OT/Burning wood

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grouse
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OT/Burning wood

Post by grouse »

I'm curious what other peoples thoughts are about burning firewood. Here in the lower Midwest we have a variety of excellent hardwoods available to cut, split and burn. What do those of you in the more northern states and Canada like to burn? What brand of chainsaw works best for you and do you have any general tips to share.

This is something we may want to discuss while we sit at home waiting for this virus situation to ease up.
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janesy
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Re: OT/Burning wood

Post by janesy »

I used to cut and split Firewood for a bit. We still sell a mixed hardwood, but we do not process it ourselves. I think most people settle for a mix of oak maple and birch. They all light, burn and last at different temperatures and times. So a mix is sometimes better than and specific species if you want it to make it through the night. For instance oak burns hot and fast, maple slow but harder to ignite so some birch in there to get it going and then let the maple carry through the long term. Key is to maintain burn temporaries in your fireplace to keep creosote down, without getting too cold to allow for a down draft situation which is extremely dangerous.

Chainsaw are personal preference, but a pro grade pays for itself quickly. And you need to be comfortable enough using it to know that your still a tiny bit scared of it. They command respect, diligence and ALL of the Personal protective gear. You won't have to answer to anyone except the chain at ~15,000 RPMs. And it doesn't give two shits about the YouTube video you watched that morning.

My favorite saw for prolonged bucking was a STIHL MS442C-M with the Autotune. Run it all day on minimal fuel with no arm pain at all. But the hotrodded ms460 really but a smile on your face! For the 5 minutes it took to burn an entire tank
Last edited by janesy on Sat Mar 21, 2020 7:43 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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IronNoggin
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Re: OT/Burning wood

Post by IronNoggin »

We burn a lot of Fir, and some Yellow Cedar.

Prefer a Husqvarna saw - 455 cc is my current one.

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grouse
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Re: OT/Burning wood

Post by grouse »

We have a lot of good species to choose from, hedge, locust, hickory and ash are among the best. Hedge burns so hot that some people are afraid to burn it for fear of damaging their stove. Hedge also dulls your chain faster than most species.
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janesy
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Re: OT/Burning wood

Post by janesy »

IronNoggin wrote:
Sat Mar 21, 2020 2:48 pm
We burn a lot of Fir, and some Yellow Cedar.

Prefer a Husqvarna saw - 455 cc is my current one.

Cheers,
Nog
That would make sense, the species of wood in most abundance tend to mirror their environment. In Ontario it takes more energy to cut split and load most softwoods than they expelled in heat. Most pine and cedar felled here rots where it lands. There are other uses of course, but the relatively low BTU output and risk of creosote buildup deters most from burning inside. Outside burner units, different story, everything goes in there
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janesy
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Re: OT/Burning wood

Post by janesy »

grouse wrote:
Sat Mar 21, 2020 3:09 pm
We have a lot of good species to choose from, hedge, locust, hickory and ash are among the best. Hedge burns so hot that some people are afraid to burn it for fear of damaging their stove. Hedge also dulls your chain faster than most species.
If you get into bucking, depending on what wood you are cutting, the way you file your cutters and rakers makes a huge difference. Downside is that only works if you have a load of the same species, or multiple saws. Suppose you could have multiple chains, but that's not efficient.
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evaughan
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Re: OT/Burning wood

Post by evaughan »

Cut n burn 25 face cord a winter normally in an air tight wood stove. Outdoor boilers are common in my neck o the woods but I haven’t taken the plunge. Maple is #1 for heat, but we burn more white ash now due to the borer making it readily available. It’s easy to split and has great heat although not quite maple level. Never been impressed with red oak. Run stihls. 26”,18”, 16” the 26” is on the big 440 mag power plant she mows through 30” maples but the 18” is the workhorse. Split most by hand with a 5lb maul. I love a hot wood stove in the dead of Canadian winter nothing like it for comfort can’t watch a hockey game or anything else downstairs without falling asleep 😴 :lol: :lol:
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tcwild
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Re: OT/Burning wood

Post by tcwild »

Mainly cut hedge hackberry and oak burn the oak and hackberry on the cool nights and days, save the hedge for the coldest weather. Burnt in an indoor stove with a glass window , I have to be able to watch the fire burn it does my old bones good. For saws I run a Stil 024 and 009 only cutting 2 to 3 cords a year.
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Re: OT/Burning wood

Post by longbow joe »

Propane logs .....never got cut with a chainsaw yet.
Maby with a razor knife taking em out of the box.
It's been so darn warm here this winter l didn't use half a tank. ...Incredible.
But now all the savings are gone on money lost on the virus .......life is hard sometimes.
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Re: OT/Burning wood

Post by Patcon »

We heated with wood for years. We have lots of poplar and red oak in my area.
Stihl or Husqvarna would be my choice. I runs Stihls for all my small gas tools
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Deaf jeff
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Re: OT/Burning wood

Post by Deaf jeff »

hard maple and oak are the most popular in my area, wood heat all my life but these days i use 4 ton($200/ton) of hardwood pellets and sharp knife to open bag, the ease and convenience cant be beat for me
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Re: OT/Burning wood

Post by BrotherRon »

We just sold our house last December so I no longer burn firewood, but did for many years.
Oak makes a good firewood to use at night when you want a nice bed of coals left in the morning.
Oak also needs to be split and dried for a couple years.
You won't heat a house very fast with only oak though, you need a good fire under it.
Most other hardwoods work for nice burning fires that don't need tended every 45 minutes.
Your poplar and other soft woods will get a hot fire going quickly and throw lots of heat, but burns quick.
The last chainsaw I bought was a Dolmar, which made one of the very first gas powered chainsaws. (they are now owned by Makita)
It's a great chainsaw used by lots of pro's, but is a little pricey.
Stihl and Husqvarna are both good choices. ;)
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Re: OT/Burning wood

Post by grouse »

I'm surprised at how often burning maple is mentioned in this thread. Hard maple seems too valuable for its syrup and furniture applications to use as firewood. I would think it would be like we treat white oak around here. White oak burns and splits well, but it's too valuable for making barrel staves (for the wine and whiskey industries) to cut for firewood. I only cut it after storm damage or the remnants left from a timber harvest. We have a few sugar maples on my farm but I've never cut or sold one. Surprisingly, I did sell several 30" plus silver maples a few years ago, The logger said they were used for the wood pellet industry. I would expect them to burn like paper.
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AJ01
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Re: OT/Burning wood

Post by AJ01 »

Well we boys here in the South do on occasions have a fire in the old fireplace!! If it ever gets cold enough!! :lol:
I usually cut and split about 2-3 cords of Red Oak each year. A bunch goes to my smoker and BBQ pit, mixed with mesquite. Rest to the fireplace. No Mesquite in the fireplace, burns too hot!! :thumbdown:
I use a hydraulic to split and I run both a Stihl and a Husqvarna.
Been so warm this year, only 2 fires in the fireplace.
Got about 3 cords still stacked. :wink:
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janesy
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Re: OT/Burning wood

Post by janesy »

Deaf jeff wrote:
Sun Mar 22, 2020 10:45 am
hard maple and oak are the most popular in my area, wood heat all my life but these days i use 4 ton($200/ton) of hardwood pellets and sharp knife to open bag, the ease and convenience cant be beat for me
Out of curiousity Jeff, have you tried Softwood pellets?
I know it goes against conventional thinking, but once compressed, there is actually more wood in a softwood pellet than a hardwood pellet. The difference is in the medium the add to get the hardwood to stick together. Where as softwood has way more tannins and sticks together by itself. Essentially they have to glue a hardwood pellet together, so when you burn it, pound for pound there are more BTU's from a softwood pellet. If you think of it, once the fibers are compressed there really is no such thing as a hard or soft pellet, just the ratio of glue to fiber can be different. Also without burning glue, the softwood pellet can be cleaner.
Curious if you've noticed a difference.
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