# burning lumber scraps?



## warno (Apr 6, 2015)

I have noticed a bunch of people  on here talking about getting scrap lumber and burning it. I'm wondering if there's any lumber, other than treated obviously, that shouldn't be burnt?


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## pen (Apr 6, 2015)

You pretty much nailed it, any treated lumber shouldn't be burned.


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## warno (Apr 6, 2015)

OK. Everything else is good to go then?


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## pen (Apr 6, 2015)

To add, my neighborhood used to have a pallet mill that was ripe for the picking when it came to getting hardwood cutoff's.

That said, just remember, any stove on the market was made for "traditional fuel" and use of short or oblong pieces of cutoffs from a pallet mill might set up a burn that the stove company didn't intend you to have and could be dangerous.  

If you load your stove with the appropriate fuel, it will treat you right.  If you do not, you are up setting yourself up for an issue that may be a problem.  In the easiest scenario, would be burn/ heat issues. 

In all, if there is a question about being legit, make sure what is done follows the stove manual guidelines and what is approved by an insurance company that follows the home.


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## warno (Apr 6, 2015)

Thanks for the info.


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## pen (Apr 6, 2015)

I had a friend that I used to take a truck load of hard wood cut-off wood from a pallet farm to yearly.  In all, the way he burned things (for ambiance) it never hurt a bit.  But, that fuel was so ripe for the burning, that it could have easily caused problems in a system depending on how it was loaded and burned.

In all, if it isn't cord wood, and the stove is meant for cord wood, I'd say to keep a mix going and use caution.


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## warno (Apr 6, 2015)

I was mostly asking because the skids that our sheet metal comes in on at work is all oak and yellow pine. They are built with 4x4 runners and either 1X4 or 2X3 top pieces anywhere from 8 - 14 feet long.  I  could take home a heaping truck load of wood a week if he wanted.


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## Newwave (Apr 6, 2015)

You could at least use it for kindling and mixing with some not-so-dry wood if needed.  Hate to see it go to waste.


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## pen (Apr 6, 2015)

warno said:


> I was mostly asking because the skids that our sheet metal comes in on at work is all oak and yellow pine. They are built with 4x4 runners and either 1X4 or 2X3 top pieces anywhere from 8 - 14 feet long.  I  could take home a heaping truck load of wood a week if he wanted.



Nothing wrong with that, just be cautious on how you load it as that sort of fuel can act as matchsticks in the right configuration.

Just make sure what you do doesn't void a warranty on a new unit, and that with this sort f fuel, you don't let it get away from you and cause a hotter burn than anticipated which could result in a chimney fire, or similar problems.

Many people have gotten by when using similar fuel, just be cautious, as it may burn differently than what the stove was intended for.


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## warno (Apr 6, 2015)

It will be fuel for my boiler. I did plan to mix it with cord wood as well. I have been getting this stuff for my dad who has a old wood stove. he also mixes with cord wood. The fact that he tells me to get the skids every chance I can must mean it's good heat.


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## DougA (Apr 7, 2015)

pen said:


> Nothing wrong with that, just be cautious on how you load it as that sort of fuel can act as matchsticks in the right configuration.


I've had an overfire doing exactly that.  The small stuff makes great kindling or for shoulder season. Don't load your stove full of it unless you want to get your heart rate up to the same temp as your stove.


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## Oldman47 (Apr 7, 2015)

Dimensional lumber can be burned but do not burn OSB , plywood, MDF or other forms of wood that contain adhesives.


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## warno (Apr 7, 2015)

Oldman47 said:


> Dimensional lumber can be burned but do not burn OSB , plywood, MDF or other forms of wood that contain adhesives.



I didn't want to mess with any sheet pieces. I knew the glue would be a no-no. Thanks for the heads up though.


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## Danh002 (Nov 15, 2015)

warno said:


> I didn't want to mess with any sheet pieces. I knew the glue would be a no-no. Thanks for the heads up though.


Don't know how in-depth this study is but a cursory google search brought this up:
"Disposal of OSB
After considerable study and sophisticated testing,
researchers under contract with SBA at the
Forintek Canada Corp. Eastern Laboratory in
Québec and the Minnesota Natural Resources
Research Institute (MNRRI) in Duluth, MN have
determined that there are no additional VOCs
released from OSB when it is burned or placed in
a landfill than what is released from solid wood.
Therefore they have concluded that OSB can be
safely disposed of in either manner."

http://osbguide.tecotested.com/pdfs/en/tb118.pdf


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## BrotherBart (Nov 15, 2015)

Whoa! Thank you. I have sixty sheets of OSB purchased for a project that didn't happen sitting on my breezeway.

BB - Who is heading over to amazon.com for circular saw blades to make some dry firewood.


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## peakbagger (Nov 15, 2015)

I beg to differ on OSB, I occasionally work on large biomass boilers and OSB does generate higher emissions that regular wood. One of the plants we worked with had a very large source of OSB they had to turn down as they couldn't meet their emissions with it. The strange thing was, the boiler was permitted to burn scrap railroad ties.


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## Supersurvey (Nov 15, 2015)

peakbagger said:


> I beg to differ on OSB, I occasionally work on large biomass boilers and OSB does generate higher emissions that regular wood. One of the plants we worked with had a very large source of OSB they had to turn down as they couldn't meet their emissions with it. The strange thing was, the boiler was permitted to burn scrap railroad ties.


I recall previous talk about lumber containing salts and other chemicals that would damage a wood burning stove.  I often questioned the difference between lumber scraps and pellets/bioblocks.  The sawdust is all from the same wood (lumber)?  So is the thinking, is now ok to burn lumber in moderation?


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## peakbagger (Nov 15, 2015)

Untreated lumber is fine to burn. The only real problem is that if the stove has poor draft control, it can overfire. Where things get problematical is when the wood is processed with glue. The glue is usually bought on price and a lot of the glue constituents can create some toxic emissions.


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## mtarbert (Nov 15, 2015)

I would stay away from pallets that have come from Oversees . I have used some and exposed them to bare ground and they are fine...no rot....at all. Who knows what they were possibly treated with.


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## dafattkidd (Nov 17, 2015)

I regularly burn scrap wood and have for as long as long as I've been heating with wood. This year I have a goal of one full cord of scrap wood. I am a project manager for a residential builder, so I have access to more scrap wood than I can reasonably take home.  I totally prefer demo'ed wood over fresh cut offs.  Framing material can be sopping wet (we usually reject these loads, but sometimes you get stuck with crap). My absolute favorite is hard wood flooring cut offs. You have to be careful with that stuff. It will go absolutely atomic if fully loaded in a stove.


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## barmstrong2 (Nov 17, 2015)

I was picking up bags full of scrap ends from a flooring contractor friend for a short time. Doesn't take many of those to overfire.


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## MJFlores (Nov 17, 2015)

I use scrap wood peices to start a fire, and fill in spots around cord wood splits.  If it's KD, it burns quick.  Like others said, filling your stove with it would cause a very high run away stove fire but most modern stoves would be fine, hopefully.  Best not to try it and find out.  I also generate a bunch of "shorts" from the trees I cut for fuel.  They're kinda the same thing...small pieces, very dry due to their size.  I use it as staring and mixing fuel.  If you have access to clean, dry scraps I wouldn't turn it down.  It makes great warmer weather fuel  just to take the chill off the house in the mornings in May or so.


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## warno (Nov 21, 2015)

Well I finished cutting up all my lumber scraps I'll be using, it turns out I have more scrap lumber then cord wood at the moment. I figured it will be just fine to get the boiler up to temp on start up, then switch over to the cord wood.


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## BlueRidgeMark (Nov 22, 2015)

mtarbert said:


> I would stay away from pallets that have come from Oversees . I have used some and exposed them to bare ground and they are fine...no rot....at all. Who knows what they were possibly treated with.



This is a good point.


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## Zareth (Nov 23, 2015)

peakbagger said:


> I beg to differ on OSB, I occasionally work on large biomass boilers and OSB does generate higher emissions that regular wood. One of the plants we worked with had a very large source of OSB they had to turn down as they couldn't meet their emissions with it. The strange thing was, the boiler was permitted to burn scrap railroad ties.


 That guys post though is contrasting the methods of disposal. 
IF you have said wood any method will cause the same end result - so burn it or let it slowly decompose but either way you will release the same components and therefor they deemed either method of disposal suitable


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## warno (Nov 23, 2015)

So burning ply wood is just fine? What about the interior surfaces of the the burning device? Wouldn't the off gassing of the glue be kind of  bad for steel surfaces? I have read that on here before, I think.


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## TheAardvark (Nov 24, 2015)

warno said:


> So burning ply wood is just fine? What about the interior surfaces of the the burning device? Wouldn't the off gassing of the glue be kind of  bad for steel surfaces? I have read that on here before, I think.


My inserts manual specifically says to not burn any type of plywood. I will stick with their advise.


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## warno (Nov 25, 2015)

That was my initial thoughts but after reading that article I thought I'd ask about it.


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## Oldman47 (Nov 27, 2015)

I am building the house my stove will end up in so I have tons of scrap lumber ends from trimming boards. It is mostly the cut off ends of the 1x6 subfloor and ends of 2x lumber but it fills several large trash bags and has been sitting for at least 2 years. I have no doubt it will burn well but I will hold back how much goes into each load. I also have full length boards, not many, the are so badly twisted I could not use them at all. I consider those to be firewood too.


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## bag of hammers (Nov 27, 2015)

Oldman47 said:


> the are so badly twisted I could not use them at all. I consider those to be firewood too.


I hear you.  In my case, these are a testament to how long it takes me to get a project done sometimes.  The fact that I can burn them is my one consolation....


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## AmbDrvr253 (Nov 27, 2015)

I remodeled my entire house recently. Plaster and lathe. I saved as many of the lathe boards as I could. Used em for starter wood. Also used all the cut offs as well. I will not burn the plywood or OSB tho.


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