Soft wood

[Khriss]

Just shows how appallingly misinformed the Public are on wood - if yr actually serious abt burning wood to heat yr home or office yr stack has to be quite huge so yr winter wood ( stop laughing ! ) has had a good summer on it to dry it out ( it'll almost be split itself )  joe Public still expects good quality wood off the lorry to burn like coal , but no . But even Norway is now having pollution problems with people burning rubbish wood in the valleys . K

[spandit]

I'm glad the public won't burn softwood as it means local tree surgeons often can't get rid of it and dump it round here. I find leylandii branch wood is pretty dense and burns for a long time. Currently burning a mixture of leylandii and Corsican pine and keeping toasty warm...

[matelot]

As others have said the main thing about firewood is the "cost per unit of Heat". The retail price difference between softwood and hardwood is so small that hardwood is still better value for money...

 

Surely a nice straight Sitka spruce is so much easier to split that you can produce so many more logs a day with a processor? Why are softwood logs just a little cheaper than hardwood logs? 

 

We all know many people use a log stove as a supplemental way to heat their house on cold evenings. Maybe softwood logs should be marketed as "evening fire" logs? We all know softwood logs are easy to light and quickly get a roaring fire going. These attributes make them suitable for someone that wants a fire when they get home from work until they go to bed a few hours later.

[maybelateron]

Yep, agreed with consensus here. So many newbies ring up for their first load of logs, having read all about woodburning and become an authority on it overnight.

 

I heat my house with a biomass (log) boiler and two stoves. Softwood seasons quicker, lights easily, burns easily, just sell it cheaper.

 

But no, the punters still want their kiln dried Oak and Ash. Doh!

[richardwale]

Had a customer call yesterday. I'd already sold them some hardwood earlier in the season and they were ringing for more. I told him I only had mixed wood for sale, bone dry, lovely firewood. He actually said " my stove doesn't burn softwood" . I wanted to tell him to read this thread. It's going to be hard work to convince a lot of people. Starting with the installers who must have told him his stove mustn't burn softwood. I didn't get the sale. Some you win some you lose

[spandit]

In my workshop I have an old Esse oil burning range that I'm trying to convert to burning wood. Lit a fire in it yesterday with softwood and the top oven temperature went off the scale - over 300 degrees. Latest plan is to build a cob rocket stove inside it as would be nice to have some heat in there but not as much as that! Have wrecked the paint and the magnetic door catch has melted off. I'd imagine with the boiler full it would stay cooler but I have no way of plumbing it into anything

[nepia]

7 minutes ago, richardwale said:

 He actually said " my stove doesn't burn softwood" 

Sounds like the stove's more intelligent than the punter if it can discern hardwood from soft!

 

I ran out of dry hardwood some weeks ago (doh) and have sold a couple of half loads of soft just to keep the fires lit so to speak:  no complaints yet.  I suspect there may be some surprise at just how well and warm the soft burns.

[Jon@CareFell]

This is a bit off topic but I had a customer tell me our wood was unacceptable because it was uneven sizes and had some bits of bark in it (these had fallen off the logs while drying). They had been used to getting wood from a processor and riddling bucket and we are tree surgeons and only sell a bit of firewood on the side but they are Arb arisings and are not as neat as forest grown processed timber. Majority hardwood (80%) all well seasoned and 1cu bags instead of builders bags. But it was still not what they wanted because of how it looked! I take my hat off to you guys that make it work properly, I will be selling the wood unprocessed and wholesale from now on as it is a lot of aggro and we are real busy with the tree work all year round.

[nepia]

1 hour ago, Jon@CareFell said:

I take my hat off to you guys that make it work properly

That would be a cinch in that customer's case: 'if the wood was so good from your previous seller best you go back there'!

 

 

 

...Sir/Madam.  No need to be rude about it 

[Gary Prentice]

3 hours ago, spandit said:

Have wrecked the paint and the magnetic door catch has melted off

Can't have done, softwood doesn't burn well