What is your BIG 3 in firewood?

[v8titan]

White Oak, Red Oak, White Ash in that order.

 

[aaron]

Heck of a line-up right there!

You know what's best ReggieT

 

[Farmertim]

Sugar Maple - the king of all trees, living or being used for fuel, then Ash, Beech, and Hawthorn and Cherry. Lot of hate on here for "Box Elder". We call it Manitoba Maple here and we burn a lot of it. When dry, it burns great and hot, just does not last as long as hardwood! We always have a lot to clean up in the fencerows etc. It is great to burn in shoulder seasons and when someone is around to feed the stove every 3 or 4 hours.

 

[Holtby]

Osage Orange (Hedge), Mulberry, Locust. Would prefer Mulberry ahead of other two depending on what's available near me to cut. Burn a lot of Hackberry & Elm too!

 

[ReggieT]

Osage Orange (Hedge), Mulberry, Locust. Would prefer Mulberry ahead of other two depending on what's available near me to cut. Burn a lot of Hackberry & Elm too!

Hmm...I've got bunches of Mulberry around...tell me why u prefer above hedge & locust (sparking)...and how is it as for as firewood concerned?

 

[clint53]

#1 - Red Oak
#2 - White Oak
#3 - Locust - Would be #1, but it's just too hot burning on mild days.

Least liked is Poplar. It's very easy to get in this area. It burns clean, but it takes 3 times the amount as oak. I would hate it if it wasn't so easy to split and move after it's dry.

 

[Holtby]

Hmm...I've got bunches of Mulberry around...tell me why u prefer above hedge & locust (sparking)...and how is it as for as firewood concerned?

Mulberry doesn't have the thorns to deal with like Hedge, but both shower out lots of sparks onto floor. I like how Mulberry splits too. It compares real good in density & loaded with btu s like both of the locust species here (Honey & Black), but Hedge would be the "Btu King" here?

 

[luckydozenfarm]

1) water oak
2) post oak
3) live oak

 

[leonardo]

red oak, white oak, hickory.

 

[rancher2]

1 Hedge But I do hate brushing it out. No easy way.
2 Mulberry
3 Locust

 

[dug66]

Osage Orange
Mulberry
Locust

 

[Greg Perryman]

Hickory
Oak
Walnut


A lot of white oak and hickory. Walnut is for the cool days to take the chill out.

 

[rms61moparman]

#1 - Red Oak
#2 - White Oak
#3 - Locust - Would be #1, but it's just too hot burning on mild days.

Least liked is Poplar. It's very easy to get in this area. It burns clean, but it takes 3 times the amount as oak. I would hate it if it wasn't so easy to split and move after it's dry.

I had a neighbor once (you'd have to know and hear him for the full effect of this story) who was as country as an old brogan shoe. He called Poplar "Pocklar". He would say in a DEEP Kentucky drawl, "I don't like that durned Pocklar very good. When you first bring a load in you can't fire it with a blowtorch, a week later you can light a match in any room in the house and fire a stove full of it. Then you walk over to the stove and throw a bait of it in there and before you can git back to the couch and sit down, it's burned all up and you got to do it again."
I just loved to sit around and talk with that old man.


Mike

 

[ReggieT]

I had a neighbor once (you'd have to know and hear him for the full effect of this story) who was as country as an old brogan shoe. He called Poplar "Pocklar". He would say in a DEEP Kentucky drawl, "I don't like that durned Pocklar very good. When you first bring a load in you can't fire it with a blowtorch, a week later you can light a match in any room in the house and fire a stove full of it. Then you walk over to the stove and throw a bait of it in there and before you can git back to the couch and sit down, it's burned all up and you got to do it again."
I just loved to sit around and talk with that old man.


Mike

Yep...I love to be around that type of wisdom myself...

 

[Farmertim]

Must be where I am at! Don't know why there is not more love for maple? We don't have hedge/ Osage orange, mulberry, hackberry etc in my neck of the woods so location I guess. Why the hate for 'box elder'? It is just above "douglas fir' on the btu chart and I know the guys out west love to burn doug fir? I know it doesn't last as long but btu's are btu's. especially if their is an abundance of it to clean up - just wondering?

 

[Philbo]

Locust, Sugar/Hard Maple, and White Pine. I like to have a solid mix of the super hot burning/long lasting, relatively hot/dense, and the still hot but quick burning so that I can easily control the temps and burn times depending on weather fluctuations. Plenty of that here in the Appalachians.

Locust is sometimes a bit of a pain to cut, (dead, dirty, tough access sometimes) but your patience and repeated chain filing is ultimately rewarded with the hottest burning and longest lasting fires around there parts. Plus, if it's already dead, I've seen many standing trees with around 15% moisture content immediately after cut and split…can't beat that. Can be a lifesaver if you or someone you know happens to get behind on seasoned wood.

Sugar Maple stands in 2nd for me, but really this could be many decent hardwoods. I like burning oak, but damn if it doesn't take twice as long to season as everything else, so that's a strike against it. If we had more Ash around here, I'm sure that would be in this spot, but really don't have access to much. Sugar maple seems to be plentiful, long-lasting, and seasons in a year's time usually.

The Pine may be surprising to many of you, but I honestly value pine for firewood just as much as anything else. It's perfect in the shoulder season to burn mostly all pine loads. It's perfect to start and revive fires with and makes for great kindling and easy splitting. It seasons a bit quicker than hardwoods, which is more forgiving. Once seasoned, it's 1/2 the weight of hardwood, which always elicits happiness from the lady of the house when she has to do temporary wood duties. Lastly, it's available for free with relatively good access most of the time because most people are scared to burn it and don't want to deal with it. Only downside is having to deal with sap on live trees.

 

[deerlakejens]

Madrona, dog fir, alder. Actually, any wood that's free gets a good rating from me.

 

[robespierre]

Oak
Euc
Ash

 

[bayard]

hickory.black locust.ash

 

[Brian B.]

Red oak, black oak, hickory

Got some Osage orange this summer, liked to killed my cheesy saw chains cutting it up, (my factory chains), good to hear it's a good burn, got a bunch too.