THE firewood thread

[Cold Canadian]

I believe that poplar is more of a soft wood , no where as dense as Birch , but who knows ? As I mentioned I did notice a reduction in ash when combined with a hotter burning wood such as the black spruce ? again not sure why , thought maybe the hotter fire burned what ash the poplar was leaving ??

 

[Ole and Lena]

We have aspen/popple down here too. I don't think it makes any more ash per volume unit, but when it's thoroughly dry, you can tell the weight difference between it and birch. I think it just takes a lot more volume of aspen to make heat than birch, hence more volume of ash.

I like to mix the aspen into my fall and spring piles when I don't want as hot of a fire. I'll mix some into the mid-winter stuff too if I have especially dense hardwood as it's nice to get a few coals going to start the heavier wood.

 

[Cold Canadian]

I've burned green poplar with dry pine when supplies of the better wood dwindled some years , but have found that the poplar when aged one year under cover did burn rather hot , not as hot as the other wood , but sufficient to consider it when supplies were hard to find in pine . Your terrain is almost of not exactly the same as ours as far as tree species goes . Around here the preferred tree of choice is Tamarack , or Siberian Larch , due to it's excellent burning and long burn time .......but it is excessively heavy and grows in swamps etc so access is limited

 

[jerrey]

I love your dog does he are she stay in the house and how could does it get there

 

[Ole and Lena]

Done burning through my fall wood (box elder and other "soft" stuff) and now into my good mid-winter pile. Currently running through some honey-locust I picked up at work last spring after an ice storm (piled on the curb for city tree recycler, nice 4-8' poles) and seasoned through the summer/fall. I think I've found my new favorite firewood! This stuff is amazing. Split very easily, takes a fire easily and burns hotter and longer than white oak!!!

Only drawback is it pops a lot. Wouldn't recommend it for an open hearth or campfire. Was the easiest splitting wood I've ever chopped. Kind of tough cutting though. Use a SHARP chain. I'd go with semi-chisel on this stuff if I cut a lot of it. One pickup load dulled my Stihl chisel cutters. Happy burning and chopping! Wiki says it's really rot resistant too so would make fantastic split rails or stall boards. So easy to split, I'm pretty sure I could drive a wedge down a 12'log.

 

[Beer can]

Done burning through my fall wood (box elder and other "soft" stuff) and now into my good mid-winter pile. Currently running through some honey-locust I picked up at work last spring after an ice storm (piled on the curb for city tree recycler, nice 4-8' poles) and seasoned through the summer/fall. I think I've found my new favorite firewood! This stuff is amazing. Split very easily, takes a fire easily and burns hotter and longer than white oak!!!

Only drawback is it pops a lot. Wouldn't recommend it for an open hearth or campfire. Was the easiest splitting wood I've ever chopped. Kind of tough cutting though. Use a SHARP chain. I'd go with semi-chisel on this stuff if I cut a lot of it. One pickup load dulled my Stihl chisel cutters. Happy burning and chopping! Wiki says it's really rot resistant too so would make fantastic split rails or stall boards. So easy to split, I'm pretty sure I could drive a wedge down a 12'log.

I cut hundreds of six foot fence posts when I was 16 one winter out of locust. The skinny ones were left whole, most were split in quarters. Wood wedge at one end with a few smacks with a sledge, then smack it a few times up the length of it with a go devil chasing the crack pops them in two, very easy, and fast. Then sharpen end to a point. Best wood for farmers fence posts there is, strong and last forever. I don't think it would be any harder to split a twelve footer, you don't have to drive a wedge the full length, just get it started.

 

[Beer can]

That's my welsummer on my triaxle load of fire wood logs as my avatar. $700 for aprox. 7 full cord? never checked. We burn mostly Ash, hard Maple and Cherry, some Beach and yellow Birch or paper Birch around here. Occasionally Oak, best burned well seasoned but my outdoor boiler don't care. The hottest wood I ever burned was a big gnarly apple tree I cut down in our back yard. When I opened up the door on my outside wood boiler it was like opening the door on the gates of an inferno Hell Lol! It was hotter than coal!

 

[wyoDreamer]

I went past a house on Sunday that made me sad. Their wood lean-to was full last fall, actually overfull with the extra stacked around the sides.
It is still stuffed full and all the extra has a cap of snow and ice on it. So sad to think they have all that wonderful wood and are not using it for heat. I love the radiant heat that comes from a woodstove. I find the pellet stove is not quite as nice as a wood stove. I still think we went the right way with the pellet stove, but I miss the comfort of the woodstoves. I don't miss getting up a 3 am to stoke the fire.

 

[Tjschicks1817]

The great thing about wood stoves. When the power goes out, I can still keep my family warm , and cook food. I am more Free and Less dependent. No better feeling than being in control of your own life. Ill trade the waking up a 3 am any day.

IM FREEEEE Lol Now darn it I gotta go stoke the fire.

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

Hope everyone's wood supply is keeping them warm and toasty.

Here we are happy to see the latest birch pile is dwindling...being a lamb like March for us, first two days were lion nasty but since been kind warmish weather. Pleasant enough Fixins would conduct her firewood inspection duties from under a tree, soaking up the sunshine streaming forth.

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February, 2015​

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Driveway is bare gravel now, so 2-wheeled cart time has come early for us. Not sledding the firewood to the Man Porch for stacking in the wood boxes any mores.


This is the pile on March 13th...she is going, going, soon gone!

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So it looks like we will get thru the colder season without touching the 21 walls of wood, but with the loose piles pretty near gone. Good thing...as soon as it fully melts, ice gets gone and it dries up, well, yeh...CONSTRUCTION season rears up and wood piles are places to trip one up, eh.

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Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada