Slab wood

[Ken18621]

With a second season under my belt I have been looking forward to next year. I can get slab wood at a good price with a choice of hard or soft wood. I'm pretty sure that there is more btu's with soft wood but my concern is will the Temps be lower from slab wood (which likely contains a lot of bark) compared to cut and split wood.

Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks

[sugarman3]

Soft slabwood will burn quicker and not as hot as hardwood,but you want more btu's ,so go with the hardwood slabs,bear in mind you will have to fire more frequently with slabwood.

[Woodsrover]

All wood has the same BTUs by weight. That said, I have a small sawmill and burn both white pine and hardwood slab in my arch. The pine will burn a little hotter but a little faster. I burned some tulip and some white oak today and though it lasted quite a bit longer I didn't get the same stack temps that I can get with pine. Over a fan pine will send my stack to 700 degrees pretty easily where the oak has a hard time getting there. If I had to burn one thing only it would be my dry white pine slab. I'm using up the last this season so I'm going to have to find a few new projects that need some pine boards!

[madmapler]

I use hemlock slabs along with split hardwood. There's nothing like softwood to get things going. I get my slabs in bundles and can cut them up quick with a chainsaw. The other thing I like is I can get 6- 4x4x8' to 12' bundles delivered on a log truck for $300. and he can put them anywhere I like.

[bowtie]

I have burned hardwood slabs and with a blower can get a great boil going, yes you have fire a little faster but if it is available and cheap I would not hesitate to grab a bunch. By the way if you can get pallets especially hardwood there is no better wood for increasing gph. The main thing is using as dry as possible wood.

[BAP]

Get some of both hardwood and softwood and mix them. You will get a great hot fire.

[maple flats]

I have a sawmill and I do burn some slab, both hemlock and various hard woods. In all cases the hardwood boils harder and the fire lasts longer, but use what you can get. On mine if I use all hardwood I fuel every 9 minutes, (I have AOF) if I mix in soft wood I need to fuel every 8 minutes and if I use mostly softwood I need to fuel every 7 minutes. Any way, if I use those time intervals it boils super hard.

[mainebackswoodssyrup]

Echoing what others have said, get some of both. We use pine to get our fire going then use split hardwood or sometimes slabs if we have them. And the softwood is nice to have near the end cause it will burn down quicker.

[Michael Greer]

Hardwood slab is the way to go. The fire has more.....continuity....when you open up to fire you don't lose so much temperature. When I come to a bit of softwood, I set it aside until I'm almost finished for the day. You get plenty of heat from it but no longevity....when you stop firing, the remains go away quickly.

[Cedar Eater]

Softwoods generally burn hot and fast while hardwoods generally burn slower and cooler and create more ash, but there are exceptions. Poplars burn fast and hot. Red oak burns slow and cold. Getting both types and mixing them up is the best answer that I've seen here. There are not really more BTUs in one or the other by weight, but if you buy slabs by volume, there will be more BTUs in hardwood. You'll just have to force air to get them released faster.

[madmapler]

And the softwood is nice to have near the end cause it will burn down quicker.

Good point. We finish off with softwood for the same reason.