Green ash.

[Tom D]

Ash is ok but green it hisses just like any other wet wood, the best for me is the iron oak tops from stag headed oak trees.

[Jamespepperpot]

One thing that bothers me about selling firewood is how everyone presumes that hardwoods are the best. Granted the give off the most amount of energy but they also take a lot longer to grow. In my opinion the 'best' firewood needs to be defined not just by how much energy it gives off but also by the amount of time it takes to grow. If you compared how long an Oak tree takes compared to something like spruce or pine the amount of wood you have after 40 years would be a lot different. In my opinion the best hardwoods for firewood are alder and sweet chestnut as they grow very quickly, can be coppiced on a regular rotation and also are the most resistant to damage by deer and other animals. My log pile consists of birch, spruce, hornbeam, aspen, sweet chestnut, yew, willow, some oak, ash, alder and also cypress which I think, when its dry, burns pretty well. I don't understand the softwood racism in this country.

[aesmith]

In my opinion the best hardwoods for firewood are alder and sweet chestnut as they grow very quickly, can be coppiced on a regular rotation and also are the most resistant to damage by deer and other animals.

Doesn't Ash fall into that category (aside from the damage by animals aspect)? It's a quick establishing species and in nature it would gradually be superseded by Beech or Oak. It certainly responds to coppicing. The problem is that customers want split chunks which means it has to come from large timber which means felling.

[Jamespepperpot]

Doesn't Ash fall into that category (aside from the damage by animals aspect)? It's a quick establishing species and in nature it would gradually be superseded by Beech or Oak. It certainly responds to coppicing. The problem is that customers want split chunks which means it has to come from large timber which means felling.

 

 

Yeah its quick establishing but is normally the first thing to get eaten by deer so would have to be fenced off which then adds another cost to producing firewood from it. An estate I work on got us to fence off a small ash copse and the regen from it is unbelievable compared to stools exposed to animals