Devil wood...Pine, finally split and stacked.

[Corriewf]

This is a follow up to this thread: https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/60372/

I was complaining about how hard pine is to split and rightfully so. Pine sucks to split. I really hope I get some decent burns from all this work. I mean some nice solid heat for at least a couple hours would be nice.

These are the before pics.

 

[Corriewf]

I ended up having to noodle almost every single damn piece. It sucked. Although admittingly still much better than that poplar Tried to split some old poplar rounds today and the maul just sunk in. Anyway, every piece of pine had knots. I swear.. I am starting to wonder how people can heat exclusively with pine. I guess I will find out when I go to burn this for the first time.

So after a couple of weeks of working on it here and there...finally done.

 

[mrfjsf]

Pine definately is no joke to split, most the pine I get is FULL of knots, looks like yours is too!

 

[Corriewf]

I have to say...It's pretty wood.

I decided to do pretty large splits since it was such a groan to split....Plus figured it would last a little longer in the stove.

 

[Pagey]

I find that if you let beetle-kill pine sit in the round for 6 months, it splits like a dream...within reason.

 

[Corriewf]

I find that if you let beetle-kill pine sit in the round for 6 months, it splits like a dream...within reason.

Is that what this is, beetle kill? I have had several pines die for what seems to be no reason. Don't know how to tell beetle kill...

 

[Pagey]

If it is pine bark beetle, you'll see their "tracks" under the bark, and holes often full of larvae. We have swaths of it here, standing dead. It's practically seasoned when it hits the ground. Good for the stove, bad for the pines.

 

[Wood Duck]

I think some of those western pines like Lodgepole Pine must be easier to split because they can't have very many knots - they sure don't have many branches. I haven't split one myself. it would be a hassle to have to heat with Eastern White Pine or Eastern Hemlock - they're all knots.

 

[Corriewf]

If it is pine bark beetle, you'll see their "tracks" under the bark, and holes often full of larvae. We have swaths of it here, standing dead. It's practically seasoned when it hits the ground. Good for the stove, bad for the pines.

The bark was falling off of all this stuff and I sure did come across a lot of grubs. I don't normally get to the pine in time to get any decent wood. Normally by the time I bring it down, it's been dead fora while and the termites have gotten it bad. :-/ I am thinking, I might be able to burn this stuff in feb or march right?

 

[Occo370]

split pine thi year that sat for almost year in large rounds. It split like a dream and was at 20% I am burning it now

 

[Pagey]

Pine is one of the few woods I've seen season in the round around here. My first year with the Endeavor (2008), we did the install as a last minute thing. Fortunately, dad had cleared some Eastern White Pine from around the lake on his mother's cattle farm. They sat in the round for several months in the old hay barn. It was ready to go as soon as it was split, everything reading 20% down to 15%. Red oak, for example, doesn't seem to fare as well in 6 months.

 

[Corriewf]

Pine is one of the few woods I've seen season in the round around here. My first year with the Endeavor (2008), we did the install as a last minute thing. Fortunately, dad had cleared some Eastern White Pine from around the lake on his mother's cattle farm. They sat in the round for several months in the old hay barn. It was ready to go as soon as it was split, everything reading 20% down to 15%. Red oak, for example, doesn't seem to fare as well in 6 months.

What's the best way to tell if it's seasoned or not? Pine feels and looks so different to me that it's hard to tell compared to other woods I'm used to. How was burning it? Did it. Burn fast like everyone says it does? Not sure how eastern pine compares to the lode pole pine etc they burn out west

 

[Pagey]

I generally split it and stack it for 6 months here. After that, I get moisture readings anywhere from 15-20% with the cheapo 2 pin meter. Now, bear in mind that I'm working with standing dead pine. Dad took down some stuff a few weeks ago that was very much green. It weighs a helluva lot more, it feels wet when you split it, and if you try to split it with the Fiskars, it just buries up a good 1" or so and lodges. The standing dead stuff will darn near explode when you whack it good with the Fiskars.

It does burn fast, but I love it for shoulder season wood. One smallish pine fire early in the AM, and the house is good to go for the rest of the day from the solar heating. If you have some that you're going to have sitting around for a while, I do recommend leaving it in larger splits. That way, if you need some smaller, kindling type stuff a couple of whacks and you're good to go. Otherwise, you end up with a ton of small splits that are super dry and go up like a mushroom cloud.

 

[billb3]

I usually let it sit for a year, or more and have never tried to see how little time it takes to be reasonably seasoned.
I usually only get grubs just under the bark and not far into the split itself.

Stack looks like mine. Progressively larger splits as the stack grows.

Most of my pine grew in an open field and had huge branches on the bottom for years because of no canopy competition.
Awful to split. The knots are huge.

 

[thewoodlands]

I ended up having to noodle almost every single damn piece. It sucked. Although admittingly still much better than that poplar Tried to split some old poplar rounds today and the maul just sunk in. Anyway, every piece of pine had knots. I swear.. I am starting to wonder how people can heat exclusively with pine. I guess I will find out when I go to burn this for the first time.

So after a couple of weeks of working on it here and there...finally done.

Corriewf nice work on the pine, how much wood do you usually burn?


zap

 

[Corriewf]

I generally split it and stack it for 6 months here. After that, I get moisture readings anywhere from 15-20% with the cheapo 2 pin meter. Now, bear in mind that I'm working with standing dead pine. Dad took down some stuff a few weeks ago that was very much green. It weighs a helluva lot more, it feels wet when you split it, and if you try to split it with the Fiskars, it just buries up a good 1" or so and lodges. The standing dead stuff will darn near explode when you whack it good with the Fiskars.

It does burn fast, but I love it for shoulder season wood. One smallish pine fire early in the AM, and the house is good to go for the rest of the day from the solar heating. If you have some that you're going to have sitting around for a while, I do recommend leaving it in larger splits. That way, if you need some smaller, kindling type stuff a couple of whacks and you're good to go. Otherwise, you end up with a ton of small splits that are super dry and go up like a mushroom cloud.

Yeah my maul did a lot of sinking. I had to cut a slit about 3/4 through each round to get them to split. It was quite challenging and to be honest between this pine and poplar, it makes me want to buy a splutter. I hate to spend the money, but damn this wood.
I would imagine in winter this stuff would probably explode, but I can't wait that long.

Will this wood crack up and get even lighter when its seasoned? Thanks for the advice.

 

[Corriewf]

I usually let it sit for a year, or more and have never tried to see how little time it takes to be reasonably seasoned.
I usually only get grubs just under the bark and not far into the split itself.

Stack looks like mine. Progressively larger splits as the stack grows.

Most of my pine grew in an open field and had huge branches on the bottom for years because of no canopy competition.
Awful to split. The knots are huge.

Lol I bet our reasons are the same..as I got closer to being done, i got more tired and said screw it....small enough.

Of course having larger splits will help with burn times I'm sure.. i just couldn't do the 3 -4 swings to make each piece a little smaller...

 

[Corriewf]

I ended up having to noodle almost every single damn piece. It sucked. Although admittingly still much better than that poplar Tried to split some old poplar rounds today and the maul just sunk in. Anyway, every piece of pine had knots. I swear.. I am starting to wonder how people can heat exclusively with pine. I guess I will find out when I go to burn this for the first time.

So after a couple of weeks of working on it here and there...finally done.

Corriewf nice work on the pine, how much wood do you usually burn?


zap

I have never burned pine before. I always thought it would burn my house down and run off with my wife in the middle of the night..... My wife helped stack so I am gonna have to keep and eye on things I guess...

 

[Pagey]

The pine I handle will get so light you can pitch huge rounds and look like Superman.*


*Do not attempt with: oak, hickory, walnut, locust, or small cars.