Firewood

[The Stig]

I'm hoping the real outdoorsmen amongst us can chime in to help a stupid expatriate suburbanite like me.

What are good trees for firewood and which ones aren't? I seem to recall harder trees like Locust and Cherry are better than soft like Sycamore but beyond that I don't know my poplar from my ash.

I'm sure in a pinch anything is better than nothing but I'd rather use my labor to get a more efficient tree if given the choice.

Pics would be super sweet.

[bacpacker]

The top trees I have found to be, hickory, oak, ash, gum, maple, cherry, walnut, dogwood, apple, & loucust. Locust burns hot, but to me seems to burn quicker than the others.
Not as good, while technically a hard wood it still burns quickly Popular. Way down, any evergreen tree. Lots of sap and burns way too quick.
Sorry no pics. I've never looked, but I'm sure there are forestry sites on the net that would have some pics. Maybe even a Peterson's feild guide for trees. peterson's guide books for what ever are AWESOME. Edible and medicinal plants is one of my favorites.

[TEOTWAWKI13]

What he had said...Hickory and Oak seem to be the most popular in my area. There's a couple of little classified papers where folk sell wood by the truck load.

[beginner]

The timing of this thread was kinda funny. I was just looking at firewood in the classifieds. The going rate seems to be a chord of poplar for about 00. Only thing is, I have no idea what a chord is so, i don't know if that a good deal or not...

[bacpacker]

A cord is a stack 4'x4'x8'. That's typically the standard. A rick of wood is half that.
$00 is a good deal for anything. However if free wasn't what you meant, I wouldn't pay more than $40-45 for popular. It burns very quick.

[chicom]

It all depends on where you live, and the available species in the area.

Where I live, the predominate species are all conifers. Amongst them, the best for firewood are Douglas Fir, Western Larch, and Lodgepole Pine.

[Grumpy Old Man]

Out here in southern Commiefornistan, eucalyptus is abundant. BUT, it needs to season a MINIMUM of 1 year, unless you like your fires to smell like cat urine. It burns pretty well. Salt cedar is also good and is a "medium" hardwood. You can find people that will sell live oak, but it is very pricey. In areas where it is to be had mesquite is a good burning hardwood and is great for bbqing. Don't poach any ironwood unless TPTB have gone into exile-it is rare. Manzanita is burnable after seasoning, and cresote is also a good burn in very small fires. Back in my birthplace, Clay County Missouri (just like Frank and Jesse and the Youngers) red oak, hickory and hedge (osage orange) are good woods. Hedge burns longer and hotter than just about anything, but it'll ruin your chain in a short hurry. It is one of the preferred materials for traditional self bows.

[piranha2]

hardwood is the best, burning longer and hotter than the soft woods. Thats why folks like oak, hickory, any nut or fruit bearing tree. They also burn cleaner. But, any wood will burn.

[Foghorn]

All the posts above are good advice. I like ash and hickory best. Oak is great but takes a long time to season properly. Popular burns fast and hot. It is good heat but you[ll spend all your time feeding the fire.

I have an over abundance of pine that needs to go this year. Pine needs to season for at least a year after it is split. The tar in the pine is bad about causing chimney fires. Seasoning will remove much of the tar.

Oh, the info about a cord being 4x4x8 feet is correct. Lots of folks seem to have a different idea what a cord is so when you go to buy your cord be sure to you have a clear understanding of how much wood the seller is selling.

[alaska]

We have 2 choices up here. Birch or spruce. most burn both. It simplifies things.

[AlphaTea]

Around here (upstate NY) wood is sold by the face cord. Its a 4'X8' stack of 16-20" split log. Basically less than 1/2 a full cord for $50-$80 delivered. Species of hardwood available here are generally Maple, Oak, Apple, Ash, Cherry, Hicory or Beech. Most people with wood stoves dont burn conifers (Pine, Spruce, Fir, Hemlock etc) because of creosote/chimney fire problems, only use it for starting a fire (fat lighter). Usually dont bother with Poplar (Cottonwood), Birch or Locust or other softer woods because you just dont get as much BTU/log.
Lots of folk will buy whats called "slab" wood. Its the mill leftovers when making lumber. You can get a huge dump truck load for $200ish delivered and it is usually about 6-8 face cord. Sometimes you get some odd shapes but most pieced will fit in a stove/fireplace easily. I bought a load once and there were some pieces that were 8X8", some various widths but mostly no more than say 3 or 4 inches thick. Stacked and split well. It was hardwoods as best I could tell and very clean as it was debarked. It did burn a lot hotter because of the smaller thickness. As I got lower in the stack I would use it mostly as kindling or to stoke up the fire quickly.