We all seem to have our favorites but nobody ever says much about their least favorites. And I will ask in such a way that would suggest "least favorite....but still willing to take if free" wood. I think at this point mine would have to be box elder. Burns super fast, puts out ok heat actually but coals up terribly. Overall seems to be a soft crappy wood. Not too bad for shoulder season but I'd rather burn poplar. Also not a fan of sycamore due to how hard it is to split but I'm sure it at least burns way longer than box elder. All my sycamore I scrounged last year ended up in the bon fire stack.
Soft wood issues, eh? Bradford pear....talk about being a B!t[h to split.... similar to the shoulder season champ cherry around here in heat output, but that's where the similarities end.
I think it more depends on your stove. I love cherry, ash and walnut. And [gasp] oak is starting to pizz me off! I can't burn the coals up fast enough on days like today when its windy and the house needs just a little more heat. I burned a LOT of poplar (and some pine) last year. And the IS used every btu it had. Just have to load it more often. With a cat stove, there is really no wood that doesn't give you good heat.
My least favorite that I will still take is Sassafras. It is a light duty wood but splits easy, fine for shoulder season. I have a stash and have a decent supply to cut, if I don’t like it then I don’t cut it.
Black walnut because of the bark and the dirt like stuff under it at least the stuff I’ve dealt with.
True, I haven't burned much but I put a few chunks in the other night before dinner, came back after I was done eating and it was already out.
We don't have a ton of species variety but lots of species flavors where I live. The goto's are Pine (many flavors but mostly Ponderosa, Sugar, Fir and Lodge Pole at higher elevations), Cedar (Incense) and Oak (mostly Black). Each has their good and bad traits but they all have one thing in common, they all go in the stove.
Pine because it will burn my house down Seriously though, I have a ton of it, and I by far hate it, but Walnut only because of the amount of ash... I burn it all the time though, and by no means turn my nose to it... I even burn tree of heaven, each species can have a purpose. I dont load white oak on a crisp september evening, and I dont load tulip poplar on a 15* morning in feb before I go to work expecting great coals when I get home 10hrs later either.
I was reading the description of the species you deal with and thought Wow, those sound familiar! I grew up in Grizzly Flats, and my folks still live there...small world, eh?
I'm with yooperdave on this one Willow is my least favorite I will take it if it is delivered all cut up but will not go after it. I liked the sycamore I burnt last season. I am not to fussy when it comes to firewood for the OWB as long as it will heat the water it will heat the house.
