What type of firewood?

[gibsons]

What type of firewood do you guys prefer to burn in your stove? I bought a load of birch this year which they claimed to be seasoned, and yesterday for the first time I started using in the shack, but seemed to have a hell of a time keeping it going. The stuff I used part of last season I think was tamarack (was given to me from a friend), so not entirely sure what it was, but it burned incredible. Pretty reputable guy I bought from, he's been selling for 15 years around here so I kinda have trust in his word but who knows.

[Fisherman 1]

Bad thing about birch, if it's not split and stacked right away it doesn't dry out but rots from the inside out.  Otherwise,  anything hardwood,  even brown dried pine cones put out some wild heat to get things going.

[SirCranksalot]

For a quick heat at the start try some softwood---dry, of course.

[timr35]

I've been burning poplar and birch along with some hard maple,  all depends on the temperature outside.
All cut and stacked allowed to dry for at least a year .
A 6 inch piece of poplar will heat my 12x8 hut in no time .

[bootstrap]

busted up pallets are my favorite, cut em up with a chainsaw real quick. throw left over nails in neighbors driveway.

[Walleyewacker007]

Red and white oak here, birch is one of my favorites as well. Cherry also has a great smell to it.

[Ice Scratcher]

There's a saying....

Ash is the wood fit for a king, you can burn it dry, or burn it green...

If I had to pick only one wood it would be ash, but I like maple hard and soft, cherry, mulberry, hickory, locust...

Not a fan of oak, I'll burn it, but I don't like the smell, and it doesn't burn that easy... My garage heats up easy, and oak seems to take too many pieces to keep burning, then it gets too hot in there... Where as maple and ash, I can (once coals get established) I can just burn one or two pieces at a time...

My modded Speeco...




<°)))>{

[rivereddy]

Down in Hoosier land, the emerald ash borer has kept my wood pile healthy for the last 5 years. The damage is so complete, that I have to turn
down offers of ash from sources within a few hundred yards of my house.  It burns hot and quick and, true to its name produces lots of ash....
I also burn both soft and hard maple, tulip, and gnarly cherry and walnut.  My burn sequence for the perfect fire is as follows.  River birch bark and cedar shavings for tinder*, blowdown sticks for kindling followed by one of the above fuel logs.  This last year a limb fell out of a 250 + year old white oak on my church's property.  A limb - 30ft long and 36" at the base.  There's better than a real rick (2x4x8 ft) in that chunk.  I'm now burning the crooks and twists about the size of your forearm.  I load the stove at 10 pm and often still have some flame and coals galore at 6 am. White oak burns like coal.  *  Just for the heck of it, every now and then I'll make some char cloth and start it w/ flint and steel.

fish on,  sugaring time, fish off

rivereddy

[AndyJ]

 The go-to firewood across the bush belt in Sk. is jack pine. Splits easily, has good heat in it and doesn't leave much ash. Spruce not as good, less heat,  depending where it was grown and sometimes stringier to split. Aspen (poplar) splits well and if cut from a healthy tree can have OK heat but leaves a lot of ash in the firebox quickly. Birch is my favourite if split green to dry properly, as noted. It burns hot without sparks, leaves a good bed of coals, and the bark is firestarter built in which has the bonus of a nice smell for your neighbors. It leaves a lot of ash too. Pallets and construction cut-offs work well too and stack well. All of it is fine if well dried and split to the correct size for your heater and desired heat output.
Knowing your heater is all important.

[DR.SPECKLER]

ive got lots of dead standing ash trees that need to come down on my property.about 9 acres worth.ive got enough for a few years cut now and that's what I burn.a living ash tree is hard to find around here in Michigan.