn Pine" actually help those who do know "...the rest of the story..."
You can't straighten out folks like that, but you can take their unwanted Pine off their hands.
:lol:

Agreed. As long as people keep thinking that, they'll keep giving it away for free. I more often than not tell people "Oh, I'll use this in my fire pit...".
 
we just had a killer wind storm knocked down hundreds of trees and shut down most of the county for a day or two. Free wood everywhere, I havent had a day off so I missed out on all the hard wood but so far it seems that I have a endless supply of pine and hemlock, just have to stay ahead of the town chipper.
 
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