Burning Softwoods

[Nyboy]

Why can't you burn softwood for heat? I had a lot of trees taken down, they are what I call swamp maples. I put a ad on CL for free fire wood you cut and haul. Almost every reply asked what kind of trees I thought all wood burned. I changed my fireplace to gas, when I picked up a log a snake crawled out.

 

[seedcorn]

You can, I have. Only good to use to take chill out.

 

[digitS']

A little problem with terms, NYBoy: You are probably talking about something that generates little heat.

Softwoods is a general, lumber term for the wood of conifers. They are not necessarily soft. Tamarack is highly regarded as a firewood.

I know a guy who burns cedar almost exclusively. I think that is nuts altho it would start a fire well. He may have a special stove that can burn it efficiently but I don't think so. He works for a construction company that sometimes does fencing. He brings old fence boards home.

Steve

 

[freedhardwoods]

Maple is a hardwood. Swamp maple is also called "soft" maple, but that doesn't mean it's a softwood. It just isn't as dense as hard maple.

 

[Smart Red]

It all comes down to BTUs. The typical "hard woods" that people want to burn throw off more BTUs per cord than the "junk" trees that are better at heating you up when you cut, stack, and carry it in to burn than actually burning. However, if you have enough of that wood, it will heat the house just as well -- if not as efficiently -- as oak.

It takes more wood and burns that wood faster, but if it is cheap it's worth it. We burn a mix of oak, junk maple, elm, walnut, choke cherry, and mulberry. No one has ever complained they were colder when the mulberry was burning.

 

[Smart Red]

@Nyboy, I'm guessing the folks who've called you were looking for wood to split and sell rather than for themselves. It is a big business!

If heating their house were important, they'd be happy to pick it up and take it home. On the other hand, for some reason it is easier to get rid of wood that has been cut and stacked -- ready for pickup than wood on the ground. Free means easy as well as cheap to a lot of people.

Also, remember, that wood will need to be stored for most of a year before it should be used.

 

[journey11]

They all have different BTUs. The hardwoods are going to have higher BTUs generally. I personally like maple for starting the fire though because it ignites more easily than oak. Then we put on the oak, hickory, sassafras, etc. for hotter heat and also because the hardwoods will burn all night. The maple burns up quicker by comparison. Most of your trees that grow in swampy areas and along creek banks are going to be soft wood. Cottonwood, sycamore, water maples, etc. They take forever to cure too.

Somebody out there may want it for firewood. I'm surprised no one has taken it yet, being free.

Pine is out, because of the sap creating a fire hazard in your chimney. You can burn dry pine if you have an outdoor wood furnace though. Heck, you can burn just about anything in one of those. I'd love to have one. Keep all the mess outside.

 

[PhilaGardener]

All that resinous sap in conifers burns very hot and can result in a lot of creosote deposited in your flue and chimney, creating the fire hazard to which @journey11 refers.

Even folks burning seasoned hardwoods should have a safety inspection and chimney cleaning on a regular basis.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i had to explain a few things to my dh this summer about how all wood once dry enough will burn in a fireplace. he kept saying to get rid of the branches that were a few inches thick and not waste my time with them. i ignored him and just stated they dry faster than the stuff he was cutting and i wasn't about to run out during the middle of winter again and spend $600 for a couple cords of wood when we had enough from the trees we took down. i kept telling him it would be good to keep for kindling. so far i haven't heard any complaints from him about using the 'kindling' and he keeps stating it works well.

we pulled a lot of aspen, some elm, 2 i think are white ash that appear to be infested with Emerald Ash Borers, an oak and a few Norway maples (one was HUGE). in all we have about 3+ cords of wood cut, split and stacked on pallets along with 1 cord left from last winter. and then we have maybe another cord of wood from the ash trees that aren't dry enough to split nicely so we'll take care of those next year. we also have a lot of stuff that came down a few years ago during a storm, they're in the back left corner of the property and need to be cut and hauled up to the house. sort of makes me wish for a mule or big horse to hitch & haul them to the upper right corner of the yard where our pile is located.

btw, the aspen are a very softwood type tree and dry very quickly. i like them for getting the stove started quickly.
if you lived closer to me i would have come and taken those trees in a heartbeat!

 

[digitS']

We each have different species of trees available as firewood. Common names can be misleading ...

I can hardly imagine having some of the hardwoods that others reference.

Even tho this source doesn't cover all of the trees available in my location, it has quite a few. Here is Utah State University on different firewoods, BTU's and pluses & minuses : (link).

Steve