Burning softwood

[sg5054]

How much bang for the buck are those that burn softwood getting? I can get a bunch of pine but don't have much experience with it. I only use hard in the house and that is what I had for this past season for the evap. I am already starting the hunt for wood and wonder if it is the effort.

[whitetail farms]

I too can get lots of softwood and I thought it would be okay but let me tell you nothing burn like hardwood.....I used softwood for the most of the season till I got into my hard wood and my gph jumped up about 5 gallons when I started burning hardwood.so i would try to use all hardwood but the fot is good for kindleing,if you have alot of softwood look into getting it milled that what im trying to do with the 15 cord of white pine that I have,hope this helps Nick

[Asthepotthickens]

How much bang for the buck are those that burn softwood getting? I can get a bunch of pine but don't have much experience with it. I only use hard in the house and that is what I had for this past season for the evap. I am already starting the hunt for wood and wonder if it is the effort.

My friend use nothing but softwood, yes hardwood burn hotter and longer but softwood flames up quicker and he never loses his boil. Hardwood takes longer to ignite and sometimes forms a blanket over the hot coals and in turn you lose your boil until it ignites.

[sg5054]

I can get access to 7 acres that a guy is trying to clear. It's not exactly local to me but it is free. I'm trying to decide if it's worth the effort. A lot is already on the ground (freshly cut) which is a plus but it's about a 40 minute drive.

[happy thoughts]

How much bang for the buck are those that burn softwood getting?

If it's free, then I'd say quite a big bang :) We burn whatever dry wood is available unless painted or treated. You shouldn't need to worry about creosote if you keep a good hot fire going in your setup. It's not like burning wood in the house where that may be a concern.

[sg5054]

I wasn't too worried about creosote. It's the logistics that give pause for thought. I think I'll go for it. 50% of something (fire) is better than 100% of nothing(no fire). I have plenty of time to scrounge before we start the dance once again.

[Russell Lampron]

Softwood burns hot and fast! Keep up with the firing and it will be just fine. We call it rocket fuel here. When want to get the evaporator hot we fill the firebox with dry pine and it's off to the races! It works better than expected in my outdoor wood boiler too. I take all that anyone wants to give me.

[wdchuck]

Our rule of thumb is that if its dry, we'll burn it.

[Mikeh]

With my block arch and drop tube steam pans I got 15 gph when I used 50% pallet wood and 50% hardwood. Last weekend I used 50% pallet wood and 50% pine and I got up to 18 gph. It burns hot and fast so as long as you keep firing often (every 5 min or so).

[PerryW]

I burn 90% softwood (mostly pine) and the rest mostly poplar. I think I can make my rig boil faster with dry pine than with hardwood, though you have to fire more often. I save the hardwood for the wood stove and for selling. So far I've burned 9 cords and made 139 gallons.

[Asthepotthickens]

The only softwood I stay clear of is poplar the smoke is so heavy almost toxic like.

[Bruce L]

We burn primarily pine ,well cured,we also burn hardwood limbs we pickup that we are tripping over.The hardwood really makes a boil,but the softwood does quite well,just firing more often as long as it is dry,if it is not dry,it can almost put your fire out unless you have blowers.

[Michael Greer]

A mix is nice. The softwood flames up immediately, and the hardwood gives more BTU's. We've burned an awful lot of pine and cedar slabwood over the last couple of years, and it's OK, but you have to fill the firebox every 3 to 5 minutes. It's hard to gulp down a sandwich sometimes, and I don't know about your back, but mines getting older.

[sg5054]

I'm going to go buy a 5x10 trailer tomorrow. If I fill the truck and trailer the distance (40 minutes) is workable.. I think. Another guy is offering standing timber at 50/ cord for hard wood. He's about 30 minutes away.

[ennismaple]

We've burned hundreds of chords of softwood over the years (pine, cedar, basswood, poplar, hemlock, slabs) and have switched over to hardwood for the last few seasons in our Force 5. There's no way in he-(double hockey sticks) we'll ever go back to softwood! Hardwood has more bang for the buck, better heat and less frequent firing.

If you're using natural draft or some type of box fan blowing air from under the grates softwood is fine because it burns faster that way. With the Force 5, we can't control the burn rate of the softwood to keep it from smoking too much. Hardwood we can easily dial it up and dial it down depending on if we want maximum evaporation or even heat/fuel economy.

[Squaredeal]

x2 for needing hardwood (or wettish softwood mixed in) for a forced air unit. even too dry hardwood with evaporate in out intens-o-fire. That being said we burn anything -although we have stopped burning tires since going organic. JK.
I have always separated hard from soft and wet from dry in my woodshed, so I can blend to obtain a good fire that lasts.
Long story short, if it doesn't wear you out trucking it, go for it.

[sbingham]

I usually buy a bundle of slabwood each year to mix in with my regular firewood.
The slab bundle almost always has some aspen & basswood in it.
I mix it in with the split hardwood and it seems to work out very well, the dryer the better.

[ennismaple]

I was burning tinder dry softwood on Saturday and my goodness did it suck! I went through 1/2 chord every 2 hours and was firing every 15 minutes! We got the Force 5 partly for the reload times (30-45 minutes) and I can't say I miss firing so frequently anymore.

The only good thing about burning that softwood is it's done and now we can fill the pallets with good hardwood for next year.

[sg5054]

Well I bought the trailer, $1679 out the door, and stumbled upon a pile of fresh cut oak for a 100.00 on the way home. 13 slices of a trunk avg 3 ft diameter and a couple at 6-8 inches thick the rest 16-18 thick. He threw in a wheel barrow full of split oak , 4 slices about 14 -16 dia and 6 inches thick. Completely filled the trailer. Glad I bought the high sided model.

[Michael Greer]

My sugarhouse is in the village, with lots of nearby neighbors. Dry hardwood makes no smoke. I use softwood to start up, and I use it again when it's almost time to quit. Small softwood will give you that last bit, but will not create any coals and will die off fast.