# Neighbor freaking out over pine.



## owingsia (Feb 12, 2014)

I was out splitting wood and stacking it when my neighbor came over to visit. He was shocked that I was splitting up pine and staking it. Told me to only burn oak or I would have chimney fires. 

I explained that I needed wood for next year (Have been splitting and stacking it since November) and pine will work when seasoned for 12 months or more. He looked at my wood stacks and was seriously concerned about me having a fire. He kept saying I do think you should be spending time stacking that stuff! He said I should cut down the 3 oak trees on my property and get them split because they will be ready by October 2015 to burn. 

When I questioned him about oak he insisted that I could season in 6-8 months if split and stacked. 

I asked him if he had a moisture meter and told him that come October that my pine stacks from Nov would be dryer than his oak and ready to burn. He said moisture has nothing to do with it, pine has pitch and tar in it that gunk up chimneys! 


I politely informed him that plenty of people burn pine and as long as they keep the chimney clean they are fine. I didnt go into anything about keeping a chimney clean by burning only dry wood!

I also have cherry that I split and stacked in October, I hope will be ready by this time next year. My neighbor insisted that cherry could be burned fresh cut if you split it before tossing int he fire.


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## Missouri Frontier (Feb 12, 2014)

you did your best. from now on just smile and nod.


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## Jags (Feb 12, 2014)

Old info from old timers.  I simply point out that folks up north and some out west have no other wood to choose from and they seem to get along fine with needle trees.


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## Jon1270 (Feb 12, 2014)

I work in a woodshop that generates both hardwood and pine scrap, and my boss has long insisted that the scrap be kept in separate bins because he only burns the hardwood, on the basis of the same misunderstanding.  I recently managed to convince him he was wrong.  I was amazed to have been able to overcome that old notion, but it seems I did.  Makes me think more of him.


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## CenterTree (Feb 12, 2014)

owingsia said:


> I also have cherry that I split and stacked in October, I hope will be ready by this time next year*. My neighbor insisted that cherry could be burned fresh cut if you split it before tossing int he fire*.



There's an interesting train of thought.

So as long as ya split the Cherry right B4 putting it in the stove , it is somehow magically dry enough


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## Adabiviak (Feb 12, 2014)

Is he saying that pine needs longer to season than oak? I might be concerned about a house fire from _his_ side of the property.


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## Jon1270 (Feb 12, 2014)

FWIW, I come at it with the assumption that there is probably some kernel of truth to the myth about pine, that actually makes sense in some contexts.  In this case the context is the neighbor's assumption that wood is ready to burn on the first day it's possible to light it on fire.  Pine tars ignite at a significantly lower temperature than other flammable components of wood, so pine will be wetter, on the first day it's possible to light it on fire, than will hardwoods on the first day it's possible to light them on fire.  Looking at it that way, i.e. barely flammable pine vs. barely flammable hardwood, the pine will burn at a lower temperature and generate more smoke, more of which will condense on the chimney as creosote.  See what I mean?  The prejudice against pine follows naturally, and even usefully, from the assumption that moisture content is unimportant.  If  you can beat back the notion that moisture content is unimportant, then the pine thing might yield more easily.


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## Lumber-Jack (Feb 12, 2014)

Jon1270 said:


> FWIW, I come at it with the assumption that there is probably some kernel of truth to the myth about pine, that actually makes sense in some contexts.  In this case the context is the neighbor's assumption that wood is ready to burn on the first day it's possible to light it on fire.  Pine tars ignite at a significantly lower temperature than other flammable components of wood, so pine will be wetter, on the first day it's possible to light it on fire, than will hardwoods on the first day it's possible to light them on fire.  Looking at it that way, i.e. barely flammable pine vs. barely flammable hardwood, the pine will burn at a lower temperature and generate more smoke, more of which will condense on the chimney as creosote.  See what I mean?  The prejudice against pine follows naturally, and even usefully, from the assumption that moisture content is unimportant.  If  you can beat back the notion that moisture content is unimportant, then the pine thing might yield more easily.


Actually, you are right that there is a bit of truth to the "pine causes chimney fires" myth, but it is only of Eastern origin and it probably goes more like this....
You take your typical Easterner who, year after year, burns predominantly unseasoned Oak, blissfully developing a good thick coating of creosote in his chimney. Eventually one day he finds, or someone offers him, some nice dry Pine. He then proceeds to burn a load of this nice dry Pine in the same manner as he usually burns the wet Oak, expecting much the same sort of results, but instead the fire burns much hotter (the way it is suppose to) than it has ever done in the past, thus igniting the creosote that has been developing in the chimney over the years, and he has a huge chimney fire. The fire department comes and puts out the fire (hopefully saving his house and family), later the fire chief asks the homeowner how the chimney fire got started? To which the homeowner replies, “all I did was burn a load of Pine.” Thus perpetuating the myth that the Pine was the “cause” of the chimney fire and it is "dangerous" to burn in your stove.

Just remember the significant difference between pine and oak (if oak is what you're use to burning) is that pine not only seasons faster than oak, it also burns faster and hotter too.


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## Hoozie (Feb 12, 2014)

Invite him over the next time you sweep your chimney.  Then offer to sweep his.

Then have fun attempting to explain that, no, his buckets of creosote aren't safer because they came from oak


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## owingsia (Feb 12, 2014)

Adabiviak said:


> Is he saying that pine needs longer to season than oak? I might be concerned about a house fire from _his_ side of the property.



From what I was able to gather he thinks that pine does not actually season, instead you get pine tar and resins etc... 

My wife texted me this morning saying he wanted to bring over some wood for me for next year. Told her pine was not safe etc... she had no idea and was concerned about me taking down pine trees (We have about 90% pine on 5 acres and im not paying 250+ for oak when I cant get pine and tulip poplar for free. We just ordered out stove (Woodstock Fire View)  and I am going to need wood for the next year. I have cherry and tulip poplar that I hope will be ready but that may be 2016 wood (Based on moisture content come next year). Our pine stacks are seasoning well as we speak. 

My wife told me she thinks I know what im doing so if I say pine is fine she is fine with that. He really had her scared though. I told her if he brings oak over we will have to wait until 2017 to burn it.


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## Jags (Feb 12, 2014)

If a neighbor wanted to bring over some firewood for next winter I would be like "Yeah, sure.  Right over there"


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## owingsia (Feb 12, 2014)

CenterTree said:


> There's an interesting train of thought.
> 
> So as long as ya split the Cherry right B4 putting it in the stove , it is somehow magically dry enough




This year about 2 weeks before Christmas he took down a huge cherry tree (live) I know I helped him. We talked about it and he said it would be ready to burn come Jan/ Feb. I didnt argue with him. Sure enough we went to visit him recently and he had the cherry we split in the house next to the stove. I asked him how it was burning and he said "Oh great! Just got to get a hot fire going with kinling and then toss in the splits. They wont burn easy if you dont do that first!" He is of the idea that since he has been burning wood his entire life he knows best. The one saving grace for him is that he does clean his chimney every month... "If you dont clean at least once a month you will have a chimney fire!"


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## Lumber-Jack (Feb 12, 2014)

It is true that some types of wood (not just pine) contain small amounts of volatile resins, and although the burning of these resins could immeasurably contribute to creosote formation in chimney flues, they are far from any leading cause of creosote formation, and that is burning wood that is too wet. Of course there are other contributing factors of creosote formation which include a smoldering fire, or incomplete combustion of wood fuel in the stove, a cold chimney, leaks in the flue itself, and probably a few others I can't think of right now.  Exactly how much the resins found in certain types of wood might actually contribute to creosote formation is probably unknown, but my guess is probably less than .01% in dry wood, and even less in wet wood. I'm willing to accept any evidence to the contrary.

The real key to low creosote formation and minimizing chimney fires is proper burning (no smoldering) of dry wood (<20% MC), in a modern EPA wood stove, with a well designed chimney flue, and checking and sweeping your chimney on a regular basis so you know what's going on. Take care of those things and it really doesn't mater what type of wood you burn.

Owingsia, does your neighbor friend not have access to the internet?
Oh, I'm with Jags, take the wood, but let him bring it over when you are home, not when your wife is there alone.


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## jatoxico (Feb 12, 2014)

Sounds like a good guy and is genuinely concerned enough to even give you some of his wood. What kind of stove is he using? About the best you may be able to do is to tell him new stoves are different and can burn anything as long as you get the moisture down then show him the manual or some other source of your choice. No sense arguing (not that you were).


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## fossil (Feb 12, 2014)

Send him out here to the Pacific Northwest for a couple weeks of Winter Camp...we'll teach him a thing or three about burning Pine & other softwoods perfectly safely.


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## richg (Feb 12, 2014)

owingsia said:


> He is of the idea that since he has been burning wood his entire life he knows best.


 On another web site, I tried to have an intelligent discussion with a guy who has been "burning wood all his life". He knew everything about everything and nobody was going to tell him anything new or different. He had some gems such as his 1970 stove burns just as clean as today's stoves, that wood only needs to season for a month before it is ready to burn, that pine causes creosote fires but wet oak does not, etc etc.


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## jatoxico (Feb 12, 2014)

richg said:


> On another web site, I tried to have an intelligent discussion with a guy who has been "burning wood all his life". He knew everything about everything and nobody was going to tell him anything new or different. He had some gems such as his 1970 stove burns just as clean as today's stoves, that wood only needs to season for a month before it is ready to burn, that pine causes creosote fires but wet oak does not, etc etc.


 
I like this one, "Never try to teach a pig to sing, it wastes your time and annoys the pig".


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## Backwoods Savage (Feb 12, 2014)

owingsia said:


> From what I was able to gather he thinks that pine does not actually season, instead you get pine tar and resins etc...
> 
> My wife texted me this morning saying he wanted to bring over some wood for me for next year. Told her pine was not safe etc... she had no idea and was concerned about me taking down pine trees (We have about 90% pine on 5 acres and im not paying 250+ for oak when I cant get pine and tulip poplar for free. We just ordered out stove (Woodstock Fire View)  and I am going to need wood for the next year. I have cherry and tulip poplar that I hope will be ready but that may be 2016 wood (Based on moisture content come next year). Our pine stacks are seasoning well as we speak.
> 
> My wife told me she thinks I know what im doing so if I say pine is fine she is fine with that. He really had her scared though. I told her if he brings oak over we will have to wait until 2017 to burn it.



Congratulations on the new stove owisgsia. And nobody has told a Fireview stove that it can't burn pine! 

As for the neighbor you speak of, they are all over the place. Another funny thing you will run into is that many times the advice comes hot and heavy....from people who do not burn wood. Yet, they think they know more about it than you do. Even new wood burners can get super educated and then try to educate you. I had one guy I let cut some wood on our place for a while and was amazed at his knowledge of how to fell trees, how to burn wood, etc, etc. I politely listened but did not say much. Then when we were out by one of our wood piles someone made a comment about one of my wood piles and I told them it was sold. He then really got hot under the collar when I stated there was a cord of wood in the stack. He went right to the stack and pointed out the cribbed ends and said that right there cuts down so you do not have a full cord there. By that time I'd had enough though and handed him a tape measure and told him to measure the stack and then tell me it was not a cord. He refused and continued on with his bull. So I stuck a tape on and stretched it out then told him to look closely. Oh, well, he was not aware that my wood stacks were not 8' long. He just assumed it. They were actually 10' long and there was more than a cord there. He did not cut wood long on our place...


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## Missouri Frontier (Feb 12, 2014)

Backwoods Savage said:


> Congratulations on the new stove owisgsia. And nobody has told a Fireview stove that it can't burn pine!
> 
> As for the neighbor you speak of, they are all over the place. Another funny thing you will run into is that many times the advice comes hot and heavy....from people who do not burn wood. Yet, they think they know more about it than you do. Even new wood burners can get super educated and then try to educate you. I had one guy I let cut some wood on our place for a while and was amazed at his knowledge of how to fell trees, how to burn wood, etc, etc. I politely listened but did not say much. Then when we were out by one of our wood piles someone made a comment about one of my wood piles and I told them it was sold. He then really got hot under the collar when I stated there was a cord of wood in the stack. He went right to the stack and pointed out the cribbed ends and said that right there cuts down so you do not have a full cord there. By that time I'd had enough though and handed him a tape measure and told him to measure the stack and then tell me it was not a cord. He refused and continued on with his bull. So I stuck a tape on and stretched it out then told him to look closely. Oh, well, he was not aware that my wood stacks were not 8' long. He just assumed it. They were actually 10' long and there was more than a cord there. He did not cut wood long on our place...


 

scrounging lesson #1: arguing with the man that is letting you cut his timber seriously reduces your chances of gathering said timber.


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## Woody Stover (Feb 12, 2014)

owingsia said:


> I didnt go into anything about keeping a chimney clean by burning only dry wood


It is negligent and irresponsible of you to fail to convey this most important fact. You need to go back over there immediately and warn him, or it'll be on _your_ head if anything happens. 



> My neighbor insisted that cherry could be burned fresh cut if you split it before tossing in the fire.


It _can_ be burned fresh. Just don't expect any heat to speak of....except from the chimney fire.


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## bmblank (Feb 12, 2014)

jatoxico said:


> I like this one, "Never try to teach a pig to sing, it wastes your time and annoys the pig".


You can polish a turd as long as you want, but in the end all you have is a shiny turd.


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## firebroad (Feb 12, 2014)

Okay, this is appropriate.  Had some big pines break off last week in an ice storm, my wood dealer sent his boys out to bring down the dangerous hanging ones, and stack up the mess to be hauled away.  There was too much for me to handle, some limbs coming in at a foot across, and some stabbed into the solid frozen ground about 5 inches.  
You are right, even the boys who work with firewood all year were trying to warn me about the "dangers" of burning pine.  When I told them what I learned here, they sort of got quiet, as though to say, "She'll learn, once her chimney catches on fire!'

I have been out since sunup bucking up the big ones, got about a quarter cord.  I will split when weather turns better, we are getting 9-12 of snow tomorrow.
I got finished just before 5.  I am ready for a hot bath and a hot meal, I will clean the saw tomorrow.
Is that right about the pine only  needing a year?  I was going to ask if it takes longer than hardwood because of all the resin.
Next question, so how do you get the resin out of jeans?


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## bmblank (Feb 12, 2014)

Best thing you can do with the resin is rub dirt into it. Doesn't get rid if the resin, but gets rid of the stickiness.


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## Backwoods Savage (Feb 12, 2014)

Miracle Whip will work. Sometimes shampoo will work too.


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## bigbarf48 (Feb 12, 2014)

I tend to try to avoid arguing/debating with people who I know to be wrong, saves lots of frustration 

But like someone above said, he seems like he means well enough


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## Lumber-Jack (Feb 12, 2014)

firebroad said:


> Next question, so how do you get the resin out of jeans?


Acetone!
Everybody should keep some acetone around, it works on the stickiest stuff. I use to keep it in the house when I use to burn douglas fir and  the pitch would get on my fingers or on the floor. It's been years since I burned that stuff, but I still use acetone when I'm doing some caulking or using any of the pl300 type glues.


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## firebroad (Feb 12, 2014)

Backwoods Savage said:


> Miracle Whip will work. Sometimes shampoo will work too.


I will try the shampoo first, if that doesn't do it, I have a jar of mayo in the cellar.
I don't care about the gloves and the barn jacket, but I like my jeans...
Also, found the best way to get all the sawdust out that sticks to the microfiber inside my boots is one of those brushes that you use to clean the clothes dryer.  Soft enough to not snag, but gets it out.  
All in all, I feel pretty satisfied for a 60 year old pencil-pusher.


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## firebroad (Feb 12, 2014)

Lumber-Jack said:


> Acetone!
> Everybody should keep some acetone around, it works on the stickiest stuff. I use to keep it in the house when I use to burn douglas fir and  the pitch would get on my fingers or on the floor. It's been years since I burned that stuff, but I still use acetone when I'm doing some caulking or using any of the pl300 type glues.


That's the stuff in fingernail polish remover, right?


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## bmblank (Feb 12, 2014)

Yes


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## Fifelaker (Feb 12, 2014)

Not sure about resin but I used to pour a can of coke in with my oil rig clothes and it cut that nasty stuff. I know WD-40 will cut pine tar then you can use shampoo (It may stain)


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## Paulywalnut (Feb 12, 2014)

Yep the guys that only have pine do just fine.


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## Lumber-Jack (Feb 12, 2014)

firebroad said:


> That's the stuff in fingernail polish remover, right?


Yes, there is acetone in fingernail polish remover, so if you have some give it a try, otherwise that would be an expensive way to buy acetone.
Forgot to mention, it also work great for getting fiberglass resin off your fingers.


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## red oak (Feb 12, 2014)

Lumber-Jack said:


> Actually, you are right that there is a bit of truth to the "pine causes chimney fires" myth, but it is only of Eastern origin and it probably goes more like this....
> You take your typical Easterner who, year after year, burns predominantly unseasoned Oak, blissfully developing a good thick coating of creosote in his chimney. Eventually one day he finds, or someone offers him, some nice dry Pine. He then proceeds to burn a load of this nice dry Pine in the same manner as he usually burns the wet Oak, expecting much the same sort of results, but instead the fire burns much hotter (the way it is suppose to) than it has ever done in the past, thus igniting the creosote that has been developing in the chimney over the years, and he has a huge chimney fire. The fire department comes and puts out the fire (hopefully saving his house and family), later the fire chief asks the homeowner how the chimney fire got started? To which the homeowner replies, “all I did was burn a load of Pine.” Thus perpetuating the myth that the Pine was the “cause” of the chimney fire and it is "dangerous" to burn in your stove.
> 
> Just remember the significant difference between pine and oak (if oak is what you're use to burning) is that pine not only seasons faster than oak, it also burns faster and hotter too.



My thoughts exactly.  The pine myth is all over here in Virginia.  I only know 2 other people besides myself that will even attempt to burn it.


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## blacktail (Feb 12, 2014)

fossil said:


> Send him out here to the Pacific Northwest for a couple weeks of Winter Camp...we'll teach him a thing or three about burning Pine & other softwoods perfectly safely.



While he's out here, he should go on a Travis Industries factory tour. When he sees their big stack of Douglas fir he can tell them how foolish they are for burning it.


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## Wood Duck (Feb 12, 2014)

How is the pitch in pines, which is flammable, supposed to make it through the fire and get onto the chimney? Pitch burns. It burns really well, in fact.


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## Lumber-Jack (Feb 12, 2014)

Wood Duck said:


> How is the pitch in pines, which is flammable, supposed to make it through the fire and get onto the chimney? Pitch burns. It burns really well, in fact.


Good point. but I could ask you the same thing.
How is the wood in pines, which is flammable, supposed to make it through the fire and get onto the chimney? Wood burns. It burns really well, in fact.

The answer is, practically anything that burns, especially anything that burns incompletely, will produce soot (creosote).


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## Tom Wallace (Feb 12, 2014)

Backwoods Savage said:


> Miracle Whip will work. Sometimes shampoo will work too.


I've found that gritty laundry or dish detergent works well for getting sap off your skin. It may work if you try to work in some of the detergent with your fingers and some warm water, then through them in the wash. Liquid detergents won't work, has to be the powdered, coarse granules.


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## Wood Duck (Feb 12, 2014)

Lumber-Jack said:


> Good point. but I could ask you the same thing.
> How is the wood in pines, which is flammable, supposed to make it through the fire and get onto the chimney? Wood burns. It burns really well, in fact.
> 
> The answer is, practically anything that burns, especially anything that burns incompletely, will produce soot (creosote).



Both wood and pitch burn, but pitch is a very flammable and volatile material, while wood includes lots of compounds that are a lot less flammable than pitch. I wonder if pitch is ever a significant component of creosote. I doubt it is. I also doubt anyone really cares enough to research this topic.


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## Lumber-Jack (Feb 12, 2014)

Wood Duck said:


> . I wonder if pitch is ever a significant component of creosote.* I doubt it is.* .


On that we can agree. It would be very insignificant.


Lumber-Jack said:


> Exactly how much the resins found in certain types of wood might actually contribute to creosote formation is probably unknown, but my guess is *probably less than .01%* in dry wood, and even less in wet wood.


However, like I said, anything that burns produces byproducts that can form soot, even a clean burning gas like propane can produce large amounts of sooty residue if the gas/air ratio isn't set perfectly.


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## Hoozie (Feb 12, 2014)

Acetone  to get sap/pitch off your hands?  Try butter instead.  Scrub the pitch with a pea sized amount, then warm water & soap to get that off.  Might work on jeans as well. 

Growing up splitting pine we had to know these things


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## Cascade Failure (Feb 12, 2014)

Lumber-Jack said:


> You take your typical Easterner...



You just can't trust those guys...


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## Lumber-Jack (Feb 12, 2014)

Hoozie said:


> Acetone  to get sap/pitch off your hands?


Yep, acetone.  It's pretty harmless, in fact our body produces it's own acetone. Just be careful, it is flammable. (keep away from open flames)
 Been using it for years.


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## blacktail (Feb 13, 2014)

I climbed a lot of fir trees as a kid. "Pam" (non stick cooking spray) was the go-to product for getting pitch off my hands.


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## firefighterjake (Feb 13, 2014)

Let him freak ... while you stay warm and burn cleanly next winter. Of course he may not believe you are even burning wood ... much less burning pine if he looks over at your chimney and never or rarely sees any smoke coming out of it ... while his chimney with the un-seasoned wood belches smoke like an old steam locomotive. Some folks can be educated right away ... Some folks need to see the proof first hand ... Some folks will never understand.


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## PapaDave (Feb 13, 2014)

owingsia said:


> If you dont clean at least once a month you will have a chimney fire


Evidently, this isn't enough to get him thinking that his methods are questionable.
It's not always easy for some to recognize clues.
Seems as though you're on pretty good terms with the guy, so maybe invite him over while the pine is burning, then again when you clean the flue.
Ask him in an offhanded manner if he would mind holding the ladder or something, then show him the results.
You want to lead him to the water, then make it seem as though it was his idea to drink it.


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## Driver (Feb 13, 2014)

red oak said:


> My thoughts exactly.  The pine myth is all over here in Virginia.  I only know 2 other people besides myself that will even attempt to burn it.


Make that 3, I burn it no problem. I don't go out of my way to get it, but if I'm cutting hardwood and there happens to be a downed pine close to it I'm getting it as well. After sawing on a big oak it's a nice break to saw pine.


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## red oak (Feb 13, 2014)

Driver said:


> Make that 3, I burn it no problem. I don't go out of my way to get it, but if I'm cutting hardwood and there happens to be a downed pine close to it I'm getting it as well. After sawing on a big oak it's a nice break to saw pine.



Haha Driver - I meant in person!  I know dozens of people around here that heat with wood, only myself and 2 others burn any pine at all.  Like you, I don't go out of my way to get it, but I did have a nice one come down on my property - to not burn it would just be wasteful.


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## lindnova (Feb 13, 2014)

We don't have much pine here.  I usually overlook it and cut oak, elm, cherry and box elder at field edge clearings.  I cut a spruce in my yard 2 weeks ago.  Lots of sap!  I hate that, but like the smell.  I got it off pretty well with fast orange cleaner.

I would burn it though if that was what I had.  Dry wood is the answer.

As was said, pine burns faster likely causing a creosote buildup to catch fire.  Around here the same is said about box elder causing buildup, but if dry it burns quite well.  Only problem is getting moldy & punky if not kept dry & off the ground.  Moldy box elder sure smells bad when burned.


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## weatherguy (Feb 13, 2014)

Does your neighbor have a newer epa stove? My neighbor is the same way and laughs at my stacks of wood. He has a smoke dragon in his basement that he burns unseasoned wood (gets it delivered in Oct). He bought a new epa stove for upstairs but said it doesn't work well or throw much heat. I told him to get a few wheel barrows from my stacks and try it in his stove, he never did and just doesn't burn his newer one.


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## Lumber-Jack (Feb 13, 2014)

I find it curios that it always seems to be the same people who are so certain that you can't burn pine, always seem to be the same people who are equally certain that it's OK to burn wood that's been freshly cut and split and still very high in moisture content. 
I wonder if these people have access to the internet? Maybe the question should be, do they know how to read?


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## gerry100 (Feb 13, 2014)

Hope he doesn't have a woodstove.


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## owingsia (Feb 13, 2014)

firebroad said:


> Is that right about the pine only  needing a year?



Everything I have read here says so. I will be using a moisture meter to be safe. Again everything on this site says depending (conditions)  8-16 months for pine.


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## Tom Wallace (Feb 13, 2014)

owingsia said:


> Everything I have read here says so. I will be using a moisture meter to be safe. Again everything on this site says depending (conditions)  8-16 months for pine.



I'm pretty sure I've read 6-9 months for Douglas fir. I don't know if the same applies to pine in general.


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## 04HemiRam2500 (Feb 13, 2014)

This reminds me of my one neighbor that burns wood he cut a week ago.

Then my other neighbor has a century wood stove and he runs no thermometers on the flue and stove!

I am a newbie to wood is this my first year and I am already halfway done gathering my 2nd year of wood and want to have a 3 year wood supply.

All of my neighbors keep looking at me and think I am nuts!


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## red oak (Feb 13, 2014)

owingsia said:


> Everything I have read here says so. I will be using a moisture meter to be safe. Again everything on this site says depending (conditions)  8-16 months for pine.



Here in Virginia pine can definitely be ready in a year.


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## Hogwildz (Feb 13, 2014)

jatoxico said:


> I like this one, "Never try to teach a pig to sing, it wastes your time and annoys the pig".


Pigs fly just fine, with enough thrust...... ;-)


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## Hills Hoard (Feb 13, 2014)

What is it with people being such "know it all's"  these days.  

Poking their nose in other peoples business and thinking they know whats best for them.


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## jatoxico (Feb 13, 2014)

Hogwildz said:


> Pigs fly just fine, with enough thrust...... ;-)


 True, just need the right incentive .


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## firefighterjake (Feb 13, 2014)

Thinking that if you invited him over and he saw the pine burning with the secondaries firing off he would be in full panic mode and be convinced the pine is going to melt the stove.


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## OldLumberKid (Feb 13, 2014)

CSS'd my first pine rounds last year, and it was juicy alright. Was amazed how nicely it dried out in a year.


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## hickoryhoarder (Feb 13, 2014)

Your neighbor is off key. 6-8 months is pretty darn quick to use oak.  Pine that's seasoned can be just fine, as you told him.  I'm not a big fan of pine, but the seasoning counts way more than type of wood.  Cherry does seem to dry real quick, so yours should be more than ready next year. If the fire is hot enough, I can see relatively new cherry burning okay, but I give it at least 8 months stacked.


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## ArsenalDon (Feb 14, 2014)

Jon1270 said:


> I recently managed to convince him he was wrong.


Why would you do this!  There goes your free pine.


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## jillybeansisme (Mar 4, 2014)

My neighbor insisted that cherry could be burned fresh cut if you split it before tossing in the fire.

I can think of a lewd comment for this quote . . . but I'll leave it to your imaginations!  All I WILL say is that this thread makes me happy that I'm having my fir and oak trees felled, c/s/s and THEN getting the house built.  I'm recycling those trees for firewood 2016 (fir) and 2017 (oak).


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## kingston73 (Mar 4, 2014)

red oak said:


> Here in Virginia pine can definitely be ready in a year.



I don't know how long it was down before I picked it up but the eastern white pine I scrounged was split and stacked for about 10 months before I started burning it and was around 15% (fresh split right before I measured).  In my experience the pine gets REALLY light as it dries, you can almost just pick it up and gauge whether its dry or not.

All this talk of stupid neighbors makes me happy that I'm not the only one.  My neighbor had a big dump truck full of wood delivered this past summer, maybe 2 or 3 cords of wood total.  He left it sit in a mound and covered it with a plastic tarp and he's been going out to the pile and bringing a little in at a time to his garage.  I guess he figures if its in the garage a few days it'll be good and dry?


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## Bobbin (Mar 4, 2014)

We're right down to the last of the stack for the  house stove.  And it contains red pine that was felled along with a very large, multi-trunked red maple 3+ yrs. ago.  At the time the good man grumbled about the red pine being "junk".  It was sticky to handle and it was sort of squirrel-y when it was split.  I stuck to my guns and insisted it be split since we'd paid a lot of money to have those trees taken down (power lines) and leaving it on the ground was not an option I was willing to entertain.  It burns just fine, thank you very much.  Personally, I rather like having it in the stacks as I find it lights quickly and easily.  And it is very light when it's fully seasoned.  (there was no more grousing when CMP asked if they could take down a couple more on our property... making progress!)


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## Tom Wallace (Mar 4, 2014)

Bobbin said:


> Personally, I rather like having it in the stacks as I find it lights quickly and easily.  And it is very light when it's fully seasoned.  (there was no more grousing when CMP asked if they could take down a couple more on our property... making progress!)



Totally agree on the easy lighting of softwoods. Douglas fir is very common where I live (probably the best soft wood around). It lights easy and will convince stubborn fruit wood or madrona to burn. It's great to have a soft wood in the mix for those situations.

 I've got 2 cords of douglas fir and 2 cords of plum for next year. Douglas fir is already split and stacked. Working on splitting the plum still (it's much harder to split than douglas fir rounds).


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## breamer999 (Mar 6, 2014)

I burn predominately White Spruce, I live in Prince Edward Island.  I have four acres and that is all I have.  I only take deadfall.  I have some white birch for the cold nights.  I get the same lecture about creosote.  I clean my flue every 2nd year, might get a cup out of a twenty foot pipe.  I have a Regency mid size stove, straight pipe.  My wood is bone dry, covered with a lean to facing south, both wind and sun get at it.  I cut in spring and it's ready by mid October, everything split, and as I said it's mostly dead to begin with.  I couldn't afford the good stuff.  We only have Maple up here, no Oak.  All red oak was cut by the British to make ship masts .  I burn anything, pin cherry, aspen.  I'd burn alder if it got big enough.  I've burned pine, no problem, but I burn so damm  hot the tar ignites


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