I am fairly new at having to make all my own decisions about my firewood choices. I grew up cutting, splitting and stacking whatever my dad pointed me to. I also didnt grow up in New England where I have alot more ready access to hardwoods. So here is my dilemma, my neighbor had a very large pine dropped in his yard, the wood is mine for the taking. I was originally thinking I would just use it around the yard for the fire pit and maybe maple sugaring, but having read on the forum I am now thinking maybe its burnable in the house. What would the hoarders do with this stuff? Here is a picture of the wood laying down, just for reference those longer bucks are about 4' long, the wood is massive.
BURN IT!! lol Seriously I burn pine in my stove all the time usually in the fall and spring when I don't need the btu's. As long as it's seasoned it is great!
There's nothing like it. Dry, it is the best kindling or starter wood. I keep a separate bin just for mixing in to get the stove cranking. Love the stuff.
It burns here in Iowa too. Make sure it's proper dry and use it either in the shoulder seasons or use it in the colder month to get a quick hot fire to take the chill off. I don't get a lot of it because the old lady gets asthma when we cut and split it, but if she's not around I don't mind getting into it as long as I have older clothes on that I don't mind getting covered in sap.
Alright, I guess I had it in my head that it was going to give me creosote problems in the chimney. If it warms up I guess I can spend some time in my neighbors yard making noise.
The creosote problems come not from species but rather from burning wet wood. Get it dry and you'll be golden.
It is not so much a matter of it being pine (I think that is a spruce but I could easily be wrong). I have an endless supply of higher BTU wood so I would pass on the lower BTU wood for use in my house. I can't have open fires in my yard, but if I could I would get the easy stuff for burning outside and being in the neighbors yard it would be easy.
Burn it on those days you're stuck by the fire any way and can keep reloading the stove. Carefully though as it burns hot. Split into 2x2 or so splits it is a great firestarter for getting some heat mass on top of cooling coals first thing in the morning.
ZeeB, what you have been told is the same thing thousands have been told so don't think you were wrong. It is just that once people become educated, they know better and this is where you are now. For sure if you are going to be making maple syrup, get it all! That is super for the evaporator.
Pine will cause chimney fires; didn't anyone tell you? I have 20+ cord of pine/spruce/hemlock/fir in the back yard. All delivered for free Because people think it is bad to burn.
26" White Pine Feb 2013 thanks to local tree service contact.... Almost 3 p/u loads dumped in backyard.Biggest & best rounds was milled into blocks/slabs for future woodworking/woodturning. Everything under 14",with knots etc was split/stacked.Dried very fast in south facing location over the summer with plenty of wind.Still have 6 logs from 14" to 24" left to mill eventually. Hoping to get some more this year,burned a little last Fall.Its great for quick hot fires in the evening & brings up the room temp quite nicely.
I have lots of pine where I am at also. Like others have said it dries fast, burns hot but fast, great for startups and shoulder season. It can be tough to split by hand at times due to the knots. I often use a wedge or grenade like in thistle's picture. I wonder why it has the creosote reputation, since it does season quickly. Folks must burn it right after splitting.
I think the reason people think it's bad is because it burns so much hotter with the same air setting. They burn other wood that isn't seasoned that was split the same amount of time and build up creosote. Then throw the line in that is seasoned and burns much hotter thus lighting their chimney. Of course the pine was the problem right? I am actually burning pine now even through the cold spells, I have plenty and my wife is home during the days to reload. I have a decent bit for next year too. It want to get some more to burn days while I'm burning the oak I have ready for next year nights.
In my opinion the only negative with pine is that it rots quickly if it is not bucked and split very soon after falling. When I am scrounging in the forest for dead and downed I usually bypass the pine cuz it's already punky.
