what type of wood do you burn?

[iceman]

What type of wood do you mostly burn?
I know location has a lot to do with it but, do you like what you burn?
I burn mostly red oak .... I hate that it never seems to be completely dry .....
This year however, .. should be the driest stuff I have burned so far


So for me mostly. Red oak, and I hate it cause it has to sit so long to dry! recently I have gotten my hands on beech, birch, and honey locust I will try to get those in the rotation maybe as early as next year but who knows how fast they season

 

[burntime]

I burn...red oak, ash, elm, box elder, shagbark hickory, silver maple, red maple, white oak, lialac, red maple, and anything else that I trim in my yard. I try to stay with the better woods. I love ash, oak, and shagbark hickory the best!

 

[rdust]

Mostly white ash, soft maple, red/white oak, shagbark hickory(over night wood) with a little pine, walnut, cherry and poplar mixed in. Next year I'll have some black locust to try, I'm pretty excited about that.

 

[heatwise]

mostly oak then its a mix of ash ,maple,walnut,cherry,poplar,pine,locust and a couple others im not able to id at the moment. seems like lots of oak this past few years. for a whyle it was ash and nothing but ash. nice to have a mix and also different size splits on hand. this wood scrounging never stays the same, its different every year.

 

[relax]

ok ash elm birch and oak

 

[relax]

not hijacking yah but how big do you split your oak

 

[wood spliter]

Mostly Locust and Cherry.

 

[Tarmsolo60]

winter- beech, maple, yellow birch, cherry

fall and spring- whatever less desirable wood has been cleaned up on my land.

beech is my favorite

 

[relax]

a nice mix of smells

 

[thewoodlands]

This is our second year burning and I take whats down, so far Cherry is number one with Sugar Maple and Beech coming in second and third. I hope that we have some softwood for the shoulder season next year which will be Quaking Aspen.

zap

 

[jimdeq]

I like to burn green or white ash. Despite what others might say I believe you can cut ash in winter and split it small and have dry wood for the following fall. Does anyone else feel the same?

 

[iceman]

All of you that have a variety, which is your favorite? And why?

 

[Cutter]

Hedge followed by some Osage Orange then some more hedge. It is the only decent wood I have access to. I have over a mile of 80 yr old tree lines to do battle with.

 

[iceman]

not hijacking yah but how big do you split your oak

I try to split smaller to make sure it dries but as someone said in another thread, now that I am 2 years out I will split big blocks and see what happens

 

[thewoodlands]

All of you that have a variety, which is your favorite? And why?

Sugar Maple for it's BTU's, this year I did cut some ironwood which is higher in btu's but it won't be ready until next year plus it is a small tree in diameter.

zap

 

[lowroadacres]

I have ready access to Ash, poplar, box elder and elm.

All work for me, especially when I get them in the combination of standing dead, fallen or free from a tree service friend.

I even allowed some pine on my yard because we like the smell and the snap and crackle in the fireplace..... And did I say it was free?

Right now I am working on Box elder and Ash for 2011-12. I will be digging out some more poplar and ash as the winter approaches.

I will burn anything that is dry.

 

[hoosierhick]

Ash, Ash & more Ash.....

 

[SolarAndWood]

I have burned a lot of free junk in the past but moving into Ash, Beech, Locust and a lot of Maple. Favorite is Locust but haven't burned the big chunks of Beech yet.

 

[DiscoInferno]

In MD, in rough order of volume: red oak, red maple, pine (red and white), cherry, black locust, ash, hickory, white oak, mulberry, hemlock, elm, honey locust, poplar, pear, beech, silver maple, holly, dogwood, plum, cedar, willow, paulownia. In other words, everything and anything I can scrounge. I enjoy the variety but pine, ash, and black locust would keep me happy.

In MI: sugar maple, red maple, beech, yellow birch, hemlock, balsam fir, cherry.

 

[PapaDave]

Mostly red oak, white oak, small amounts of hard maple/soft maple, spruce, white pine, and popple.
Favorite really depends on the weather, but I have to say overall, oak.

 

[firefighterjake]

I mostly burn American Elm (lots of it dying on my two acres), ash (lots of it growing alongside the family fields), birch (white and yellow) and maple (red and sugar).

I do have a smattering of poplar, black cherry, beech, apple and some softwood.

Never burned oak, locust or hickory . . . although in another year or two I should have some nicely seasoned oak to try out.

--------

In answer to my favorite wood . . . hands down . . . ash . . . splits easily, good coaling, good BTUs and it is pretty straight which is nice for stacking. My wife on the otherhand loves white birch -- mainly because the bark lights right up when she tosses it on hot coals for a reload.

 

[firefighterjake]

I like to burn green or white ash. Despite what others might say I believe you can cut ash in winter and split it small and have dry wood for the following fall. Does anyone else feel the same?

You can . . . but try burning some after it has been seaoned for an entire year . . . it's a world of difference . . . more intense fire and better secondaries . . . no hissing or spitting wood . . . and you can have bigger splits for longer-lasting overnight fires. I was pretty happy with my ash (and standing dead elm) that I burned in my first year . . . had some occasional spitters and hissers . . . but when I burned wood last year that had been seasoned for over a year there was a night and day difference . . . and yea . . . my eyes were open to the glory of well seasoned wood.

 

[oldspark]

I like to burn green or white ash. Despite what others might say I believe you can cut ash in winter and split it small and have dry wood for the following fall. Does anyone else feel the same?

You can . . . but try burning some after it has been seaoned for an entire year . . . it's a world of difference . . . more intense fire and better secondaries . . . no hissing or spitting wood . . . and you can have bigger splits for longer-lasting overnight fires. I was pretty happy with my ash (and standing dead elm) that I burned in my first year . . . had some occasional spitters and hissers . . . but when I burned wood last year that had been seasoned for over a year there was a night and day difference . . . and yea . . . my eyes were open to the glory of well seasoned wood.

I have some white ash I cut last fall and split in march that is below 20% on the smaller splits, the bigger splits are at 31% or so, my answer is yes the smaller splits, the green ash seasons quicker, I also have some burr oak that was 45% or more last spring and the smaller splits are 18 to 20% with the bigger ones at 35%, I know some of you might have a hard time believing this but that is why I bought the MM, and it confirmed my beliefs I obtained in 30 years of burning. If you split small and stack it right one full summer will get it to 20% or so.

 

[billb3]

I have mostly cherry ( 1st growth forest succumbing to taller trees) and some red oak (blow downs / bugs) a tiny bit of maple and a half cord of gold (yellow) birch.
Plenty of pine, but the better stuff is keeping me busy enough.

 

[WoodPorn]

Red Oak, White Oak, Hickory, Black Birch, Hard/Soft Maple, White Birch, Ash, Cherry are all easily obtained.

My favorites in order are; White Oak, Black Birch, Hickory and Red Oak