I wouldn't go out of my way to get Tree of Heaven or Willow, but I'd burn 'em if I had 'em. In Indiana you can burn anything that grows, except Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, or Poison Sumac.
I've never burned any Basswood, but a man down the road does in his OWB. It smells like he is burning wet horse weeds or something when he is burning Basswood. I wouldn't want that in a wood stove in my house.
I burnt about a face cord of basswood in my fireplace this fall before getting my Quadrafire insert. It didn't last that long, but it sure burned nicely. The trunk of that tree is still at my buddy's gf's house. I'm taking it all for shoulder wood. It didn't smell at all, inside or outside. Does your neighbor burn wet unseasoned wood?
I don't know what he burns other than I delivered him a trailer load of basswood logs two falls ago and when you go by his house and the OWB is running it will choke you out. I've never seen any other logs around there. Sure makes me wonder!
And just to clarify, I DIDNT sell him basswood for firewood, a business I custom fall for gave him a load of logs they couldn't sell, I just cut them on a clear cut job and delivered them.
My basswood I burnt was delivered free, all cut to length and he helped unload the truck and stack it for me too. Yes, he's a very good friend. I'll probably get the trunk of that basswood split and hauled in summer, when I typically don't do much firewood work. It's right by the house, and there's beer in the fridge. Easy work, with close beer. Sounds good to me.
Well im glad it worked out for you. Good deal. You make it through western Illinois this summer bring a trailer and swing by, I'll load it up w logs for you., although prolly can't go across state lines bc of EAB.
Basswood is a super easy wood to work with, I burn it in the owb, along with many others, I have on my list of "do not touch unless it's in my yard and in my way" willow, cottonwood, and huge trunk pieces of box elder, everything else I burn. The three on that list, are ridiculously hard to split, stringy heavy, wet, and or do not produce the btus or coal I prefer. That said, if it's in my way I'm not going to throw it to the side or trip over it to get more desirable stuff next to it. (Within reason)
Several years ago, the new neighbor took down about a dozen big willow trees to get a better view. He doesn't burn, so asked if I wanted it. Right next door. I said "no thank you". There it sits today, a heap of compost.
Yeah, I like my huge living ash trees in my yard. I appreciate the sentiment though. : I've got a good supply of shagbark hickory, sugar maple and beech. I'm not hurting for food wood, but I also won't waste my primo wood in shoulder season. . I'll burn pine, elder, basswood, cottonwood, poplar, elm, soft maple whatever is seasoned.
I can't imagine the stench. My mother-in-law said she remembers her dad when she was a kid back in the 40's making things stretch and using the last bit of things cutting tires up in the barn. Bringing in pails of "flexible coal" on really cold nights and helping the stove stay up to temperature with these nuggets. I just wonder what the chimney looked like?
Not just individual homes either. I've read about how multi-story apartment buildings in cities like New York had incinerators. Imagine what trash the residents threw in there (anything burnable) and the incinerator smoke from many buildings close together all adding together in a plume. They just didn't know better at the time.
I've passed up plenty of willow and boxelder,,I'll throw just about everything else that grows around here on the truck. I bring home the occasional poplar or cottonwood for shoulder season but wouldn't want a dozen truckloads of it.
Back when I was much younger and didn't know squat (still don't but that is another matter entirely), I put a couple apple blocks in an old Taiwan built $99 cast iron parlour stove that leaked like a sieve. Awhile after I went to bed, I noticed a red glow from down the hall and when I went to go check, the top half of the stove was cherry red and I could swear that I could see through the stove pipe. It was about 20 below outside but inside it must have been close to a hundred degrees. Stayed up for a couple hours until it burned down. I now use apple wood sparingly and don't fill the stove with it.
NTS, the only wood you'll really find in our area that isn't worth the effort to haul home is: Tree of Heaven aka ailanthus (invasive, not native) Willow Aspen Cottonwoood Gum Buckeye Pawpaw Catalpa Basswood and box elder are on my "not worth it" list but they aren't terrible. You might get an oddball ornamental tree in a wood dump that I haven't listed...but that should cover the native species.
