Well I just have a old Nashua....no cat ect. I have 9+ cords of oak from 3-8 years old and 2 1/3ish cords of hickory about 4 years old. All shedded or top covered. My nest egg I'm building so to speak. But I also have ultra easy BE SM literally falling in my lap do to being too tall for their own good. And union carpenter.....ants. with my hydro and screw splitting is a snap. Let the rounds sit a while and bark comes off in sheets as it's split.
If in a bind I get it. Burn a cord of the elder seasoned, and then a cord of hickory,oak or black locust. Snob or not, btu per lb is straight forward math and premium Woods are more dense therefore supply more btu per unit volume. Everyone on here has burnt something non premium, but not after education unless by necessity. .
Guess I need more education..... cut me some slack I've only been burning about 45 years. I'll get better..... promise.
Sorry I wasn’t trying to be rude at all. It was late and I am tired from travel. If it works for you....enjoy.
I burn stuff that's not considered "premium" all the time. It's done for a very specific reason. To me, burning "premium" wood in SS doesn't make much sense if I have other wood available. I have yet to find a wood that doesn't burn well once it's dry. My burning "education" has taught me that. I have yet to burn BE or Willow, so we'll see how that goes.
Sorry for pizzing people off. I was in a rush and was tired. If anyone had the choice between premium and not, assuming all else is equal you would burn premium right? If I set a Lamborghini next to a Kia, for the same price, you would pick which one? Nothing wrong with a Kia to be clear. Apologies to all I upset.
Variety is the spice of life! I have a crush on poplar right now. I've been splitting it this AM, lots of fun!
Not pizzed at all. All else being equal in SS, no, I would burn Pine or Poplar. Neither is considered "premium". To everything, there is a season. I'd drive a Lambo, although not everyday, but doubt I'd EVER drive a KIA. (Local mechanic calls KIA...Killed In Action) I think we need a different example.
Boxelder...my favorite tree to hate. I cant say enough bad things about this POS tree. Here's the facts... Yes it smells like a nasty wet gym sock when you first cut it. Yes it's a major pain in the azz to process because of the 1000's of rogue branches. Yes it loses a lot of it's weight and burns fast. Yes the trees are total sunlight hogs and crowd out better trees. Yes it doesn't matter how well you position your saw the bark always finds a way to screw you over and pinch your saw. But.... The smell goes away almost instantly once it starts drying. It does put out good heat and it's easy to manage on a wet, rainy 40 deg day. Think about the justice you're serving to other trees by ridding your woods of this pos. I don't believe the claims that it's difficult to split. Mine have always been EASY except for crotch pieces like any other tree. I get enjoyment out of knowing every time I put a load into the stove that it means there's one less of these trash trees around. Good firewood. Worthless, junk, nuisance, ugly tree.
C'mon man, tell us how you really feel. Haven't cut much yet, but not my experience. Had no issue in this regard. The tree service guys dealt with that.
I wad these up into a fire pit and burn them. I stack my shed with smaller splits and ash for fall burns and transition to large rounds and splits. I also have a large house, large furnace, and a wife who is always cold. I am not being snobby, but I have easy access to trees on my property so I am selective. When I was scrounging, if it was wood, or a large vine.....it was converted.
I get where you are coming from, no worries, not upset at all. If I had to BUY wood I would definitely buy better. But I can't see letting free wood rot.
Our first couple years here and burning, almost everything we burned was Oak. First tree I ever felled was a Red Maple, so I processed that, then burned it a couple years later. Same thing with Spruce and Pine. It's very easy to come by. Right now, the almost free logs I get are whatever the tree guys cut. Last load I got, I told him very nicely (but VERY firmly)......no more Willow. I'll process what's here, then burn it when it's dry, until it tells me to do otherwise. At that point, it may end up in the firepit, or back in the woods as bug fodder. Agreed. The last logs I bought were over 95% Oak. The guy asked what I wanted, and the price difference for slightly lesser wood wasn't much. If I'd known better at the time, I may have opted for Ash, since it dries quicker. Live and hopefully, learn.
You need to come cutting with me...how advanced is your cussing vocabulary and/or are you offended by strong language? Next time you cut split a fresh one, take a wiff off the fresh split. Seriously, not to be weird or anything, although it's probably too late now.. You guys have a tree service? I just leave the leftovers in the woods out of my way of the tractor or where I hike/hunt.
I'm interested in knowing more about this. I just cut them at all of their sprouts and leave them to hang and die. Thats another enemy of mine...vines. I'm seriously ready to leave work to go wage war with vines and boxelder right now.
I do that with Oak. Love the smell. Others will think I'm weird/crazy, and not just because of that. These guys were down the road cutting, and I walked over. That's when the madness began. I now have a mix of Spruce, Poplar, Boxelder, Cottonwood, Willow, Red Maple, Jack Pine, and Birch to process. The Birch bark was a pain while splitting. Go git 'er dun!
I will take all the Box Elder I can find. It is funny to read some the comments. Let me see. Cottonwood, Russian Olive, Elm, Box Elder. They all suck and smell bad. If I did not have any of those woods I would be freezing right now. But I guess if I had access to all those premium hardwoods, I would be spoiled too.
