Best wood to save for firewood?

[PonderInc]

Since so many trees around town have broken limbs, I'm wondering what wood is best to cut and save for firewood (for next year).  Which types of wood burn best (cleanest, hottest)?  Thoughts?  Opinions?  Actual knowlege...?[]

[cannon_fodder]

I guess this should be in opinion or thoughts, because I just know what I have heard/experienced.

I have HEARD that all woods with the same moisture content have the same amount of energy in them.  So a 2 pound 20% humid oak log has the same heat energy as a 2 pound 20% pine log.  The pine log will be much larger because it is a less dense wood, it will also burn much more rapidly for that same reason.  So the amount of heat/coals one is able to retain from each log will differ... (verify?)

However, I would suggest keeping the hardwoods.  You do not want pine because the pine tar/resin/sap can foul up your flue and it burns really fast (get more wood!).  Other "soft woods" just suffer from the fast burn problem.  Still others (mulberry) have high metal contents and gnarled pockets and tend to snap & pop while burning.  However, generally, fruit trees make damn good wood for fires (or smoking).

So... I'd keep oak, pecan, hard maple (i know, no such thing really... but whatever the difference is in species the one that doesn't blow down every other week), cedar, apple, cherry...  NOT pine, soft maple (whatever!), ornamentals, ash, or cotton wood (oily).

Now, honestly, I've burned most of the above including the NOTs and have never had a real problem.  I keep my chimney clean, close the chains/doors when it snaps, mix fast and firey softs with slow burning hards, and always have a fire extinguisher (on the other side of the room please).  So burn away.  But if you are going to concentrate your efforts just keep the hardwoods... if you would want to smoke it or build furniture out of it, keep it.

[rwarn17588]

Hardwoods are best. Pecan, hickory, oak and the like are all good.

Just make sure the wood is seasoned. If it's been allowed to dry out at least eight or nine months, even the worst firewood will burn properly and not put creosote up your chimney. Hasten the seasoning process by putting a tarp over the top of the woodpile, so the sun will heat it up more and dry it. Don't cover the whole thing, though -- it needs ventilation to dry it out, too.

The most important thing is to not burn green wood, or you could have a nasty chimney fire a few weeks down the road. Having dry wood is a lot more important than the type of wood it is.

[spoonbill]

Maple makes for a super-hot fire!  Lots of sugars in the wood.  I like oak too because it's easy to get lit.

[RecycleMichael]

Wine and firewood are really the only things that improve with age.

[TURobY]

I lost a good chunk of my magnolia. Any chance that I can make use of it?

[cannon_fodder]

From what I can tell (just Google) it should be OK.  Burns a bit like maple - fast, some smoke, some sparks.  But it will be OK.

Interesting page:
http://www.xomba.com/characteristics_of_various_firewood

[Steve]

Oak, ash, hickory, pecan, they should all be good for firewood next year.  Just stack it and let it dry out over the next year and it all should be good for fall 2008.  I wouldn't burn pine.  Just don't build too big a fire in your fireplace and risk setting your chimney/house on fire.

[Hoss]

quote:Originally posted by Steve

Oak, ash, hickory, pecan, they should all be good for firewood next year.  Just stack it and let it dry out over the next year and it all should be good for fall 2008.  I wouldn't burn pine.  Just don't build too big a fire in your fireplace and risk setting your chimney/house on fire.

I've got a whole lot of ash tree in my front yard.  I had a guy trimming the two 60 plus foot ash trees in my front yard.  He wasn't quite finished, and I bet I have about four ricks or more of ash tree on my lawn.  I don't have a fireplace.

My brother does though; he swears by oak.  Won't burn anything else.  He had remnants some branches of an oak tree in his back yard, as well as having to cut down a pecan tree that didn't weather the storm.

[cannon_fodder]

per stacking... you might want to stack it AWAY from your house instead of next to it.  No need to actually invite termites in.

[Vision 2025]

What no Elm jokes

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder

per stacking... you might want to stack it AWAY from your house instead of next to it.  No need to actually invite termites in.

Good point.  All kinds of bugs, not just termites, can live in dead wood and migrate into you house.  And it is best to stack it in a metal frame or on a concrete slab so it does not have direct contact with the bare ground.

[spoonbill]

Ok, I'm a freak but let me tell you what I'm doing with much of it.  

I've taken all of the poplar, some oak and the unidentified logs and stacking them on the north side of my house.  I am inoculating them with Shiitaki mushroom spores.

I have done this in the past and during the summer and fall I usually have quite a crop.  You can get the plugs for all kinds of mushrooms from www.fungi.com.

[dbacks fan]

If anyone has a chipper and some pecan wood I might work a deal pay the shipping for some. I can only get hickory and mesquite here in Arizona and have told people about the taste of the pecan for smoking. I haven't used pecan in almost ten years.

[cannon_fodder]

Shrooms would be a great idea.  I am anxiously awaiting the day they can farm Morales.  Currently just the little white ones, portabella, and ****ake (just in the last decade or so) are able to be farmed.  Well, actually, I knew this guy in college that grew some other ones...
- - -

Per smoking, pecan husks work well too.  I have access to Pecan wood at my uncles, but no chipper.  Though I would feel strange doing it, I'd be happy to mail you some wood shavings if the opportunity arises (ie. he gets a chipper for the masses of downed branches on his acreage).  I'll let you know if I find a way (an easy way, sorry - I'm lazy... but honest!).