Hickory, not my favorite

[stihly dan]

This years wood stack consisted of about 90% hickory (shell bark, pignut?) Its been stacked for 4 yrs. I have to say I can see why smokers like it, it coals up and leaves them there for a long time. My furnace burns down coals very well but these hickory coals just don't seem to give off much heat unless the air is slammed to it. They also leave a crap ton of ashes. I find oak, BL, hard maple have a much better burn. It was supposed to be 10 below and windy the other night so instead of using the hickory I loaded up with BL. Man it burned hotter, just as long, no ash, and soft coals. This hickory was split and stacked when I had the stove so the splits are on the small side which probably helps. I bet this hickory will be great for the shoulder season lower heat very long coaling heat.
I am not having an issue with heat, just an observation on how it burns in my unit. But I suspect many of you have ran into the same thing.

 

[longbowch]

I've been burning hickory too and I love it. Smells good, burns hot and I like the way it coals up. I'm gone about 12 hours a day and all I have to do is stir the coals and throw in some more! I'll take all I can get.

 

[gary s]

I like to have some hickory to mix in but it does make a lot of ash, all in all you can't beat oak for all around performance in my area. This is in an OWB. Hickory is nice in a fireplace or campfire.

 

[Chris-PA]

I burned a bunch of shagbark this year for the first time. I liked it but it did coal up a lot. It seemed to work best mixed in with some ash or oak.

 

[stihly dan]

And I forgot about the exploding sparklers when you rake the coals That crap hurts when it gets in your eyes. Its like the grand finale on the 4th of july.

 

[unclemoustache]

I hear you. Hickory ashes are too much. I think I'll sell it instead of burning it from now on.

 

[flotek]

It's been brutal cold here all day at minus 10 and windy . I had a lot of red oak and hickory I've been burning lately it is 2 years old ( but stored in a woodshed ) in an effort to burn my " best" wood and I found it to be un impressive this year . So This evening I threw some well seasoned cherry splits almost slabs and got far more heat a longer burn and excellent secondary action from a much lesser wood . It was surprising the difference of well seasoned wood made. . Hickory and oak can be great * if you have a very long time to properly season them which can be prohibitive if you don't have the space. Several years is a long time to wait to get good results

 

[blacklocst]

I burned a bit of 3 year seasoned Shagbark that was stacked and covered( top only) during this cold streak, (14 to 16% moisture content). While I agree that it doesn't burn super hot, it can sure hold a fire for a long time. At first I loaded the wood stove with all Shagbark thinking that I would have a roaring fire and be toasty but found that it wasn't the case.
Try getting the fire real hot with some other wood that burns hot and fast and then throw in the Hickory. I bet you won't be disappointed.

 

[longbowch]

I burned a bit of 3 year seasoned Shagbark that was stacked and covered( top only) during this cold streak, (14 to 16% moisture content). While I agree that it doesn't burn super hot, it can sure hold a fire for a long time. At first I loaded the wood stove with all Shagbark thinking that I would have a roaring fire and be toasty but found that it wasn't the case.
Try getting the fire real hot with some other wood that burns hot and fast and then throw in the Hickory. I bet you won't be disappointed.

That has been my experience with black locust!

 

[blacklocst]

That has been my experience with black locust!

Never burned Black Locust.

 

[Landmark]

I had a bunch of hickory and was saying same thing. I hate the huge coals it leaves. But now all I have left to burn is black walnut. Little heat, wont last and leaves a ton of ash. Man I wish I had some hickory to burn.

 

[WKEND LUMBERJAK]

And I forgot about the exploding sparklers when you rake the coals That crap hurts when it gets in your eyes. Its like the grand finale on the 4th of july.

Hedge (osage orange) has a bigger fire woks display. Not a big fan of straight hickory for fire wood.

 

[brenndatomu]

Wow, my experience with Hickory has been much better than y'alls. Drys faster than Oak, burns longer, more coals (that's good in my case) ashes are 'bout the same (? not noticeable anyways) The sparkles don't bother me being the furnace is in the basement on concrete but I could see it wouldn't be cool if I was loading the stove upstairs.
The species I was disappointed with was White Oak, still wasn't dry after CSS for 3 years, and barely had hot coals in the morning if not careful with my ash management.

 

[Chris-PA]

I had a bunch of hickory and was saying same thing. I hate the huge coals it leaves. But now all I have left to burn is black walnut. Little heat, wont last and leaves a ton of ash. Man I wish I had some hickory to burn.

But I love the smell of both black walnut and hickory, even though they are both so different.

The species I was disappointed with was White Oak, still wasn't dry after CSS for 3 years

I've had trouble with it too, I sort of look at it the same as hickory. White oak does burn quite well if you get it dry, but like hickory I like it mixed with something that burns hotter & faster.

 

[babybart]

Use hickory for overnight with a couple pieces of maple in as well, I get all night burn and the coals are good for restart in morning. In the morning I load the firebox up and crack my ash door to burn from bottom to get a good hot burn for 20- 30 minutes, keeps my chimney cleared out and eliminates the large coals.

 

[haveawoody]

Shagbark hickory in my area.
Without some adjusting of air I think all the hickories tend to burn slow over long periods and leave lots of coals.
With hickory once you have loads of coals built up just crank the air open in your woodstove before bed.
Almost nothing is left in the morning to clean or rake.

I'm a big fan of hickory but like most other high btu dense firewood they really are best mixed with other types for the best results.

 

[olyman]

But now all I have left to burn is black walnut. Little heat, wont last and leaves a ton of ash. [/QUOTE]
mountains of ash!!!

 

[zogger]

Shagbark hickory in my area.
Without some adjusting of air I think all the hickories tend to burn slow over long periods and leave lots of coals.
With hickory once you have loads of coals built up just crank the air open in your woodstove before bed.
Almost nothing is left in the morning to clean or rake.

I'm a big fan of hickory but like most other high btu dense firewood they really are best mixed with other types for the best results.

I burn some shagbark and really well dried heartwood is amazing, don't see the problems guys are seeing here. Now the bark-on pieces, ya, some coal/ash buildup, but that good interior wood burns *hot*. It helps with burning plus bugs to split the outside of the round off thin, thin as you can easily, then the rest can be your regular size splits.

Coal and ash buildup really doesn't bother me much, I rake it up with air wide open a few times, let it burn down, shovel it out if needed then.

But, I don't have a modern stove with all the various auto everythings, etc either, perhaps that's why the problems that people see? I don't mind putzing with the stove, that could be it. Mid winter cold like now (for here) I clean twice a week (or so), shoulder seasons like once (or so).

 

[Greenthorn]

I have been burning pignut for years, I love it. If left lying in the woods for more than 2 years it seems to rot fast. We had a tornado that came thru 5 years ago knocked down about 16 pignuts, hard for me to get out of my ravines but well worth it. My pignut cuts and splits very easy, I've heard other people say it's hard to split? Never burnt shagbark, sold the 3 pickup loads I had to local BarBQue guy, that stuff was a lot harder to split.

 

[Ironworker]

I like it it mixed with other stuff. I like it for cooking mixed with cherry and apple.