# What's Your Favorite Firewood and Why?



## Pennsyltucky Chris (Feb 28, 2014)

Beech is my favorite, due to it's relatively high BTUs, the way it burns, and the fact that it doesn't leave a mess around my stove. I'm also a big fan of Red Oak for much the same reasons. I like to slow-burn beech throughout the afternoon and evening, then pack my wood burner up with Red before I hit the hay.

What are your preferences and burning methods?


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## husky345 vermont resolute (Feb 28, 2014)

I like white ash. Really i love anything thats good and dry.


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## Pennsyltucky Chris (Feb 28, 2014)

husky345 vermont resolute said:


> I like white ash. Really i love anything thats good and dry.



That's a good choice. I read an author who was a burner the other day, who rated ash and beech 1 and 2, respectively.


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## blazincajun (Feb 28, 2014)

Senesced oak branches used to make a fire while camping. Nothing like waking up to the smell of burning oak, coffee, bacon. That was when I was a child now I enjoy it just as much to be the one to prepare it all.


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## Paulywalnut (Feb 28, 2014)

I really like mulberry and BL mixed with any kind of oak. Oak by itself is the best.


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## Pennsyltucky Chris (Feb 28, 2014)

Paulywalnut said:


> I really like mulberry and BL mixed with any kind of oak. Oak by itself is the best.



Hey, neighbor!

I've got a good bit of White Oak seasoning, maybe 6 cords. It's probably going to be sitting until 15-16. I may sell a few cords to cover some of my equipment costs. I got all 6 for $100 on CL.


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## Paulywalnut (Feb 28, 2014)

Pennsyltucky Chris said:


> Hey, neighbor!
> 
> I've got a good bit of White Oak seasoning, maybe 6 cords. It's probably going to be sitting until 15-16. I may sell a few cords to cover some of my equipment costs. I got all 6 for $100 on CL.


Great buy. I'm southeast PA. What is that in your avatar? Looks like a half bear half dog.


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## STIHLY DAN (Feb 28, 2014)

I like the beech. Hard maple aswell.


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## Pennsyltucky Chris (Feb 28, 2014)

Paulywalnut said:


> Great buy. I'm southeast PA. What is that in your avatar? Looks like a half bear half dog.



I'm northern Bucks County.

My av is a presa canario/pitbull mix


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## Paulywalnut (Feb 28, 2014)

Pennsyltucky Chris said:


> I'm northern Bucks County.
> 
> My av is a presa canario/pitbull mix


Wow. Is he on the other side of your front door?


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## osagebow (Feb 28, 2014)

Osage. Yeller rocketfuel. 

Nice lookin' hellhound!


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## Pennsyltucky Chris (Feb 28, 2014)

Paulywalnut said:


> Wow. Is he on the other side of your front door?



No. He is......


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## ArsenalDon (Feb 28, 2014)

Eucalyptus....no brainier..burns hot, long and easy to split


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## tsquini (Mar 1, 2014)

White oak, easy to process and burn long with very little ash.


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## splitoak (Mar 1, 2014)

Dry....kinda like askin whats my favorite beer...cold


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## JP11 (Mar 1, 2014)

I like whatever junk my forrester uncle tells me to cut!

If he's having me cut it.. it means it's the lowest value, or in need of thinning to make something that's MORE valuable as veneer or something else.

I've got just under 70 acres.  My first cutting yielded me enough money to pay back HALF of what I paid for the land.  I got a great deal.  I plan to cut for money again in another 5 years or so.  Until then.. I'll keep burning the soft maple, poplar, hemlock blown downs... whatever junk is low value and needs to go!

JP


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## Pennsyltucky Chris (Mar 1, 2014)

JP11 said:


> I like whatever junk my forrester uncle tells me to cut!
> 
> If he's having me cut it.. it means it's the lowest value, or in need of thinning to make something that's MORE valuable as veneer or something else.
> 
> ...



70 acres in Maine? Sounds like you're living the dream, brother. Excellent way to make the land work for you. I hope to do the same thing with some serious acreage in the future.


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## OldLumberKid (Mar 1, 2014)

Whatever is free and easy to scrounge. So far the White Oak I liked the best.


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## JP11 (Mar 1, 2014)

Pennsyltucky Chris said:


> 70 acres in Maine? Sounds like you're living the dream, brother. Excellent way to make the land work for you. I hope to do the same thing with some serious acreage in the future.



Can't complain. I bought the land right, there wasn't a lot of build-able space.. but I just wanted privacy.


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## weatherguy (Mar 1, 2014)

Oak, either red or white, red's easier to split but white burns a little better. In fact I'm thinking of going to an all oak system since its so prevalent around here. I'd have to buy a truckload to add to my current 6 cords of oak to make sure I have enough to be seasoned every year. Im waiting for these guys to advertise they're spring sale for a truckload of 4 cords.


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## BillLion (Mar 1, 2014)

Black locust is my favorite I've burned; so hot! 

I also like oak, but (and I know this is sacrilege to many) I probably prefer sugar maple due to the shorter drying time.


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## Ehouse (Mar 1, 2014)

All the above are great, but just to be different, I vote for Ironwood (Hop Hornbeam).  Easy to split, drys fast, bark is great kindlin', BTU's right up there with BL, and it has a real nice nutty aroma.  I'm lucky to have quite a bit of it in my wood lot!


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## BEConklin (Mar 1, 2014)

Black birch. I love the smell when cutting it, it burns hot (BTU rating up there with hickory), is usually easy to split and there's a whole lot of it on my wood lot in smaller tree sizes so I don't feel guilty about burning potential lumber.


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## greythorn3 (Mar 1, 2014)

cottonwood, its plentyfull, and people are wood snobs around here and only want birch and spruce, so i get it free and easy!  i dont pick the wood, i let the wood pick me..


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## 1970roadrunner (Mar 1, 2014)

In my area, Douglas Fir is my favorite.  There is a lot of dead standing lodgepole pine and douglas fir so we can cut what we need for free with no seasoning time required.  The fir trees are a lot bigger and take more effort to process, but the BTUs are much better.


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## Woodman37 (Mar 2, 2014)

Where I live my favorite by far is locust. Burns hot not too bad to split. It is also very plentiful here. But as long as it's nice and dry I ain't too picky.


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## Lumber-Jack (Mar 2, 2014)

1970roadrunner said:


> In my area, Douglas Fir is my favorite.  There is a lot of dead standing lodgepole pine and douglas fir so we can cut what we need for free with no seasoning time required.  The fir trees are a lot bigger and take more effort to process, *but the BTUs are much better*.


You sure about that? I always found douglas fir and lodgepole pretty similar. The only difference I found was that I can find beetle killed lodgepole pine that is <20% moisture content, but most standing dead douglas fir I've ever cut still seems to have 30% or more MC.
The other thing I don't like much about douglas fir is it oozes pitch all the time, especially if it gets left near the wood stove and warms up.
Check out this btu chart http://forestry.usu.edu/htm/forest-products/wood-heating


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## 1970roadrunner (Mar 2, 2014)

I find I get better burn times with the fir, in my fireplace anyway.  I still cut a bit of lodgepole for the fall and spring, and keep the fir for the winter.  Here are some more charts for comparison sake:

Firewood BTU Ratings Chart Best Firewood Heat Energy Content
Consumer Energy Center - Firewood

I think the guys burning hardwoods will get a kick out of two guys from BC debating softwoods!  We surely have a good thing with our firewood permits here though.


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## kennyp2339 (Mar 2, 2014)

I'm a hard maple, red or white oak kind of guy, maple seems more prevalent is my area, not complaining, it did a great job this year; going to scrounge a few pines this spring, (sandy storm wood) and see how that works, I'm liking the idea of using the pine during the shoulder seasons, especially after this years cold winter


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## brant2000 (Mar 2, 2014)

tsquini said:


> White oak, easy to process and burn long with very little ash.



I've had some white oak that was anything but easy to process.  Still great wood, just makes you work a little harder at it!


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## Lumber-Jack (Mar 2, 2014)

1970roadrunner said:


> I think the guys burning hardwoods will get a kick out of two guys from BC debating softwoods!  We surely have a good thing with our firewood permits here though.


Yeah, but mind you, not all hardwood is all it's cracked up to be either. I've got, or had, some access to hardwoods including apple, walnut, maple and elm, in fact I've been burning my little stash of walnut lately and still have some maple in the stacks. I don't go out of my way to cut those hardwoods, I just happen to have some because I topped some trees in the neighborhood and figured it made more sense to burn it then haul it to the dump. Besides the apple, I've never really found those particular hardwoods burn much better than Lodgepole pine, or Douglas fir for that mater.
You hint at the reason I'd rather go after the softwood (especially lodgepole), I don't have a lot of room to store firewood on my property, and beetle kill lodgepole pine trees are the only wood I know I can reliably go out and cut and come back with wood that is ready to burn right away. What that means to me is I only need to cut what I need for the coming winter, and I don't have to prepare a year, or years, in advance. I have found some standing dead douglas fir and spruce I could do that with, but not a reliably as lodgepole pine.
Also, because there is such an abundance of beetle kill lodgepole out there that I can often drop enough trees in one central location so they are overlapping each other on the ground and cut a lot of the trees up a little higher off the ground, which I find easier on my back and I can fill up the truck with a full cord from one location. Sort of like one stop shopping. 
Anyway, I don't know about you, but if we weren't able to cut for free out in our crown land forests, and had to rely on scrounging around for residential trees or buying wood, my wood burning days would be over pretty quick.
BTW, I don't know if I've asked you this before, but I live in Keremeos area, where about's are you located?


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## fullofbaloney (Mar 2, 2014)

Gotta be red oak, splits easily, lots of it around me and it burns really well once it dries out.  Only downside is the stuff is incredibly heavy when you're hauling it when wet.


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## Lumber-Jack (Mar 2, 2014)

fullofbaloney said:


> Gotta be red oak, splits easily, lots of it around me and it burns really well once it dries out.  Only downside is the stuff is incredibly heavy when you're hauling it when wet.


Rumor has it that you are full of baloney.


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## Applesister (Mar 2, 2014)

I guess I'd have to say Apple. Its like doing a pathology report when I cut them up. More of a autopsy.
Like Leonardo DaVini digging up cadavers to study human anatomy.


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## Seasoned Oak (Mar 2, 2014)

Mostly pine. I burn mostly construction tearout wood. I do have some perfectly seasoned oak i save for special occasions and  long overnight burns, THis year has been so cold im almost out of junk wood for the first time since 2008. Got  a nice stack of 100 year old 2x4s in reserve.


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## byQ (Mar 2, 2014)

Like Lumberjack and Roadrunner I'm in pine/fir country. For me, Lodgepole Pine is easier to get than Doug Fir (it's closer).  I'm going to drive farther this summer and get some Doug Fir. I don't really have enough experience with other woods at this point. I got about 10 mid-size rounds of ash last year and it was a nice wood to process.

I'm collecting firewood for a masonry heater. For a wood stove hardwoods like oak and black locust seem better because they are dense and burn more slowly than pine and fir. And the hardwoods provide coals so the fire can be kept continually going - just add more firewood. 

However, a masonry heater is a different burning philosophy. You want a fast and hot fire (1.5-2.5 hours). Fast because you want to close the damper ASAP to trap the heat.  And hot because the energy is being absorbed into the thermal mass. So the actual heat comes from the the heated thermal mass not so much from the fire itself. So a short hot fire is an advantage not a disadvantage as it would be in a wood stove.

So pine and fir with their pitch, hot fast burning and lack of coaling suit a masonry heater well.  Hardwoods are still good but pines and firs become more valuable than they would be in a wood stove application.


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## 1970roadrunner (Mar 2, 2014)

Lumber-Jack said:


> Yeah, but mind you, not all hardwood is all it's cracked up to be either. I've got, or had, some access to hardwoods including apple, walnut, maple and elm, in fact I've been burning my little stash of walnut lately and still have some maple in the stacks. I don't go out of my way to cut those hardwoods, I just happen to have some because I topped some trees in the neighborhood and figured it made more sense to burn it then haul it to the dump. Besides the apple, I've never really found those particular hardwoods burn much better than Lodgepole pine, or Douglas fir for that mater.
> You hint at the reason I'd rather go after the softwood (especially lodgepole), I don't have a lot of room to store firewood on my property, and beetle kill lodgepole pine trees are the only wood I know I can reliably go out and cut and come back with wood that is ready to burn right away. What that means to me is I only need to cut what I need for the coming winter, and I don't have to prepare a year, or years, in advance. I have found some standing dead douglas fir and spruce I could do that with, but not a reliably as lodgepole pine.
> Also, because there is such an abundance of beetle kill lodgepole out there that I can often drop enough trees in one central location so they are overlapping each other on the ground and cut a lot of the trees up a little higher off the ground, which I find easier on my back and I can fill up the truck with a full cord from one location. Sort of like one stop shopping.
> Anyway, I don't know about you, but if we weren't able to cut for free out in our crown land forests, and had to rely on scrounging around for residential trees or buying wood, my wood burning days would be over pretty quick.
> BTW, I don't know if I've asked you this before, but I live in Keremeos area, where about's are you located?


I'm up in the Prince George area.  Lots of lodgepole beetle kill up here still as well.

I used to burn a bit of birch, but only because I had access to some private land that they let me cut on.  It burned all right, but I could never get enough and I had to cut green and pile it somewhere to season.  With plenty of dead standing available and ready to burn, I moved away from the birch.  Why move the wood twice if you don't have to?  The fir and pine goes right from the bush to the woodshed, ready to go.

Some of the doug firs are big enough for a couple of cords of wood.  The smaller firs get cut the first but sometimes the big ones are all thats left.


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## Wooderson (Mar 2, 2014)

_Quercus marilandica_

Blackjack Oak is my favorite in the Cross Timbers region of Texas.  Much preferred to Post Oak.  Super dense and dries ok when you have 100 days of 100º weather each summer with wind.  About 18 months to season out to <20%.  The only downside is that with all of the crooks, knots, and crotches I can't post pics of my woodpiles here for fear of the ensuing laughter.


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## Backwoods Savage (Mar 2, 2014)

Not sure I have an absolute favorite but we burn a lot of ash, oak, soft maple, elm and cherry. There are a few others but those are our main burners. Of course there are many other types that are great but we try to do all our cutting on our own place so are limited to what we have. No problem; we have plenty.


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## tsquini (Mar 2, 2014)

brant2000 said:


> I've had some white oak that was anything but easy to process.  Still great wood, just makes you work a little harder at it!


It depends on how green the wood is before you start chopping it. Oak freshly cut is about 50% moisture content and splits like a charm. If it starts to drop below 30% the grain tightens up and makes it more of chore.


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## firefighterjake (Mar 2, 2014)

No real favorites . . .

I like white and yellow birch for reloads . . . always nice to have a built in tinder source.

I like apple and cherry for their smells when processing.

I like ash as the all-around, go to wood -- easy to process, seasons relatively quickly and is a decent burning wood.

I like beech, sugar maple, oak and black locust for those long, cold winter nights.

Heck, I even like my white pine for burning in the shoulder seasons.


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## BEConklin (Mar 3, 2014)

Applesister said:


> I guess I'd have to say Apple. Its like doing a pathology report when I cut them up. More of a autopsy.
> Like Leonardo DaVini digging up cadavers to study human anatomy.



Apple's great stuff - it smells wonderful when it's burning and throws out plenty of heat. My problem with apple is that it's so good for smoking meat, I almost feel guilty burning it for anything else. I suppose if I had access to more apple I might feel differently....


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## razerface (Mar 3, 2014)

I burn mostly oak, but my favorite is whatever wood my son splits and stacks. It makes me smile more then the wood I have to split.


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## mstoelton (Mar 3, 2014)

My favorite wood is "FREE"


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## shoot-straight (Mar 4, 2014)

not a huge fan of splitting white oak. great btus but too stringy most of the time. 

hands down- chestnut oak. its literally falls apart with a maul. even easier than red oak. only downside is its long time to season. i just split and stacked 2 cords in record time with my maul only this weekend. for me, its all about ease of processing. large rounds, yeah you get plenty of wood from them, but what a pain in the a$$. 

in the end, any wood that is easy to process is ok with me.


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## ChipTam (Mar 4, 2014)

Birch.  It's the only hardwood available in Nfld. plus the bark works better than fat-wood sticks as kindling.  The only other choices would be fir (not Douglas) and and spruce.

ChipTam


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## kingston73 (Mar 4, 2014)

Woodman37 said:


> Where I live my favorite by far is locust. Burns hot not too bad to split. It is also very plentiful here. But as long as it's nice and dry I ain't too picky.



Same here, I had never used it until last year, always thought it was just a trash species until reading here and trying it myself.  It's killer on saw chains though.


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## jillybeansisme (Mar 5, 2014)

Well, since I don't yet have a stove . . . I'm guessing I'll like whatever my nephew c/s/s for me!  (But I'm looking forward to it)


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