Heck, I couldn't even remember my username (not that I have used it much) OR the email acct. I signed up with... Old... But anyway, in the stack now are some two year old peach, apple, sassafrass, black cherry, plum, sycamore, pecan, box elder (meh, it was in the way...) tulip poplar, sweet gum, and a little white oak. And all of it came off my own two acre patch except the little bit of oak. Only about a cord and a half plus, but that should cover the wood stove this year. The targets for next years burning are a couple of pecans, a scab susceptible choctaw and a 40 ft. tall crossbred seedling thats not precocious enough (nutwise), a nice fat - but rust susceptible fuji apple, a 30 year old peach, a black cherry or three, another large but crappy box elder, and some assorted limbs off the massive sycamores and tulip poplar. Then I'll have room for the trees I want to let grow on out to size for firewood. I've got 20+ crossbred pecans (that have a gun to their heads if they don't produce nuts soon!) a couple of hickory trees and about 8 red/white oak (thanks to the local squirrels), along with the usual maples, sassafrass, mulberry, black cherry and other goodies along the back of the property. The trees seem to grow much faster in Alabama than they did up north, so I need to get going to keep ahead and get several years worth in the stacks... (I know it doesn't sound like much, but if I get around to posting about the gear I use, it will be easier to see why my sights aren't set as high as most here heh, heh...)
Wood is all mixed - This year I'll burn stuff I split\stacked in 2018 & 2019. It's mostly Ash, with some Maple & Black Locust and trailing off with a bit of misc. other.
This year I'm burning: Chestnut Oak 75% Hickory 15% White Oak 5% Red Maple, Post Oak,Water Oak, Dogwood 5% I don't separate by species, it goes on the stack when ready. I try to have (some species) of oak spread throughout.
The January / February pile: shagbark hickory, 4-year seasoned burr oak (yes, it takes that long for big splits), hop hornbeam, honey locust, and blue beach. The rest of the year pile: cottonwood, white pine, red elm, basswood, and silver maple. I usually end up pulling from both piles all winter long since the primo wood (hickory and white oak) burn better with a little red elm or silver maple mixed in. As Horkn can probably tell you, the red elm probably belongs in the January / February stack. It's in a whole different league than the American (pizz) elm.
My burning wood for this winter is doug fir and western larch. We have lots of lodgepole and spruce here but in recent years Ive tried to focus my attention on the higher btu woods available in our area.
Red Oak, White Oak, Holly, and Poplar. This will be my first time burning Holly, hopefully it burns well in my new Hearthstone Homestead soapstone stove because my FIL owns 55 acres of woodland with a lot of holly.
This year: Legit SS wood: Tulip, hemlock maybe EWP. Have 2/3 cord of that, my first year using SS wood. Deep winter/all day fires: Red Oak. I have probably a cord of shorts and a pile of uglies.. Next couple years will be the same, 4th year will be ash. 5th year ash I am hoping to put up in the next few weeks.
When you get up in the morning and there’s a deep coal bed, rake the coals forward, put a few splits of that white pine on and open the air up all the way. Within a half hour a lot of those coals will burn down to fine ash and your stove will be cranking It definitely reduces the amount of times you’ll have to clean out your stove. I was in the habit the last couple years of burning pine at least once a week, sometimes more. One other thing: I found pine burns best with multiple pieces going, with small gaps in between. I’ve tried putting just one thick split on a deep coal bed and it just kind of sits there not doing much.
Thats cool! I hope by all day fire time, we have some pine left. I don't know how much we'll go through. I cant wait to try that trick though. I bet that will get a good lump of heat real quick too...! Sca
If you run out of pine and want more I can bring a load of 2+ year dried stuff. I usually drop off a couple loads of regular hardwood to my brother-in-law in Manchester anyway.
For the dead of winter I have a sugar maple, paper birch, black ash, mulberry, black locust, and red elm on the docket. This a wider variety than usual as I got into the locust, mulberry, and elm from my nephew’s land a few years ago that is ready to go this winter.
I end up with so mostly Red Oak. Its just what's the most available. I'm not complaining, it's a great option, but I do long for an exotic species (to me) like Mulberry or Osage Orange. In my current stacks is Red Oak, White Oak, Black Locust, Cherry, Red Maple, a very small amount of Rock Maple, Black Birch, Ash, White Pine, a little Elm, and I have some Popple from mill cutoffs. The Popple burns like paper, but it seemed senseless to waste it.
I long for an exotic species like red oak. I have a little oak (white, I think) and I treat it as if it were as valuable as vibranium.
