Spruce

It really gets my goat. I have some big splits of spruce, too big to fit in my stove very well. I have offered some to two friends now with OWB's Neither will take me up on it. Oh no we won't burn pine. I really love how it burns in our stove, it rivals some of the hardwoods we have. I may have to try to break them down further and just use them up.

 

I'm still burning a little Norway spruce I cut in 2020. Pretty decent firewood IMO, especially the knotty chunks.

 

Its a pita to split but I like it. Ive seen vids of guys splitting it not in the traditional vertical position but lying flat. Im not sure how well or if it really works fwiw.

 

I’d keep it for myself.

 

I never pass up pines and spruces. I must have said it on here 10 times.
1. It's great to get a fire started when stove is cold.
2. Get the stove back going again in the morning 3. Or even helping burn down a pile of coals.

There isn't much I would pass up.

 

I always take pines and conifers.
Fir can be a real pita to split though with all those branches and where they form.

 

Wish I had more pine, cedar, and spruce. My primary firewood, elm, coals so bad I can’t keep the house warm in really cold weather without some softwood to burn the coals down. It’s either that or scoop a bunch of coals out every day to make room for wood. I really like softwoods for below zero weather. Load here up with hardwood for overnight burn and then use the softwoods to burn the coals out the next morning.

 

I burnt spruce for a week when staying in a cabin on a CO hunting trip several years ago. Pleasantly surprised on how long it lasted and burnt. Good stuff.

 

Yes as mentioned it's the branches that makes it so hard to split to the right sized pcs. This was from two big ones that died in the back yard, been split and stacked since Aug of 2020.

 

After our snow is gone I'll get the splitter out and see what I can do. I probably have 1/2 to 3/4 of a cord left, so far I have just been picking through it for splits that fit well.

 

There was several spruce logs in a yard next door to where i stopped today trying to procure some Asplundh wood. Talked with the guy and he wont burn the stuff. I tried to explain to him its safe as long as its dried. He wasnt having it.

How does your hydro handle it Locust Post? Knotty stuff for sure. EDIT: just read post #10 above.

 

It sounds like pine in a cat stove is almost as good as hardwoods...let us know!

 

I don’t mind spruce at all ‘cepten the way it splits. I’d rather split elm!
I have a couple smaller dead ones lined up to take down for my boss sometime this spring. I’m thinking much of it will be made into Swedish candles.

 

Over heard a conversation Friday about burning pine and having to climb up and clean the chimney 3-4 times a year.
I kept my mouth shut.

 

I feel like I owe the wood burning community the favor to at least attempt to educate people.

Sometimes they are actually open to the knowledge. It helps once they realize the extent of my wood burning habits.

 

Spruce may not have the BTUs of some hardwoods but it is heat that will keep you warm and it doesn’t leave tons of ash like other woods like elm do. The spruce I’ve burned has been pretty clean too. It’s always good for shorter fires and kindling and you still need those woods! Just another tool in the toolbox.

 

It was kinda a funny situation, the guy who is taking over the grocery store from his dad was talking to I guess what would be his step mother in law. He and I have had a couple brief conversations about wood. When he first came to town about 2 years ago he asked if I sold wood. I replied “ not yet”, because at that point I hadn’t reached the 3 year plan. In December we conversed a bit during our Setting the downtown on fire…part 2 celebration. He asked what I was burning for wood and that about all he had was cottonwood.
It was while he was talking to his stepMIL she mentioned about the burning pine and cleaning the chimney. She was also telling him about someplaces that he could possibly go cut some ash. The funny part is while she was saying that she got really quiet, kinda like protecting a secret fishing honey hole

 

It's interesting you mention that. I was putting pine up left and right this last year. A good deal of it went out the door as part of mixed loads that I've sold, or I burned it myself. I actually tried making charcoal for the first time last year and used pine to heat the kiln. Burned through quite a bit to make a relatively modest amount of charcoal, but I had a lot of it (and some cedar) on hand. The lack of coaling makes it easier to run the kiln at consistently higher temps too. It's hot and handy stuff if you let it dry appropriately (like anything else!).

I'd genuinely be more than happy to trade loads of pine and cedar for loads of your elm. Let me know if you're so inclined!

 

I don’t have any experience with pine or spruce but we do have some dead falling hemlock on the farm. Does anyone have experience burning hemlock good or bad?