Thought this might be fun to chat about how and what we burn in our stoves. I get it that a lot of us can only use what your area provides like spruce and pine vrs various hardwoods. Since FWH is worldwide, it might be interestring to hear from people all over the globe, like what kind of wood is your favorite, most abundant etc. Persomally, I like to mix wood types up. My only rule is making sure that the wood (whatever type) is ready to burn. And by the way, start teaching the kids early. Your thoughts? us
Love oak...slow hot burner for me. Love to cut shorts and stoke it north/south instead of east/west in the wood burner. I continue to get up 3 times a night to add more fuel when it's cold and oak reduces that to 2 naked trips!
Pics now reveal a woman covered in a home concoction of baking soda/Epson salt/dish soap....thanks to farmers almanac. Near the look of a mud bath but with more flakes....thanks poison ivy
I've got three years supply stacked in the back yard now for the first time ever, so until I can get them dry and all that I'll have to rely on my mixture of burning compressed wood bricks with somewhat ready to go cordwood. I'm in SW Connecticut, so the stuff that grows around here is all over the place. I did happen to purchase some Osage Orange seeds and I'm going to try my hand at growing some of that and seeing if I can get some use out of the clippings. It's all a long term plan after all.
Not a fan of oak, but not very picky either. Should have 3 years ready to burn so I can be picky if I wanted to be. For me, I would say honey locust or black locust or mulberry. Heck I'll take whatever if I can get a load and not have to haul it out of a backyard (uphill). May have a line on an apple tree to go look at this weekend.
Depends on the outdoor temp, and how long I’ll be home. I tend to get a ton of Red Oak, as well as Shagbark Hickory, different types of Maple, Cherry, Poplar and a few others. I like to mix some different types together as blends. I really like the Poplar and Cherry blend for mild to slightly cold days. For colder days I like Rock Maple and Hickory blends. I like Red Oak for long burns and good coals. I hope to try some Pine this year for shoulder season and for blends, as I have 2-3 cords of it.
I'm a scrounger, so I burn whatever the universe throws my way here in Connecticut. What I have at home is a mix mostly of White Ash, Red and White Oak, Sugar and Red Maple, Black and Yellow birch, Black Locust, Black Cherry and a few others. I too like to mix it up. Nice picture by the way; I agree it's good to teach them young. That's how I fell into it myself. Vivid memories of being with my own grandfather, helping him with the firewood every fall, and fishing year round. Learning to appreciate simple living and connecting with family and the outdoors. This is all the stuff I try to pass down to my own kids.
My favorite wood to start the fires with has always been Alligator Juniper. When dry it heats the stove up faster than any other wood I've used and smells great too. If I'm going for the overnight burn I then throw on Gamble, Arizona White or Emory Oak.
My most recent mix was tulip poplar, American beech and Northern red oak. The tulip was a little sparky, but the smaller splits were great for the morning relight. I like how clean beech is and the red oak kept the fire cruising all night log. I moved to a house without a wood stove. I will be stock piling on the wood lot of the next couple years. I plan to have at least 15 species in the stacks. It will be fun to see how each one performs.
I don't really have mix. Black Locus, Mulberry and 1 year old Ash. is what I have for late Dec. and Jan. I do have some slab wood I am trying to figure out. Mainly Oak. Some pieces show it is well seasoned and others in the mid 20s% range. The rest of the season it is what ever I have. Most of the time it is this year's Ash. How ever, I do have a little Boxelder and Pine for shoulder season this year.
Where we live in Minnesota, Oak is very abundant, as well as Ash and Silver Maple. Our stock is 99% these species, with red oak pulling the majority of 3/4 of our wood. I have cherry, and Black Locust, but it gets hucked into the same pile and stacked asap. I don't divide my firewood. It all gets splits as close to 5"x 17" rectangles as possible.
I burn what I’m trying to get rid of. Next year it will be a fair bit of ailanthus and pine. that said, I will choose wood for particular uses. Oak is great in the pizza oven but honestly it isn’t all that useful in my stove. Pine lights easier and burns faster and brighter. Elm lasts longer although it does like a kick from some pine to get it going. Oak is in a middle ground that isn’t that helpful to me. But they seem to fall over often enough that I’ve got a fair bit. And nice to throw on the campfire for cooking coals. It is good for growing mushrooms!
I also am not a fan of Oak. Been burning over 35 years but the last 5-6 years I have been burning almost all Beech which is my favorite wood to burn. Seasons very fast and, coals up great, and it doesn't make a mess in the house.
I have a few friends that consider beech the best firewood, not because it's the highest BTU,'s but it's clean wood, splits easy, good BTU's and drys quicker than oak... I like it too... I also like a variety of wood...for those cold starts, burning down coals, long cold evening burns and wood to use during shoulder season. Kinda fun to have have a variety to experiment with... I will say my older non EPA stove just liked hardwoods like oak and hickory etc.. Not the same with my Woodstock.
