I haven't found any of the pine rotten enough that it WON'T burn. I brought it in, and stacked it in the shed to keep it dry, and it seems to dry out really quicker than I thought for spongy, rotten wood. I haven't used 6 sticks of "GOOD WOOD" in the past month. Our temp last night was around 31 degrees, and the old stuff held well, heating my 1680 sq. ft. house, and 1000 sq. ft. of my garage. Aquastat temp is set at 135 degrees as of right now. I wil be turning it up a bit soon.
As for being worth the time, I can cut a full size truckload of pine and sasafrass in about 20-30 minutes, and it is light enough that I can load a huge piece withtout splitting it. Easy to lift into the truck too. Not like a 12" round X 24" piece of white oak.
I have no neighbors close by, as my house is kinda' secluded, so smoke isn't an issue. I don't burn garbage in mine, but I'm a contractor, so I go through ALOT of scrap wood and materials, so it all goes in the OWB as well. Cardboard makes alot of ashes, and I do my best to recycle it if possible.
Heats the house,,,,,,, cleans up the farm. 2 birds,,,, one stone.
I LOVE MY OWB.