In my area, pine is the only tree we can really cut in the National Forest, there are a few oak but all have to be down on the ground so the main trees I have access to are: Jeffrey Pine Ponderosa Pine Red Fir White Fir Lodgepole Douglas Fir Aspen Cottonwood Pinion Juniper That's about it for native trees to access here within my area. I can get "neighborhood trees" people cut but its usually a pain to deal with they're uneven cuts and weird angles... Pine is primary and pine is fine!! (seasoned)
Some people in my neck of the woods actually favor lodgepole pine. Cords of that stuff go for top dollar. For the most part I’ve replaced that, when I’m not using hardwoods, with fir. And a wedge or two. And a sledge.
Fatwood fire starters. That’s all I use in my PH. I’m real concerned about any nonorganic chemicals going into my stove. Haven’t seen any issues yet. My understanding is chemicals kill cats. Or moisture, rapid cold air if your running ceramic. My opinion, which may be wrong, is any small coating of pitch the fire starter leaves on the cat will be burned off immediately once it comes to temp. Could be argued that leaves behind an ash residue. So be it. All wood leaves behind an ash residue of some sort. There’s moisture in any wood that acts just the same. Gonna do a search and see what I can find. I like the fatwood because it’s essentially natural or so I thought.
Sap, all trees have it in the sapwood. It flows thru tubes and is the lifeblood of all trees deciduous and coniferous. Resin forms in the phloem layer in the bark of coniferous trees. It's mostly a defense mechanism to keep boring beetle larvae out. When the bark falls off so does the resin. If there was anything in that resin that could harm cats people on the west coast would have problems with cats to a much higher degree than elsewhere. Resin is a fuel just like the rest of the split. It loses moisture content once the tree dies and the vascular system ends functioning just like the rest of the tree becoming fuel for a wood stove. I don't get this weird fear of sap and resin.
I cannot find one mention of fatwood being detrimental to a cat. I did learn it’s all natural. Never really knew for sure. Blaze King used to provide super cedars with the stove which are coated with paraffin wax. A little wax doesn’t hurt either. Turns to hydrocarbons and moisture when burned. I’m good with my fatwood.
This was a point speculated in a discussion recently and while it may be that fatwood burns like a sooty candle, it’s still natural. A catalyst is supposed to be in the mix of natural wood products which this classifies as such. Anything outside of it is likely to ruin it. 2 years ago I found fatwood, a big sum of it and cut it out, started using the sticks of it small to start my fires then got an idea about drilling in blocks of what couldn’t be split well with a Forstner bit. Peeling shavings was the best part and then stuffing some in those condiment cups you can find at a food service place that sells them. Couple bucks and maybe 30 mins later, cups stacked up in a shoe box for about 50-60 starts. Bear in mind, I had not burned in a cat stove ever but I couldn’t get past the fact that fatwood would be detrimental to a cat. It isn’t a full on kindling split about 2 inches wide and 10 inches long that’s burning, biggest that should be burned is no longer than your hand and half a finger width is necessary. I’ve got them down to skewer width and about 3 inches or so. As long as the tinder is bone dry, the smaller the fatwood “match” is needed unless you’re trying to ignite a bonfire in the wind.
I have an outdoor wood boiler but I burn pine all the time. Not a big fan because it doesn't produce a lot of BTU or coals, but good for this time of the year. And it dries very quickly. That and some balsam fir are probably all I'll burn during October. No matter what you burn, it should be DRY. Pine is good within a year, but even longer seasoning is always better.
Must have missed that discussion. Last year I was burning mostly tulip. Didn’t even use kindling. Might take a few extra minutes to get it engaged but I also didn’t need any extra room in the stove for kindling. Just fill it full of splits and light. I’ll still have a cord of tulip this year so I’m good to go. Interesting to make your own. Did read an opinion that the stump of the tree soaks up more sand etc that dulls chains making it not worth the trouble. Obviously just one opinion.
I’m not going to disagree with you on the stump/sand deal. If a stump were to come out, best use a super old chain and saw for that. Wood should not be terrible just dirty for the matter.Not trying to go off topic but Black locust is known for the sand and dirt between the bark and wood. I had finally cut and split the last of the logs waiting for that and the bark just fell off in sheets with lots of the sand dirt too. Best to try to roll that stuff off and let it get really dry before cutting into it. Most fatwood can be found in cut off branches though so shouldn’t have much dirt there. Do you go harvesting for it or is it something you find by sorting? My find was purely a surprise. The tree was rotting (already cut into 6-8 foot sections) and I grabbed some salvageable wood while the rest was that interesting solid color. Like as if the middle grain just disappeared. Shavings changed too. I couldn’t tell how high off the ground the fatwood was in relation with the tree though. The pockets can be common on a doug fir though. I can only imagine how a fatwood business works to collect all that. Seems so consistent when you find it in boxes at the store.
I burned it almost exclusively last season. I was low on hardwood but had a ton of pine. I think it was someone here who said: "Pine is great! If you are retired and can load the stove all day!" There's some truth to that. It puts out good heat and if you stay on top of it, you can keep the stove temps up. It's not so great for overnights and coaling is an issue. I've still got about a cord left and plan on burning it this winter along with hardwoods. I'll save the hardwood for the overnights and really cold temps. Also, pine makes awesome kindling.
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.
No I buy mine in a plastic bag. The stuff about the stump was just something I read whilst looking for info on it. Seems it’s harvested from the stumps which are more heavily laden with the sap. I suppose some of the sap in a dead tree will migrate back towards the stump,,,maybe? Or cut trees probably bleed sap heavily then dry? Large companies seem to be harvesting from stumps after logging. I know I cut a large black birch in my yard early spring and the stump bled like crazy until I burnt it below ground level. I have some black locust logs to process before the snow flys. I hear ya about the bark. What they seem to be referring to is the tree actually drawing up sand and minerals inside the tree with the water. Maybe silica would be a more appropriate term. Microscopic. I’ve heard black locust does the same. Has lots of stuff inside the wood that chains don’t like.
I just got back from a one month camping trip, and spent a lot of time in southern Wyoming Medicine Bow NF. Burnt a lot of Lodge-pole Pine in the fire ring. Good stuff. Wish I could have taken a pickup load home back to PA. Would not be afraid at all to burn it in my wood stove this winter. Seems like easy pickings too for you and Wildwest it is standing dead everywhere!
Sure does have that issue. Sharpening chains afterwards is a need afterwards. I remember getting started on a black locust tree without me even knowing what the tree was and I’m glad I bought a new chain for it. Interesting deal but good wood out of it. Well when fatwood forms it’s like a version of healing itself, just closes it up to avoid infection. Then the tree can die suddenly forcing itself to just harden fast and “save itself” but that’s futile at best.
There is a lot of standing dead but they will not let you go just anywhere in Medicine Bow NF to cut it. There are only a few places that are 100 miles from me that allow you to get firewood and one of those areas burned down last year because of some yahoo and his camping fire.
Pine gets cut around here and it will lay. I know of two different piles of logs that were just cut, both along busy roads. I want to pick it up but dont have a trailer right now and dont want to make a mess in Tahoe. My guess it will still be there when trailer is available.
Well, I grew up in Lousiana, and now live in Washington, and I assure you we have more pine here than you do there! Pine is a great firewood. (And yes, I too once believed that "nobody burns pine, it will cause chimney fires!") I am in a cold climate, firewood is my only heat source, and pine ranges from 1/3 to 1/2 of what I burn each year, and most of the rest is Douglas Fir, another evergreen. If I had Oak or Ash, I would burn it, but I have pine (mostly lodgepole) and Pine is Fine.
