Pine

[sharri]

Im sure this is an old topic, but did a search and didn't find a whole lot....
I just had a very large eastern white pine dropped and have been advised by many well intentioned but not well informed people that I should not burn this in my stove. My thought is that if I allow this to season for greater than a year it should burn relatively clean. Living in the east we burn mostly hard wood but I feel it would be a waste not to use this free wood.
Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[derbygreg]

Right you are, let it season and you will be fine.

I had some pine I just wanted to get rid of (you know those odd pieces), it fell this year, put a couple splits in the stove and the sap became visable and left a black residue that dripped into the ash pan. Took the rest of the splits and put them in next years pile.

Don't burn green wood

 

[babalu87]

It will be fine if you let it season
Pine is a staple wood for me when its cold but not COLD

Search creosote, I'm sure you'll find plenty on Pine. Better yet seach TEH CREOSOTES

 

[fbelec]

i don't know what you have for a stove, but if it is a old one from before 1991 i would think twice about burning it. the newer stoves with secondary burners or a cat converter will handle it with no problem, but if it's a old stove run a fire and see what happens. in my old stove running a stove top temperature off 500 to 600 degrees it still blackened the fire box. so i can't imagine running it with pine alot and not having a creosote problem

just my experience and my .02 cents

 

[eba1225]

I burn pine...only after it has seasoned for at least 12 months. If it's free it's for me.

 

[Shane]

People have been burning pine for A LONG TIME. Out west people burn pine in a lot of cases exlusively. While there are differences in density depending on the conditions the pine grew in it's all burnable if properly seasoned. There was actually a study that MSG posted a link to that the forest service did saying that pine can be properly dried in as little as 6 months.

 

[kevin fitzsimmons]

The attached photo is west of me about 20 min. My choice of wood is pine, spruce or aspen. Most around here have been burning exclusively pine or years. Let your wood season for a year and then burn away.

 

[BrotherBart]

Pine is evil. All pine should be sent pre-paid to the Fed-Ex truck freight terminal in Manassas, Virginia c/o BrotherBart for proper disposal along with this pile which is scheduled for safe, scientific incineration this year in approved devices.

 

[begreen]

Pine is fine given normal drying times. Don't let those snooty yankee hardwood only fans discourage you from burning it. Nice wood for fall and spring burning. It'll burn a little faster than some other woods but this can be compensated for with less air and/or thicker splits.

 

[EddyKilowatt]

I burned exclusively pine (Monterey Pine) for several years; burning a mix of pine and eucalyptus (another wood of many old wive's tales) this year. In a previous life I was fortunate to burn eastern hardwoods.

Pine splits easily and dries fast, two points in its favor in my book. Around here it is cheap (trees blow down every winter) and in many places it's the only tree.

Pine does burn with a yellower, sootier flame that is more likely to smudge the glass and that leaves fluffy black soot in the flue. If burned dry I have never seen it make glazed or crusty creosote deposits.

A couple of things I have found that help when burning pine

1) When splitting, watch for pitch deposits on the bark (like crystalized brown sugar) and also learn to recognize pitch-saturated wood -- it has more of a marbled or zebra appearance. Pitch burns as easily as oily rags, and about as cleanly. Split these pieces down small and use 'em for kindling... you can practically light them with a match.

2) Keep track of the pine and use it when you want a hot fast fire, like when starting up cold or re-starting from coals.

3) Control heat output by the size of splits you feed... give pine a decent amount of air especially during the flaming phase of the burn. Don't stuff the stove full of pine and stop down the air to stretch the burn unless you have to.

4) Mix pine with hardwood when burning. I put a pine split at the back of the stove and a hardwood split in front... the reward is a firebox full of clean flame in every color of the rainbow, a long stable burn that eats up all the charcoal, and... I think I've forgotten where my glass cleaner is this year.

If someone was offering you pine and oak at equal $$ per pound I'd go for the oak, but if you are looking at a down tree in your yard, there's no reason at all not to burn the pine. Just pay attention to what you're doing and I don't think you'll have any problems. Plus you'll prove the naysayers wrong while saving yourself a bunch of money, always a nice combo in my book...

Eddy

 

[DenD]

Once its seasoned, burn away! I got 2-3 cords of mixed softwood slabs back in 05 - for free. I've been using the small pieces as kindling and have been using the larger pieces on warmer days or when I don't mind loading more frequently. I haven't had any problems. I had very little creosote the last time I cleaned the chimney. Personally I like that most people around here won't burn pine or other softwoods, it ensures I can get it for free!

 

[North of 60]

pine has a lot of resin in it.i think pine pellets have the highest btu content because of the resin. i'd burn it with plenty of secondary air. first i'd try to turn it to lumber if possible.might be worth $$$

95% of our wood is pine. So we have to import other stuff with less creosote from Maine. %-P Cat stoves love this kind of wood.

 

[KWillets]

Is there any type of stove that works better with softwood?

I can imagine a bigger firebox would help compared to hardwoods, since Oak can be up to 80% denser. Are there differences in how well a stove works on different woods, for instance in controlling the burn?

A few facts I gleaned from around the web:

Pine is less dense than Oak
Pine has higher pitch content than Oak, hence higher btu/lb.
Pine has lower heat conductivity than Oak
Pine has higher specific heat than Oak (.6 vs. .48 -- http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/specific-heat-solids-d_154.html)
Pine ignites faster than Oak (this seems to be a function of density/heat conductivity)
Pine has lower ash content than Oak
Pine seasons faster than Oak

 

[cmonSTART]

Chinook and North of 60, those pictures are absolutely stunning. Amazing.

Plenty of folks burn pine because it's the only thing around.

 

[jpl1nh]

There are many species of pine. If you search around for wood BTU charts you'll find a fair amount of diference in the BTU content per cord among the different species. White pine has one of the lowest BTU contents per cord of all the pines. Still, it's fine to burn well seasoned. And that is true of all woods, well seasoned they are fine to burn. As Be Green points out, pine is especially good when you have a lesser heating need such as spring or fall. I do think that cat stoves burn pine well since it does smoke a bit. Free, in your back yard? Absolutley use it.

 

[MuckSavage]

Plenty of folks burn pine because it's the only thing around.

There's a reason we in South Jersey are called "Pineys" It's what we have in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. I be careful to mix pine with hardwood.