Revisit to hickory

[shoot-straight]

Hickory- been discussed here many times. Many folks like me disliked it. Some dismissed our concerns with the typical response that it was not dry enough.

well... I am back to some hickory that I set aside years back to dry some more when it burned like crap. That was 2013... I will never, ever bother with hickory again. It's terrible. Main issue is the extensive coaling that refuse to burn down regardless how I burn it.

I am going to run her wide open just to get rid of it at this point.

 

[jatoxico]

Wonder if it has anything to do with the specific type of hickory. I have a variety that I ID'd as pignut. Most is still in the stacks but I've burned some of it and it's good, nothing great but it's fine.

Thing I don't like is splitting it. These were not yard trees but they still grow with a bunch of notches and crotches with some twisting. And then also the wood itself is tough and springy which is why it makes for good handles I guess.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I do the shipping for our company at work, just give me your address and I will have UPS pick it up and send it to me, I love it! I felt the same way a few years ago about Black Locust, people thought I was nuts but what I had didn't burn well it just smouldered and yes it was seasoned, but last year I got some that burned great, so I guess it could vary from tree to tree, perhaps there is something a bit different about certain trees, but this last batch made me change my mind about it. Strange.....

 

[shoot-straight]

I do the shipping for our company at work, just give me your address and I will have UPS pick it up and send it to me, I love it! I felt the same way a few years ago about Black Locust, people thought I was nuts but what I had didn't burn well it just smouldered and yes it was seasoned, but last year I got some that burned great, so I guess it could vary from tree to tree, perhaps there is something a bit different about certain trees, but this last batch made me change my mind about it. Strange.....

will exchange dry pine for it at this point.

 

[shoot-straight]

I do the shipping for our company at work, just give me your address and I will have UPS pick it up and send it to me, I love it! I felt the same way a few years ago about Black Locust, people thought I was nuts but what I had didn't burn well it just smouldered and yes it was seasoned, but last year I got some that burned great, so I guess it could vary from tree to tree, perhaps there is something a bit different about certain trees, but this last batch made me change my mind about it. Strange.....

yes, i think it does vary w species. a buddy and i discussed that yesterday.

 

[kennyp2339]

will exchange dry pine for it at this point.

desperate times call for desperate measures?

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

Like PA Woodsman says, it has to be some property of individual trees. Locust grows like a weed around us and I will typically pass it up. For every black or honey locust I have burned, well below 20% moisture mind you, I have several that literally sit like rocks in the firebox and stare at me.

Hickory is a toss up for me. I've taken pignut hickory that also doesn't burn well. However, I've burned other species that burn lively and hot. I'm not sure what the algorithm is behind it. That's why I like burning tulip poplar, pine, beech, sycamore, and oak. I've never had one of those that doesn't burn well when dry.

 

[shoot-straight]

I will add that the wood performed the same in my hearthstone and now in my bk.

Just got home. Had a box full when I left. I left the air all the way open intentionally to try to reduce the coaling. Came home to a cool stove, literally a box full of coals covered in ash- that's my guess why it coals so bad. It ashes over too bad.

Rant over

 

[jatoxico]

For every black or honey locust I have burned, well below 20% moisture mind you, I have several that literally sit like rocks in the firebox and stare at me.

A lot of locust here. The coal of woods. Air, air and more air at least until your coal bed is hefty.

 

[Ctwoodtick]

At the risk of being the guy who questioned its dryness, I'll go there, what's the moisture content on a fresh split of This wood?

 

[shoot-straight]

No. mm battery is dead. It was split, stacked and covered in 2011. It's dry. That I assure you. As I wrote, in 2013 I tried burning some. Got the same results. Put it back in the woodshed. For four more years..... I was going to reply to a post I made about it in 2013, but I can't now the post is too old.

Here is the post

 

[Stinkpickle]

Weird. I don't get much hickory, and the stuff I do get is shagbark. I haven't tried any other type, except for pecan in the smoker.

 

[HisTreeNut]

Have never split hickory, much less burned any...except in the smoker. Can't say it is good or not. Have burnt black locust with no trouble.

 

[Hogwildz]

Love it, hickory and oak here.

 

[weatherguy]

Save my hickory for the coldest nights, one of the best woods I burn. Maybe try another tree sometime.

 

[Rangerbait]

How do those coal-like super woods do if you add a bit of Poplar in with them? That was a strategy that I remember using as a kid when our Oak wasn't quite dry enough...added some really dry cedar and pine with it, and we'd get long, hot burns out of sub-prime Oak.

 

[StihlKicking]

I [emoji173]️ hickory


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

How do those coal-like super woods do if you add a bit of Poplar in with them? That was a strategy that I remember using as a kid when our Oak wasn't quite dry enough...added some really dry cedar and pine with it, and we'd get long, hot burns out of sub-prime Oak.

Good thinking but I've found this doesn't work at all. Like has been mentioned, locust needs a ton of air to burn, much like coal. I've loaded the stove with tulip poplar and locust and found I get a runaway fire for a short time, which I have to damper down to control. Then, after the tulip burns away, I'm left with splits of air deprived locust that are half burnt and smoldering. At this point I'm not getting any usable heat, and I have a stove half full of mass so that I can't reload it. Even if I go back and turn the air back up, there isn't much left to keep the locust burning.

Just my experience. Others may have had different.

 

[FaithfulWoodsman]

Never really had a ton of hickory, just small patches here and there. So I can't say. However, this year I just cut over a cord of shagbark. Will be interesting to see how it does 2-3 years from now. Until then, I am going to hold off on getting much more so I know what I'm getting into. I've had some locust......it does need a hot coal bed, but once lit burns fine with just a bit more air for me.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Ok... np... dont burn hickory
I got hickory .. it works for me so i give hickory
I say if something dosent work for you...dont stress over it. Just move to somthing else..

 

[woodsHAM]

Only problem i have with hickory is i dont have enough of it ! Does leave more ash than most other woods and the bugs do a number on it. But it throws the heat thats for sure.