Please weigh in... the waste is killing me.

[olliek]

blades - "biobricks"? yes i ordered a ton of these. I asked my dearest wife not to use them until it is really cold, because they cost a fortune...

Thanks for all advice - didn't mean to hijack the thread.

 

[PDXpyro]

Just my uneducated question: I always thought pine needs longer because of sap/resin?

OK, I have to weigh in once more on this thread: the original post asked about oak, poplar, pine and ash, all "semi-seasoned," so to speak.

Most people voted for burning the ash first, which is to be expected. But that ash was already split, whereas the pine and poplar were both in rounds, with each reading about 22-23% MC.

I advised splitting the pine immediately, since it'd quickly get drier once split. As for the direct comparison of pine vs. poplar at a similar MC, I'd much rather burn pine than poplar at that point. An argument could be made that the phobia about pine's pitch content is an example of backwards thinking: I'd rather burn the pine precisely because of its pitch content, which means that a hot fire can be easily maintained. With slightly under-seasoned pine, IF one keeps the splits small, the fire hot and the draft strong, creosote should be relatively minimal. Poplar, on the other hand, might be finicky and much harder to burn efficiently in that condition, potentially leading to more headaches. That pitch is unjustly feared, and in certain cases it can actually work in the burner's favor.

Again, keep a close eye on the chimney's condition as usual, and keep the fire hot, even if you need to reload many, many times a day before the prime stuff is ready to go.