Overcoming Fear of... Hemlock, pine next...

[FLINT]

I've burned hemlock. yes, the limbs and knots are REALLY hard and because of the knots it splits really hard. when you burn it, it POPS loudly - but the smoke smells really really good. we never mind if a little hemlock smoke in the house.

anyone in the midatlantic and southern mountains, should have plenty of hemlock to burn for quite a while as it is all dying now because of the invasive hemlock whooly adelgid. its killing them fast here in VA. very sad.

 

[`RyaN`]

Flint same here in PA. I just posted about the adelgid in another post. As far as free wood. I say if it will burn and it's not costing any cash out of your pocket why not burn it. Different times of the year the softer woods are nicer because you don't need as long of a fire.

As far as burning pine I think some misconception comes from the concern of increased creosote buildup. I say burn it burn it hot and clean it properly should save any concerns with creosote buildup.

Someone can correct me if I am wrong :D

 

[LLigetfa]

Hemlock sounds a lot like Balsam Fir, a tree I love to hate. When I worked as a professional sawhand, I couldn't avoid them but now I just stay away from them. I hate the sticky sap blisters, the tough-as-nails branches, the stink, and the snap/crackle/pop when it burns. In my former home I had a neighbor that ran a sleigh ride business and he took all the Balsam that I so carefully avoided. He liked it for the snap/crackle/pop ambiance on the open fire in his lodges but I would have worried about the guests burning down the place when the firecrackers would throw embers clear across the room. I always worried that his drunken guests would wander onto my property and my dog would kill them.

 

[billb3]

I have mostly white pine here (for softwood) .
If I also didn't have white and red oak, cherry, and maple I'd consider buying a cord of harddwood for January/ February if I had the money and it wasn't terribly expensive.

the native white pine here burns rather quick and hot, not terrriby good for long / overnite fires.

I've burnt just white pine, hemlock and some cedar, but it's more of a chore than oak.
I have some stubborn/frugal Yankee in me but not a lot.

 

[skinnykid]

A buddy of mine dropped some huge Hemlock trees (about 7) in his yard last summer. Since he don't burn wood he offered them to me. Right now Hemlock is about 50% of the wood I have in my yard to split and stack. That % will go down as I come into more wood but needless to say, I have a bunch of Hemlock to burn next season. And the december ice storm made a mess of alot of Pines around here, I am taking the bigger stuff to burn also. Not alot but there will be a small mix of Pine in my stove next winter.

 

[Dune]

Two adds in the local paper yesterday, free pine logs, you remove. I scored both of them, almost 3 cords of seasoned stove length free wood, and about 25% of my wood needs for the year in one day! If I didn't burn pine, I'd be none ahead right now.

 

[Dune]

By the way, I burn pine in the winter too, but load only hardwoods just before bedtime.

 

[Tree farmer]

I cut and burn what grows out back (hemlock, pine, red spruce, red maple and cherry) hemlock dries pretty fast once split same with pine. I always try to mix it with hardwood but regardless it burns hot and fast. Sugaring operators use pine slabs not only because they are generally free but burn really hot. I used to snub the greens myself but not any more. I do have a solid 8 cords of oak I'm working up now but that's my longevity wood.

 

[jpl1nh]

I have lots and lots of both hemlock and pine. Actually I have lots and lots of most everything that grows here in the northeast except hickory. When it's freeze yer butt off cold, I burn mostly red oak and black locust with some yellow and black birch, beech, and sugar maple and ash thrown in..and a touch of hemlock, white, birch, red maple mixed in cause hardwood burns a bit better mixed unless your stove is really hot when you load. This time of year I burn pine, hemlock, red maple, a little white birch, poplar and anything punky, with a touch of small pieces of black birch and red oak mixed in. In between..I burn an in between mix. It's all good! You burn mostly hardwood when you need lots of heat and more soft wood when you need less. I like free pine, there is all you could ever want out there cause no one seems to understand when to use it and why. Plus everyone seems to think you get more creosote with it. Why waste your good hardwood on the shoulder seasons?

 

[skinnykid]

I don't really plan on using a certain species for certain temp changes. I just mix it all and burn slower when warm and higher when more heat output is needed.
Seems to me like stacking by species would be a pain. Then again, I only burnt for 1 year so far and pretty much ran out of wood.

 

[jpl1nh]

I don't really plan on using a certain species for certain temp changes. I just mix it all and burn slower when warm and higher when more heat output is needed.
Seems to me like stacking by species would be a pain. Then again, I only burnt for 1 year so far and pretty much ran out of wood.

I agree, stacking by species would be a bit er..obsessive. I mix it all too though the woodshed closest to the house is mostly my best cold weather hardwood. But aside from that, I bring in wood nearly everyday and I'm picking from the mixed pile according to the upcoming weather though I do have somewhat of a spring and fall shoulder pile as well.

 

[skinnykid]

as I pull wood from the wood closet I also try to plan ahead. Hardwoods for over night or soft to get er' going. If i am bummin around the house then I will burn the soft stuff first.

 

[Slow1]

I'm rather glad to hear these comments regarding just burning whatever wood (soft vs hard) is closest most of the time. I was beginning to think this was going to become too complex. I get the value of loading up on hardwood for overnight if you have it - clearly worth the 'bother' then, but during the rest of the time I am rather hoping to just burn whatever comes up. With that said, for me it is still all wishful thinking... I still only have what I have bought and am still paying too much for it. Still trying to get those leads out and hoping for that great score that others have hit I'll take whatever wood comes my way that isn't rotten or bug infested until I have a year or two ahead, then perhaps I'll start getting picky. Softwood seems to be my best bet (if indeed I were to have a choice) at the moment since at least it has a chance of being dry enough by fall so IF I get any it will be stacked closer to the house.

 

[crazy_dan]

the burn charts based on density would show some oak being nearly double the density of hemlock ,heat wise probably not ,but pound for pound its close to double might be easier to just move down south if you want oak lol around here we usually only load the stove with one oak slab(maybe 2 if its really cold ) in the fall and then it is reduced to coals by march lol

All wood has roughly the same BTU per pound of wood not volume, and that does not take in to account water weight, yes the volume of hemlock to oak is almost 2X the weight should not be.

and if yall are only burning 1 stick of wood a year Idk why you would be so picky anyway, so you would have to burn 2 or even 3.

 

[firefighterjake]

After researching many old posts here, I am gong to stop ignoring hemlock trees as a source for firewood. (Here in S. NH the hemlock variety has two lines on the underside of the needles and small almost thimble-sized cones.) Largely ignored by most, maybe because it is easily mistaken for pine? (Standing at the base of a large one and looking to the next oak to fell, I only realized it was a hemlock when the oak got hung up in it!) Per the BTU charts, hemlock has less energy, but judging from the dead trunk branches that I gather for kindling, I'll bet well seasoned hemlock makes great fire-starting material.

Folks in other areas of the country may find our ‘phobia’ of burning evergreens amusing. We often see stacks of cut pine logs just sitting in the woods visible from the road. Many have been quietly rotting for years… I myself have snickered at the guy with the sign on the ‘free wood’, thinking that he had to find a sucker to take it so he didn’t have to haul it to the landfill himself.

Can anyone offer any advice regarding the aging of this wood or about gathering dead evergreens? Will it season any faster than oak?

If it grows, it can be burned is my own motto.

Like other folks I burn the wood according to the season and heating need . . . in other words, softwoods and/or softwood slabs makes for good Spring and Fall burns whereas the denser hardwoods makes for better dead of Winter burns. As you have mentioned the softwoods also are useful for kindling.

I don't think too many people mistake hemlock for pine however . . . unless we're both talking about different species. The hemlocks you are describing sounds the same as the ones I am familiar with (small needles, thimble sized cones), but the pines (Scotch, White, etc.) have much longer needles, larger cones and different needle configurations (rounder needle-like vs. short and flat).

As others have said, softwood needs to season properly to burn better . . . just like other hardwoods . . . but the general consensus is that they tend to season faster . . . and much faster than the very dense hardwoods such as oak.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

biggest knock on softwoods and conifers in general is it tends to not last as long, this shouldnt be equated to lower BTU content per lb as stated earlier, but BTU per cubic unit of measurement is lower due to lighter weight per cubic unit these woods are less dense and release energy faster as they are consumed faster due to that same lack of density. as far as controlling the burn , isnt too hard , just monitor your startups and char stages remember they will char faster, understand that a less dense split will be consumed faster so its not going to be as long a cycle, and enjoy it when the "shoulder seasons" call for a lighter burn, like now when a nice half the night burn doesnt leave you sweating in the early morning hours. actually in a masonary heater like a russian fireplace or similar i'd think the shorter intense fires you run in them compared to the typical stove fire would work well with lighter wood, maybe not holding quite as long as dense wood get you, but still quite favorable, i'd think a mnasonary would show the lowest level of dropoff from dense wood to light

as for the "dangerous" aspects, when seasoned properly , any wood can be burned without loading the flue with creosote if the stove is operated properly, biggest thing is realizing that it is what it is,lighter less dense wood, dont try to get more out of it than it has to give. many chimney fires attributed to burning pine are mistakenly attributed to the high pitch count, in a way this is true, but thats not the real reason, folks try to get too long a burn out of this wood and damp back the stove too far especially with old non reburn units which cannot clean that stuff up like the newer reburn type units can. this along with the very improper practice of loading green wood on the mistaken thought that "it burns hotter longer" have ruined a pretty large amount of flues over the years.

burn smart and accept what the wood can give you is far and away the best advice i can give.