Wood stove wood

[JPSAXNC]

Is Sycamore a good wood in a wood stove. TIA

[maraudinglizard]

It can be burned but it has to be well seasoned. Due to it's high water content it takes a while to season. Once dry it burns quite well but not long as oak or pecan does. Definitely need a mechanical log splitter to split this wood when it is still green. It is a "softer" hardwood than oak and is more suited for wood working. 

[anti-squirrel]

Kris is on-point.  About the only thing I'd add is IF you decide to split by hand, make sure you have a couple extra wedges if the wood hasn't cured for at least a year.  If you cut it up shorter (12" or less) you can get away with curing for only 6 months.

I'd rather split cured gum by hand than green sycamore.  I can remember my dad buying a truckload of logs for firewood mid-summer; when he saw it mostly sycamore, he went out and rented a splitter.  Normally I was his "log splitter".  I asked why and he said I'd still be splitting firewood mid-winter.  I was only 12 or 13 and didn't really understand the differences in types of wood being used for firewood. 

[avator]

The $230 log splitter from Harbor Freight has been a blessing. I actually look forward to splitting wood. I can even sit down to split logs.

[Back_Roads]

 I find stoves built out of Oak burn longer than the stove I built out of Pine

[avator]

I find stoves built out of Oak burn longer than the stove I built out of Pine

I would think they would put out much more heat too.

[Madd Hatter]

I find stoves built out of Oak burn longer than the stove I built out of Pine

So, you're the one who built this.🧐

[Back_Roads]

I find stoves built out of Oak burn longer than the stove I built out of Pine

So, you're the one who built this.🧐

I can't take all the credit, I got the plans off Reddit

[Berserkeley Mike]

Kris is on-point.  About the only thing I'd add is IF you decide to split by hand, make sure you have a couple extra wedges if the wood hasn't cured for at least a year.  If you cut it up shorter (12" or less) you can get away with curing for only 6 months.

I'd rather split cured gum by hand than green sycamore.  I can remember my dad buying a truckload of logs for firewood mid-summer; when he saw it mostly sycamore, he went out and rented a splitter.  Normally I was his "log splitter".  I asked why and he said I'd still be splitting firewood mid-winter.  I was only 12 or 13 and didn't really understand the differences in types of wood being used for firewood.

Elm is another one that rips apart instead of splitting.  Growing up we had a 200 year old shade tree succumb to the dread Dutch Elm Disease, but it kept us warm for a couple years.  I remember it being hard on the hydraulic splitter too. 

Best wood stove trick I ever learned was reading up on rocket stoves.  I had an old Jotul 3 stove that I played around with stacking firebricks inside every which way until I got a rocket effect on the burn.  It then put out the same heat on a lot less wood.  I had to cut the logs really short, so maybe not much less work in the end, but a lot less hauling of wood.

[bnowlin]

I find stoves built out of Oak burn longer than the stove I built out of Pine

So, you're the one who built this.🧐

I can't take all the credit, I got the plans off Reddit

Once they burn up, they are very hard to put back together.

[Blowpipe Sam]

I find stoves built out of Oak burn longer than the stove I built out of Pine

So, you're the one who built this.🧐

I can't take all the credit, I got the plans off Reddit
[/quote

Once they burn up, they are very hard to put back together.

Your using the wrong kind of wood.  You should use the stuff we sell the tourist in the campground.  Absolutely fire proof.  After they leave we clean the campsite, collect the wood and sell it to the next rube.

[Moke]

this years splits.
Eucalyptus; really old gnarly grain wood. Very hard to cleanly split.  It burns great, and long. It is also a very clean burning wood.  We regularly have a chimney sweep service, and, they rarely suggest a chimney cleaning.

[Blowpipe Sam]

I was always told not to burn eucalyptus indoors since the smoke is toxic.

[bnowlin]

this years splits.
Eucalyptus; really old gnarly grain wood. Very hard to cleanly split.  It burns great, and long. It is also a very clean burning wood.  We regularly have a chimney sweep service, and, they rarely suggest a chimney cleaning.

I bet it smeels good before you pass out.

[Moke]

Eucalyptus as toxic?
I've never heard of such a thing.  We've burned a small forest of the stuff, too, over the course of 15 years. Between myself, and a crew, we've cut, bucked, and split at least a dozen 150' tall Eucs; I no longer have Eucs on the property as a result.  This makes it far safer, as Eucs are mostly toxic when a 500lb widowmaker branch falls on you from 150' (more than one close call)
In our area (Fallbrook, and Rainbow, Cal.),  it is the most commonly burned wood. I've never once heard of it being toxic.

Smells great?
Our Fisher fireplace insert is extremely efficient and seals well.  You cannot smell anything, or tell that its burning, except for the heat (and occasional wood pop, or shifting.)

Our worst wood here for burning is Avocado from the many dying groves.  You'd get better heat from rolling up newspaper and burning logs of it.  Its stinks, and puts out ice cubes (kidding about that).
We also have Live Oak, but it is the wood of royalty, and sort of a PITA to get a fire started with it.  I have two large piles of Live Oak logs out curing for next season.  The two piles are from one huge branch that overhung my neighbors house.  Even quartered, those 1/4 logs are nearly too heavy to move.
I also have a large pile of Euc logs curing as well.

Our burner:

[Madd Hatter]

this years splits.
Eucalyptus; really old gnarly grain wood. Very hard to cleanly split.  It burns great, and long. It is also a very clean burning wood.  We regularly have a chimney sweep service, and, they rarely suggest a chimney cleaning.

I bet it smeels good before you pass out.

😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 Not to mention your sinuses are cleared out.

[Sailor Gerry]

I have a 14kw traditional wood burner with back boiler, that heats domestic hot water, rads, and underfloor heating.

I love everything about it, apart from how hungry it is. It burns best on hard woods, generally, larger bits of oak and ash, with a 1/3 pine mixed through.  It is a good 40 mins each day, to clean, set, and replenish, ready for the next evening. In lumber I spend 1500 euros a year to keep the wood shed full, (same on oil) and I scavenge on top.

Only thing that I would change, is to have the hot water tank, higher than the fire, so it it could thermo-cycle in a blackout.. My fire needs a circulation pump to get it to the tank, which is not helpful when we occasionally lose power, and cannot use it. Exactly when you need heat.

I do have a small antique French wood burner, that I want to install as a SHTF option, with a small oven and hot plate. 100 years old, kind of tired brown enamel, but functional, keep it simple, is where I am heading...

[NorCal David]

“It burns best on hard woods, generally, larger bits of oak and ash, with a 1/3 pine mixed through.”

This is a learning experience for me. An old time logger told me decades ago not to mix pine, which burns faster, with oak because it will burn your hardwoods up too fast. An internet search shows lots of people do it.
Also, an arborist said not to burn elm because it stinks. But people burn it without complaint. Apparently, if it is near a sewer line or swamp it can pick up bad smells. Otherwise, it is fine.
Live and learn.