Stilllearning Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Now I know that the best wood is anything that is free, but other than that, what species burns best/hottest/longest? Around here we have lots of Oak, Chestnut, Hornbeam, Acacia, Ash and some Beech. What species do forum members prefer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanted Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Beech-wood fires burn bright and clearIf the logs are kept a year;Store your beech for ChristmastideWith new-cut holly laid beside;Chestnut's only good, they say,If for years 'tis stored away;Birch and fir-wood burn too fastBlaze 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 brownAre fit for a Queen with a golden crown.Oaken logs, if dry and old,Keep away the winter's cold;Poplar gives a bitter smoke,Fills your eyes and makes you choke;Elm-wood burns like churchyard mould,E'en the very flames are cold;It is by the Irish said;Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread,Apple-wood will scent the room,Pear-wood smells like flowers in bloom;But ash-wood wet and ash-wood dryA King may warm his slippers by. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tree monkey Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Beech-wood fires burn bright and clear If the logs are kept a year; Store your beech for Christmastide With new-cut holly laid beside; Chestnut's only good, they say, If for years 'tis stored away; Birch and fir-wood 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. Oaken logs, if dry and old, Keep away the winter's cold; Poplar gives a bitter smoke, Fills your eyes and makes you choke; Elm-wood burns like churchyard mould, E'en the very flames are cold; It is by the Irish said; Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread, Apple-wood will scent the room, Pear-wood smells like flowers in bloom; But ash-wood wet and ash-wood dry A King may warm his slippers by. Worth noting this is based on an open fire and contains some bloopers, elm wood as an example burns lovely in my stove Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalslandia Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Birch is the wooden Rolls Royce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stilllearning Posted January 14, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Worth noting this is based on an open fire and contains some bloopers, elm wood as an example burns lovely in my stove Indeed, Chestnut spits but in our big wood burner, I don't care. Beech-wood fires burn bright and clear If the logs are kept a year; Store your beech for Christmastide With new-cut holly laid beside; Chestnut's only good, they say, If for years 'tis stored away; Birch and fir-wood 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. Oaken logs, if dry and old, Keep away the winter's cold; Poplar gives a bitter smoke, Fills your eyes and makes you choke; Elm-wood burns like churchyard mould, E'en the very flames are cold; It is by the Irish said; Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread, Apple-wood will scent the room, Pear-wood smells like flowers in bloom; But ash-wood wet and ash-wood dry A King may warm his slippers by. Poem by Lady Celia Congreve, but no mention of Acacia or Hornbeam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wanted Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 or pallets... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Victor Vectis Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Any that's free..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rasputin Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Birch is the wooden Rolls Royce Birch, Awful stuff, Burns too fast and tars your chimney up. Ash is best, but always nice to have a bit of oak around, Just felled a massive oak today, That's next years wood sorted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Toad in the Hole Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 poplar is really hard work - used for matchsticks because it burns slowly, also for old cart brake blocks for the same reason. Chestnut smolders rather than burning brightly,IME, but I've never tried it in a stove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tree monkey Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 poplar is really hard work - used for matchsticks because it burns slowly, also for old cart brake blocks for the same reason. Chestnut smolders rather than burning brightly,IME, but I've never tried it in a stove. Sweet chestnut has burnt well for me, never tried horse chestnut Agreed about Poplar, it's ok if properly seasoned but only ok Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machpoint005 Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Beech-wood fires burn bright and clear If the logs are kept a year; Store your beech for Christmastide With new-cut holly laid beside; Chestnut's only good, they say, If for years 'tis stored away; Birch and fir-wood 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. Oaken logs, if dry and old, Keep away the winter's cold; Poplar gives a bitter smoke, Fills your eyes and makes you choke; Elm-wood burns like churchyard mould, E'en the very flames are cold; It is by the Irish said; Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread, Apple-wood will scent the room, Pear-wood smells like flowers in bloom; But ash-wood wet and ash-wood dry A King may warm his slippers by. I've seen this several times before, but does the fact that it is expressed in rhyming couplets make it any more authoritative? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FadeToScarlet Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 I've seen this several times before, but does the fact that it is expressed in rhyming couplets make it any more authoritative? Of course it's obvious to meThat couplets make it plain to see The wisdom present in each phrase To take to heart, your live-long days But even if you drop a clanger And make it up, you stupid... Spanner People will believe your poem We know what rhymes is well worth knowing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac of Cygnet Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Birch is the wooden Rolls Royce And about as much use (as a wooden Rolls Royce). The trouble with birch is that the bark is so impermeable that it rots before it dries if not cut and split. As for that poem........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athy Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 I've seen this several times before, but does the fact that it is expressed in rhyming couplets make it any more authoritative? OK, let's try it your way: Beechwood fires burn bright and clear If the logs are kept 12 months. It doesn't have quite the same ring and appeal, does it? Reminds me of: See a pin and pick it up And all that day you'll have a pin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valrene9600 Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Any free wood is good no matter what type. The energy you use cutting and splitting is very satisfying. Dry it as best you can, I always split and cover asap, but above all clean the chimney regularly. Ours gets cleaned two or three times during winter because of the lack of time the wood we gather has to dry thoroughly. It takes no time at all to be safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Schweizer Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Birch, Awful stuff, Burns too fast and tars your chimney up. Ash is best, but always nice to have a bit of oak around, Just felled a massive oak today, That's next years wood sorted. I hope that is the gnarled branches, and not a sound trunk you are planning to burn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rasputin Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 I hope that is the gnarled branches, and not a sound trunk you are planning to burn. yes I did look at the great length of trunk after it came crashing down and thought what a waste, it is one of two that came half way down due to wind that needed bringing down for safety sake. too difficult to take it out for timber so firewood it is. Sycamore is my usual foray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FadeToScarlet Posted January 14, 2016 Report Share Posted January 14, 2016 Any free wood is good no matter what type. The energy you use cutting and splitting is very satisfying. Dry it as best you can, I always split and cover asap, but above all clean the chimney regularly. Ours gets cleaned two or three times during winter because of the lack of time the wood we gather has to dry thoroughly. It takes no time at all to be safe. I can thoroughly recommend "Norwegian Wood" by Lars Mytting if you've not read it already- wood gathering as a philosophy for life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Smith Posted January 15, 2016 Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 I use roof joists and rafters from demolition jobs, burns hot but fast but its free so it makes me happy, I don't think the wood work would agree. Neil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mac of Cygnet Posted January 15, 2016 Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 (edited) I can thoroughly recommend "Norwegian Wood" by Lars Mytting if you've not read it already- wood gathering as a philosophy for life! I got it for Christmas from Son No. 1! Apparently my woodpile means that I am a satisfactory husband. Mrs Mac fortunately agrees. Edited January 15, 2016 by Mac of Cygnet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Reed Posted January 15, 2016 Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 I can thoroughly recommend "Norwegian Wood" by Lars Mytting if you've not read it already- wood gathering as a philosophy for life! I always thought it was written by Lennon and Macca? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tillergirl Posted January 15, 2016 Report Share Posted January 15, 2016 Hawthorn is great if you can get some big enough pieces. We are currently burning Ash that was very kindly left by National Grid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stilllearning Posted January 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 16, 2016 Hawthorn is great if you can get some big enough pieces. We are currently burning Ash that was very kindly left by National Grid. I would agree about Hawthorn, a lovely dense timber but can be a bit small. In my hedge-laying days I used to get a fair amount of large stuff too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter X Posted January 16, 2016 Report Share Posted January 16, 2016 My father who was an ex-Scout Master, knew a thing or two about this, although that experience would all have been of making camp fires in the open, not stoves. His source of wood was to send the scouts into the nearest available woods to pick up dead wood off the ground, so he'd have been burning a pretty wide variety of wood, some of it damp, though the smoke wouldn't matter much outdoors. When I was a boy in the 1960s he was often out in the garden splitting logs with his axe to make kindling for our domestic coal fire (open, not a stove), and I remember him saying that ash was very much the best wood. I think he was talking about both for that and for camp fires. I provided a small amount of apple wood to my brother last winter, who reported that it was good, and in particular smelt nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tillergirl Posted January 16, 2016 Report Share Posted January 16, 2016 Blackthorn is also good if you get your hands on it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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