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Author Topic: Softwood vs hardwood  (Read 4984 times)

coolidge

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Softwood vs hardwood
« on: September 14, 2017, 06:32:19 PM »

Seems to me the less acidic softwoods would be the wood to burn. Although you might need twice as much.

Thoughts?
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hondaracer2oo4

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Re: Softwood vs hardwood
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2017, 07:25:22 PM »

Why would they be the wood to burn? No coaling and use twice as much?
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MattyNH

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Re: Softwood vs hardwood
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2017, 07:32:02 PM »

Your definantly gonna go through more softwood than you will with hardwood..Softwood less btu's etc..Generally softwood you can get it for free since no one burns it (except sap houses) in wood stoves for heating..Ive found in the warmer months where you have not much demand...Softwood doesn't not hold the red coals like hardwood does..Final thought..Burn any seasoned wood..The owb is designed for that!..Better than paying the oil guy!
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DeerMeadowFarm

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Re: Softwood vs hardwood
« Reply #3 on: September 15, 2017, 07:22:52 AM »

I thought that a lot of people in the northwest burn a lot of softwood simply because that's the only wood they can get their hands on?
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slimjim

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Re: Softwood vs hardwood
« Reply #4 on: September 15, 2017, 07:26:32 AM »

You are correct, if you ever noticed there is almost no oak or beech near our northern borders here in the NorthEast.
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James

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Re: Softwood vs hardwood
« Reply #5 on: September 15, 2017, 08:45:27 AM »

I burn as much soft wood in my P&M 250 as I possibly can. I would say that I burn about 1/3 more than when I use hardwood, not 2X. The way I do it is just load 1/3 more in the firebox per any 12 hour period. Doing it this way avoids the problems with the lack of a coal bed. There's almost always some charred pieces leftover when I go to reload, but sometimes not. There's definitely less room for error than when using hardwood.  Trade off is that it's free for the most part and verrrrry plentiful as most people scoff at burning it. Another hard wood that I like that most people scoff at is poplar. Burns like a softwood but is free and plentiful.

Slim is 100% correct, oak doesn't grow where I am, so we take what we can get. I burn softwood in the fall until there's too much snow to go & get it where I store it and then just as soon as possible in the spring.
« Last Edit: September 15, 2017, 11:21:37 AM by James »
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mlappin

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Re: Softwood vs hardwood
« Reply #6 on: September 15, 2017, 01:56:03 PM »

Depends on where you’re at here, get into town and you have a ton of oaks, not so much out here on the heavier ground, a few of our woods are heavy with red oak, too nice to burn those though. Have some beech here but not a lot. Mostly have burr oak on the clay which is a wetland species, also sucks to split as its all crooked as a dogs hind leg.

Technically what are we calling hard and soft woods, I’ve cut a few arborvitae in the past that makes much better firewood than tulip poplar.
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coolidge

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Re: Softwood vs hardwood
« Reply #7 on: September 15, 2017, 05:04:15 PM »

Just thinking the boilers won't rot out as quick with the less acidic woods.
Going to cut me some pine and hemlock and try it next year.
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slimjim

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Re: Softwood vs hardwood
« Reply #8 on: September 15, 2017, 05:58:44 PM »

Why wait, I have some softwoods here that I'll gladly trade for that oak!!!!!L
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mlappin

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Re: Softwood vs hardwood
« Reply #9 on: September 15, 2017, 08:05:19 PM »

I don’t think I’d worry too much about one wood being less acidic than another. My homebuilt was mild steel, never burned softwoods in it, as mainly most of our pine trees are windbreaks or ornamentals, nothing but a butt ton of branches to trim. I mostly burnt elm in ours with some wild cherry and a lot of soft maple and tulip poplar.
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MattyNH

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Re: Softwood vs hardwood
« Reply #10 on: September 15, 2017, 08:57:38 PM »

Just thinking the boilers won't rot out as quick with the less acidic woods.
Going to cut me some pine and hemlock and try it next year.
Hemlock is awesome to burn..Burns like hardwood!
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duramax

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Re: Softwood vs hardwood
« Reply #11 on: November 18, 2017, 07:36:40 AM »

I had more pine offered this year so I ran with it. This is the first season burning mainly pine. So far it's ok, my gasser's reaction chamber is burning 200* cooler and I do burn more. But on the plus side it does heat the house for free. I had the propane company come in for the first time in over 2 years for a half fill of a 500 gal tank.
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benp

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Re: Softwood vs hardwood
« Reply #12 on: November 18, 2017, 02:30:19 PM »

I will take good pine any day of the week. Favorite of the pine family is Tamarack. I burn the heck out of it.

I had one day a few weeks ago where the stove put up big reaction chamber numbers on primarily a Tamarack, some sugar maple, some red maple, and 2 pieces of black ash load.

Pine is great wood.

What I would really love to try in this stove is Hedge Apple (Osage Orange).



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duramax

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Re: Softwood vs hardwood
« Reply #13 on: December 03, 2017, 03:45:15 PM »

I will take good pine any day of the week. Favorite of the pine family is Tamarack. I burn the heck out of it.

I had one day a few weeks ago where the stove put up big reaction chamber numbers on primarily a Tamarack, some sugar maple, some red maple, and 2 pieces of black ash load.

Pine is great wood.

What I would really love to try in this stove is Hedge Apple (Osage Orange).

 I am burning eastern white pine, it works fine just the reaction chamber never hits over 1000* . Part of that is it lack of aging, it's been split for 3 months.
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