# Wood that should NOT be burned, species to avoid.



## Cedrusdeodara (Jan 3, 2010)

I thought this might be an interesting thread to start.  I'd like to hear from others, "what wood I would never burn in my stove".  Maybe it stinks, produces no heat, etc., etc.  An obvious example would be any wood that has been pressure treated, as they contain deadly compounds.  However, natural traits of some trees make them terrible burning candidates.  Those are the ones I'd like to hear other's input on.

Here is my contribution:

Ginkgo biloba:  Gingko Tree, Maidenhair Tree.  It is unlikely that anyone would normally burn this tree, as it is not native to our country.  But, it has become a very popular landscape tree and it is used heavily in street plantings in cities due to its compact form and tolerance to pollution.  Due to it's popularity in landscapes, wood may occasionally become available to us cut-and-burn folks.  DONT DO IT!

Here is why.  Ginkgo is a far relative to Poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison oak.  It is actually in the Cashew family.  Members of this family are called Toxicondenderons, due to the presence of Urushoil oil, a non-toxic but highly allergenic oil that results in the itchy rash commonly associated with the poisons Ivy, sumac, oak, etc.  I learned, too late that Ginkgo was in this family, as our nursery has grown them for a number of years and I got "burned" by the fruit several times before realizing the cause.  The fruit is about the size of a golf ball and it smells like vomit.  The fruit is high in Urushoil oil, so handling it and touching anywhere on your face (especially around the eyes) will result in a poison-ivy like result (swell up like you were hit by Rocky, and itches like poison ivy).  Anyway, burning Ginkgo, would volatilize the Urushoil oil, possibly exposing your lung tissues to the oils.  Imagine inhaling poison sumac fumes...  STAY AWAY..   Beautiful tree, but not one to burn.

Side note:  If you ever consider planting a Ginkgo in your yard, be sure it is a grafted male clone variety (examples "Autumn Gold", "Fastigiata", "Halka", "Princeton Sentry", "Magyar", etc.).  AVOID plain seedlings, as there is a 50% chance they will be female and they will litter your yard with thousands of vomit balls in the fall.  Many cities actually have ordinances restricting the planting of Ginkgos that are not male clones, because the female seeds are such a nuisance.   The seeds, once cleaned, can be dried and eaten.  The health food people claim it improves memory and mental health.


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## JustWood (Jan 3, 2010)

Eye absoluteLEE hate burning Baswood! Most putrid smelling smoke ever. Makes me sneeze and cough like nobodies biz.


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## hareball (Jan 3, 2010)

Around here Pine was always a no-no. Until I started reading this forum I didn't know people burned it. I don't even ever see it sold here for firewood.


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## Cedrusdeodara (Jan 3, 2010)

Hareball, I thought that too, till I started burning some 4yr seasoned pine and spruce.  I love it.  It is all about being well seasoned.  

Nice looking fish there in the avatar.  Bluefin tuna? 

Brian


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## gyrfalcon (Jan 3, 2010)

Cedrusdeodara said:
			
		

> Ginkgo biloba:  Gingko Tree, Maidenhair Tree.  It is unlikely that anyone would normally burn this tree, as it is not native to our country.  But, it has become a very popular landscape tree and it is used heavily in street plantings in cities due to its compact form and tolerance to pollution.  Due to it's popularity in landscapes, wood may occasionally become available to us cut-and-burn folks.  DONT DO IT!



Wow.  Thanks for the heads up.  I'm unlikely ever to encounter it, but this is certainly a good thread for those of us who cast a greedy, scrounging eye on good-sized prunings of just about anything around the property.


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## Bigg_Redd (Jan 3, 2010)

Pine.  It causes chimney fires.


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## hareball (Jan 3, 2010)

Cedrusdeodara said:
			
		

> Hareball, I thought that too, till I started burning some 4yr seasoned pine and spruce.  I love it.  It is all about being well seasoned.
> 
> Nice looking fish there in the avatar.  Bluefin tuna?
> 
> Brian



Thanks Brian! It was a Big Eye Tuna Taken at the Hudson Canyon  July 09.


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## derecskey (Jan 3, 2010)

Bigg_Redd said:
			
		

> Pine.  It causes chimney fires.



Shame on you.


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## prajna101 (Jan 3, 2010)

There are some female ginko trees near my office.  Yes, one month of the year the nuts fall and smell like dog poo.  But there are always people harvesting them and they TASTE GREAT!!  I have to fight for some every year.  The oils are only allergins to some people.  I have never burned any, but I probably would if it fell.  Its kind of like saying dont burn cottonwood if you have hay fever.  Perhaps you are right to some extent.  But its a big brush you are painting with I think. 

Just my .02

t


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## Cedrusdeodara (Jan 3, 2010)

Tritodd, we do have some latino employees that are not effected by the seeds, but eveyone in my family who has handled the seeds has been effected.  I don't know, I wouldn't want to be the lab rat that determines if it effects my lungs.


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## prajna101 (Jan 3, 2010)

The way I understand it, the stuff around the seed is the stinking toxic stuff.  I have handled it fine, but am REALLY alergic to poison ivy.  I am terrified of burning poision ivy.  

t


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## lobsta1 (Jan 3, 2010)

I think any unseasoned wood should not be burned.
Al


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## LLigetfa (Jan 3, 2010)

hareball said:
			
		

> Around here Pine was always a no-no. Until I started reading this forum I didn't know people burned it. I don't even ever see it sold here for firewood.


Even if they sell it doesn't mean I'd burn it.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_nX0X4MOKcKI/ShXCOn6PviI/AAAAAAAAAWc/2EQlQM1HNPw/s640/DSCF0002.JPG


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## hareball (Jan 3, 2010)

Not a single Pine has passed through the doors of my stove in it's entire life. Nobody here even cuts it. When a plot of land is cleared the pine goes right in the shredder. Even growing up and having parties out in the woods we didn't throw pine on a fire. 
I guess if it's all you got then thats what your gonna burn though. I'd love a nice mix of hardwoods but 95% of my dellivered wood is oak.


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## joshlaugh (Jan 3, 2010)

I hate boxelder and don't ever want to burn it again.  Hard to split and doesn't burn very hot even after properly seasoned.  Never had problems with basswood though(although I can't say that I ever smelled it burning)


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## Highbeam (Jan 3, 2010)

Driftwood due to corrosion and railroad ties due to nasty smoke nomatter how finely you split them.


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## myzamboni (Jan 4, 2010)

petrified wood.  it doesn't hold a flame.


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## ROBERT F (Jan 4, 2010)

Salt Cedar.  Either that or the saguaro skeletons.  them things dont hold any btu's!


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## billb3 (Jan 4, 2010)

Ply.



It can be a bear to split, anyway.


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## ISeeDeadBTUs (Jan 4, 2010)

billb3 said:
			
		

> Ply.
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> It can be a bear to split, anyway.



Leave it for the porcupines :lol:


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## Danno77 (Jan 4, 2010)

lol, vomit balls...


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## Gary_602z (Jan 5, 2010)

Thou Shalt not Burn Thy Neighbors Wood!

Gary


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## CowboyAndy (Jan 5, 2010)

the only stuff i wont burn is the obvious painted/pressure treated/stained. i will burn any species if they are easily avalible. if someone offered to drop off 5 cords of cut split and seasoned cottonwood, i would burn it. i have burned 3 cords of basswood this year. also some box elder. i have a cord of pine seasoning for next year. if it gives btus i will burn it.


oh wait, i wont burn green wood.


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## KarlP (Jan 5, 2010)

Anything over $150/cord. ;-)


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## nojo (Jan 5, 2010)

KarlP said:
			
		

> Anything over $150/cord. ;-)



I cant find anything under 220 a cord


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## pyper (Jan 6, 2010)

nojo said:
			
		

> KarlP said:
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I can't find anything even approaching $100 a cord....

Anyway, what about peach pits? I've got peach trees, and I probably end up with 10 or 20 gallons of peach pits in a season. Can I burn them? What about black walnuts?

I had a branch fall off a flowering pear tree two summers ago, and it burns nice. That's mainly what I've been burning, along with some maple and oak.


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## jp savage (Jan 6, 2010)

Find an Amish family for your Wallnuts. They buy all of mine. There are people that drive up and down the roads in the fall picking up all of the nuts that are laying around. I think I have gotten as much as $100 and I did nothing, but say go ahead and pick em up.


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## North of 60 (Jan 6, 2010)

hareball said:
			
		

> Not a single Pine has passed through the doors of my stove in it's entire life. Nobody here even cuts it. When a plot of land is cleared the pine goes right in the shredder. Even growing up and having parties out in the woods we didn't throw pine on a fire.
> I guess if it's all you got then thats what your gonna burn though. I'd love a nice mix of hardwoods but 95% of my dellivered wood is oak.



Its kinda funny though. The places that have the longest and coldest winters usually only have Pine and Spruce to heat with.
Id figure that if the Oak was so mighty, then why is it so wimpy that it cant even exist up here? Id say it doesn't even deserve to be stove worthy. :lol: Nice Avatar by the way. Cheers.
N of 60


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## WoodPorn (Jan 6, 2010)

north of 60 said:
			
		

> hareball said:
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The Oak, like most humans desire warm sunlight more than 2 months in a year!!


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## KarlP (Jan 6, 2010)

nojo said:
			
		

> KarlP said:
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CD - $120
CSD - $170
http://westernmass.craigslist.org/grd/1539460836.html

CD - $140
CSD - $185
http://westernmass.craigslist.org/for/1538271053.html

Log Length delivered - $100
http://westernmass.craigslist.org/for/1535651276.html

Log Length you pick up - $60
http://westernmass.craigslist.org/grd/1522702356.html


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## EDGE (Jan 8, 2010)

Hey, north of 60

I'd be willing to bet that the bur oak would thrive up there. They just haven't had time to arrive in the short interglacials we've been having lately. Why don't you plant a few or sow some acorns so that in a few hundred years we'll know who won?


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## North of 60 (Jan 8, 2010)

EDGE said:
			
		

> Hey, north of 60
> 
> I'd be willing to bet that the bur oak would thrive up there. They just haven't had time to arrive in the short interglacials we've been having lately. Why don't you plant a few or sow some acorns so that in a few hundred years we'll know who won?



You send them and I will plant them. Right after the frost is gone, so this means there is no rush.  ;-)


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## EDGE (Jan 8, 2010)

You may be thinking I won't, but I will.   We had a very poor acorn yield this fall, but some years you can't take a step without having them crunch underfoot. If we have average weather we should have a good crop this summer. You send me a private e-mail with your address and a reminder in mid-August, and I'll ship you up a bunch, along with sowing instructions.


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## firefighterjake (Jan 8, 2010)

Can't say as there is any species of tree in my neck of the woods that I would not burn . . . short of the wood being too punky or too unseasoned. Hardwood, softwood . . . it all goes into the fire if I come across it. I try not to discriminate.


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## lexybird (Jan 8, 2010)

wood is just too cheap to burn junk ..i dont waste my time with pine or softwoods unless maybe its the hemlock i get  from the amish down the road .  15 bucks all cut in perfect stove length and size  neatly stacked in my silverado ,kinda hard to beat for occasional use to start fires and such ,but yeah most of the prized wood you guys out west use is not even suitable for campfires here in fact most tree services  local to me take conifers and poplar  to the landfill becuase no one will want it


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