Pine: What to do with it?

[jeff6443]

My (son in law ) yea I know we are stuck with them . Is a fireman emt haz mat rescue me kinda guy . Had cut pine logs on him property. He was takeing it to the dump'
Told him to drop it off 4 f 150 truck loads cut bark off . I split some burns fine . He told me not to call when my house burns down . Told my daugther I was dumb.
I explained to her about dry wood , She s smart enough to listen to POPA. ( yea I know We are never wrong ) Then I thanked her for the wood .Took her to lunch . Let him think I stupied
Give me some more great shoulder season burn .

 

[firefighterjake]

My (son in law ) yea I know we are stuck with them . Is a fireman emt haz mat rescue me kinda guy . Had cut pine logs on him property. He was takeing it to the dump'
Told him to drop it off 4 f 150 truck loads cut bark off . I split some burns fine . He told me not to call when my house burns down . Told my daugther I was dumb.
I explained to her about dry wood , She s smart enough to listen to POPA. ( yea I know We are never wrong ) Then I thanked her for the wood .Took her to lunch . Let him think I stupied
Give me some more great shoulder season burn .

Send him to me . . . I'll set him straight . . . although if he lives in NJ he'll probably just think I'm a dumb hick firefighter in Podunk, Maine. . . . and if he did listen to me it might mean the end of your free wood, so on second thought just let him think you're stupid and keep the free wood coming . . . or better yet let him think you're stupid and convince him that the best solution for him to keep his in-laws safe if for him to provide you with good, well-seasoned hardwood.

 

[Skier76]

Well thanks a lot guys! I've walked our property up north and found a few smaller pines that are on their way out. This has also inspired me to fix up a Homelite saw someone donated to me a few years back. I can already see where this is going. : )

 

[Skier76]

I split some of the pine this weekend. It doesn't split that evenly. It almost looks like the stuff pictured in the "ID this knarly stuff… " thread. Think it's past it's prime? I may rent a splitter, split, stack it and hope for the best.

 

[TreePapa]

I split some of the pine this weekend. It doesn't split that evenly. It almost looks like the stuff pictured in the "ID this knarly stuff… " thread. Think it's past it's prime? I may rent a splitter, split, stack it and hope for the best.

I've had some pine that was tougher than &#(( to split -- really stringy, especially when green, or not at least 1/2 way seasoned. I have two strategies for that wood (1 - preferred method) rent a splitter, prefably hort./vert and run in the vert. mode, or (2) let it dry out 'till it gets some nice seasoning cracks and really wack at it with the maul. If I had a chainsaw (and PPE), I could probably add (3) cut the logs in half so they're nice and short, then wack at them with the maul.

I'm trying to get away from the rental method due to economics, so that leaves axes, wedges, and mauls (oh my). I'll let you know how that goes!

Peace,
- Sequoia

 

[Skier76]

The problem with this stuff isn't being green...it's probably been sitting in the pile for a few years. I'll take some pics of it this weekend for you guys.

 

[Wood Duck]

I have some Eastern White Pine in my pile that splits really easily, and some that splits only with a lot of effort. The wood is from the same trees. The difference is the number of knots in the wood. Really knotty White Pine can be a pain to split. There is nothing rottten about the wood, it just doesn't split well. I am sure it will burn well, and maybe the knotty pieces will burn even better than the straight ones, since I get the impression the wood is denser and pitchier in the knots.

 

[firefighterjake]

I have some Eastern White Pine in my pile that splits really easily, and some that splits only with a lot of effort. The wood is from the same trees. The difference is the number of knots in the wood. Really knotty White Pine can be a pain to split. There is nothing rottten about the wood, it just doesn't split well. I am sure it will burn well, and maybe the knotty pieces will burn even better than the straight ones, since I get the impression the wood is denser and pitchier in the knots.

+1 . . . White pine is a very branchy tree and as a result you will end up with quite a few knots in pine which can be a bugger when hand splitting . . . whereas rounds with sections where there were no branches can result in easy, smooth splits.

As Wood Duck said, there is nothing wrong with the wood . . . in fact I would suspect you'll be getting some wicked good fires . . . they will not last as long as fires fueled by some good hardwood but they should run fast and hot . . . just watch the temps when you get ready and don't load the firebox up chocker blocker full.

 

[CowboyAndy]

I have some Eastern White Pine in my pile that splits really easily, and some that splits only with a lot of effort. The wood is from the same trees. The difference is the number of knots in the wood. Really knotty White Pine can be a pain to split. There is nothing rottten about the wood, it just doesn't split well. I am sure it will burn well, and maybe the knotty pieces will burn even better than the straight ones, since I get the impression the wood is denser and pitchier in the knots.

+1 . . . White pine is a very branchy tree and as a result you will end up with quite a few knots in pine which can be a bugger when hand splitting . . . whereas rounds with sections where there were no branches can result in easy, smooth splits.

As Wood Duck said, there is nothing wrong with the wood . . . in fact I would suspect you'll be getting some wicked good fires . . . they will not last as long as fires fueled by some good hardwood but they should run fast and hot . . . just watch the temps when you get ready and don't load the firebox up chocker blocker full.

I cut alot of ash this year, and have found that it is similar to pine when splitting. when it is straight, it splits nice. but when there are branches, watch out! I didnt have any problems like this with maple at all.

 

[Skier76]

I took some pics this weekend of the pile and what I split. I used a Stanley maul I picked up about 7 or 8 years ago. I haven't split wood in ages and forgot how fun/relaxing it can be.

Some of this stuff was tough to split. The knotty ones were a real bear! Wet wood was interesting too. Nothing like the maul going into the log about 1.5" and oozing water around the edges of penetration.

Most of this stuff looked pretty good..which impressed me. As you can see, that stuff was piled years ago; and has collected a lot of leaves and pine needles. I plan on splitting and stacking the reast over the next few weeks. I was going to rent a splitter, but I think a few hours with the maul will take care of business.

 

[Skier76]

More...

I took some close ups of some stuff that didn't look like the other pine. It had pine like bark, but the inside was almost redish. I thought cedar, but it didn't have much of a smell to it at all.