Anyone have much experience burning box elder. I've been burning some at 15% MC and it seems to go up every time in a blaze of glory. Doesn't put out a ton of heat but seems to burn very hot. Hoping some of you guys have burned some before bc I'm trying to figure out if I have a stove issue or if it's just the nature of this type of wood.
I have cut and burned a lot of it. It has about the same heat as alder, but does not burn as slow or evenly. It is a soft lighter maple, and 15% dry it will go up fast. In this case I would venture that it is actually too dry. Dunno what type of stove that you have, but if you can, damp it down to slow the reaction. Or burn it in smaller amounts, or mixed with other wood like oak. Or burn it as gofer wood, starter wood, or when you need quick heat. I burn my pine like that.
I keep mine in the "round" so it can last a few hours. Only the large trunks get split vaguely. Since I have many Box elder bugs tiring to get in the house. I deal/burn this baby... Short lived/fast growing.
Never knew them (Box elder bugs) to be a nuisance. Just in quantity a very/very mild pest. What their purpose is.... I don't know? Never seem to hurt the Box elders.
Its a good shoulder fuel, dries fairly quickly when split. There been a few years when that was just about all I had and managed not to freeze to death in my trailer home of the time. ( tin box with not much in the way of insulation but was all I could afford at the time).
Good to know, thanks guys! It seemed to be burning almost like dry pine... Sounds like that's about right. With my stove being a secondary burn I can't shut the air all the way off to smother it so once this stuff gets going it just takes off! Glad to know it's probably not a stove issue. I've been mixing it with some cherry which did seem to help a little. I might try mixing it with some silver maple I split earlier this spring.
Just went through some of it with my shoulder mix of aspen and boxelder. Not a bad wood...just not a good wood. I have some more to take down for a relative and I will (as said above) split them larger next time.
You get enough of them and they become a real problem. In CA they were few. In southern OR they were 4 inches thick under the windows and eves. The windows would not close! I had to use a shop vac to suck them off the house several times a year.
We've burned box elder off an on for years. It is maple. It burns. The fires will be good but just won't last as long. I'll probably burn more in the future but we don't have any on our place. No doubt, someone will want some help and will "give me some great firewood." Okay.
It's soft so it goes up fast. Box elder is one of my favorites this time of year I love it for the short heat bursts before the hard cold hits.
Yea it def burns alright. I think the problem was that I was trying to load the stove up with it expecting to get a slow all nighter out of it. Instead I was nearly over firing the IR and wondering why. I still have about a cord and a half of it I will burn this season, but I'll prolly mix it with some other soft woods.
I have burnt it on occasion and never really had any issues with it. Yeah it's not the best wood but I never found it to go up so fast as to cause problems with my stove so that's pretty odd. Did you try other wood to see if you could control it better?
I mixed some silver maple in with it last night and it burned much cooler. I was actually able to keep it just below 500F, but it wasn't a full load. I'll experiment more with it and let you guys know.
