Using Spruce as wood source ( with pics)

This year I have decided to use spruce as my wood source, I've had a lot of it laying around my property ( since i work in the tree business and people don't use spruce around here as a wood source) I was wondering if anyone has tried or used spruce before and how it went :D if you could let me know what you think and the pros and cons before i get evaporating that would be great!

The first picture is my stack of wood that has already been brought to my sugar shack, i have a barn style setup in the spot where i keep my wood so that it stays dry. The second is the rest of the wood that has not been brought in yet. TOOK US ALL DAY to get that pile!:lol:

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Let me know what you think,

Is spruce good or bad idea?

I have burned lots of dead spruce in my outdoor boiler. Burns hot if dry. Does not last long though. Should work.

I use anything that burns for wood. Softwoods if dry produce a lot of heat fast. It won't last as long as hardwood so you will have to fire more often. I have used a lot of pine (rocket fuel) in the past with good results.

Thanks for answering guys. I did a test burn with a piece of spruce in my wood stove in the house. It got unbearably hot in the house, Im hoping it does good.
Looks like you have a lot of pine out there Russ! :)

I found spruce produced A LOT of sparks that would fly a little too far for comfort. I use mostly pine and some hardwood now. Way less sparks, but I'm sure the spruce will work fine if sparks are not a concern for you.

Sparks and more sparks good way for chimney fire.
Burns very hot and fast.

That's just about all I use in my Mason 2x4. If dry, it burns nice and hot. No problems that I've ever had. I also burn spruce in my masonry heater in my house. I've never had a problem with sparks up 20' chimneys and stacks.

I burn mostly hemlock and spruce for boiling, keeping hardwood to use in the house. I don't think you can create a chimney fire in an evaporator stack.

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Originally Posted by CampHamp

I burn mostly hemlock and spruce for boiling, keeping hardwood to use in the house. I don't think you can create a chimney fire in an evaporator stack.

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same with me I burn mostly white pine and hemlock in the evap. Throw a few sticks in opposite sides of door about every 4 minutes

Burn whatever becomes available. Each type has it's own characteristics, but there is no need for special firewood in the sugarhouse. Whether thinning your woods, or cleaning up storm damage around the neighborhood, it's a good plan to convert anything that can't be used for a higher purpose (like sawlogs) into fuel.

Rules of thumb in case anyone reading doesn't know these. Softwoods (conifers, evergreens) contain less heating value than hardwoods. When they are dry, they burn hot and fast and they gum up stacks (ash mixed with resin) much faster than hardwoods. They also have more irritating and corrosive smoke and they can impart a flavor (that some people really like) to syrup if the smoke gets into the pan. As long as you are prepared for the differences, you can use it as firewood, even inside your house, but that is not advisable because of the higher chimney fire potential. Some hardwoods (birch, aspen, alder) are much like softwoods. Ash wood burns very hot when dry. Other hardwoods, (fruit trees, nut trees, oak, maple, elm) burn cooler and longer, even when dry, and should be split in smaller chunks if a really hot fire is required.

Those rules are for a wood stove for heating purpose. An evap. runs much hotter and will have no buildup that could cause a chimney fire. It's like a dragster compared to a Prius.

We burned whatever we could get our hands on for years. Hard and soft wood- way more soft than hard, and had no trouble. The 2.5x6 rig boiled well. Then we got a 2.5x10 and burned the same percentages of hard and soft wood. It didn't boil as well as I thought it would. Last year we tried burning more hard wood to see if there was a difference and there was. So this year we probably put up about 75% hardwood and 25% softwood. It seems like the bigger rigs need the extra BTU's that hardwood produces.

But softwood burns like crazy when its bone dry! Still a good source of heat. As a neighbor used to say, "it's better than rolled up newspapers"!

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Originally Posted by Super Sapper

Those rules are for a wood stove for heating purpose. An evap. runs much hotter and will have no buildup that could cause a chimney fire. It's like a dragster compared to a Prius.

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Assuming that your stack isn't too tall and too cold at the top. It's all about the stack temp at the top.