Planting some softwoods. Which is best for burning?

[tdot_steve]

To make a long story short, I'm getting a bunch of softwood seedlings for free. I'm going to plant a bunch and use some for privacy with the intent of maybe using some of them for firewood sometime down the line. Here's the list of what's available. I want something that will grow fast and burn decently. I've been burning some 2 year seasoned spruce and I've been very happy with it when mixing it in with my hardwoods.

White Cedar
White Spruce
White Pine
Red Pine
Tamarack
Balsam Fir

 

[begreen]

Tamarack, fast growing and decent btus for a softwood. Looks beautiful, especially in fall and no needles to deal with when cut in winter.
http://worldforestindustries.com/forest-biofuel/firewood/firewood-btu-ratings/

 

[peakbagger]

White Pine and Red pine make lousy screening once they get 15 or 20 years old. They start out bushy but soon loose their lower branches and there goes the privacy. White Spurce and Balsam fir hold their lower branches longer although eventually they to get "leggy". Ideally plant them close and then cut every other one once they fill out and then do it again when the gap is filled again.

 

[Woody5506]

Nice to hear about the spruce being decent burning wood, I have 3 decent sized ones that should come down that are half dead and wasn't sure if it was worth keeping.

 

[begreen]

White Pine and Red pine make lousy screening once they get 15 or 20 years old. They start out bushy but soon loose their lower branches and there goes the privacy. White Spurce and Balsam fir hold their lower branches longer although eventually they to get "leggy". Ideally plant them close and then cut every other one once they fill out and then do it again when the gap is filled again.

Balsam fir is pretty low on the btu chart. 14Mbtus / cord vs almost 21Mbtus for tamarack. White cedar is even lower at 12.2Mbtus.

 

[tdot_steve]

Nice to hear about the spruce being decent burning wood, I have 3 decent sized ones that should come down that are half dead and wasn't sure if it was worth keeping.

People before had told me that spruce was no good. I think most people just don't think to split and season their spruce. I get plenty of heat off of it and it burns much longer than I expected.