pine burning questions

[cmonSTART]

My neighbor came over yesterday, hearing my splitter and was wondering what I did with all the pine splits I was processing. Told him I simply burn it. He has been clearing his land a bit and has lots of piles of 3' & 4' pine logs that he offered to me free. ChaChing! More free wood.

ChaChing is right! I collected a bunch of it from storm damage this year.

 

[branchburner]

So, if one cuts dead pine that has been standing or laying on the ground and there is very little sap, does that mean the wood (still in the round) is well on its way to being seasoned, ready to burn?

I've cut small ones, standing with no bark, ready to go. Laying on the ground they may hold a lot of water, even if the bark is gone... especially larger diameter trees that sink into the ground as oppose to lying on or above the soil. I cut a big one up recently that had been down some time. The outer two inches were a bit punky and water-soaked but dried up in a few weeks of sun. The core was solid, wasn't even seasoned and is not drying very fast. I'll save it for next year.

 

[Jerry_NJ]

Thanks, I think I have (enough personal energy to) a partial cord of mixed Eastern Red Cedar and White pine. I can cut/split that and put it behind my shed - stacked but not covered, for next year... or if I run out of hardwood in March 2010.

 

[branchburner]

Don't know about cedar, but the pine I would cover as soon as you split and stack (unless it's already sopping and you get a long stretch of sun) - it seems to sponge up water and may not help much in March 2010. (If it's for winter 2010/11, it'll dry in the summer.)

 

[d.n.f.]

If pine is stacked off the ground it does not appear to soak up any more water than any other softwood (fir, cedar, larch, tamarack). I do not cover my stacks until the snow falls and then only the tops and 1/3rd down.

 

[Pagey]

Most of the pine I've been using has been ready in 6 months. Some white pine we had last year was felled in April and left in the round until late fall. It was 18-22% when we split it. Maybe we just have really dry pine...dunno.