Why don't people like burning pine?

[Highbeam]

The problem with pine, and why it got this bad reputation, is that it will burn when green/wet due to the oils. And when is is burned that way slowly as most people do it will be cold, steamy, smokey, sooty, creosote factory.

I've successfully burned lots and lots of dry pine. It's fine and an easy wood to source and process.

 

[EbS-P]

but i like it cuz it dries super fast,

It needs two summers to burn really well but if you keep it dry and get some air through the stacks it could be ready in a year.

 

[Dix]

There is nothing wrong with burning pine. Like all firewood, it must be seasoned!

I keep it in my arsenal all the time. Burn it during shoulder season (saves the hardwoods for when I need'em ), toss in a split if the fire is sluggish, and needs a "boost".

Next door neighbor(Chief of the local Fire Dept ) installed an insert a few years ago, kept telling me he had enough. Calls me in March "where can I get firewood, I'm almost out" After I hooked him up with the local reliable firewood guy, I dragged him over here. He got pine , hardwoods, what ever I could spare. Kept him going for 1 week until the cavalry arrived. He was really surprised with the pine. He's now a convert Calls me Sensei

Mostly white pine here, seasons in about 6 months, top covered.

 

[Southwestpaburner]

I have more pine this year than any other,thanks to the storms that blew through the Pittsburgh area ,I'm burning it right now and will be getting more and more every year,it drys so fast and now I can get my oak to season for 3 yrs versus 18 months which is where I was at,I'll never pass on pine never

 

[NordWI]

Hello!
Chimney fires are common, so the local FD tells me.
I've had chimney fires with the Pine, I now go up every month and clean chimney with bricks wrapped in chicken wire

It's frequent that the stovepipe will burn it's creosote lining, The old MagicHeat was so plugged I just took it off.
Too wet? Too cool of a fire? Both?
But it happens, and if it happens you'll never forget it

 

[begreen]

It's good that the Magic Heat was removed. They are a creosote factory. One thing key to keeping creosote down is to keep the flue gases hot enough to exit the flue system above the condensation point for creosote or above about 250º.
How is the stove vented. Can you describe the entire flue system from stove to chimney cap? Include type of connector piping, angles and turns, chimney details.

Can you season the pine longer?

 

[all night moe]

I don't burn much of it. I mix it a little here and there for cold start boosts. Couple small 1yr seasoned splits helps the hardwood splits light up.

I have a windrow of white pine I'll be taking down sometime. You can bet I won't be wasting the rounds. Also have a row of red pine. They will be standing longer. They're a bit nicer of a tree comparatively. As firewood too.

 

[gzecc]

I put the effort into the higher BTU woods. I have a choice so I can. Pine goes to the burn pile, not the insert.

 

[kborndale]

Hello!
Chimney fires are common, so the local FD tells me.
I've had chimney fires with the Pine, I now go up every month and clean chimney with bricks wrapped in chicken wire

It's frequent that the stovepipe will burn it's creosote lining, The old MagicHeat was so plugged I just took it off.
Too wet? Too cool of a fire? Both?
But it happens, and if it happens you'll never forget it

Of course you are going to have chimney fires if your using a magic heat!

 

[NordWI]

All of the stoves, the BIG old farmouse stove from years ago, the old one in my basement right now, and the little one in the shop I welded together.

It's good that the Magic Heat was removed. They are a creosote factory. One thing key to keeping creosote down is to keep the flue gases hot enough to exit the flue system above the condensation point for creosote or above about 250º.
How is the stove vented. Can you describe the entire flue system from stove to chimney cap? Include type of connector piping, angles and turns, chimney details.

Can you season the pine longer?

I have lots more Maple this year, it wasn't near as bad last year when I had the neighbor's Maple to burn.

Yes, it would be best for combustion if the fire were burning very hot (Heat is a catalyst of combustion or something like that), but that's not the way things work, you cannot run the stove at that temp 24/7 for various/obvious reasons, and up here it is 24/7 for about 7 months

The little wood moisture reader says it's dry, as other's have posted, pine dries quickly

The MagicHeat wasn't involved in the chimney fire a the farmhouse, there never was one on it.
I neglected to drop the bricks/chicken wire thru the chimney as had been done for decades-

If course you are going to have chimney fires if your using a magic heat!

 

[marty319]

Unless I want to buy wood all that is available in the designated cutting areas around here is jackpine so I've been burning it for years with no issues.packed tightly in the osburn I can get 9 hours so I'm good with that.lots of people around here cheat and go cut on crown land .get caught and heavy fine and possible saw confiscated.

 

[begreen]

Unless we can have more specifics, the solution is hard to suggest. The devil is in the details. Pictures can speak volumes.

 

[ohlongarmisle]

I had a 100'+ pine that was 48" at the base cut down last September because it was only 15' from the house and leaning over it. Had pros do the job and had them cut the trunk into 48" rounds. Shortly after I split and stacked it all. I live in high desert with very low humidity in the summer and it all has dried out nicely.

The previous winter was my first winter with a wood stove (Sirocco 30.2) and only burned juniper (juniper and pine is what most available in my area). I avoided pine because so many people said it's junk and it will clog up my chimney. Well, I wasn't going to let all the wood from that tree and a lot of other trees that I had to cut down on my property go to waste (beetle kill and trees that came down or snapped from a big storm we had past February). Started using the pine a couple weeks ago and have to say I really like it. First off, it splits uniformly and stacks easier than juniper. I can also load more into the stove and have lead dead space because it's more uniformly shaped than juniper which can be twisted and different, making it harder to really pack the stove to it's full potential.

Sure, juniper burns hotter and I really like the smell of juniper, but the pine just lights quick, and have gotten nearly as long burn times from it and I cannot imagine it creates more creosote than the juniper. I had the company who installed my stove come out and inspect the chimney and clean it in late August. They said whatever I did last winter was perfect because the chimney and stove looked great and if I continued to do what I did last winter I only needed to call them every other year instead of each year.

So why do so many say not to burn pine? It dried out pretty fast, can load more of it into the stove and it seems to light really early and burn well with no issues so far.

I had a similar-sized one get struck by lightning last April split it all, 14% to 20% moisture it burns great in shoulder times. I get a long enough burn in the King to make it a winner for me.

 

[Burnin Since 1989]

I was at a construction site a few years ago and I asked the foreman if I could get their cutoffs and wood they otherwise wouldn't use. He told me that it make great campfire wood. When I told him I was going to burn it in my woodstove he got this really serious look and told me "don't burn that stuff in your woodstove, it will blow up". I was dumfounded and just said, ok thanks and walked away. I could tell he was only interested in his flawed thought process.

I burn pine in moderation as I don't have that much of it, but I have no issues with burning it and I have for over 30 years. Best kindling for woodstove starting IMHO is pallets cut up so that all the nails stay with the 2x4's and then split to smaller pieces with my hatchet. I can have a nice, very little smoke fire (top down fire) in just a few minutes. A couple of splits on the bottom, and in shoulder season, I'm good for 6-8 hours.

 

[weee123]

Unless we can have more specifics, the solution is hard to suggest. The devil is in the details. Pictures can speak volumes.

From what I gather he’s running homemade stoves that are probably as efficient as a barrel stove and is smoldering them. I’m assuming the chicken wire and bricks knock out the creosote? Not too sure how effective that could be.

 

[begreen]

Yeah, I gathered that. The question is what are they being vented into and how? If venting into a jerry-rigged single-wall pipe for a chimney or an unlined masonry chimney, there are safety issues as well as creosote triggers.

 

[sixer]

I'm taking down a few medium-sized white pines in the yard (New England/MA) and I'm trying to decide what to do with the wood. Hardwoods are plentiful here, and I have about 5 cords stacked with about 2-3 ready for burning this season and plenty more available. This white pine is super sappy and awful to work with. My "good" gloves are ruined now and I don't want to touch the wood to put it on the chopping block and then use sappy gloves with my X27 splitting axe. I've been using my new pickeroon just so I don't have to touch it! It's going on the firepit rack for now. I suppose once it's dried out it will be ok but oh is it nasty to work with right now. Perhaps it would be better to take the trees in the winter when the sap isn't running as much? Is Doug Fir or any of those western conifers sappy like this?

 

[begreen]

Cutting it in winter is a good plan. Yes, doug fir can be sappy at times and yes, it is really sticky stuff. I use Goo Gone to clean up.

 

[bigealta]

I'm taking down a few medium-sized white pines in the yard (New England/MA) and I'm trying to decide what to do with the wood. Hardwoods are plentiful here, and I have about 5 cords stacked with about 2-3 ready for burning this season and plenty more available. This white pine is super sappy and awful to work with. My "good" gloves are ruined now and I don't want to touch the wood to put it on the chopping block and then use sappy gloves with my X27 splitting axe. I've been using my new pickeroon just so I don't have to touch it! It's going on the firepit rack for now. I suppose once it's dried out it will be ok but oh is it nasty to work with right now. Perhaps it would be better to take the trees in the winter when the sap isn't running as much? Is Doug Fir or any of those western conifers sappy like this?

Yup that's why is can be considered garbage in our areas. Just not worth the hassle, and mess, and low btu per stacked cord. Stick with the good stuff.

 

[ohlongarmisle]

I had a similar-sized one get struck by lightning last April split it all, 14% to 20% moisture it burns great in shoulder times. I get a long enough burn in the King to make it a winner for me.

On a side note a full load of white pine in my King with its' 4.4 cu ft firebox burns eight hours easily, almost zero ash in stove, nice lively flame when I cut the air back the cat glows red orange for quite some time.

 

[marty319]

This is what I got after cleaning chimney,this is after burning 5 cords jack pine

 

[VirginiaIron]

IMO, you all are correct in that the wood must be properly seasoned. In clean burners, we’ve burned pine with no problems. The smoke dragons we’ve had always had a lot of 1 & 2 stage creosote and I am sure the pine did not help.
It is likely people purchase “seasoned” fire wood as they need it and that wood, here in VA really is not ready to burn until next season after you have covered it. The wood might be ready to burn in a fire pit or an outdoor boiler but it is probably too high in moisture for most wood stoves and fireplaces with any typical length chimney.

 

[VirginiaIron]

Hello!
Chimney fires are common, so the local FD tells me.
I've had chimney fires with the Pine, I now go up every month and clean chimney with bricks wrapped in chicken wire

It's frequent that the stovepipe will burn it's creosote lining, The old MagicHeat was so plugged I just took it off.
Too wet? Too cool of a fire? Both?
But it happens, and if it happens you'll never forget it

And your experience is exactly why new users or those who switch stoves or wood types NEED to establish an accurate benchmark for their particular operation/stove/chimney [burning habits] regarding a cleaning cycle.
Some users may find the need for monthly/semi annual or yearly cleanings.

 

[VirginiaIron]

I don't burn much of it. I mix it a little here and there for cold start boosts. Couple small 1yr seasoned splits helps the hardwood splits light up.

I have a windrow of white pine I'll be taking down sometime. You can bet I won't be wasting the rounds. Also have a row of red pine. They will be standing longer. They're a bit nicer of a tree comparatively. As firewood too.

Have you checked the moisture content of your hardwood? Our hardwood has ignited easily with a bon-bon size fire starter.

 

[Woody5506]

I've gotten in so many arguments over the great north eastern pine myth. It's almost not even worth the hassle trying to talk sense into the naysayers because they've had their minds made up for decades that pine is the boogeyman of firewood. It's still funny to see the looks on their faces though when you ask what they think people do in other parts of the world who ONLY heat with pine or other evergreens. One tried to tell me their chimneys in those places are way bigger to handle the dirty smoke so they don't get clogged up like ours would.

If you ever make the mistake of joining any of the firewood groups on facebook, just brace yourself for those arguments, along with the ones claiming green wood burns better because it's SLOWER! dry wood burns too fast!