Question: CATAWBA wood

[Prada]

Hi Guys......found an add on Craigslist where a guy says he is selling Catawba wood, seasoned, hand split and delivered for $100 a cord. I mean that's pretty darn cheap if it's any good at all but we don"t have any experience burning this wood. Anyone know anything about it?
I called the guy and he said it is a hard wood that a lot of people compare with Ash. He said there is some sparking associated with it is the only downside that he could think of???

 

[pwdohio]

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/32307/#346099

 

[Prada]

Thanks so much for that link. I guess I should have done a search on my question before I posted it.

 

[Duetech]

It don't hurt to ask. I have done searches and searched and searched. Some times things pop right up. Until I posted that other topic on the Catalpa Grove Downed I had never heard of it as Catawba.
As far as burning it might be nice in a standard wood burner but I tried to burn it in a gasifier and it gave me fits. It is low in btu output, burns out real fast by the nozzle and bridges and drops big coals through the nozzle and builds up the ash fast. I though about cutting the length in half (down to 10") to facilitate better feeding during the burn (some have done that with other boiler setups where they had bridging problems and it seemed to work). It pops so loud you can hear it through the boiler and some times when loading it shoots sparks out pretty far. I wouldn't pay $100 for it but a few pieces to make kindling would be nice. It splits fast and is light weight.

 

[TreePapa]

In my experience, it burns about equivalent to light wieight pine. If you'd pay $100 for that kind of pine, then $100 is fair for catalpa. But if you're looking for high BTUs, look elsewhere.

Peace,
- Sequoia

 

[Duetech]

In my experience, it burns about equivalent to light wieight pine. If you'd pay $100 for that kind of pine, then $100 is fair for catalpa. But if you're looking for high BTUs, look elsewhere.

Peace,
- Sequoia

I wondered about the difference of stoves and gasifiers. Pine burns well but fast in my gasifier and I get around 6 hours from it. Catalpa will give 6 if I baby sit it and keep it from bridging. Both will shoot coals through the nozzle but catalpa seems to stack them faster.

 

[Prada]

Yeah well I think I'm going to just pass it up. We sure could use a little extra wood to last us for the winter. We have used way more than we were planing on but I don't hink we want this type of wood from what pretty much everyone is saying about it.