My deer camp is felling some Eastern White Pine due to the proximity to the cabin and where the trucks park. I offered to take anything of firewood size. One of the old timers gave me a lecture not to burn Pine in my wood stove because it will cause me chimney fires. I have heard this argument before and still have yet to see a chimney fire caused by burning Pine. I know a few people who burn Pine and have no problem. I have mainly been using Oak and Hickory from December thru early March but would like to start burning during the shoulder season and thought this Pine would be a good addition to add on to my three year plan, that I am still working on. I am on track to finish my three year plan this fall/winter. I would like to keep the Oak I hoard for the coldest part of winter (to finish off the 3 year plan) but would like to add something for the shoulder season that won't heat my home to over 80 degrees. Any thoughts on taking Eastern White Pine within very easy access? It will be felled, limbed and I can drive my truck right up to it. Within 20 minutes of home. Probably 5 to 6 full size pickup truck loads or more (or more is probably like it)
Grab it. Season it. Cover it. Burn it. Chimney fires are caused by burning green/ wet wood not the variety of wood. The steam from burning wet wood mixes with smoke and unburnt particulates to create creosote. The reason (in my opinion) pine got such a bad rap is burners would burn green/wet wood and gunk up thier chimneys. Then theyd find some pine (possibly even dry) and toss that in. Well pine will create a fast hot fire just not long in duration. Now you have fast intense heat bringing all that creosote in the chimney past the point of ignition. Poof. Pine bad, wet wood good. A myth is born. You may even want to save some for the coldest parts of winter. Burning hot and fast can be on the menu sometimes. Also a good way to produce heat while letting the coal bed reduce in size.
I'd grab at least some of it. It can burn hot and fast so the hot part of that could easily get you to 80º but the fast part means you can have a short hot fire, warm up the room and then have another short hot fire later. Nice dry pine ignites readily so starting fires once or twice a day is NBFD. I burned a cord of it last year, in part with short hot shoulder season fires and also the first fire in the morning. With a smaller stove pine ignites easy on not too many coals and then an hour or so later toss a load of oak or maple on top of what's left. I'll burn it all day too if I'm sitting around not doing much and can keep reloading the stove. That can get old quick though.
I just starting lurking in the forum this spring, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but in a sense, pine takes up less (space x time per btu) than oak does. Your oak stack has more btu clearly, but it will have to sit there for three years getting ready to burn where as the pine can be ready in less than a year. Sure, it would be more hands on if all you were burning was pine, but you have higher btu to mix in when you need to. And, I can’t speak for others, but I think, deep down, part of this desire to collect massive amounts of firewood, that many if not all of the members here experience, draws from our love of playing with fire. And, a nice pine fire would give you plenty of opportunity to do that. Thirdly, less applicable to the OP, but when ramping up to the three year plan, having quickly seasoning wood is important to get you through years one and two. I happened to collect a bunch of yellow poplar and maple for my first year, but pine would have been a better choice if it had been available at my local dump. Oh, one last benefit of pine that I almost forgot. Because it is a lower density wood, if you are using a sling bag to get the wood to the fire, the bag will weigh less than a higher density wood. The last reason was a little weak, so I’ll end my post with a brief poem that I just came up with: Pine is fine, especially if you enjoy playing with fire all the time. Quicker than oak, lighter than maple; pine in your stack and mixed in your fire, should be a staple.
I appreciate all the advice and wisdom. I will probably have all winter and early spring to collect the Pine. If I decide to take it, which I most likely will, I will need to take all of it. It's going to be laying in the camp's yard/parking area. If I don't take it, they will have our tree guy take care of all of it.
Pine is s great firewood for the reasons mentioned above. I burn about a cord a year and have no creosote issues. Best kindling around as well. I would not load stove up entirely with it though bc it can offgas quickly and make stove hotter than anticipated. Either mix it with hardwood or have small to medium loads of pine in stove. Lots of pine around especially at local dumps due to pine myth, so access is there.
Well said. Your last reason isn’t as weak as you may think for some people I carry my wood up from the basement in a sling. I also need a full sling and one extra split in my other hand to fill the stove. Light is nice LOL
If you can at least cut it into rounds now or ASAP you might end up with fewer pine beetle grubs gnawing away at it all Winter. No BFD when they are just under the bark, but when they (or whichever species) start roaming around in the sapwood and even further into the center of a log it makes for some rather soft worthless wood sometimes. I wouldn't let logs sit for more than a year in any case. Peeling the bark off seems to help, but that's an effort made for milling boards I would think.
When a new wood customer asks me if there in pine in my firewood I ask them what they would do if they lived somewhere that hardwood is not available. I tell them a lot of my friends up north and out west only have pine or a variance of pine to burn.
I'm sure my wife would like loading the stove with lighter splits. Carrying them inside the house isn't much of issue for me. I use one these to bring the wood inside. I'm able to wheel to my bin near the wood stove.
I say... get the pine! I have a cord that I'll use for the shoulder season this year. Mixing with hardwood uglies from the ugly box will do nicely for the once a day fires we sometimes need just to get some heat in the house.
Born and raised in the Pine Tree State, on a farm whose woodlot was 90% White Pine, I have burned pine. But. When I have our land logged this year, I will have the large pines that will never yield a sawlog cut down and piled to rot. They have no commercial value, and I have too much sub par hardwood to spend any of my time handling pine. I expect more than 50 cords will end up that way. Any of you are welcome to come get it!
Hey Dutch. Nice you have a deer camp! There is absolutely no sense in listening to the idiots who say pine will burn your house down or light a chimney fire. Most of them really do not know and they are only passing along something that someone else told. In my experience, I've found that almost everyone who claims the foolish things about pine don't even burn wood! Amazing they don't burn but know all about what pine does, or think they know. For the pines, I like the white pine. I just would not burn it green as that is when that sap could catch and really flame up (but won't burn your house down). Like other wood, cut it, split it, stack it and top cover it. Wait a year and burn away. Less time if you really need the wood. White pine tends to dry rather quickly.
Thanks Backwoods Savage. I'm fortunate to have a deer camp. All (or the majority) of members are great guys. I enjoy the first week of rifle season there. It is similar to my grandfather's camp when he took me as a young one. The old camps are dwindling here in PA and I am trying to do my part in keeping some of that heritage alive. My boys will soon be going to camp with me when they are able to hold a rifle.
Backwoods Savage you are also correct in saying that those guys who say not to burn Pine don't even burn wood. The people who were telling me not to burn Pine, don't burn wood to heat their homes.
Box elder it's actually better, BTU wise. But, white pine splits nicely. When dry, and it dries quickly, it burns just fine, and safely. People that say pine causes chimney fires are full of it. Green wood of any kind causes creosote. Unseasoned pine will actually burn, unlike unseasoned hardwoods.
