We didn't get any for years, then about 2 yrs ago, we hit the motherlode. Guy was clearing off a lot to build his house, had a good bit of hickory in it, then they wanted us to take down these 5 big hickories...5 trailer loads We got those processed Then another guy gave us a big pile of logs he had...54. 10ft'ers All of this has been processed. We cut about 10 more this summer, need to process it now. If you don't drag it in the dirt, not as bad on the chain, but it's still hard...and does hurt when it tags your face. Smells great burning and puts out the heat
Love burning hickory. In my stove hickory makes a wonderful bed of coals that will keep you warm all night. First heat to warm the house is oak, ash, or locust. The 2nd load has hickory to last longer through the night. This time of year I'm not that picky about what gets burned when. In the depths of full subfreezing winter I plan the stove loads out more.
Why do I like it? Tastes good when used in the smoker, and smells even better! That’s all I know about that. Never had an opportunity to burn it for firewood though. Would like to…
I don't have any hickory in my stacks. I wish I did. I haven't come across any in my scrounging efforts.
Hickory is one of my favorites along with the oaks. It's plentiful, provides good heat, burns a long time and drys quicker than oak. On the other hand, hard to split, rots quicker than oak and the bugs do like it. I scrounge for all my firewood and never turn down hickory and will be burning some this winter.
Wow, the chestnut oak bark pic above is unreal! That appears to be over an inch thick. Seems it would make fine kindling. Why is hickory hard on chains? Bark? Sand? It has kind of a weave pattern, does it trap more sand? Speaking of that... how does sand get into trees? Squirrel tracks? Nah. Wind, but the forest floor is full of leaves with hardly any exposed soil. I guess it's enough soil here and there that over a tree's life, wind causes it to build up.
I just processed a 26" diameter Shag-bark. Top broke off in a storm. About 55-56 foot tall. It put up a real good fight. Lots of BTU's!
The bark is the hardest ive ever encountered. Hardest im aware of. I have seen sparks when bucking it. The wood is dense and thats tough on chains too. Not sure of mineral thing in the wood itself.
I have never heard that but it sure might be something like that. I found some info on Janka ratings, which measure wood hardness and hickory is up there. So, perhaps it is the wood itself that is hard, and not uptake of sand in the bark.
The whole sparks thing, if you rev the saw and bump the chain sideways (on the flat part of the bar) against something, it causes the drive links to rub hard in the groove, which can throw spark. That SBH bark has lots of loose stuff and that causes this scenario. It's not that any specific wood "throws sparks" when cut. It's your chain either rubbing the bar hard or hitting something embedded in the bark. I can cause sparks in pine if I wanted to. Cut after dusk and you'll see it happen. Buck this: and as you cut through it, those loose hanging pieces push your chain side to side in the groove. I've cut a bunch of it.
Hickory is my second best selling firewood right behind white oak. My five cords of bark-less hickory I advertised in early November is gone as of last week. Was selling it for $285 a face cord. You have to get it off the ground, split and stacked quickly before the bugs get into. You certainly know you are cutting into something a lot harder compared to maple and oaks. Hickory is great for selling because a lot of my customers use it year round for smoking/cooking.
