What wood burns hottest?

[Wood Doctor]

A cabin owner told me that when it's cold in the morning and he wants heat, he burns cottonwood, poplar, or willow in his stove. Then when he's warmed up, he drops in premium wood, whatever that is. Waiting for oak to get hot and heat up the cabin freezes his butt off.

 

[CR888]

Will hedge sink when put in water?

 

[Wood Doctor]

Will hedge sink when put in water?

On occasion it will. I have actually seen pin oak do the same. Most of the time it depends on the location within the log. Sap wood is usually less dense than heart wood. The less air that any sample of wood has within, the denser that it is.

I recall one of our site members writing that he watched an entire pin oak log sink after he cut it to length for firewood. He accidentally dropped it into a pond. I believe that locust sometimes can do the same.

 

[longbowch]

Will hedge sink when put in water?

I will through a log in the horse tank tonight and let you know.

 

[Adam08ski]

A cabin owner told me that when it's cold in the morning and he wants heat, he burns cottonwood, poplar, or willow in his stove. Then when he's warmed up, he drops in premium wood, whatever that is. Waiting for oak to get hot and heat up the cabin freezes his butt off.

Yep I throw on laylandii when warming the burner up then chuck the heavy big blocks on after. Works well. I take the assumption that the heavy hardwood will over the night burn away any sap deposits up the chimney..

 

[LondonNeil]

Yeah Leyland cypress burns hot! I've got a lot of that for this winter.... So I'll be loading the stove every 45 minutes but it burns hot.

If you've seasoned it properly and it's well dry it doesn't creosote, but there is sense in a regular, short period of 'balls out, lots of air, hot hot HOT. BURNING!'. Get the flue a bit warmer and drive off any volatile deposits

 

[LondonNeil]

I think Yew burns so hot as it is resinous, yet heavy.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I think Yew burns so hot as it is resinous, yet heavy.

Then there is mulberry. Don't forget that and all the sparks that it produces. Snap, crackle, and pop. It's a great holiday firewood. I have half a dozen customers who request it.

 

[longbowch]

I will through a log in the horse tank tonight and let you know.

Floats

 

[Sandhill Crane]

He accidentally dropped it into a pond.

Last year I saw guys drop leaners on a frozen lake. Pretty smart... They made firewood of it in quick order and hauled it of with a side by side and trailer..

 

[quotedraven]

Put a bunch pine in the stove open the draft till it roars and watch the heat come off that! Sure burns hot and fast.

Yup pine burns mighty hot. The one time I loaded the stove with hedge and fell asleep without shutting it down the hearth was mighty hot when I awoke in a panic.

 

[Zale]

Dogwood

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I split small. I sell some to a summer art camp for their outdoor ceramic kiln. They buy Oak, two years ahead, and split it twice again, and cross stack. I forget the temps they get, but it is way up there. They feed the fire every twenty minutes, round the clock for one to two days depending on the amount and size of pottery in the kiln, going through one cord per day. The fire box is low and on the right, with multiple air inlets. The air flow goes up the inside of the kiln and down to the bottom where it enters the chimney low on the opposite side. The ash effects the ceramic glazes dramatically.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Crane, I showed your post to an old timer who used to split mulberry with a maul. He commented, "Imagine the incredible heat that thing would produce if I packed it with my dry mulberry!"

He may have a point. I've seen mulberry produce blue flames in a good stove once it calms down.

 

[LondonNeil]

I get blue flames from Leylandii, yew and I tjink a few others, it does look neat and HOT!

 

[Sandhill Crane]

I'm guessing that kiln heat is supplemented with quantities coffee and alcohol, depending on the hour.

 

[Cody]

I've got some mulberry that I cut down, well, around 2 years ago I think. Anyways, it's coming up in this next stack of wood so I'll have to give it a shot. Have thrown a few small pieces in but never noticed the sparking and hard to tell when mixed in with oak and ash.

 

[woodchip rookie]

Osage Orange? Is that what we call crab apple?

Hedge apple

 

[Hinerman]

Osage Orange? Is that what we call crab apple?

No. Horse apple or hedge apple. Crab apple is totally different. Here is a Horse Apple off an Osage Orange tree:

 

[LondonNeil]

Thank you hinerman. We don't have those on the UK.