Pine as firewood...yes or no?

[Ontario Firewood Resource]

2 minutes ago, trigger_andy said:

Not saying its unusable or unused here. We use softwood for kindling in the US and Canada. Some will burn softer hardwoods like poplar/ aspen and soft maples in spring and fall, when its not so cold. Hardwood is the mainstay. Some do not care and will burn it anyway. Softwood firewood is strictly viewed as outdoor fire pit wood or cut slim for kindling

Not quite.

As I mentioned many including myself mix soft in with hard.

Some burn purely soft either for economic reasons or because they see it as just as good or in some instances they sell the hardwood to those who demand it and are quite happy to burn the soft for themselves.

And the title of this thread is Pine as Firewood is it not? So regardless if I burn it in the kitchen or the living room it’s still firewood.

 

 

[trigger_andy]

2 minutes ago, Ontario Firewood Resource said:

 

I make plenty kindling out of softwood too.  

 

 

 It’s handy having a small sawmill for this. Rattle off a few 3/4”-1” slabs, or keep the sapwood cuts back. Chop to size on the chop saw then cut into kindling with the hatchet. Goes amazingly fast. 

[Macpherson]

There's really not much Pine left in Scotland compared to the vast amounts of Sitka, and the Pine that is available tends to be ' I think ' Pinus Sylvestris which I find burns very hot and particularly the horizontal branches that, in a mature tree can be really quite large, very dense and full of resin.

 

What is a bit sad is that when you're working on old buildings often you come across lintels, cladding etc that are of pine species no longer around and even after perhaps 100's of years when cut into it, the wood smells amazing, full of resin and is perfectly preserved as if it was felled yesterday and is often well worth saving.

 

So yes, I'll burn it... but I'd rather see it growing on our hillsides. 

 

I know that Sitka spruce is a useful wood if grown in the right place but that's not Scotland or anywhere further south.. it's just a short sighted disgrace that it's here at all, another example of lcd Britain.... rant over

[Gav73]

 

Softwood is viewed as outdoor fire pit wood or kindling in the US and Canada?

I get the kindling bit, but why use softwood on a fire pit? It smokes more and spits - both things you don’t want on an open fire

[trigger_andy]

11 hours ago, Macpherson said:

There's really not much Pine left in Scotland compared to the vast amounts of Sitka, and the Pine that is available tends to be ' I think ' Pinus Sylvestris which I find burns very hot and particularly the horizontal branches that, in a mature tree can be really quite large, very dense and full of resin.

 

What is a bit sad is that when you're working on old buildings often you come across lintels, cladding etc that are of pine species no longer around and even after perhaps 100's of years when cut into it, the wood smells amazing, full of resin and is perfectly preserved as if it was felled yesterday and is often well worth saving.

 

So yes, I'll burn it... but I'd rather see it growing on our hillsides. 

 

I know that Sitka spruce is a useful wood if grown in the right place but that's not Scotland or anywhere further south.. it's just a short sighted disgrace that it's here at all, another example of lcd Britain.... rant over

Im lucky enough to have over 12 quite majestic Scots Pine in the Garden. I dropped a few and they burn beautifully. 

 

I know what you mean regarding old Pine. I removed the flooring from my 1880 farm house and burned the lot. Amazing smell and burned beautifully. 

 

Larch is another tree Ive got growing in the Garden, some nice 25"+ DBH trees. Ive got about 20-30t of Larch processor grade Larch coming over the next two weeks and thats another softwood I really like to burn. 

 

Not a fan of burning Sitka either. 

[Essexlogman]

Yes

[Guest Gimlet]

Leylandii is much better than pine. I had a stack of it that had been cut and split and left to season for two years. Burnt beautifully cleanly and lasted longer than pine. Pine does make excellent kindling though, as does cedar.

[Essexlogman]

11 hours ago, Gimlet said:

Leylandii is much better than pine. I had a stack of it that had been cut and split and left to season for two years. Burnt beautifully cleanly and lasted longer than pine. Pine does make excellent kindling though, as does cedar.

 

 

We use to go out of our way not to burn leyllandi we would, chip every last piece through that we could fit in the chipper, massive bonfires and the larger cord would end up in massive piles at our yard  some 5 to 7 years seasoned bark off sun bleached white n all that until I decided to burn some on our home wood burner amazing actually and I know it gets a bad press but I was a total convert mixed with the odd lump of Oak excellent

Also Scotts Pine Pinus sylvestris we had a job to take out the wind damaged top that had cracked out in one of our customers large gardens had been hanging for a good few years and was bone dry burnt beautifully

 

 

[Guest Gimlet]

31 minutes ago, Essexlogman said:

 

 

We use to go out of our way not to burn leyllandi we would, chip every last piece through that we could fit in the chipper, massive bonfires and the larger cord would end up in massive piles at our yard  some 5 to 7 years seasoned bark off sun bleached white n all that until I decided to burn some on our home wood burner amazing actually and I know it gets a bad press but I was a total convert mixed with the odd lump of Oak excellent

Also Scotts Pine Pinus sylvestris we had a job to take out the wind damaged top that had cracked out in one of our customers large gardens had been hanging for a good few years and was bone dry burnt beautifully

 

 

I also discovered Leylandii by accident. I'd felled a large tree in my parents garden that was on it's last legs. I was going to get someone in to chip it and take it away but my brother said he'd have for his log burner as he has an external flue and reckoned he could burn out any resin build up. He said I'll swap you for a similar load of ash. I thought that was a good deal so I logged and split the leylandii and left it in a heap for him to collect but we forgot about it so it never happened and the logs sat there for two years.

Eventually I needed to get rid of it and tentatively mixed a few leylandii logs in with hardwood, fully expected the stove damper to get gummed up after a few burns. But if anything it stayed cleaner than usual. Gradually built up to burning it on its own and it was superb. Wish I had more to cut down now. 

 

I did have to split mine by hand and it wasn't the nicest to split green.  

[devon TWiG]

I do not quite understand the theory of the "resin gumming up the chimney "  resin burns well and I do not understand how it will get through the firebox and choke the chimney !!  unless wet / damp wood is being burnt and the stove choked ...