what type of wood to burn?

[steve J]

I am brand new to this and I am wondering what type of wood do most of your burn? Also what do you do when you still have a hot fire going but you have run out of sap to boil?

[Al]

Hi Steve. I burn what ever I have on my woodlot. I burn some maple,apple,ash and elm. Haven't burned softwood but some do. Some people burn pallets also.
The trick to learn is not to run out of sap when you have a full fire. I put a mark on my inside tank and when the sap level reachs it I stop firing the evaporator. For my rig thats roughly 30 gallons. I figure I boil between 20-25 gallons an hour. The first time you fire up the rig it would be better to err on the side of caution and have more sap left over. Then the next time you can gage your boiling rate even better and lower your mark.
Also the first time I kept out 2 five gallon buckets of sap for just this emergency. Was lucky and didn't need it. :D
Hope this helps. I'm pretty new at this too and like it more every year.
Take care

[mapleman3]

Spoken like a true professional Al... boy you have come a long way, thats pretty much what I do also, I stop with a good 30 gals left, some stop with less, but I am amazed at how long the bricks stay hot and the water continues to boil out of the sap!!
I burn anything also, even pallets, with pine and such just be sure it is real dry, that way you don't get too much creasote build up, but of coarse with the high temp fires we burn it's not much of a problem.

[WF MASON]

I was always taught , softwood only , the hardwood coals up and can warp the grates , the soft leaves very little ash , burns hot and fast, but that said, the past 5-6 years traveling around to sugarhouses I see more and more hard wood mixed with the soft , more in Vermont then elewhere.

[mapleman3]

Softwood is alot easier to come by, any local small mill has tons of slabwood that the homeowners won't burn in their woodstoves.. you can get it for pennies.. and for the most part pallets are free everywhere if you don't mind the pain in the A%@ job of cutting them up.. but do a few or so each week you could have more than enough wood for the season. as WF says.. the softwood burns hot .. but fast, so be ready to load often. but sure will get the pan hopping!!!

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

I burn only hardwood and mainly locust as it is the highest rated BTU wood. I also burn some red oak. The biggest key is not what kind of wood you burn, but how dry it is. You should have your wood in at least 9 months before season and it is best to cut only wood that has been dead at least a couple of years so it is already seasoned a lot. Per Randy Gaudett at Leader, burning only hardwood is the best source of heat. I don't know for certain concerning that, but it works good for me. :D

Good luck and keep us posted on the progress. If at all possible, you need to store the wood under some kind of roof. Tarps are ok, but hold moisture in and it is hard for moisture to escape. :D

[themapleking]

I'm thinng out my woods 3 yrs now so It all gets burned maple, ash, beech, hemlock, bass, cherry, ironwood.
Your top 10 trees for heat 10-1 are white ash, red oak, yellow birch, sugar maple, beech, white oak, apple, ironwood, shagbark hickory, black locust.

[brookledge]

I've had the best luck with Hemlock slab wood I burned hardwood before and end up with a firebox full of coals. I have found that even though hardwood has more btu's i like the fast burning softwoods Having the flames shooting through the flue pan really makes for good boiling. I will say this about hardwood though, as long as you split it up small enough it will burn ok. Another thing that makes a diffrence is whether you have a blower or not.

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

From what everyone at Leader tells me that if you have a blower and an airtight firebox, you will virtually have no ash as you get almost complete combustion and the ash blows out the chimney.

I can't verify that yet, but hopefully will know for sure in about 6 months! :D

[brookledge]

Brandon,
I can tell you for sure that you will have virtually no ashes. I have a 3X12 revolution with a inferno arch. Everything burns complete. When I shut it down I turn the blower off with a little of wood in it and that leaves ashes but otherwise you will be happy with it. Make sure that you put pan gasket under the pans 2" wide 1/2" thick and 1" thick between the pans.
I burn mostly hemlock an know that you burn hardwood but i would think that you will still have no ashes. If you have any questions about it when you get it I'll try and help

[WESTVIRGINIAMAPLER]

Brookledge,

Thanks for the help and I will give you a shout via private message in the next day or two as it sounds like you have a great setup and I look forward to asking a few questions! :D :D