I was reading an article today about dog poop and burning it. Part of a forum. Suggesting that dog poop burns is true but probably unsavory especially to your olfactory. On another note cow dung being a source of btu's as well but been awhile since this is put to the test. As sure as grass is greener on the side of the septic tank, poop isn't all that great to burn let alone smoke. But who wants a cord of chit in their yard, no splitting necessary!
Seriously, yes. My outdoor split of wood (originally a 6.25" x 15" split in half, one inside, one for outside) started at 7.75 lbs. It lost 1 ounce in a month. That piece would take about 56 months to dry out sitting if December went on for 56 months straight. Assuming it sublimated the same rate.
No I dug it out of my stacks. Besides I always check my mc with a fresh split piece of wood and a bit of rain wont affect the reading. Definitely a less denser wood than what Im used to.
A lot of buffalo dung was burnt to cook meals on the long journey from my part of the world to yours back in the 1800's. Some times we gotta do what we doo doo to get by.
As said early in the thread, cherry is the one I will chuckle about. I do burn a pretty fair amount of it as it is very plentiful around the area but if I'm heading to the woods and I can get to something else I will leave the cherry for another time or for someone else. That said I have in the past burnt cherry only all winter and I did just fine. Up until about 5 or 6 years ago I never had much ash and hardly any oak now have a lot of both. Have always had a lot of black locust, beech, sugar maple and cherry.
Call it safe. Its not a heavy hitter but when you need wood to cook on, cant go wrong here if its an open fire where wood is exposed. Its Versatile in its own way because its better than wood that isn't right for that. IE PINE..... but its hard to go wrong with cherry. i may be seeing that this is a wood that is not necessarily overdone but perhaps overly spoken? I wanna word that carefully but in a place where cherry is likely said to not be burned but used for other things. Hard to do that when you dont have the tools for it. Plus cherry would beat pine any day in my area
Not much use to me and I live in Illinois. I don't see cherry or mulberry on the list but it grows here like a weed. The birds plant both of them along fence lines. Hawthorn and honey locust are also pretty common here. I live close enough to U of I that I will be on the campus tomorrow evening for a club meeting.
Lol. You must be talking about shagbark hickory. But there may be others on the list, as I tend to ignore things that have bad information. Hickory is far and away better than any oak btu wise, but yet our FHC link shows it's less btu's than other woods. My entire non baby life of wood burning knows that to be a fact. I tend to employ a scientific method, and I throw out outliers, high and low, and average the ratings.
True. Basswood is low on the scale no matter what chart you find. At 14 mbtu's a cord, it's half the btu's per equal size piece of hickory or ironwood. However, it burns well, lights easily, and seasons quickly. I'll take it, and any wood but willow, any time.
You burn that all the time so you would know. Im not paying much particular attention to the numbers that i dont burn but if you're gonna burn a wood that you have, you might as well get a general sense of looking at its btu's for a guide to what to use for certain temperatures. That oak I have is likely to turn me into the fried chicken so I feel a level of caution with that. Hickory, man I don't think that will happen likely unless i buy the bbq wood at Lowe's and that's strictly for the pork shoulder or beef brisket. Mmm yummy. Believe you me I wouldn't ever turn it down if I got the opportunity but I don't its anywhere near me unless some in Eastern Washington as the crow flies.
Bingo! Although Im limited to mostly softwoods in south eastern BC I still cherry pick my wood for the application at the time. Do I need a quick in between wood to span my next burn? maybe Ill pick some fast burning balsam fir. If Im home for the day why not burn some hot lodgepole pine or spruce which will heat your house in the coldest of days. If I have to leave the stove for a good bit Ill put in some doug fir and forget about it for the afternoon. If Im doing an overnight burn or will be away from the house for 8-11 hours Ill load the stove with larch or birch. Understanding your fuels capability and its limitations and how it heats your home is important.
The other thing I have come to realize now, with my cat stove is, it is also not all about better or lesser btu wood. Certain species off gas and excite the cat more than others or in other words the cat temps climb more. Ash and elm are 2 that I have noticed, there are others but just mentioning those 2.
Definitely does and now when you explain to me that larch or birch is contributing to an 8-11 hour fire or heat for that matter maybe its because I haven't seen wood burn on the low scale. Not that the math doesn't compute but when you only know one speed and thats an open fire, Im eager to see the low when you turn the fire down for the night. Lets assume the wood is dry and all but I know i'll have a better appreciation for it when Im burning in the stove and learning as the cold goes on. Makes me happy thinking about it as I have a good variety of wood for all situations. Just need to get to stacking and a moisture meter for good measure.
We also enjoy fire pit fires during get togethers or just sitting around the back yard. Its amazing how quickly wood will burn in the open air when youre used to a handful of pine splits lasting you 5 hours in the stove. Not that Ive measured it but it appears like I can go through a weeks worth of house heating wood in an evening around the fire pit. I dont mind though. Outside fires are great!
Yeah I tend to seperate my day burning woods from overnight burning wood. I used to just jumble them all together but I find when I load my garage I would have to dig through the stack to find what I need. Now in the yard and the garage its seperated. Larch and birch in the overnight burn piles and lodgepole pine, spruce and fir in another.
