everybodies thoughts on burnin black walnut

Took down a standing dead BW at work last week, around 12" at the base. I saved it from the chipper so I can take it home and CSS, Just out of curiosity.

 

I've got scars on my arms from my last batch of poison oak or sumac. Not sure which but it was terrible compared to poison ivy.

 

PI vines on black locust trunk i cut through from end of September. I watched the PI sawdust spray my bare arms. Just getting over more of it from a different score.

 

2 Poison Ivies, 2 Poison Oaks, Poison Sumac

It is possible that for some people each time you get into it, you become more and more sensitive to it. That hyper-sensitivity may diminish with 'time off'.

 

Black Walnut has burned too slow for my furnace and so sent more heat up the chimney than into the house. I avoid Black Walnut. If I cut Black Walnut then I would only burn it in the early fall or late spring.

The leaves of Black Walnut drip a natural "herbicide" and kill competing plants below. I have walked in the woods with brush under the trees until I reached a Black Walnut stand where only grass grew under the Walnut. The change was very distinctive.

 

Reviving old thread…gonna get my property logged and there are more BWs than i anticipated. I still need to sign off to make sure I am ok with specific trees that are marked. In any case I’ll end up with quite a few BW tops. I’ve only burned a little in my firepit. I figure as shoulder season wood it’s got a role to play

 

BW isn't worthless by any means. It's just not a premium heating wood. I've gotten a bunch for my parents in the past couple years and it serves them well. It does in fact leave a lot of fluffy white ash. In your situation, I'd take all the tops available.

 

I don’t burn money, so I won’t burn hvbw either.

 

Splits like a dream. Not the highest btu. Harvest, CSS, season and burn it.

 

I cut and split about 1/2 a cord of BWN that was about 18 months old three months ago. I give about 12 pieces of it away with each delivery. It is the best looking firewood of any in my opinion. If not burning, display it in your fireplace for the appearance. I'd call it purple/chocolate walnut though.

 

One other thing. BW heartwood is highly rot resistant. Ive been told it makes pretty colored flames in a stove. Actually that was two things!

 

Earlier this winter I burned almost a chord of BW. I didn't know what it was when I cut it down. By the time I figured it out, most of it was already CSS.

But as far as burning it? I would put it on par with Green Ash. Hot, lasting fires were the norm when I was reaching into that pile. Good stuff!!

 

I never turn BW away for the qualities listed. Plus when you tell some folks you're burning BW, they look at you as if you're crazy for burning highly valuable wood.

 

yeah not much value in the twisty tops. Not everything is a sawlog!

 

Having commercially harvested walnut off our family property for 80+ years, the opportunity for firewood has presented itself on occasion. It dries well and the bark sluffs off quickly. While not the best BTU, it does burn well when seasoned properly. It's good solid wood and ashes well. As previously mentioned, it smells great when processing. I can't count on two hands how many people contact me to harvest the tops when they see the logs getting staged near the road. I usually let them take the wood for free, except the few that question burning "highly valuable black walnut". They win the "highly valuable" Check Writing award. Thusly validating their statement to at least one of us.

 

This revived thread
You guys missed golden opportunity best time to burn black walnut is Valentine’s Day in glass front stove and watch the pretty blue flames

Master class throw in some apple
Flames will be blue and green

I don’t do all this work just to heat the house

 

Don't get enough of it to really have an opinion on burning. Seems pretty light weight when fully dry. I like the smoke smell. If there is oak and walnut laying next to each other and I can only take one, it's gonna be the oak.

 

First ive heard of apple doing that! Thanks for all your "hard" work Lyle!

 

Like oak or any other furniture type wood…

what’s usable for milling, I’ll keep for milling…

what’s not, gets made into firewood.