# Pine Drying Time?



## Bacffin (Aug 31, 2013)

Hi Guy's

Been away for a while, but still at it.  Hope everyone is doing good .  

I had a neighbor take down a bunch of white eastern pine last year to put a pool in and he gave me the butts.  I skidded them over to my house and let them sit for a year.  I just finished bucking them up and starting to split them.  I am stacking the splits in single rows between trees and it is only going to get some afternoon sun.  My original plan is to let them season for 2 years, but someone told me white pine should be dry in a year.  Any thoughts?  Have about 4 1/2 to 5 cord.  I know I can just check it after a year, but knowing ahead of time helps the planning.

Thanks,
Bruce


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## oldspark (Aug 31, 2013)

A lot of woods will dry in a year ( 9 months over a summer) under the correct conditions, I would think pine should fall into that category.


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## PapaDave (Aug 31, 2013)

Agreed. I can get white pine dry in a summer by putting it in a sunny and windy field.
A year would probably have been better.
It's too late now, but why did you wait to process?
I don't like leaving pine and spruce too long. The bugs get in there and have a field day.
Great pics.


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## Bacffin (Aug 31, 2013)

PapaDave said:


> Agreed. I can get white pine dry in a summer by putting it in a sunny and windy field.
> A year would probably have been better.
> It's too late now, but why did you wait to process?
> I don't like leaving pine and spruce too long. The bugs get in there and have a field day.
> Great pics.


 
Time Dave, Time.  And when I ran the saw through it right after they were cut down, it was really gooey.  I'm not finding many bugs, just a few white grubs under the bark my wife feeds to the chickens.  I still have to get the second grapple load of hardwood cut up, but I knew I had to do this first because of rot.  https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/log-id-round-deux.102692/#post-1327641

Thanks,
Bruce


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## bogydave (Aug 31, 2013)

A year is good but I found that 2 years is even better for spruce.
I got much better heat & burn times with the 2 year stuff.
I think BrotherBart also likes 2 year dried pine.

I try to work it on cold days so the sap is hard & not sticky.


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## PapaDave (Aug 31, 2013)

Bacffin said:


> Time Dave, Time


Oh, don't I know all about that. Was just curious if that was it or maybe something like health or weather.
Unless you have tons of hardwood already, I'd do that first, then deal with the pines as time allows. You know Oak takes a hundred years to dry, right?
Every situation is different, so do what *you* need to.
Git 'er dun!
Oh yeah, pine is nasty to work on when it's fresh. Takes a while to get all the sap out/off of everything. I have some gloves that now stand on their own. 3rd pair.


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## WellSeasoned (Aug 31, 2013)

I have the same stacking setup as you do, along the wood line. I see the sun hitting your stacks which is good. This year for us has been tough in the wood drying department. The constant rain, while good for our well and the garden, kept a dampness around the stacks in an already damp environment. This year our wood will be around 14-15 months old, and every season therafter will be 2+ years. Love your pics when you post them..... you have a nice property and some very helpful equiptment!


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## flhpi (Aug 31, 2013)

I don't know anything about drying time for pine but I am impressed with the loaded down truck.  It is nice to see trucks used for work and not glamor mobiles. Congrats on the wood score.


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## Elderthewelder (Aug 31, 2013)

Looks like a real nice place you have there


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## Backwoods Savage (Aug 31, 2013)

Good news Bruce. In 2012 we had a big storm take down some big limbs off the neighbor's white pines. There were pretty good sized limbs too. The storm was in early July. On December 1 I went there to cut them up. Absolutely no sap on the bar. Wood was ready to burn right then too! White pine dries fast. Now just imagine if that had been cut and split in July. Wow, it would really have been super dry by December. As an afterthought, we had the same thing happen this summer so it appears when I start cutting wood in December I'll be getting more white pine. In this case it will be going to another fellow and he will be using it in his evaporator for making maple syrup.


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## Grisu (Aug 31, 2013)

Had two huge white pine trees taken down in my yard. The straight, not too large, nice pieces dry fast. One good summer will be plenty. The knotty, gnarly stuff will take quite a bit longer. I therefore started to toss them in different piles during the splitting and made an one-year and a two-year stack.  

The other thing is noticed: Pine does dry much better when covered. That stuff acts like a sponge when it is raining.


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## clemsonfor (Sep 1, 2013)

I cut yellow pine,  southern yellow. It will dry in 3 summer months.


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## Seanm (Sep 1, 2013)

Last November I picked up bucked lodgepole pine from the city (they helped load my truck!) I brought it home, split it and stacked it in the snow that day. Its under 20% now.


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## Bacffin (Sep 1, 2013)

bogydave said:


> A year is good but I found that 2 years is even better for spruce.
> I got much better heat & burn times with the 2 year stuff.
> I think BrotherBart also likes 2 year dried pine.
> 
> I try to work it on cold days so the sap is hard & not sticky.


 
I think waiting a year really helped with the goo.  It is just slimy under the bark,  Even with using the same gloves after splitting a cord


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## Bacffin (Sep 1, 2013)

WellSeasoned said:


> I have the same stacking setup as you do, along the wood line. I see the sun hitting your stacks which is good. This year for us has been tough in the wood drying department. The constant rain, while good for our well and the garden, kept a dampness around the stacks in an already damp environment. This year our wood will be around 14-15 months old, and every season therafter will be 2+ years. Love your pics when you post them..... you have a nice property and some very helpful equiptment!


 
I don't need this wood this year, or even next season. I am still cutting down lots of standing dead that is already dry.  Thanks for the kudos.  The tractor is the best piece of equipment.

Bruce


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## Bacffin (Sep 1, 2013)

flhpi said:


> I don't know anything about drying time for pine but I am impressed with the loaded down truck. It is nice to see trucks used for work and not glamor mobiles. Congrats on the wood score.


 
That truck is still in good shape for a 98 with 150,000 miles on it.  It used to plow 100 driveways a storm and raised teenager.  Lost the rear breaks again yesterday.  More rotted lines.  O-well, the front still work.


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## Bacffin (Sep 1, 2013)

Backwoods Savage said:


> Good news Bruce. In 2012 we had a big storm take down some big limbs off the neighbor's white pines. There were pretty good sized limbs too. The storm was in early July. On December 1 I went there to cut them up. Absolutely no sap on the bar. Wood was ready to burn right then too! White pine dries fast. Now just imagine if that had been cut and split in July. Wow, it would really have been super dry by December. As an afterthought, we had the same thing happen this summer so it appears when I start cutting wood in December I'll be getting more white pine. In this case it will be going to another fellow and he will be using it in his evaporator for making maple syrup.


 
I didn't think you burned pine Savage.  Even though I am fairly new to heating with wood, I am finding the pine has a real place in the process.  This year I will see how hemlock fits in too.


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## Bacffin (Sep 1, 2013)

Grisu said:


> Had two huge white pine trees taken down in my yard. The straight, not too large, nice pieces dry fast. One good summer will be plenty. The knotty, gnarly stuff will take quite a bit longer. I therefore started to toss them in different piles during the splitting and made an one-year and a two-year stack.
> The other thing is noticed: Pine does dry much better when covered. That stuff acts like a sponge when it is raining.


 
These trees are not knotty at all.  They grew very fast fighting for sun.  Most of them are 85 to 100' Q-tips.  I always cover my wood


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## basod (Sep 1, 2013)

Those beetles are feeding the chickens and helping debark the pine.  A bit messy when splitting but I'd rather have it laying in the yard than dragging it in the house.
I'd give it a year in your climate fall 2014 should be good to go


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## toddnic (Sep 1, 2013)

Bacffin, I'm curious as to how well the hemlock works for you.  I had a dead hemlock that I dropped two weeks ago.  Extremely knotty and difficult to split so I'm not sure if I will try and cut more in the future.  I've heard that it is a good shoulder wood for the beginning and end of the season.  I'm wondering if it will be ready to burn in April or May 2014 at the end of the coming season.


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## BrianN (Sep 1, 2013)

We do mainly lodgepole pine up here. Below is the reading the day that we brought it home and split. Ready to burn 
The highest reading I got that day on fresh splits was around the 22% mark. 
As for your pine, should be good and ready by next year. I'm no expert though.
By the way, love your yard and set up.


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## Thistle (Sep 1, 2013)

Roughly 90% of this is a 50/50 mix of Green Ash & White Pine,the rest a mix of White Oak/Honey Locust milling scrap,some Mulberry & a few Box Elder branches.
The Ash was cut/split/stacked first week of January,Pine (from my trusted small local tree service) in mid February.Its next to south side of storage shed in backyard.Gets sun 12-14 hrs daily minimum.Especially the past 2 months of this very hot dry summer.Checked for kicks the other day (when it was 104 on Friday afternoon,a new record ) & most all the Pine tested said between 14 & 18% already.The Ash no more than 20-21%.


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## weatherguy (Sep 1, 2013)

I had some pine, cut and split most of it in the spring, I had a few big knotty rounds I didn't get too and stacked them on a pallet, some kind of bug got to working on it and I had piles of sawdust, I did see a small black beetle so maybe that was it. The pine I did cut/split is already 20%.


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## Backwoods Savage (Sep 1, 2013)

Bacffin said:


> I didn't think you burned pine Savage.  Even though I am fairly new to heating with wood, I am finding the pine has a real place in the process.  This year I will see how hemlock fits in too.



I have no problem at all with burning pine. Don't do it often though because we have so much other wood, especially all the dead white ash. We also cut a few oaks every year for use during those long cold winter nights.


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## BrianN (Sep 11, 2013)

Sure do wish I could get my hands on some oak, and see what all this rave is about


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## clemsonfor (Sep 11, 2013)

Heck I'd trade cord for cord some oak for some ash or other fast drying wood. 90% of what I cut is oak.


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## BrianN (Sep 11, 2013)

Well, I have an endless supply of pine. Dry and ready to go.


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## clemsonfor (Sep 11, 2013)

I could have more pine than oak but I don't find myself cutting it as it takes just as much effort for half the heat. But it is dry in one hot summer here!


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## mecreature (Sep 11, 2013)

I css about a cord in early summer. I will burn them this winter. They are in full sun. 
I did split them a tad smaller to help.


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## Adios Pantalones (Sep 11, 2013)

Bacffin said:


> Hi Guy's
> 
> Been away for a while, but still at it.  Hope everyone is doing good .
> 
> ...



Split/stacked etc- 6-9 months isn't outrageous. Even unsplit- water seems to concentrate in the sapwood, while the heartwood may be quite dry. It can be surprising.


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## USMC80 (Sep 11, 2013)

clemsonfor said:


> Heck I'd trade cord for cord some oak for some ash or other fast drying wood. 90% of what I cut is oak.


same here


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## Paulywalnut (Sep 11, 2013)

clemsonfor said:


> Heck I'd trade cord for cord some oak for some ash or other fast drying wood. 90% of what I cut is oak.


 
Yes it's nice to have a mix. All oak sounds good but you need some mixture in there. If you can get some Locust, that will burn well with something a little softer. Locust does take as long as oak to season.


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## Backwoods Savage (Sep 11, 2013)

BrianN said:


> Sure do wish I could get my hands on some oak, and see what all this rave is about




If only the shipping wasn't so costly....


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## clemsonfor (Sep 11, 2013)

Paulywalnut said:


> Yes it's nice to have a mix. All oak sounds good but you need some mixture in there. If you can get some Locust, that will burn well with something a little softer. Locust does take as long as oak to season.


I have 1/4 cord of locust, bit its not very common round here.  I know where there are several but there on gov property and not dead :-(  there is one hanging over the road in our office compound I think I will try to talk mgt into letting me cut it for the wood. Only time will tell when it will fall on its own. Not a huge tree but would make a few days to weeks worth of wood.


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## clemsonfor (Sep 11, 2013)

Even SYP cut green live will be dry in 6 month. If its dead or was cut that winter bucking n splitting in June will yield 17% or so in winter


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## Ram 1500 with an axe... (Sep 11, 2013)

Great pictures, I love your propery....


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## Bacffin (Sep 12, 2013)

Paulywalnut said:


> Yes it's nice to have a mix. All oak sounds good but you need some mixture in there. If you can get some Locust, that will burn well with something a little softer. Locust does take as long as oak to season.


 

I agree here.  Mixture is best.  You will not like oak on a warm october day, way too hot, will blow you out.  When I order my grapple loads, I specifically ask for a mix to adjust my heat for the season.  Pine fits in here too.

Bruce


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## Gasifier (Sep 12, 2013)

Nice score on the free wood there Bacffin! One other issue on drying time, with Spruce, Pine, or any wood for that matter, is the size you split the wood down to. If you want some of that wood to be "ready" or seasoned quicker, so you can use it sooner, the smaller you split it the quicker it will dry. Of course then the quicker it will burn with smaller pieces as well. But, as you probably know, you can get a good hot fire very quickly like that. I find that splitting and stacking White Pine, then leaving outside and uncovered for one year is long enough to get a good moisture content. The piles get some good sun and a little wind as well. Nice work and pics. Oh, beautiful place ya got there!


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## Bacffin (Oct 24, 2013)

Hi Guys!

Ended up with just over 4 cord.  All stacked and covered.  Back to the hardwood now !!


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## Bacffin (Oct 24, 2013)

toddnic said:


> Bacffin, I'm curious as to how well the hemlock works for you.  I had a dead hemlock that I dropped two weeks ago.  Extremely knotty and difficult to split so I'm not sure if I will try and cut more in the future.  I've heard that it is a good shoulder wood for the beginning and end of the season.  I'm wondering if it will be ready to burn in April or May 2014 at the end of the coming season.


Toddnic,

I have been burning the hemlock for a few weeks now.  It burns ok.  It seems to "glow" alot compared to the other evergreens i have burned.  It also pops!  The knots last a good long time. The hemlock btu's are higher on the chart than the white pine I burn, but the pine seems to burn better for me.  If I had to choose between the two, I would pick the pine.  The hemlock does have a longer burn, but it doesn't light as nice as the pine does.  It's just different.  Good luck!

Bruce


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## toddnic (Oct 25, 2013)

Bruce,

Thanks for the info!  I'm not sure if mine will be ready to burn by the end of the season.  Hopefully it works alright since I have about 1 1/4 cords of it.

Todd


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## PSYS (Oct 25, 2013)

My neighbor gave me the trunk of a decent pine tree he took out of his backyard a couple of weeks ago.
I got all that wood from my co-worker's place last weekend.

I did manage to get the trunk cut into 18" lengths and split them last night after work, as well.

It is INSANELY wet and fairly nasty.  It's wet enough inside where once I split it, you could actually see the moisture dripping down the core of thee wood.  Sap is everywhere.  The pair of gloves I was using is completely trashed.
Now that it's all cut and split, should I simply treat it like any other wood that needs to dry?  How long will this stuff take?   1 year?   2 years?


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## clemsonfor (Oct 25, 2013)

Pine takes 1 year. Top cover it.  I promise it will dry.


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## BCC_Burner (Oct 25, 2013)

Yup, 1 year or less for that to dry out.  Definitely top cover though, pine absorbs water like a sponge so rain and snowmelt will prolong your seasoning time more than it would with woods that have denser grain structure.


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## PSYS (Oct 25, 2013)

Thanks, guys...   I'll toss it in my 1-year plan stack and keep it top covered.


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## Bacffin (Oct 25, 2013)

I'm planning on letting my pine dry for 2 years, but I will check it with a moisture meter after 1 year just to see how it is progressing.  If it is in the 12-15% range, it should be good to go.  FYI, I let my 20' butts sit for one year after cutting them down.  That cut down on the slime greatly.

Bruce


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## clemsonfor (Oct 25, 2013)

I can get it down to 20% here in the south in 6 months or less. I had some I split this spring at a buddies house and I checked a few pieces this week.  It meausered at anywhere from 18-22ish% percent. This was checking smaller. Piece. And larger dense ones.  Yea longer would be better but its in the this yerrs pile.


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## Grisu (Oct 25, 2013)

One good summer and pine will be below 20% in my experience. However, that is different for knotty pieces which pine usually has a lot. Those still sizzle even after 2 years.


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## clemsonfor (Oct 25, 2013)

Many times that is sap sizzelling.  That will be there forever. I have busted lighter pine that is 25 years old I know and it still runs resin.  That will never dry out.


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## oldspark (Oct 25, 2013)

One long summer here in Iowa and it will be plenty dry, same as Silver Maple, Green Ash or Cherry.


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## BCC_Burner (Oct 25, 2013)

I like splitting those particularly resinous pieces down to kindling size splits, they catch easily and burn hot and fast.  Our pine out here tends toward the less resinous side as a rule, but every now and then I find a heavy pieces that is almost fatwood-esque when split.

Silver Maple, Subalpine Fir and mixed beetle kill pine are my primary shoulder season woods.  Midwinter it will be a beetle kill pine, oak, ash and black locust mix.


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## oldspark (Oct 25, 2013)

I have douglas fir joists in my house that oozed resin for about 10 years or so after we built the house.


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## branchburner (Oct 25, 2013)

"Definitely top cover though, pine absorbs water "

Yup... I had a stack of uncovered pine last year that I thought would be quite "dry enough" but my stove rejected it as unfit. I never argue with my stove anymore about what "dry enough" is.


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## clemsonfor (Oct 25, 2013)

It will mold and start to rot on me if not top covered.


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## Bacffin (Oct 25, 2013)

oldspark said:


> One long summer here in Iowa and it will be plenty dry, same as Silver Maple, Green Ash or Cherry.


You mean that cherry I split last November should be good to go?  I'll throw a couple splits in the stove tonight for sure to test!  This will get me up to 5 cords available for this winter.  I refuse to turn on the oil burner for heat this year...just refuse!


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## clemsonfor (Oct 25, 2013)

Yea cherry should b ready


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## oldspark (Oct 25, 2013)

Bacffin said:


> You mean that cherry I split last November should be good to go?  I'll throw a couple splits in the stove tonight for sure to test!  This will get me up to 5 cords available for this winter.  I refuse to turn on the oil burner for heat this year...just refuse!


 Not sure of your drying conditions ( how and where you stack, wind speeds) but yes it very well could be, I cut, split, and stacked mine in March of this year and it reads right at 20% in the very center of split and burns well, medium sized split.


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## Bacffin (Oct 25, 2013)

Single stacked between trees and top covered only.  I'll give a go this weekend!  

Thanks,
Bruce


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## firefighterjake (Oct 26, 2013)

Normally my wood is outside for a year, in the shed for a year and I burn it the third year. Late last winter though I took down a large white pine in an effort to improve my satellite service (that is a whole other story though). Early this Spring I started splitting it. Surprisingly enough some pieces are already dry enough to burn . . . but I have been pretty selective as some pieces that I heft are notably heavier and I've put them aside for further seasoning.


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## STIHLY DAN (Oct 26, 2013)

firefighterjake said:


> Normally my wood is outside for a year, in the shed for a year and I burn it the third year. Late last winter though I took down a large white pine in an effort to improve my satellite service (that is a whole other story though). Early this Spring I started splitting it. Surprisingly enough some pieces are already dry enough to burn . . . but I have been pretty selective as some pieces that I heft are notably heavier and I've put them aside for further seasoning.


 Cherry seasons fast. There is a reason that on the east coast people think pine causes chimney fires. It takes 2 yrs to really dry. If everyone let eastern white pine dry like oak, there would be no bad rap for it.


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## BrotherBart (Oct 26, 2013)

Agreed. I have burned every pine on this place already over the years. But dried it a year or two and it burned fine. Same thing with Tulip Poplar. That is two years dried to 15% and burning fin the 30 for the night as I type.


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## branchburner (Oct 27, 2013)

STIHLY DAN said:


> If everyone let eastern white pine dry like oak, there would be no bad rap for it.



Exactly. I think people are deceived by the light weight of the wood when only partially seasoned. In a humid New England summer, I think pine needs single-row stacking well off the ground, with full exposure to sun and wind, and then should be covered in the fall. A rainy summer means uncovered pine will not season well.

The fact is, most old-school people don't fully season pine OR oak -- the definition of "seasoned" by many is a measly six months, and that is in a giant pile that is not single-row stacked up off the ground.

So I think another reason pine gets a bad rap is that sometimes it IS burned when very dry, and the hot fire in a pre-EPA stove ignites the creosote that has built up from burning green oak. The oak created the creosote, but the pine gets the blame for the chimney fire because burning it hot and fast lights off the creosote. The bad rap comes from burning in pre-EPA stoves, but the bias against pine remains even though it burns great in an EPA stove.


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## clemsonfor (Oct 27, 2013)

The moisture meter does not lie lea than 20% in a year or less. I promise.  I'll post some pics tomorrow with split size and m %


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## Soundchasm (Oct 27, 2013)

BCC_Burner said:


> Yup, 1 year or less for that to dry out.  Definitely top cover though, pine absorbs water like a sponge so rain and snowmelt will prolong your seasoning time more than it would with woods that have denser grain structure.



I took down two pines here (don't know the species) a few years ago.  Split it into small pieces and used it to start fires.  Then I started giving it away for fire pits.  Was a big hit with my neighbor who has a young kid, and the fires would light easy and not last too long.

It was such a big hit last year I went down to split the biggest sections I'd previously ignored.  They'd been uncovered on the ground for over two years.  They were sopping wet and basically disintegrated.  I'm not sure they're worth the effort to throw them into my neighbor's yard...


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## Standingdead (Oct 27, 2013)

My favorite pine is red pine. It's bark looks just like black cherry bark with reddish undertones. My experience is that red pine produces as much heat as silver maple, American elm and other low end "hardwoods". Dry's to 15-20% in 12-15 months even if it's in big stacks most of that time. I am not sure if it's density or resin but red pine is a lot heavier than white but like all pine it's free BTU's


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## Bacffin (Oct 27, 2013)

I have never had red pine.  Is it also called pitch pine?


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## Standingdead (Oct 27, 2013)

Bacffin said:


> I have never had red pine.  Is it also called pitch pine?



I am not familiar with pitch pine trees but red pine is usually a tall branchless tree. Some I have seen 80-100 feet with 3 foot butt. Like I said bark is just like cherry. If I can refigure how to post a picture I'll take one of a split an post it.


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## branchburner (Oct 27, 2013)

Many years ago, I helped my brother in upstate NY drop and transport a large number of red pines. He was going to build a log home. After sitting a while, the log pile became infested, and was quickly transformed into a useless heap... my brother said you could hear the mass-munching from a few hundred feet away.


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## oldspark (Oct 27, 2013)

branchburner said:


> Exactly. I think people are deceived by the light weight of the wood when only partially seasoned. In a humid New England summer, I think pine needs single-row stacking well off the ground, with full exposure to sun and wind, and then should be covered in the fall. A rainy summer means uncovered pine will not season well.
> 
> The fact is, most old-school people don't fully season pine OR oak -- the definition of "seasoned" by many is a measly six months, and that is in a giant pile that is not single-row stacked up off the ground.
> 
> So I think another reason pine gets a bad rap is that sometimes it IS burned when very dry, and the hot fire in a pre-EPA stove ignites the creosote that has built up from burning green oak. The oak created the creosote, but the pine gets the blame for the chimney fire because burning it hot and fast lights off the creosote. The bad rap comes from burning in pre-EPA stoves, but the bias against pine remains even though it burns great in an EPA stove.


 Interesting little theory ya got there but it all boils down to burning wet wood period in some cases, don't make much difference what type wood it is, burn wet wood in a pre EPA stove or an EPA stove and you will have problems.


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## red oak (Oct 27, 2013)

oldspark said:


> Interesting little theory ya got there but it all boils down to burning wet wood period in some cases, don't make much difference what type wood it is, burn wet wood in a pre EPA stove or an EPA stove and you will have problems.



I think oldspark pretty much nailed it here.


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## clemsonfor (Oct 27, 2013)

branchburner said:


> Many years ago, I helped my brother in upstate NY drop and transport a large number of red pines. He was going to build a log home. After sitting a while, the log pile became infested, and was quickly transformed into a useless heap... my brother said you could hear the mass-munching from a few hundred feet away.


Yea pine will rot if not split and covered off the ground fast.  The munching is sawyer beetles. You can hear them munching in dead treees and standing g beetle kill trees. They are a secondary beetle and not what killed the trees.


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## branchburner (Oct 27, 2013)

clemsonfor said:


> I could have more pine than oak but I don't find myself cutting it as it takes just as much effort for half the heat.



I just came in from the woods, and was thinking the same thing: why am I rolling around these pine logs when I could spend the same amount of time getting a lot more BTUs? But I can't let them go to waste - if I have a downed pine that I can easily access, I feel obliged to process before cutting more live hardwoods.

To me, that's the one real knock on on eastern white pine: nearly the same time investment, fewer BTUs.


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## clemsonfor (Oct 27, 2013)

I am a forester and I cut mostly on land I manage that is also public land. So I am cutting dead and or down or dyieng trees.  As part of my job I know exactly when and were logging happens and finishes. Often times having tops or culls pulled to the road or deck where I can pull my truck up to,  often times behind a locked gate


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## Bacffin (Oct 27, 2013)

branchburner said:


> I just came in from the woods, and was thinking the same thing: why am I rolling around these pine logs when I could spend the same amount of time getting a lot more BTUs? But I can't let them go to waste - if I have a downed pine that I can easily access, I feel obliged to process before cutting more live hardwoods.
> 
> To me, that's the one real knock on on eastern white pine: nearly the same time investment, fewer BTUs.


I am finding there is a real place for pine.  The house gets to hot when I burn hard maples and oaks etc. this time of year.  I have been mixing it in with my swamp maple and cherry and the house is very comfortable, (more pine that soft hardwood).  When the temps start dropping more, I will shift to soft hards wood and hardwood.

Bruce


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## STIHLY DAN (Oct 27, 2013)

branchburner said:


> I just came in from the woods, and was thinking the same thing: why am I rolling around these pine logs when I could spend the same amount of time getting a lot more BTUs? But I can't let them go to waste - if I have a downed pine that I can easily access, I feel obliged to process before cutting more live hardwoods.
> 
> To me, that's the one real knock on on eastern white pine: nearly the same time investment, fewer BTUs.


 
          And the sap on everything. That stuff does not like to come off. Sap is a big reason I don't touch it. If I do its for camp fires. Throws lots of light, burns down Quick, and has the pretty sparks.


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