Pitch Pine????
- Thread starter Chief Ryan
- Start date
-
Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.
We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.
We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil. -
Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here
- Status
Split and stack now... and it should be ready by fall if you can get the sun and wind on it.
If it is real fresh and sappy I will usually leave it in the round for a while to let the sap dry out a bit. This step will save your gloves from becoming petrified.
Pine seasons pretty fast, burns really fast, and heats up your stove super-fast!
If it is real fresh and sappy I will usually leave it in the round for a while to let the sap dry out a bit. This step will save your gloves from becoming petrified.
Pine seasons pretty fast, burns really fast, and heats up your stove super-fast!
I have a few pine trees that I will be cutting down soon and am thinking of saving for the stove. Trouble is the trees look so gooey and sappy that it's hard for me to think that they will ever dry out for burning. Not sure what type of pine they are.They have lots of pine cones.
Does it matter what type of pine can be burned? Should I cut it, split it and let it dry for a year or so, then burn?
Does it matter what type of pine can be burned? Should I cut it, split it and let it dry for a year or so, then burn?
brink said:
It does not matter what type of wood you burn. All cord wood can be burned safely in your stove, however some are better than others. Just make sure it is dry as you would with any other wood. After I buck up fresh sappy pine I let it sit in the round for a while until the sap dries out a bit. Most pine takes a year or less to season. The sap will bleed out and dry up faster than the Moisture content will. Also as the bark falls off so does the bulk of the sap.
You might want to determine whether you pine really has pitch or just sap. Split it down small. If it lights easily with a match even 'tho it's green, that's pitch.
I got about 1/2 a cord or more of pitch pine at the beginning of the year. It had sat unsplit before I got it for at least six months, but still seem to have a lot of moisture (visual observation, no meter). Even so, it lit with a match and burned like h_ll. With my old FP, I may have a lifetime supply of fatwood, rather than fuelwood. Time will tell after I've seasoned for a year in the So. Calif. heat.
Of course, your EPA stove will prolly burn off the extra smoke from the pitch, so that might not be a problem for you.
Peace,
- Sequoia
I got about 1/2 a cord or more of pitch pine at the beginning of the year. It had sat unsplit before I got it for at least six months, but still seem to have a lot of moisture (visual observation, no meter). Even so, it lit with a match and burned like h_ll. With my old FP, I may have a lifetime supply of fatwood, rather than fuelwood. Time will tell after I've seasoned for a year in the So. Calif. heat.
Of course, your EPA stove will prolly burn off the extra smoke from the pitch, so that might not be a problem for you.
Peace,
- Sequoia
This past winter we had several large white pine branches come down in a storm . . . of course as a wood burner and home owner I had mixed feelings -- on one hand I hated the extra mess and destroyed branches . . . on the other hand I was thinking to myself, "Sweet . . . good Spring-burning wood." And that's exactly what I'm planning on -- the pine has been cut up and stacked and will hopefully be ready for use around this time next year.
brink said:
split and stacked the sap dries out and the wood will look like it is coated with sugar. it burns really well, so don't pack your stove wit a bunch of crystallized splits.
firefighterjake said:
As a homeowner, I would have been glad it was branches that came down and not the trees ... and that they didn't come down on people, animals, cars, buildings, or power lines. Some of the storms you get up there are purty fierce, no?
Peace,
- Sequoia
TreePapa said:
I looked it up. I'm pretty sure it is. I looked at needle type and length, bark type, cone shape and length. It all compared to a Pitch pine. So it seems like it is, although i'm no expert. Now when you say is it pitch or sap, how would i tell the difference.
I think i might split it down real small and use it as fire starters (fat wood) They make life a lot easier.
Chief Ryan said:
That's been the subject of some debate around here. For my own purposes, I think of sap as watery and sugary (the tree's food - think maple or birch sap). I think of pitch as resineous and / or oily. If you can light it with a match, it's sap. Back before petro-based products were avaialble, pitch was used in ship buiding to seal penetrations in decks, etc. I suspect that sap wouldn't do that.
My test is to light it with a match. If it burns, I call it pitch. YMMV.
Peace,
- Sequoia
TreePapa said:
Nah, winter storms up here are over-rated . . . just yarns we spin to keep all kinds of folks from moving here.
But if the truth be told . . . yeah . . . there's two or three of those monster pines that I'm eye-balling as trees that really need to come down . . . to avoid having them come down and hit the house/pool/cars/etc. . . . and also to keep the pool a bit cleaner.
- Status
