apple?

[kjklosek]

Anyone burning apple wood? Or any other fruitwood.

I have a line on quite a bit from a local orchard. Limbs 2"-4" and trunk 6" - 10".

How does it burn?

Thanks,

J.P.

 

[Corie]

You will love it.

Its one of my favorite woods to burn. Smells great, burns long, leaves nice coals. You won't be disappointed.


Also, no sure if your screenname implies you enjoy smoking meat and fish, but if so, save some of the goofy little pieces and use them in your smoker. I like to use apple chunks on chicken, pheasant and pork.

 

[nshif]

Apple wood makes great firewood. But is even better in the smoker along with some grape vines.

 

[begreen]

I've found that old MacIntosh's make for a very slow burn and don't recommend putting them in your stove.

 

[babalu87]

I've found that old MacIntosh's make for a very slow burn and don't recommend putting them in your stove.

Unless sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg then wrapped in tin foil which you can get it from burningissues, look under hats

 

[begreen]

:lol: :cheese: :lol:

 

[DriftWood]

You are in a very good position, Great hot wood.

 

[restorer]

You are in a very good position, Great hot wood.

Orchard wood, and trims are very good to excellent. Take it all. When I burned wood (now pellets) my wood of choice were fruit woods, Oak and ash don't exist out here.

Orchard owners see the wood as waste and hard to deal with. Dead trees are often dragged to the corner of the tract and burned. If you can get them, they will give you all the stages of wood burning. By the way, save some chips for the BBQ, what an add to the taste.

 

[kjklosek]

Thanks to all for all the information.

I'm going to check it out on saturday. The owner said they have about 15 semi tractor trailer loads of cuttings.

I am assuming that there will be a lot of brush to weed through but I hope to be able to get as much as I can for next year.

If it looks good I will post the info so anyone who is near Charlottssville,VA can go and get some too.

J.P.

 

[Rhone]

Apple has more btu's than even oak. The list of the top 10 woods go something like

Hickory, Eastern Hornbeam, Blue Beech, Black Birch, Black Locust, Apple, White Oak, Sugar Maple, Red Oak, and High beech. I personally have no experience with it so can't vouch for how it burns, splits, or dries.

 

[burntime]

Apple take a loooooooonnnnnnggggg time to dry but it is a Rhom said up there on the hardness. I use it for when I will be working outside or an all night burn. Once dry it is great. But you almost have to split it to dry. I split a 6 inch round that was 2 years old and it was wet.

 

[mikeathens]

From Utah State University Extension: Apple: 27 MMBtu/cord, medium ease of splitting; Beech: 27.5 MMBtu/cord, difficult splitting; Black Locust: 27.9 MMBtu/cord, difficult splitting; White Oak: 29.1 MMBtu/cord, medium difficulty splitting; red oak: 24.6 MMBtu/cord, medium splitting; Osage Orange: 32.9 MMBtu/cord, easy splitting

There is some variation among Btu estimates that I've seen published, but apple is always at the top of the list. I have burned very little apple, but from what I've seen, it is very good firewood. Get all that you can

 

[JayY]

I agree it is great firewood. I have always found it pretty hard to split but it is worth the effort. This is mainly due to its growing habits.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I have burned a decent amount of Apple and it is some of the BEST burning firewood that you can ever get. Throws a LOT of heat, burns long, and has an aroma like "sweet perfume"-grab as much as you can!

 

[kjklosek]

Here are a couple of photos of some of the wood I picked up today. I will probably go tomorrow and get a couple of loads as well. The big pieces are about 14" in diameter. I would say the average is about 3"-4". It is pretty gnarly and twisted, as one would expect. But there appear to be a few parts where you could cut some clear 16"-18" pieces.

If anyone is interested the wood is from the Carter Mountain Orchard in Charlottesville Virginia. They had an ad in the Hook, one of the local free rags, for the free apple wood. If you call, mention the ad and speak to Henry. I guess he runs the show.

The orchard is 215 acres and most of the wood is between the rows just lying on the ground. So it could be potentially a lot of work depending on how much you want. Most of the big pieces are rotten. The big pieces I found were two of about a dozen that size that were not rotten.

All the limbs are sound.

There are a few piles of stuff on the property, but most of that is rotted as well.

Anyway, it has a beautiful view, as it sits right on top of the mountain next door to Monticello.

Beautiful weather don't hurt either. Makes for a good day of scroungin.

J.P.

 

[wg_bent]

Great to burn, but split even the smallest of pieces. As said already, 2 years and it's not dry. It can be a bit** to split, but not as bad as elm.

 

[Charlie Z]

For the branch wood, it's said that skinning off a bark strip the length with a hatchet or axe will allow it to dry faster. I'm not sure, but I've been trying it.

I do notice the new stihl rs blade does cut through it a lot better than the original. I have 20-30 cortland trunks from the '50s that make up the work pile (12") and I've been cutting them into 12" rounds. Can still quite a bit tougher to split than 18" oak or maple; you have to be a bit clever with it. Very wet inside and it changes color from a pale yellow to almost orange over an hour after splitting. The chips are saved for smoking and the smaller bits will please the lady using the old cookstove.