Probably have done this in a different way, but lets have some fun....If, for the rest of your Wood Burning life, you could only have 4 woods to choose from...What would they be...Mine are...Ash, Silver Maple, Oak and Iron Wood....What about yours????
Black locust, red oak, ash, and silver maple. Didn’t include any wood I have not burned. Becoming a huge fan of ash. Splits easy, dries fast, and is half the weight of oak.
I got ash one year and loved it but it was quite awhile ago and can't recall how it stacked up to red oak in the btu department. I like all the suggestions here.
So ash is about the middle of the road then, I thought it would have been a lot higher. I guess my first clue would be that I remember it being pretty light.
I am picking from woods readily available in this area. Doug Fir, Locust, Madrone and cherry. Like the cherry better than Big Leaf maple because it has more BTU's and the smoke is aromatic. Madrone and Locust for the high BTU's and staying power. They also cure much faster than Oak. The Doug Fir (especially the denser trees) is a good mid range wood that splits well, Makes great kindling, starts easily, seasons fast and the splits smell nice and spicy! Also very little ash from the Fir!
Unless it’s Sweegum, I hate that tree with a vengeance. I hate it in a yard for all the gum balls and despise splitting it even with a splitter! I’d pick something like 1) Oak/hickory/locust for cold weather, 2) Some cedar/pine/fir for quick starts, burning down coals and shoulder season and 3)Hickory/cherry/apple/pear/mesquite for smoking If it came to it Hickory and Cedar would cover smoking, shoulder season, bitter cold, and also provide some nice aromatherapy. Shagbark Hickory, Cherry, Cedar for 3 trees. Hard to pick the fourth one when three covers it so well.
White oak...high btu's and splits easily by hand and love the smell. Ash, dries fast and easy to split by hand. Sugar maple...higher btu and seasons fast. Easy to split by hand. Birch, seasons fast and splits easily by hand. Seldom score any and love the smell! The first three i score on a fairly regular basis so i should have those for the rest of my burning life, but as a scrounger, you never know what you will score next!
interesting response. Have your ever scored any? Im not even sure what it looks like other than those little put together gliders they sold at convenience stores when i was a kid.
I'll go with wood I have available here as well. Ash: Good heat, easy to process, gives up bark easily = less mess and bugs indoors. Sugar maple: Heavy lifter that's always available in these parts. Burns real hot, holds coals well, seasons quickly even in sub-optimal stacking conditions. I was torn between sugar and black locust, but the BL just isn't really prolific here. Red maple: Easy to work with, easy to light, heats the house just fine until it's <10. White pine: I know I'm in a lonely club here, but I love white pine for a quick hot fire that also burns the coals down.
