What is this wood & would you take it?

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BillLion

BillLion

Minister of Fire
Sep 4, 2013
513
Greater Hartford, CT
For over a month I've been driving by this wood every day on my way to and from work:

(broken image removed)(broken image removed)(broken image removed)

Because it's some form of pine I've been thumbing my nose at it. I know that may sound picky, but quality hard woods are available to scavenge frequently around here.

My questions:
1. Do you know what it is?
2. Would you get it?

Thanks!
 
1. Looks to me a bit like eastern white pine . . . but I must confess I am better at leaf/needle ID vs. bark.

2. Depends . . . if you need the wood and have the space, pine is a great wood for early Fall, late Spring when you just need a quick, hot fire to warm up the home . . . also makes good kindling. I usually have some pine in my stacks . . . and in fact earlier this Fall I was burning quite a bit of it and saving my good wood for now.
 
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My answers:

1. Pine, like you said, but don't know what kind.
2. No, for the wood snob reasons that you described, despite reading about how Pine is useful in a thread I had on here. Just can't get past the snob part I guess....;lol
 
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If you have room to season it, I'd grab a little for outdoor burning or shoulder season (I have a small cedar stack for the firepit).
If you don't have room, and hardwoods are plentiful in your area like you say ... I'd pass.
 
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Craig S. said:
If you have room to season it, I'd grab a little for outdoor burning or shoulder season (I have a small cedar stack for the firepit).
Click to expand...

same here. I'd say cherry pick a few of the best rounds and make a small stash.
 
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If your looking for free wood go up and down North Moutain Rd. in Canton. Northeast Utilities went through there last week and left a ton of wood. But be quick some people have tagged it with their name and phone number.......I wonder how that would hold up in court?

PS because of this site I know what Black Locust looks like and that is one of the piles that is tagged.
 
Enzo's Dad said:
If your looking for free wood go up and down North Moutain Rd. in Canton. Northeast Utilities went through there last week and left a ton of wood. But be quick some people have tagged it with their name and phone number.......I wonder how that would hold up in court?

PS because of this site I know what Black Locust looks like and that is one of the piles that is tagged.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip!

I'm an honest guy and I always ask property owners before picking up wood they clearly want to get rid of. But I'll be honest, unless it was their property the wood was on, I don't think I'd pay much attention to a note claiming the wood. 1st come, 1st serve seems appropriate in a case like that.
 
There is alot there. mostly on the Cherrybrook Side of North Moutain....and ps there is alot of pine so now that you know what it looks like stay away. Go for the Ash it is lighter to pick up,easy to split and dries fast.
 
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White pine for sure.
 
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BillLion said:
So not only is it pine, it's pretty low on BTUs for pine even, right? According to the online charts, anyway.
Click to expand...

Right, makes darn nice kindling if you need some of that.
 
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nrford said:
Right, makes darn nice kindling if you need some of that.
Click to expand...

Also is great wood for the evaporators when making maple syrup.
 
eastern white pine
I have tons of it
Burns hot and fast
I like it to get a cold stove going, bring it up to temp quick.

I've burned it all day when I've been home to keep loading the stove

I'll split the rounds with no branches/knots small for kindling and the leave the knotty ones big .
you'll see why if you try it
 
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It is White Pine and I'd take it. It burns fast and hot, which is frequently what is needed in my stove.
 
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I had a bunch of white pine a few years ago that I guy had took down and already sawed up. Guess I had about 2 trailer loads. It is a little rough to split. Especially the limby pieces.

Yea, just grab a few good straight ones and keep snobbing for a better scrounge.
I guess I'm kind of snobby around pine. Probably because I burned so much of it nearly too green in smoke dragons with open mortar chimmneys years ago. >>
 
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Some guy in the next town had some monster pines taken down, he put an ad in craigslist advertising it as ash, when I got there and told him it was pine he pleaded ignorance and said the tree guy said it was ash. He must have had about 6-7 cords and it was all cut or noodled into 16 inch pieces. I took 2 truckloads of the nicest looking pieces that were there. Got about a cord. Its nice to have in the fall so you don't have to burn your good wood.
 
weatherguy said:
Some guy in the next town had some monster pines taken down, he put an ad in craigslist advertising it as ash, when I got there and told him it was pine he pleaded ignorance and said the tree guy said it was ash. He must have had about 6-7 cords and it was all cut or noodled into 16 inch pieces. I took 2 truckloads of the nicest looking pieces that were there. Got about a cord. Its nice to have in the fall so you don't have to burn your good wood.
Click to expand...

That makes sense. I'm realizing that in addition to being spoiled by the abundance of available hardwood, I'm also still carrying the "fear of pine" instilled in me when I started burning by everyone I talked to. What I've read here has convinced me otherwise, but 1st impressions are stubborn things!
 
I would stick with the higher BTU woods that are available to you. Sap is another thing that would keep me away. White pine can be a mess to handle.
 
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