Western Red Cedar as kindling?

[Quickthorn]

Has anyone used WRC as kindling on a large scale? I've found it pretty good for my own use (it can spit a bit, but it was from a hedge), but I was wondering whether it would scale up commercially. More important, would it go through something like a Kindlett machine?

[wills-mill]

I don't think a kindlett would mind, but Thuja bark can come off in big stringy lumps and clog up debarking and mill machinery, especially if the trees are spring or summer felled.

The knots you get tend to be pretty numerous but small. Nowhere near as chunky and brittle as pine knots.

[Quickthorn]

The knots you get tend to be pretty numerous but small. Nowhere near as chunky and brittle as pine knots.

 

Thanks for that. They've been planted in drifts amongst mixed hardwoods; even so, none of them have totally clean stems. Most branches off the lower stems are less than 1/2" diameter, but there are a fair few of them. I was wondering if this sort of knot would stop a kindling machine. Some of them are going to be felled soon, and there's a lot of stuff that was felled last season.

Edited November 1, 2009 by Quickthorn

[kevwrenn]

I had a lod of WRC decking off cuts from a project and it was the best kindling i ever used. was devastated when it ran out.

[Quickthorn]

I had a lod of WRC decking off cuts from a project and it was the best kindling i ever used. was devastated when it ran out.

 

That's what I'm thinking, Kev. The stuff I had, once it was dry, you could almost have lit it with a match, tho' some bits did spit a bit.

[Justme]

I think it will make great kindling. We have about 10 cubes of RWC slabs from a milling job that I have cut to burn for this winter. It dried really quick & we can light the stove without kindling as it lights so easy. Its not the best wood but we are finding it giving us lots of heat, its charcoaling well & glowing in the stove & we can even keep the stove in all night on it.