The most underrated firewood.

[Goinwheelin]

Ailanthus altissima

I was about to say the same thing! Catches fast, burns hot and lasts a good bit. Not long like real hardwoods, but good enough. I hate the damn tree, but I'd rather season and burn the straight grains stuff than haul it off. Smells awful, though, as I'm sure you know. I find that if you remove the bark and let season, the smell goes away after a few months. Splits real easy and makes for excellent kindling, especially when dry. No distinct smell to the smoke either. We've just about eradicated from our property, so I don't plan to burn anymore of it anytime soon, but it wasn't so bad while it lasted.

Yep. You’ve described it well. Not something you really want growing on your property but surprisingly useful if available.

 

[Jeffkrib]

Don’t know of any wood that won’t burn once dry and seasoned.
I’ve been burning pine, London plane ( not sure if it’s the same as Sycamore?) and for the first time oak.
I also have a couple of different species of Eucalyptus in the stack and some super dense grey box.
I like them all, pine is great for getting the fire going London plane if fine for during the day (only a bit ashy).
I get around 8 hours burn time out of two large oak splits. The eucalyptus will give 12hrs and the grey box 20+ hrs.
I have burnt even denser wood like Mulga and purple Gidgee.
Years ago my sister lived out in western NSW she had the fire on at night (Gidgee), the next day we went for a 3 day hike. I emptied the ash out of the fire place into the compost heap when we got back from the hike. A few hour later I went out in the backyard to find the back fence on fire. Needless to say my sis wasn’t too happy.