What type of wood is best?

[Jmsmithy]

Hello all

Hope everyone did ok in the big snow! Only about 10" here in No Jersey.
Anyway, my question is this:

What is best type of wood to burn in the arch? I know I'm supposed to stay away from softwoods/particularly pines in my wood stoves due to excessive pitch etc building up in the stacks....

What about in the arch, I plan on ordering a Mason 2x4 or 6 with a blower to go with my Wegner pans...

I'd appreciate any one's thoughts /advice or experience on the matter...be well!:)

[325abn]

Free is best!

Free pine is great

[jmayerl]

No creosode worries in an evaporator. We burn 80 pine and mix a little hard wood in. When i ran out of wood 2 years ago i had to burn a few truckloads of pine pallets and those burned the best.

[Sweet Shady Lane]

Last year i was using dry and i do meen dry popal and cotton wood it burned hot and fast, the best part was it was FREE

[Old School]

The drier and denser it is the better. If you throw wood in the firebox that has 8 lbs of water in it, you have to boil out that water instead of boiling off a gallon the water in your pan :)

[northwoods_forestry]

The best wood to burn is anything you can get hold of that is cheap, or even better - free, and dry.

[Kyle Baker]

Cedar burns fast and hot for easy and quick temp changes.

[Tithis]

Doesnt particulary matter.

Last year I did a mix of mainly oak and pine. The oak was my main burning wood but the pine was useful for initially starting the fire or givening it a quick boost if I let it good too low.

Main reason I liked the pine was it was so easy to split into wrist sized pieces, like a knife through butter. In contrast there were many times with oak that is was so tough to split I said screw it and used larger pieces.

[twin6]

The best wood to burn is anything you can get hold of that is cheap, or even better - free, and dry.

Amen - free and dry! I have read others post how they hate popple (poplar) but when it's split into small pieces and kept dry, it burns hot (and fast) and makes a great stand-in for slabwood if you can't get any. We mix hardwood (ash, beech, maple, etc.) with either slabs from a sawmill, or popple. As a friend in NY who sugars says, if it'll fit in the firebox, we burn it. Try experimenting with hard and soft wood, mixed - you'll find a balance for your rig that will work best.

[JAMIE]

I burn maple in the evaporator because thats what we have lots of in the area.Use what ever is abundent in your area it all makes heat some better than others.If you thin out your sugar bush there is a great source for wood.I bet that cedar burns HOT !

[Dennis H.]

The dry kind!:lol:
Really any dry wood is fine. I personally like to burn a mix of hardwood and pine.
I have found that poplar is my least favorite to burn, just doesn't heat as the others.

[maple flats]

Pine is good in an evaporator. The issue of it in a woodstove is totally different. An arch never smolders, it burns as fast as you can get it to burn, even add forced air to burn faster. You will never get any creosote in those conditions.
But, best comes in two modes, free or ultimate heat value. I tend to burn a mix of hard woods and sometimes mix in my soft wood slabs when I have time (I have a sawmill), but if I had all shagbark hickory, properly dried and split to wrist size I'd be real happy. In reality, maple producers don't usually only burn the best, they burn what they have or can get at a decent price.

[Paul VT]

I find that softwood mixed with some hard wood works best. If I use only hard wood i get to much build up of coals and loose draft. Even with a blower. I burn maple, cherry, elm, apple, spruce, hemlock, poplar, building scraps, slab wood. What ever I find. And yes free is best.

[Rhino]

A mixture of pallets/ round soft woods and hardwoods is what we use. We just alternate them each fireing up times. I'm glad to hear that ceder works really well also, last winter we cut around 30 pulp cords of it and have it piled off to the side as security wood in case there is a year we run short. (lets hope)......... It should last along time being rot resistant.

[maple creek]

Dead standing iron wood will burn so hot it will crack all of your fire brick

[Cameron670]

Kiln dried ash baby......................"That's some hot ash wood right there" :) KJC

[maple maniac65]

I will 2nd that maple flats

[northwoods_forestry]

Free and dry aside, I like pine (slabs or split) to start and finish and hardwood in between.

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

Check with a local saw mill to see if they have dried hard/soft wood slabs. Often times they will sell for 20-30 a cord, even may load your trailer or truck for a little extra. Or Pallets that companies through away. These are the cheapest and driest woods if you can find them That is if you don't have the time or land to cut and split your own wood. I have learned the hard way the worst woods to burn are white pine, spruce, hemlock and poplar. on the flip side, if these woods are truly dry, like 2 seasons dry than they will be great instead of slab wood. They take an extra season to truly dry. Like mentioned before, mix in hard wood. Experiment, get a stack thermometer and see what wood makes it the hottest.