S. NH Only Burn Pine?

[thinkxingu]

Holla, y'all--long time, no post.

Just starting to burn for the season here in southern NH and am looking at a rack of pine for the first half of the season before getting into three-year-old oak, but I gotta say I really like the pine for a bunch of reasons: it's EVERYWHERE for free, seasons quickly, is really light, leaves almost no ash, starts quickly, and burns hot. I get that it burns quicker, but I'm thinking I might be willing to load one extra time per day for the rest of the bennies. Anyone burn pine exclusively in NH?

 

[Poindexter]

I am bringing in spruce only for winter 15/16 just a little bit north of you.

Birch just isn't worth the trouble for me.

 

[thinkxingu]

I am bringing in spruce only for winter 15/16 just a little bit north of you.

Birch just isn't worth the trouble for me.

How do spruce and pine compare?

 

[Snotrocket]

I'm north of you and I like to keep some pine on hand if I need to get the stove going quickly before work in the morning.

Most people up here like to repeat the old BS that pine will clog your chimney up so nobody ever wants it.

 

[firefighterjake]

Pretty much all I've been burning to this point is eastern white pine, a bit of scotch pine and some poplar . . . all "junk" wood . . . "junk" wood that is keeping me plenty warm.

 

[Poindexter]

How do spruce and pine compare?

I can get spruce dry in about four weeks, the catalytic converter in my stove treats spruce sap like cocaine and I can get 18Mbtu per cord out of it. Plus it doesn't grow fungus nearly as easy as birch.

Worst thing about spruce that I know if vacuuming those wee pieces of bark out of the carpet.

 

[Newburnerwisconsin]

I have been burning Norway red pine, white pine, box elder and some white cedar for about a month now...mostly at night. The stove heats the rooms in the house that we always use without any problem. I am in outdoor boiler country and those guys always want to burn oak. Pine is usually free around here and I think it is a great resource. The only downside is short burn times. My wife has the house at 72 right now as I write this and the downstairs basement by the stove is around 80. I also like the fact that it burns clean and does not need a long time to season. I have about 4 cords for Norway pine I plan to burn before touching any of my hardwoods.

 

[FionaD]

I really want to like pine, because there's a really reliable source right near where I live... But the only time I tried burning it, it was SO different from the mixed hardwood I'm used to that I just couldn't figure how to handle it. Like others here, I 'get' that it will burn way faster, but what I didn't know how to handle was that it seemed to leave no usable glowing coals to light the next load of wood... All that pine seems to leave behind, once it's stopped flaming, is brittle, black charcoal.

How do you pine burners handle the coals/reloading aspect of pine? Do you need to reload whilst it's still at the flaming stage?

 

[firefighterjake]

Usually I don't reload . . . then again when burning softwoods for me it's usually in the fall or spring and I'm just looking for a quick, hot fire to heat up the stove and then let that big ol' hunk of iron radiate heat off it for several hours vs. running straight steady.

That said . . . if I do reload I'll usually reload a little bit earlier in the burn process since (as mentioned) it does not coal as well.

 

[kennyp2339]

I have been burning eastern white pine for about a month now (on and off) All I did was split it big 6 - 8 splits by 18" long, absolutely love the performance so far, I was hesitant about using it as shoulder season wood ( I knew that it would burn fine, but I thought it would just go to quick and make it a hassle between loading, cleaning the wood mess inside the house, and it would create to much ash in the stove) I have come to the conclusion that if I can get it, I will take it, due to the larger splits I took just less than a year for it to season.

 

[FionaD]

Ah right.. So the pine not only burns faster, but also needs more pine added before the previous load stops flaming, because it doesn't produce glowing coals. That sounds like I would need to reload my Jotul F3 in less than an hour...

I wonder then if pine is not the best option when using a smaller stove, as I may not have the option Kenny mentions of thicker splits to offer the fast burn time a little?

 

[kennyp2339]

I wonder then if pine is not the best option when using a smaller stove

Maybe mix the pine with other hard wood? Sounds like you need to do a little experiment, I would try a piece or two of maple, cherry on the bottom then a few splits of pine on top, let it fully catch then turn the air control down while monitoring stove / chimney temps, may take a few loads before you dial the stove in. The hard wood on the bottom should help with some coals and also the higher btu wood will burn longer then the pine, so you would be burning through those left over charcoal pieces.

 

[FionaD]

Thanks for that Kenny. It would be worth a try.

 

[mass_burner]

I can get spruce dry in about four weeks, the catalytic converter in my stove treats spruce sap like cocaine and I can get 18Mbtu per cord out of it. Plus it doesn't grow fungus nearly as easy as birch.

Worst thing about spruce that I know if vacuuming those wee pieces of bark out of the carpet.

4 weeks? In the kiln?

 

[edyit]

pretty sure those 4 weeks are in 24 hours of full sun shine

 

[SteveKG]

4 weeks? In the kiln?

I never used a moisture meter until someone loaned me one for a weekend couple years ago. All we have around here is pine and spruce, with a bit of aspen. Cut and split and stacked pine or spruce here is ready to burn in a couple months at most. That is green wood living up to the time it blew over and I cut it up. I used the meter to find my most recently-cut splits [about six weeks] showing 14%. Pine is endlessly derided as being junky wood by the experts. Whatever. My cat' and non-cat stoves do great with it. Spruce or pine. I am often two to three years ahead on my wood stores, but I can burn either wood within a couple months of splitting if I ever need to.

 

[ColdNH]

NH here, haven't burned any hardwoods yet this fall, just 1-2 years seasoned white pine and hemlock. With that said I would never burn pine/softwoods all winter as I leave the house for long periods of time and its nice to be able to load the stove up with well seasoned oak and get some decent burn times out of it when its below 0

Plus reloading and constant trips to the stacks gets old when its cold out.

With that said, Pine is an Excellent supplement. For shoulder season as well as for starting fires and keeping the fire HOT when your around to keep loading it. Plus like you said, its much easier to find for free.

 

[Poindexter]

Fiona, I would try putting a couple hardwood splits on TOP of a load of pine so the hardwood coals would be at the top of the ash bed when you come back to reload the stove. Just me being lazy is all.

 

[begreen]

Lots of folks out west only burn pine. Until you get into the wetter areas it's the predominant tree.

 

[msjones2452]

Pine is the predominant wood out here in CO. Now, I can't say that I'm a "seasoned" wood burner as this will be my first full season with the insert but I can say that I've burned quite a bit of pine so far. I have no real complaints about it. I get a good 8 - 10hrs. of heat on a full load WITH enough coals to get the stove going again on a reload w/o much effort. I've actually gotten 13 + hrs. in milder temps. Yes, it creates a mess on the floor but I've not found a wood that doesn't create some kind of mess. I have about a cord of Ponderosa that I C/S/S this spring and I just checked about a half dozen splits and they are averaging 16% MC. Most out here in the Rockies burn primarily some type of pine and everyone I know is getting at least 6hrs. in an EPA stove.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

I still hear all the long time wood burners saying that burning pine will cause chimney fires. I have found the exact opposite, my chimney has never been cleaner since I started burning pine. I find well seasoned pine burns hot and clean. I like also like pine for the shoulder seasons as it does not overheat the house.

 

[Warm_in_NH]

I'd say at least 4 out of 5 wood burners I talk to tell me I shouldn't burn pine. I just smile and say, "okay, thanks, I'll keep that in mind", then I load my truck with their "free camp wood pine" that's in their yard and drive off.

 

[mass_burner]

pretty sure those 4 weeks are in 24 hours of full sun shine

Yea, on Mercury.

 

[Firewood Daddy]

I came over to the dark side and burned pine all this past weekend. My stove is in my basement and had my upstairs up to 77 deg last night.

 

[Seanm]

All that pine seems to leave behind, once it's stopped flaming, is brittle, black charcoal.

I dont seem to have this problem. I will do a reload between 300-400f stove top on glowing coals and poof Im up in running in no time flat!