I like Lodgepole. Not exactly a short trip for me either. Cutting on the NF is a 50-100 mile Round trip. As MAGCRAFT said above, most of us in the intermountain west think nothing of driving a 100 miles.
Another fan of dead standing Lodgepole checking in. Although a lot of our beetle kill is starting to rot standing up down this way, which is a crying shame. I'll take it over Aspen every day of the week and twice on Sunday. I don't know if I've burned another species that produces less ash.
Yes beetle kill. That load came from an area that has many older (big) green Tamarack trees. The Lodgepole grows in thickets among the big trees. Probably 30% of the Lodgepole is standing dead. There's some ponderosa mixed in also. To me Lodgepole is a firewood that punches above it's weight class.
Yep I have to agree with you guys. The lodge pole is not your average pine when it comes to BTU's. BBC Burner I would take lodge pole over aspen hands down. I too have also ran across some rot in dead standing beetle kill. It was mainly in the larger trees.
Plus, with the dead standing stuff, all but the bottom 6 or so feet of the tree can be cut, split and burned the same weekend.
Thanks Dennis. I might be going back up one more time for the brother in law. If I do I will try and remember to take a few more pics.
