So, what's rubbish?

[Dave Martin]

By far my favourite wood to split is sycamore whether by axe or splitter.

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

A little poem to help you,

 

Beech Wood fires burn bright and clear

if the logs are kept for a year

Store your logs for Christmastide

with new cut Holly laid beside

 

Chestnuts only good they say

if for years its stored away

Birch and Fir will burn too fast

blaze too bright and do not last

Flames from Larch will shoot up high

dangerously the sparks will fly

But Ash Wood green and Ash Wood brown

are fit for a queen with a golden crown

 

Oak Wood logs if dry and old

keep away the winters cold

Poplar gives a bitter smoke

fills your eyes and makes you choke

 

Elm Wood burns like churchyard mould

even the very flames are cold

Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread

do it is in Ireland said

 

Apple Wood would sent the room

Pear Wood smells like flowers in bloom

But Ash Wood wet and Ashe Wood dry

a King may warm his slippers dry

 

 

Hope this helps

 

 

Oh no Not this crap again!

 

No, no, no, no, no - This is what we have to contend with; I'm sure other's will agree

 

That poem makes nonsense of reality.

 

Ultimately, any wood if properly stored and seasoned will burn.

 

Phew.

 

By far my favourite wood to split is sycamore whether by axe or splitter.

 

[Rob D]

I will split and sell any wood.

 

The only real tricky stuff I have found to split is big monterey pine. Very sappy, heavy, knotty and awkward...

[brassmonkey001]

Please bear in mind I'm splitting with an axe, or wedges and a sledge hammer for trickier stuff.

 

I've not had the good fortune to fall on some Sycamore yet so I'll bear that in mind for future reference.

[windfall]

Yeah i agree Sycamore splits really easily you can make some great square logs. I also think Ash and Beech split well.

[Taupotreeman]

What firewood wouldn't you touch?

What is a bugger to split, a bugger to season and when burnt doesn't burn well or give off much heat?

As a consumer, what I'm asking is what are the woods to avoid?

 

Depends if you're paying for it. If it's free then you'll burn almost everything and anything. Better to have something on your fire for free than to have to pay or have nowt eh?

 

As for my faves? I like a mix. I like Cypress or Fir for kindling and to get a bit of go in the fire and then I throw the good stuff on. I have some old daddy Gum I cut down about a year ago and it's almost seasoned now. Burns hot and long. Some of the NZ natives are hot enough to melt fire grates. Willow I don't bother with and I never used to bother with Poplar either but a lot of people I talk to around here reckon they are happy to burn pop. It just doesn't last long.

 

What's a bugger to split? Seasoned old daddy Gum. Even a hydraulic splitter won't bust apart the the knotty bits and if you can bust em open they explode. Had a mate of mine took a swing at a hunk with an axe and thought he was going to lose his teeth with the vibration.