# Seasoning Pine Rule of thumb?



## chainsawaddict (Sep 15, 2008)

I have never burnt much pine, but Ive recently had too much easy pine to pass up. This pine was burnt in a large fire in the summer of 2006, and mainly just blackened it and burnt off the needles. It was felled by the forest service in the winter of 2007 (Nov-Dec). I have been bucking and splitting it since this spring. It appears that most of the pitch in the bark was kinda burnt off. Will this wood be ready by the time snow flies?(another month and a half.)


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## woodbooga (Sep 15, 2008)

I'm curious to hear other folks' responses. The only real quantity of pine I've burnt has been dead and downed for 3+ years and seasoning is not an issue.


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## Zackman1801 (Sep 15, 2008)

i think if you leave it out and dont let it get wet it would be ok, pine seasons really quickly, but i wouldent let it season too long because it burns quickly as it is, if its really dry you might not get much out of it.


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## Basso (Sep 15, 2008)

*Cure the Pine*

Hello,
I have always heard that pine should be really seasoned for a good while before you burn it. The reason is so the pitch in the wood does not create a lot of creosote in your stove pipe. So, I don't burn any pine until I let it dry two or three years. Also, burn it hot and don't let it smolder to eliminate any creosote problem. When it's real dry, it does burn hot and fast, but I control the heat by the amount that I put in the stove. You have to load more often, but I really like the quick heat that it puts out.

Basso


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## chainsawaddict (Sep 15, 2008)

Basso said:


> Hello,
> I have always heard that pine should be really seasoned for a good while before you burn it. The reason is so the pitch in the wood does not create a lot of creosote in your stove pipe. So, I don't burn any pine until I let it dry two or three years. Also, burn it hot and don't let it smolder to eliminate any creosote problem. When it's real dry, it does burn hot and fast, but I control the heat by the amount that I put in the stove. You have to load more often, but I really like the quick heat that it puts out.
> 
> Basso



Seems to be good for morning fires, warms the house up again quick.

Interesting. Some say two-three years seasoning, another says it seasons quickly.:monkey: 

This stuff has been dead for two and a half years, but not bucked and split till this spring.


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## Basso (Sep 15, 2008)

Hello,
It doesn't take that long for the pine to appear seasoned on the outside, but I'm not sure what is going on in the inside. For that reason, I wait two to three years.....hey I'm retired and I'm not in a hurry! I have plenty of wood , however, one can never have enough !!!!!

Basso


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## cjcocn (Sep 15, 2008)

chainsawaddict said:


> ..... This stuff has been dead for two and a half years .....



Stick a fork in it - it's done.

I burn pine (jack pine) almost exclusively and only clean my chimney once per year. Never had a lot of junk to clean out either (not enough to make me want to clean more than once a year).

Mostly I go for the standing dead stuff that is already dry, but sometimes I will cut green stuff in the winter, leave it stacked for the spring/summer, and burn it in the fall.

HTH


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## Mike Van (Sep 15, 2008)

I burn a lot of eastern white pine slabs [hemlock, spruce & some red pine too] from my mill. Most go into the evaporator for making syrup. Some are 1", but others will go up to 6" if there's big knots or a big bell on the log. One summer under cover is all they need to burn fast & hot. The outside of pine [sapwood, about 2 -3 inches] Has most of the moisture & sap contained there. The heartwood [rest of the log] seems to weigh half what the outside does.


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## woodbooga (Sep 15, 2008)

Mike Van said:


> I burn a lot of eastern white pine slabs [hemlock, spruce & some red pine too] from my mill. Most go into the evaporator for making syrup. Some are 1", but others will go up to 6" if there's big knots or a big bell on the log. One summer under cover is all they need to burn fast & hot. The outside of pine [sapwood, about 2 -3 inches] Has most of the moisture & sap contained there. The heartwood [rest of the log] seems to weigh half what the outside does.



I've noticed this too.

In a conversation with another woodburner on the pine topic, I heard him poo-pooh the creosote thing to another guy and told him if he was really concerned, he should just buck between the whorls, since the sap is thickest at the knots.


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## chainsawaddict (Sep 16, 2008)

cjcocn said:


> Stick a fork in it - it's done.
> 
> I burn pine (jack pine) almost exclusively and only clean my chimney once per year. Never had a lot of junk to clean out either (not enough to make me want to clean more than once a year).
> 
> ...



Thats what I wanted to hear!:greenchainsaw: 

Ill keep an eye on the chimney, but Im not too worried. Im gonna keep cutting this stuff. probably 40 cords left in a big pile right by the road. I can seriously fill up my pickup in 30 minutes.


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## Coldfront (Sep 16, 2008)

Pine is ok to burn but when it really gets cold you have to get up and stoke the fire every couple of hours, and it is a pain. But if that is all you have to burn heat is heat, just a lot of extra stoking of the fire.


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## LarryTheCableGuy (Sep 16, 2008)

Last year I dropped a 24" dia. pine (live & healthy), bucked, split and stacked it around the end of August or beginning of September.

I started burning the stuff on the outside of the stack in January and worked my way in to the center. There were some pieces that weren't ready yet but most of it was.

We do happen to have exceptionally low humidity here which helps.

.


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## chainsawaddict (Sep 16, 2008)

Coldfront said:


> Pine is ok to burn but when it really gets cold you have to get up and stoke the fire every couple of hours, and it is a pain. But if that is all you have to burn heat is heat, just a lot of extra stoking of the fire.



Ive got a fair amount of oak, ash, and elm to mix in with it. Stoking the fire is my favorite part though. Im wierd like that.:greenchainsaw:


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## avalancher (Sep 16, 2008)

chainsawaddict said:


> Ive got a fair amount of oak, ash, and elm to mix in with it. Stoking the fire is my favorite part though. Im wierd like that.:greenchainsaw:



Well,come on over to my place for dinner then, and I will place you a chair right by the stove. Got a bunch of worthless Poplar that needs burning up.
i dont have the patience to burn it in the house, and the wife hates the smell.


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