What type of wood do you burn

[Jmsmithy]

In your evaporator. I've read pros and cons, hard vs soft woods....

What do you burn? What do you prefer to burn? What won't you burn .....and WHY????

[PerryFamily]

I burn anything, but mostly pine and hemlock split about baseball bat diameter. I will be burning quite a bit of KD spruce mixed in this year. I always keep a few bundles of slabs on hand too.

I have yet to have my evaporator complain about the wood.

[Scribner's Mountain Maple]

I burn whatever I can get my hands on. I like hardwood softwood mix in my woodshed. Soft for starting the fire and shutting it down, and hard wood for boiling if I have enough. I mix the soft in with the hard most of the time really. I burn ash, beech, soft maple, striped maple, white/yellow birch, spruce, hemlock, white pine, cherry, hardhack and anything else that grows in my woods. As I am thinning, I separate off the best wood for firewood and lumber, and everything else goes into the arch. It does depend on your arch too. From what I've been told that if you have a blower, softwood doesn't last long. This will be my first year with a blower that is why I am using mostly hardwood. If you don't have a blower, slab wood works great and so do pallets.

[Chicopee Sap Shack]

I'm going to burn FREE!!!

[Randy Brutkoski]

This year my woodshed is about 80% hickory so I don't expect to burn much wood but last year was mostly pine and hemlock and I burned about 15 cord. This year should only be about 8 cord I am thinking. That is based upon 3000 gallons of syrup made. I have 21 cord cut and split and in hiding right now just in case the season goes into july.

[whalems]

I will be burning almost all oak this year. Because that's what the guy I buy semi loads from had that was very dry. I have burned any and everything in the past. including pallets.

[Flat Lander Sugaring]

This year my woodshed is about 80% hickory so I don't expect to burn much wood but last year was mostly pine and hemlock and I burned about 15 cord. This year should only be about 8 cord I am thinking. That is based upon 3000 gallons of syrup made. I have 21 cord cut and split and in hiding right now just in case the season goes into july.

you think you do, go out back and look at the back side of the wood pile HAHAhA thanks buddy I helped myself while you were gone. oh yea I have an bill for you for the ac unit.

If it burns,its wood and its free my arch doesnt care!!!
mostly soft but going to try more hard wood especially with all the hickory i picked up lately

[twin6]

It's been said many times before on numerous threads, "free and dry" is what works best for many. Even poplar when dry works when you can't get slabs or other softwood. The ideal mix between soft and hard is subjective, depending upon one's arch and maybe what you drink. You'll find through trial and error what works for you.

[ennismaple]

Mostly maple and oak with some occassional softwood thrown in. The Force 5 does not like slabs! I could keep the door open and continuously feed it slabs and it would never fill up!

[Maplewalnut]

Hickory, maple, oak, beech, walnut, pine, hemlock, spruce, locust, cedar, poplar, ash, birch, and pallets.

I burn pallets to start and get a quick boil going and pallets to end since they 'turn off' just as fast as they ignite.
I also mix soft and hard woods, you will find a good mix and it may change depending on weather outside. Crisp clear days get a good dose of hardwood. Warmer foggy days get a bigger mix of soft wood.