# Who has burned black walnut?



## Badfish740 (Nov 16, 2010)

It looks as though I'm going to end up with just over a cord from the black walnut that my dad's neighbor cut down.  The straight grained pieces split almost effortlessly but the twisty parts of the tree really tested the mettle of my Lickity Splitter-some of them seemed like they tore more than split.  The thing I noticed was the really pleasant smell the wood has-I can't really describe it, it just smells good.  It seems pretty middle of the road according to the btu charts (About 20 million btu/cord)-not as good as oak, but a little better than some species of cherry and maple.  How about coaling?


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## struggle (Nov 16, 2010)

It will develope coals and I have burn't it several seasons. 

I would never ever turn it down. 

It works quit well.


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## Danno77 (Nov 16, 2010)

I burn a lot of Black Walnut. It's one of my favorite woods. I, too, love the smell. A lot of people really dislike that smell. Burn it when it's seasoned and tell me what you think. I know where it falls on the charts, but I generally feel that it's highly underrated. I've been debating whether it's a regional difference, or more recently, whether the tree coming from a stand of trees (making it grow straight and tall) produces a better wood than one that is out in the open (like a yard tree) where it can grow a large canopy.


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## lukem (Nov 16, 2010)

It's not the best but far from the worst.  Get it and you'll like it.  I have some I'll be burning this winter.  Did some last year and really liked it. 

I agree that it is underrated on the BTU charts.


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## Wood Duck (Nov 16, 2010)

I have a bunch. Mine are mostly from a really poor site, where they grow slowly. Maybe that makes them denser than average walnut, since the growth rings are very close together. I like the way it burns, but almost always burn it mixed with other woods (just because the woods are mixed in the piles) so I can't say too much about it, except good firewood.


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## 3fordasho (Nov 16, 2010)

I've got quite a bit of it around here, grows like a weed tree in my area.  Splits easy and seasons reasonably fast.
I'd rate it btu and coaling wise above silver maple, about par with black cherry, and below the likes of sugar maple/oaks.  
Don't like em so much as a yard tree, messy and don't plant your garden next to one.


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## Danno77 (Nov 16, 2010)

3fordasho said:
			
		

> Don't like em so much as a yard tree, messy and don't plant your garden next to one.


or park a car under them. I've got one over my house and you can hear them drop onto the roof and roll all the way down. super annoying. Don't worry, it leans the other way (towards the neighbors house), lol.


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## stint9 (Nov 16, 2010)

Yup

Agree with no problem as firewood

Agree even more about being messy lawn trees

They are murder on mower blades when dropping nuts

I had a neighbor buy one of those golf driving range machines at auction really cheap and used it to pick up all the nuts off lawns


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## 70marlin (Nov 16, 2010)

Seasons very fast and burns just as quick.


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## Chargerman (Nov 16, 2010)

I have a ton of walnut at our farm. It burns well, has good coaling, and is easy splitting. My main complaints are the bark seems messy and it does create more ash than the oak or elm I also burn.


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## Lumber-Jack (Nov 16, 2010)

Besides a little Elm, the only "hardwood" I have any quantity of is Black Walnut.  
As others have mentioned I really like the smell, not that I get much opportunity to smell it in the house, but sometimes when the stove is going and I'm outside I get a whiff.
What I don't like about it is that it's tough to split, lots of knots and Y pieces and ugly chunks, in fact I had to noodle most of it.
As for the burning qualities, I have really tested it quite a few times, in comparison to the Lodgepole pine I usually burn, with regard to heat output and burn times. Frankly I don't find much of a difference, it may be there, but it's so slight that I just haven't been able to tell with any certainty if it's outperforming my pine or just wishful thinking on my part. The walnut wood splits seem to be heavier than my pine, and way harder to split even though the MC is about the same. So you would think that it would carry more BTUs, but I just haven't seen it with longer burn times or coaling. 
I still got another half a cord that's nice and dry so when it gets colder I'll try some more comparisons.


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## JBinKC (Nov 16, 2010)

It splits easy, seasons fairly fast, coals well  but leaves lots of fluffy ash behind.  Mid range on the btu scale. 

I on the other hand think it is a cleanest wood in the wood pile. You don't get all of the powdery mess the wood boring insects leave behind with other species.


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## HeatsTwice (Nov 16, 2010)

I just got a load of Black Walnut also. An arborist showed up and dumpped 2 loads. Its all split now but this is what it looked like before.


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## smokinj (Nov 17, 2010)

Burning not bad! Got my black walnut table top sanded out yesterday does that count?


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## Danno77 (Nov 17, 2010)

smokinjay said:
			
		

> Burning not bad! Got my black walnut table top sanded out yesterday does that count?


I still have this hefty black walnut that you should be able to get some 12' plus boards out of, Jay. You come and take it down without hitting my house (or the neighbors) and you can have 75% of what you mill. Then we'll drive over to my timber and get another tree or two of your favorite flavor, whatever fills your trailer load. Then we'll drink beer. lots of beer.


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## Thrash44047 (Nov 18, 2010)

OK I know most people probably know this but DO NOT let animals or children eat the wood shavings from Black Walnut it is very poisonous.


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## HeatsTwice (Nov 18, 2010)

Thrash44047 said:
			
		

> OK I know most people probably know this but DO NOT let animals or children eat the wood shavings from Black Walnut it is very poisonous.



Duh, I did not know this. I would even consider using them for smoking chips.

Thanks for the heads up. I had never heard this before.


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## Wood Duck (Nov 18, 2010)

I try not to let my children eat too many wood chips of any kind. It ruins their appetites.


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## Lumber-Jack (Nov 18, 2010)

Wood Duck said:
			
		

> I try not to let my children eat too many wood chips of any kind. It ruins their appetites.



Are you kidding!  Wood shavings make great food extenders for things like hamburger, turkey stuffing, oatmeal, etc...   
You can cut your food bill in half. Just another way to stretch your savings by heating with wood.

PS. If you use your chainsaw shavings it's a good idea to switch to a food grade chain oil.  ;-)


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## turn_n_burn (Aug 8, 2017)

I know this is an old thread, but I love burning black walnut. They grow as a weed tree around SW Idaho, the only people who appreciate them here are the occasional wood hoarder or somebody who makes gunstocks (I am both). My carpenter side cringes everytime I buck or split a good round, and my woodbooga side thinks that beautiful burled stock blank would burn nicely in the Fisher.

First off, burning BW smells wonderful. I've cooked over open BW fires for years and never had an issue. The smoke adds a nice earthy sweetness to beef and pork. I've never used it in a smoker, I have apple for that. It's a smokier wood (though not as bad as Doug Fir or Lodgepole that we have here) in a stove, but coals nicely and doesn't keep you up all night popping and snapping like softwoods. Ironically, it leaves so damn much fluffy ash by itself that I usually have to mix it with poppy and snappy wood just so the ash will be powdered and pulverized, otherwise I'd have to empty the pan twice a day.

Splitting wise, I'm completely alien to the notion that it is difficult. Even the forked, knotty rounds seem to fly apart after sitting in the sun for a month or 2. It takes me a third of the time to split a 12"x18" round of average BW with my axe than it does a similarly sized round of Fir. I would dare say that it is easier than Lodgepole. Around here, you often see clusters or long lines (along any waterway) of BW trees, and they tend to grow upwards instead of outwards, so the grain of the wood is better in that regard. Even canopy trees are not that hard to split.

Call me crazy, but I love the stuff. I wish black locust was this easy to work with. I think there are about 4 people in Idaho that know locust is great wood. Maybe 7 or 8 seem to know about walnut.


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## PA. Woodsman (Aug 9, 2017)

Black Walnut is pretty good stuff, lots around here in PA. But what I noticed is with a thread this old how many people posted on here that we don't see anymore, what happened to Lumber-jack and smokinj and other people, we need to send out a search party?!


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## Dobish (Aug 9, 2017)

i have some that might get burned this year, but it is in the back of the pile, so it will probably be 2019 by the time I get to it. I hope it isn't too dry!


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