I'm currently working on a white pine score within 2 minutes of the house. Being as its so close I can't let it lay and rot. There's alot, I mean alot. Just a guestimate I'm saying between 10-12 cord. I put up 7 cord of white pine last summer from another score. (Can you say sappy mess) How long will pine stay. I top cover all my wood. I mean I literally could sit on this for many years as I'm 4-5 years ahead with hardwood. Should I burn it all within 3 years because of risk of rot or becoming so dry it would be like burning paper? I'm new to pine, I've never burned any before but with having so much so close these last few years the hoarder in me can't resist!
Cut split stacked and under cover it will last and last. Around here everyone turns their nose up at pine so it's plentiful. I like it.
I like it too, I use it when I want to burn down the building up embers from oak and Ash etc.. I cant help but like how nice it burns albeit with some sparking. Funny thing is I would scrounge more of it, but believe it or not I don't see too much of it only small branches or some that has been down and rotting for so long its not worth hauling. I think because no one takes it that most times it lays there and rots. I get my fix from construction lumber most times. That said I wouldn't want 12 cords of the stuff and yes there is that sap problem that I don't really get from the lumber scraps.
Haha yeah kind of awkward writing there. I think I'm getting tired as well, maybe I should join you ...Oops there I go again
That looks like exactly what I'm working with. Some are twice that size. Some of the trunks on them are as big as those small electric cars.
I hate this damm snow and ice. I'm really in firewood mode and this weather got me jammed up. Where this pine is at is on the back of an old dirt lane with a hunting camp that gets no winter maintenance. Going up is ok, coming back down that's a whole different animal.
The sap dries out in about two months . Maybe three in the Winter. I usually cut into rounds a green tree and either leave them where they lay to dry up or handle them by the bark avoiding the cut ends and stack them in a pile to dry. Then in two months split them. Seasoning in rounds is a rather slow process and probably why I find a year seasoning pine works better for me. Sometimes I'll even leave them as rounds for a year and they'll still get down to about 20% in the center but the beetles turn them into condos. The tunnels cache moisture hastening the decomposition process. You can end up with a pile of dirt fairly quick sometimes. Even pine slabs stacked outside need a cover of some sort or it'll be ashes to ashes, dust to dust PDQ. At least compared to oak.
That stuff I got last year was riddled with beetles. It's amazing the mess they leave in a stack. Little shredded wood everywhere.
Yeah, you can't leave pine logs laying around with the bark on around here. The thick sap usually excludes them but once the sap is gone or dried up it is party time for the wildlife ! They can get into a live tree during a drought too unfortunately. I was losing pine trees, big ones, small ones but now that the drought is over I'm not seeing any new trees drying up and dying. Between the bark beetles and the gypsy moths and winter moths the trees around here sure could use a break.
Take all you can get - it'll be years before you have to burn hard stuff in shoulder season or shovel coals. Love pine here, especially Mrs Papi. She is very diligent about coal buildup after letting the stove get too full of coals while I was away for a couple days - woke up to a cold house and said never again.
