Pretty much limited to red & white oak, swamp maple, cherry, a little bit of yellow and grey birch and eastern white pine here . I'm not picky, I'll burn whatever's ready ( pine when no one's looking ) although all oak would be nice. I'm gonna have a lot of white oak to burn in two or three years. We have a few kinds of poplars, hemlock and beech here too but haven't burnt much in a while.
Elm is basically just as good BTU wise as ash. At least American elm is. I like elm too. Yeah it's a pita to split, compared to other woods, but it burns awesome, is barkless, dry and clean when I cut it down.
I like a mixture to , Very rare that I put a full load of hickory or oak in, usually mix those with ash and or maple, warmer temps , mix cherry, walnut, maple, pine, poplar , box elder maybe a stick of ash ,in different combinations
for me it's now but you would call it january if you think of an upside down head and shoulders where the head is the coldest part of winter shoulder season is the month leading up to it so in northern hemisphere Oct November and then March and april.. here typically 50 degree days and 30s at nite
Ya the mix is where its at. I start my fires with larch or pine kindling, if shoulder season just mostly burn pine and red fir. When the sub 15f comes around elm and juniper get thrown in too.
I was going to add more to this but life got busy enough for me to forget the thread! Shoulder season also has different kinds of levels because it depends on where you live due to the severity of winters. I live in Washington so shoulder season is just about all winter long in comparison to others. Temps in my area of WA don't often drop below teen temps. We still have cold times, off and on. It's weather dependent. One day we can see 60-70's during a week in the winter then the next week or so can drive a snow storm. All that doesn't change the fact that a good majority of this crew are ready for a pretty cold winter this year. Shoulder season for some doesn't happen. Its warm one day and next thing they know, its those days of burning.
My favorites in descending order are; 1) Getting paid to take it away. 2) Someone dropping off free wood. 3) Free wood cut up that I hafta go get. 4) Free trees still standing that I gotta drop and buck up. Seriously, I burn mostly White Oak, Cherry, Maple of all kinds, Bitternut Hickory, and American Elm. With a good sprinkling in of Beech and Birch.
Nice good "mixed grill" picks for your stove! I'm sitting on a good mix of wood too, probably more than the average burner would since maybe they would probably just keep it simple and enough for that year they burn and get more during the burning season for next year. Some like consistency than others but like you I will Revel in variety!!! Definitely a good mix is ready for this year.
Hey FatBoy85 did you ever get any more of that lemon scented gum? That is my favourite smelling wood! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I don't think its gum, I must have fallen into a patch of Alaskan Cypress/Yellow Cedar (goes by a handful of names) . I hadn't had much experience with it before so the smell I was drawn to like a moth to a flame. Very lemony though. I do have a source of it that also has me picking through their black locust. Told me just go ahead and take that too. Im grateful but just don't often get to that side of town as much since my parents aren't home.
As a hand splitter, I'm gonna have to say that red and white oak are my favorite. Super easy to split, and it really leaves an impression on the missus when I'm just blowing apart rounds with a single swing!
How does the poplar work out? I have it in abundance on my property, within easy distance of the house.
It's low btu's, 14 mbtu's a cord, but seasons pretty quickly. If you've got a good amount close to home, then get it. That is unless you're swimming in good hardwood and are ahead 2+ years.
Close to home I took down a dozen or so sixty to eighty footers when the last big storm was supposed to come through because they could strike the house if blown down. My property was logged, more like raped, 15-20 years before we bought it. Hardwoods are starting to come back, but the poplar is what I have most of in mature-ish trees. 2years ahead? I'm 2 years behind!
