Trying Not To Pay For Wood This Year

[donmattingly]

So last year after the cherry picker delivery that needed to be cut, split and stacked, I was sure I would have enough for two heating seasons. 11 cords would be enough right? Not in New England! So I have 5 left and have been on the hunt for wood since spring. So far, with the help of some friends with dead trees, I have gathered a bit. Just this week, the day after we brought our new son home, the town decided to put in a new sidewalk next to the neighbors. 3 big trees had to go. Two were pine. Yuk. But one was a maple that will help keep us warm next year! I was able to bring half of it home today. Tomorrow I will get the rest!

 

[Todd]

Might as well grab the Pine too, they make fire.

 

[donmattingly]

I would if we had an outdoor furnace, but I would rather not burn pine in our new stove.

 

[Todd]

As long as it's dry it burns just fine. Pine is most all they burn out west and far north. I like to burn some in the Spring/Fall shoulder seasons in my stove. Don't believe the old wives tale that pine dirties up the chimney, any type of wood will do this when it isn't properly seasoned.

 

[burntime]

I have tried pine, its worthless when its really cold. You end up filling the stove every hour and it does not throw the heat like a lot of other woods. For a shoulder season like Todd uses it for it is good though. You can heat the house without over heating it...

 

[Dune]

Take the pine! Really. Just figure it for half the heat value of oak. 2 cords of pine equals one cord of oak. Oak actualy has far more creosote than pine. Pine will not hurt your stove. The best part about pine is that almost nobody wants it. Wait forget everything I just said.

 

[Dix]

Take the pine.

It'll burn fine. And give you heat.

 

[BrotherBart]

Pine is evil. Pine will ruin your chimney, wreck your stove, cause you to go blind and grow hair on your palms. All pine should be sent freight pre-paid to the Fed-Ex Freight terminal in Manassas, VA c/o BrotherBart for proper legal disposal.

The disposal will be done by a professional. Do not try this at home.

 

[donmattingly]

Well, the pine is gone so even if I was a believer, I would be out of luck. Interesting that selectman in town were battling whether or not to remove these trees. Some claimed that they were 140 years old. If I lived in my neighbor's house, I would be glad that they are gone because as soon as the base cuts were made, you could see how rotted out they were. They could of easily fell on that house and completely destroyed it. Andy the local tree guy who did the job said he would not even burn them in his outdoor furnace. Just junk.

We had a bad ice storm last December and ever since then, my attitude toward trees close to homes has changed. I'd like to bring them all down but my wife might hid the Stihl.

 

[North of 60]

I have tried pine, its worthless when its really cold. You end up filling the stove every hour and it does not throw the heat like a lot of other woods. For a shoulder season like Todd uses it for it is good though. You can heat the house without over heating it...

Bah! What the heck do you think I heat with, Osage orange? Cmon. You need a new stove or insulate your house.
Sorry. I just started twichin. Nothin personal burntime.

 

[Todd]

I have tried pine, its worthless when its really cold. You end up filling the stove every hour and it does not throw the heat like a lot of other woods. For a shoulder season like Todd uses it for it is good though. You can heat the house without over heating it...

Bah! What the heck do you think I heat with, Osage orange? Cmon. You need a new stove or insulate your house.
Sorry. I just started twichin. Nothin personal burntime.

I think that Pine you got up north is a lot more dense than the crap we got down here, but someone once said "I've never seen a cold fire" so burn what's available.

 

[myzamboni]

Well if the northern lower 48 has pine that is crap, imagine what I burn even further south. You can always mix the pine and the hardwood to make your hardwood last longer. It also works a lot better to first bring a room up to temp quickly.

 

[madrone]

ok, first of all, pine is perfectly good wood. Perfectly good wood. It's FREE! You can use it in warmer weather and save the hardwood for the cold. Search "pine" in this forum.
Second, what are you burning your 6 cords in?

 

[Bigg_Redd]

I would if we had an outdoor furnace, but I would rather not burn pine in our new stove.

Good call. It causes chimney fires.

 

[BrotherBart]

I would if we had an outdoor furnace, but I would rather not burn pine in our new stove.

Good call. It causes chimney fires.

At my house it causes stove fires.

 

[burntime]

I have tried pine, its worthless when its really cold. You end up filling the stove every hour and it does not throw the heat like a lot of other woods. For a shoulder season like Todd uses it for it is good though. You can heat the house without over heating it...

Bah! What the heck do you think I heat with, Osage orange? Cmon. You need a new stove or insulate your house.
Sorry. I just started twichin. Nothin personal burntime.

I think you hit it on the head. Pine by me is like balsm wood. A log that would be heavy as oak my 4 year old could toss as pine. You probably have a lot slower growing and denser pine by you. When I have my choice of woods then pine is a last resort. I tried some last year and it just is not worth the time by me. Oak will keep the fire till morning. Pine is just ash and no heat by morning. I think its a species thing!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

It sounds like you might be in the same boat I was in a couple years ago if you burned 6 cords last winter. That about what we used to burn; that and sometimes much more. It all changed when we got the Woodstock Fireview. Now we burn 3 cords and stay much warmer too.

Good luck.

 

[Dune]

Plus what about your attic insulation, windows and doors etc. Have you had an energy audit? Six cords is a bunch. I burn three cords in a poorly insulated ranch.