Basswood for firewood?

[Leo]

Hi, does anybody have any experience burning Basswood? Is it worth cutting and spitting? I have a lot of it but have not been using it.
Thanks!

[Ecnerwal]

I think you'd do better selling it (at least the big chunks) to woodcarvers and getting wood with more heat value. Should be no problem to burn, just might not be the most economically sensible use for it, and not the hottest wood since it's kinda low-density.

[sugaringman85]

Depends on what you have for markets around your area. Basswood at least here in NH does not pay big money, it is less than what the mills pay for pine around here. We send our basswood to the pulpmill with the pine pulp for biomass or put it in the sugarwood pile to burn during the season. It has a low btu rating but just like the softwoods, and popular it burns hot and fast.

[Fred Henderson]

It will make smoke

[cpmaple]

leo just like others said i mix it in with my sugarhouse wood and i also use it for get the fire going in the house but not to heat the house.But i will say this i've been buring alot of mix would wood this year in the house and have no trouble keeping it warm in here with the temps out side

[twitch]

I burned some bass wood in my house just because it fell over the pasture fence it does not burn good just likes to smolder and make smoke it might be ok in the evap if it was mixed in with some other wood

[maple flats]

I have burned it in the house but it is very low BTU. It might be the lowest BTU rating of any hardwood. Never tried it in the arch but I think it would be ok, just refuel a little sooner.

[bowtie]

depends on how big you are, if you are a hobby producer like myself, i would burn anything that is available. i would mix it with hardwoods but if its free then i would not throw it away. like others have said hardwood burns best but i have had decent luck burning dry softwoods they burn hot and fast so you have to add more often. like the maple producers guide says cut and use it especially if it helps clean up your woods, and releases more benificial species.

[3fires]

Basswood is pretty low on the heat scale, like other said, but it is real nice for carving and getting a fire going. I personally would use it if it was free, but I would see myself constantly feeding into the fire.

[ennismaple]

We've burned hundreds of cords of basswood. Split it early so it dries out and you won't have troubles with smoke. It's the best wood for splitting but you'll reload often due to the low BTU's.

With not much market for it as logs we burn it because I don't want to see it rot in the woods!

[gator330]

I would check with the mill around here basewood is at 400 per one thousand board feet. I just sent a load to the mill payed well! Burn beach thats more btus and only at 250 per thousand at the mill. ps Maple is at 1,200 dollars per thousand for top grade. I most say i never made so much money on a few select tree by putting a 88cc tape in them!!! Sorry

[Leo]

Thanks for the feedback. I will probably cut some up and split it and let it dry in a pile for a couple of years and then try it out. I have enough oak and ash to keep supplied, but like ennismaple said, I hate to leave it rot in the woods.

[Starting Small]

Does different types of wood take different lengths of time to dry out? How quick does softwood vs hardwood dry?

[oneoldsap]

I've seen dry Basswood burned in an airtight arch , and it burned some hot . It turned the mulion between the doors white hot !

[Burnt sap]

Use it for carving duck decoys or kindling not as a fuel low heat index btu rating. My 2 cents.

[weekendboiler]

Dry it for only a year or so I have found that it tend to get punky if seasoned in a pile outside much more than that

[PerryW]

Does different types of wood take different lengths of time to dry out? How quick does softwood vs hardwood dry?

the best kind of wood is free wood. I burn anything. Pine, spruce & fir dry quick especially when split and will be dry as long as you have 9 month of drying.

I use the hardwood for the woodstove inside (too valuable for sugarwood) but it works for sugarwood. Hardwoods like maple and oak burn great, but take longer than 1 year to dry out (for us non-blower guys anyway) Red oak takes a long time to dry out.

White ash burns halfway decent even when green. I burn a low of poplar, which dries out fast and give a little more hear per cord then softwood.

Helmock is good, but also, long drying time.

I like white birch, really rages when you throw each piece in, but you must split it immediately and keep it covered. Will rot quick if not treated right.

[Starting Small]

Perry -Are you suggesting that with a blower you do not need to have perfectly dry wood? Is that because it burns so much hotter with the blower?

[hkillam]

I burn a lot of oak, hickory & ironwood, split very small and very dry - all very high BTU wood! In my testing I realized that if I got behind on loading, it took a long time to catch up. But, with basswood available I can catch up quickly as it starts so fast and really burns hot, though admittedly, not for very long. I believe that basswood (or similar, lighter hardwoods or softwoods) have their place in the woodpile, so long as you know which to use at what time. But, and this goes for all wood types... IT MUST BE WELL SEASONED.

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