# do blue spruce and cotton wood make good firewood



## Evan (Mar 9, 2009)

i might be takn down both on one job and was wondering if it would be worth cutn this stuff up for fire wood and stock pileing it. ive got plenty of room to stock it.

cottong wood is 35' blue spruce is 60' or the other way around. ive only talked to guy on the phone. how many cord is this if you had to guess without seeing the trees. im guessn 2-3 maybe 4 without seeing the trees . night give the 359 alittle work out

thanks 

Evan


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## BarkBuster20 (Mar 9, 2009)

well im sure the spruce would be the 60' and spruce is decent firewood. i wouldnt bother with the cottonwood, not that it wouldnt be okay.


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## MS460WOODCHUCK (Mar 9, 2009)

Cottonwood is like burning paper as far as BTU's and burn time. I believe the blue spruce would be about the same but I have not burnt it to know for sure.


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## IchWarriorMkII (Mar 9, 2009)

Blue spruce would be ok...

Cottonwood, eh... beats rolled up newspaper.



This is coming from someone who only burns softwoods.


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## Bill G (Mar 9, 2009)

We do not have Spruce here so I cannot speak to it. We do have Cottonwood and I have never liked it for a indoor stove. If you are burning in a outdoor burner then it will be fine.

Bill


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## country boy (Mar 9, 2009)

Around my neck of the wood cottonwood is one of the most undesireable wood . I do have probably have a cord of it stashed back for reserves . When it is green all it does is smolder and when it is fully seasoned it burns like cardboard . Its also a real pain to split by hand real stringy wood . But its better than nothing .


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## BarkBuster20 (Mar 9, 2009)

spruce will burn pretty hot. id keep it.


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## GASoline71 (Mar 9, 2009)

Cottonwood takes a looooong time to dry out and "season"... also stinks like piss when you burn it. Skip it...

The Spruce will burn okay...

Gary


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## ShoerFast (Mar 9, 2009)

Evan said:


> i might be takn down both on one job and was wondering if it would be worth cutn this stuff up for fire wood and stock pileing it. ive got plenty of room to stock it.
> 
> cottong wood is 35' blue spruce is 60' or the other way around. ive only talked to guy on the phone. how many cord is this if you had to guess without seeing the trees. im guessn 2-3 maybe 4 without seeing the trees . night give the 359 alittle work out
> 
> ...



I would rather trip over Blue Spruce or Cottonwood loading good wood like any real hardwood or Douglas fer into the truck for firewood, my $0.03 cents worth. 

But it's better then the wood some might not have, if they did not have a choice. 

But there is no way that I would fire Spruce into any fireplace that could shoot a spark that could reach carpet, Spruce spits a lot of sparks.

It dose smell good!


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## Jonny Quest (Mar 9, 2009)

Yup...

Blue Spruce is great firewood - for outdoor fire pits, etc. Indoor, I'd use a stove.

Cottonwood has very low BTU value - and as others before have said, it stinks.

JQ


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## Old Goat (Mar 9, 2009)

Dropping that Blue Spruce would be fun if you have a big area to drop it in. I would like to see a video of you dropping that. I like the rounds, easy to split. Not the highest BTU but will burn hot, good smell. 

The cottonwood is on the low end for BTU. If the price is right (free) then I grab it, but I give most of it away (widow wood). You will not get an all night burn with it. It will dry out well for you in Idaho. Our dry summers here in the Mountain West dry wood faster then in the humid East and South. If it isn't too much trouble I would get it. You never know what you might need, and someone somewhere will be glad to have it, trade or pay you something for it.


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## Evan (Mar 9, 2009)

guys says theres lots of room to drop them in, he even said hell clean up the small branches all i need to do is haul off the big stuff.

any guesseds on base diameter, i didnt even ask him.

thanks for the replies

Evan


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## BarkBuster20 (Mar 9, 2009)

he said the spruce is sixty feet tall?? diameter will be between 3-5 foot i would guess


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## Evan (Mar 9, 2009)

ehhhhhhhhh if its 3 foot ill do it, if its 5 ill think real hard about it.

thanks for the reply


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## BarkBuster20 (Mar 9, 2009)

spruce are short and fat. i got a 50-60 foot spruce on my place thats about 5 foot


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## Old Goat (Mar 9, 2009)

Evan said:


> ehhhhhhhhh if its 3 foot ill do it, if its 5 ill think real hard about it.
> 
> thanks for the reply



O come on, it will be fun. It is a soft wood and cuts fast. With a sharp chain you will be done in no time. I would bet it is 3' or less. I would at least drop it, that is where the real fun would be. I would even think about driving up there and dropping and blocking it for you. Most of the spruce down here is on forest service land has to be downed or dead standing. It is not every day you get to drop a big one like that. You can always buy you a 395XP just for this job, you have everyone's permission on here. Make sure you video it so you can post it for us.

Drop and block up the cottonwood also. You can post an ad on Craigslist to get rid of the wood if you don't want it.


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## Evan (Mar 9, 2009)

well see what happens,

if its 48"s ill do it if bigger i dunno. i have just shy of 24"s of bar past the dog on my 359.

thanksfor the egen me on. id realy like to do it .


Evan


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## BarkBuster20 (Mar 9, 2009)

24" bar will take out a big tree my friend. do your face and then put a plunge cut into the face to compensate if its really big.


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## BarkBuster20 (Mar 9, 2009)

infact i would be willing to drop it with my 310 with a 24" bar on it ^_^


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## Taxmantoo (Mar 9, 2009)

Cottonwood is great stuff. Almost as good as used Pampers.


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## Woodie (Mar 9, 2009)

taxmantoo said:


> Cottonwood is great stuff. Almost as good as used Pampers.




    

I used to drive an open-top Jeep, and they have the aerodynamics of a four-bedroom ranch house. Lots of wind blowing every which way inside. During cottonwood 'season,' all those little bastard 'cottons' used to constantly blow in my eyes. Lordy I hate cottonwoods.

Bottom line...burn it or not, but drop it just to kill that :censored:er dead.




.


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## PB (Mar 9, 2009)

Woodie said:


> Bottom line...burn it or not, but drop it just to kill that :censored:er dead.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



 Classic Woodie right there.


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## Gologit (Mar 9, 2009)

Woodie said:


> Bottom line...burn it or not, but drop it just to kill that :censored:er dead.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yup.


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## JONSEREDFAN6069 (Mar 9, 2009)

spruce is a very good firewood, seasons very fast if split and smell's gr8 when burning. i wish i wood find a 60 footer around here, tallest one i found is about 40. if your gonna cut it do it now before the sap starts running or you'll have a mess. lol


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## Austin1 (Mar 9, 2009)

As mentioned Blue Spruce is not too bad but use it in a Stove not a Fire Place unless you have glass doors It really pop's like throwing in a handful of .22s. 
I don't think Blue is a Native tree for me, Lot's of them in the City they come from the southern Rocky's But I have burned a few. 
The Guy's and gal's with the hard wood must laugh at us when we say Fir is the best firewood going?
I am thinking Cotton wood is like Poplar or Aspen? cant say anything about that one never burned it.


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## Woodie (Mar 9, 2009)

PlantBiologist said:


> Classic Woodie right there.




Personally...if it were my cottonwood...I'd drop it, let it rot where it fell, then every morning I'd go out and pee all over it.

As a warning to other cottonwoods.





.


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## PB (Mar 9, 2009)

Woodie said:


> Personally...if it were my cottonwood...I'd drop it, let it rot where it fell, then every morning I'd go out and pee all over it.
> 
> As a warning to other cottonwoods.
> 
> ...





I can just see it now; Woodie in his tighty whities b*tch slapping a cottonwood every morning.


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## litefoot (Mar 9, 2009)

Evan,
Besides the poor BTU's and smell of cottonwood, it is very difficult to split by hand..especially the bigger rounds. It's stringy, fibrous and maddening stuff to work with. I'm not crazy about the spruce, either. I'd take it if there was nothing else available, but around here, I prefer the lodgepole and Ponderosa.


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## Brmorgan (Mar 9, 2009)

Cottonwood produces tons of white ash which tends to smother fires. I hate cutting spruce just because it's so soft and spongy that it can be difficult to split by hand with a maul (compared to Douglas Fir or Pine, anyway). If you have a splitter, go for it.


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## Austin1 (Mar 9, 2009)

Brmorgan said:


> Cottonwood produces tons of white ash which tends to smother fires. I hate cutting spruce just because it's so soft and spongy that it can be difficult to split by hand with a maul (compared to Douglas Fir or Pine, anyway). If you have a splitter, go for it.


Yep +1 I find the Black Spruce I cut takes longer to season compared to pine at least a full year and I live in a very dry climate.But my splitter makes short work of Green Black spruce.


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## deerlakejens (Mar 9, 2009)

I have gone through about 2 cords of cottonwood this winter in my stove. It was cut and cross stacked this summer and seasoned just fine. It starts with just crumpled newspaper, (no kindling needed), but does burn quicker than fir or maple, so I use it in the daytime and longer burning wood at night. These were about 30" in diameter trees and I used a splitter to make 6" slabs and it split very easily. The one thing that I learned on this site that I believe helped was to leave the trees dry out till the leaves were papery before bucking and splitting. I wouldn't pay for cottonwood but if its free and easy access, I'd take it again. Maybe there are different subspecies of cottonwoods, the ones around here are "black seeded cottonwoods", they grow like weeds and are real messy. Also, it smelled as described when dropping but there is no noticeable odor when burning, as far as I can tell. I also burned a small spruce this winter, about 18" diameter, and agree, it sounded like a sting of firecrackers in the stove. Burns hot but fast.


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## Larry Ashcraft (Mar 9, 2009)

We burn cottonwood because that's what we have. Hardwood is rare in the southwest, except for Siberian Elm. We use about three cords a year in our stove. I save my elm or ash for really cold days or for "all-nighters".

Cottonwood splits easily if it is good and dry. If it is wet at all, it will string. If I find a little dampness in a log I cut, I'll let it sit for a couple of months.

I've never noticed a bad smell from cottonwood, but I have from elm.

We lost about 100 trees to the 2002-03 drought, and I've cut about six cords this winter just trying to clean up the wind-blown ones.


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## SteveH (Mar 9, 2009)

Cottonwood burns fast, lots of ash, I use it when someone has me cut and haul it from their yard or something, but I don't look for it otherwise. Blue spruce I have a lot of on my 12 acres, have cut a dozen or big ones when killed by budworm. The rounds near the base, in this area of the world, are typically 25 to 32 inches diameter for a hundred-footer or taller. Naturally, this makes very heavy rounds, even dead and dry. I no longer wrestle them up into my truck bed via ramp, I section them up to where I can pick up the pieces. [Noodle making] It burns fine, though it is nothing like hardwood. It is better firewood than cottonwood, not as good as ponderosa or lodgepole, in my opinion. But I'd sure take it if I were you, particularly as the guy is willing to deal with the trillion smaller branches they have and which are a bear to haul off and handle. 

I don't have a splitter, do it by maul and axe. The blue spruce, unless really seasoned, can be a real job to split by hand. I often have to hammer the maul through the splits with a sledge. It is a real workout. If it's seasoned, and has been cut into rounds a while, it will have begun to check pretty well and is much easier to split.


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## mowoodchopper (Mar 9, 2009)

Larry Ashcraft said:


> We burn cottonwood because that's what we have. Hardwood is rare in the southwest, except for Siberian Elm. We use about three cords a year in our stove. I save my elm or ash for really cold days or for "all-nighters".
> 
> Cottonwood splits easily if it is good and dry. If it is wet at all, it will string. If I find a little dampness in a log I cut, I'll let it sit for a couple of months.
> 
> ...



You are 100% right on the money!! I am burning cottonwood right now, where I live cottonwood is the tree we have the most of. I do like the elm and ash better but I burn cottonwood and sell alot of it to people who heat with it all the time! Most of the stuff you here about cottonwood is from people who have heard it from someone else and wouldnt know a cottonwood if they were burning one. As far as the smell no I dont notice any smell at all from it, but like i said once before it smells like smoke when you burn it I wouldnt recommend sticking your head in your stove! As far as hard to split thats complete horse:censored: It splits really nice when its dry! Yes it does burn up a little quicker than elm or ash and not quite as much heat. But I can fill my stove with cottonwood and it will last most of the night and keep it 75 to 80 degrees in my house and its not a small house! Also glad to have you on AS and nice to see an opinion from someone else who burns cottonwood!!


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## Evan (Mar 10, 2009)

thanks for the replies, i think both trees will get bucked up i have freind comeing so ill be buckn with the 359 and hell have the 026.


ohhhhhhh something werid happend today, i grabbed spar oregon 72lg chain for the 026 and when i got home and went to put it on the saw it felt weird have the drive teeth wouldnt go in the bar so i got to lookin and half the chain is marked 75 man i have some weird luck with getn stuff dor this saw.

dump truck is not going now all big wood will be bucked and put on my 20' foot equipment trailer. im hopen with 4 foot sides i can haul both trees bucked and stacked tight.

thanks again for the replies.

also got nother firewood buyer. so i need this wood, specialy since it free permit less wood.


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## Locoweed (Mar 10, 2009)

taxmantoo said:


> Cottonwood is great stuff. Almost as good as used Pampers.



You got yourself some rep for that one.


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## thejdman04 (Mar 10, 2009)

I would pass from on the cotton wood.


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## Evan (Mar 10, 2009)

hmmmmmmm called the guy today to tell him id be there sunday, well hes like ohhhhh someone did it yesterday, all my plan right down the drain, i even had that wood sold.

ohhhwell i guess first come first serve thats what happens when trees are my second job and hobby that has to come second from my normal work.


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## HuskerDolmar (Mar 11, 2009)

I guess by reading all the replies that it is a wonder my kids didn't't freeze to death last night when the wind was blowing 20 mph and it was 0 out. I can't believe that cottonwood kept my house warm! You guys must have some piss poor wood and some rinky dink stoves if you can't have a fire last all night. Either that or you need to get up earlier. I have said before that it's not my #1 choice, but it is easy to get and keeps the place warm. Mowoodchopper I think the smell they think is from the cottonwood is from the Stihl boys pissing down their leg when a Dolmar fires up.


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## bruiser 1 (Mar 11, 2009)

I hear what your saying about that Cottonwood but ,that along with Aspen, and Pine and "PISS ELM" that's all we got out here my way. I guess you take what you can get. Once it's dried it's really not that bad. Burns fast though. Stringy and Smelly when green and wet.


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## Brmorgan (Mar 11, 2009)

I thought you guys had quite a bit of Douglas Fir and various Pine trees in Colorado? If so I'd forget all about the hardwood species you mentioned for firewood. If you guys think Cottonwood / Aspen smell bad, try a piece of Subalpine Fir sometime. Smells like stale cat piss, and a single log will stink up the entire sawmill when it hits the edger.


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## agstr (Apr 25, 2012)

One thought about quick hot burning firewood -- for masonry heaters this may actually be an advantage, as the goal in this type of wood burning is to capture the heat as fast as possible, followed by slow release of captured heat by the thermal mass of the heater. One or two fires a day lasting under two hours is usually sufficient to heat an average home! Ancient, proven technology and I use it:msp_biggrin:


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## tuco1963 (Apr 29, 2012)

*cotton wood is decent burning wood*

cotton wood makes great shoulder season wood but like ll wood it must be seasoned first


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## turnkey4099 (Apr 29, 2012)

Evan said:


> well see what happens,
> 
> if its 48"s ill do it if bigger i dunno. i have just shy of 24"s of bar past the dog on my 359.
> 
> ...



I removed two Blue Spruce at my place lasst year. Both would have gone in the 30' range, both about 18" DBH.

Harry K


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## jrocket (Apr 29, 2012)

Why would you cut a 3-5ft dia spruce up for firewood? has much greater value as construction lumber.
I dont mean to get on a soapbox, but I see a lot of folks cutting up some great sawlogs for firewood, which is a pet peave of mine, unless you dont use any lumber in your area for anything. just my .02 worth.


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## Stihlasaurus (Apr 29, 2012)

We mix cottonwood in with the oak, pine and whatever else we find. So long as it is well-seasoned, it makes plenty of head. Not my first choice, but I don't see any point in wasting it either.


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## StihlyinEly (Apr 29, 2012)

Another oldie but goodie thread brought back to life.   

I've burned cottonwood and blue spruce. They both do OK. It's in fact better to burn the cottonwood while it's still not quite seasoned. Burns a good bit slower and more evenly that way. Some folks with OWBs up here burn nothing but wet aspen (very close in BTU and weight/moisture characteristics to cottonwood, and in the same genus) and it does very nicely for them. Cheap or free, too, because nobody with standard fireplaces, wood stoves or wood furnaces wants to fool with it.

Box elder, now, that's another thing. I'd as soon let a rattlesnake crawl around inside my pants as burn box elder.


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