Oak is also great for grilling over an outdoor fire. How Often Should I Remove Creosote From My fireplace? Not good for firewood but great for woodworking. Lots of heat and hot coals-kept us from freezing one late night at 6,000 feet in late October, while we were wasting time patroling a wildfire in NE California back in 85. The tree, about 30ft tall,Read more . Some states have made the sale of Russian olive trees illegal, to prevent their spreading. Likewise, wood that does not burn clean, including unseasoned wood, produces more creosote. As a common invasive species, you have probably seen Russian olive often on a countryside walk. It was cut 4 month prior to burning in the winter . i have access to some and im wondering if its worth my time to get it. Stay warm and dont worry about it so much. When its cold out, I seem less lazy to get up in the middle of the night to keep the fire hot overnight. I live on the west slope too and have found that oak, even when protected, doesnt keep that well, unlike cedar, pine, fir, or lodgepole. IT IS USELESS FOR FIREWOOD BECAUSE OF THE LITTLE/NO HEAT OUTPUT, BUT MAINLY ITS TOO DANGEROUS TO BURN INDOORS, AS IT POPS AND EXPLODES AND THROWS SPARKS EVERYWHERE. Im in California, about 3800 ft up the west side of the Sierra Navadas. Many black oaks lost big limbs in the surprise snow of Nov 2010. Anyone know the BTU's/cord? I have no empirical data, but for us they have given decent heat. Though seasoning the wood for long enough will eventually make the smell dissipate. Russian olive trees generally have fairly short trunks and many gnarled branches. For wood stoves I beleive ash,oak,hickory mix. 5 out of 5 stars (767) $ 36.95. Some states have made the sale of Russian olive trees illegal, to prevent their spreading. Patricia in DE. A week later he tried to burn it and told me to never burn oak , because it burned terrible and smoked bad . Thanks for the comment, great to know we are getting long time repeat visitors. Some wood gives off a lot of sparks in the fireplace. Olive is diffuse porous, whileRussian Olive is ring-porous. Another opinion added to the interwebs Cheers, Happy Burning. Wood has close to the same BTU per dry pound regardless of species. The trees crotch can be especially hard to split. PRACTICALLY EVERY RANCH FENCE HERE AND NEW MEXICO IS MADE FROM IT, ITS EASILY SPLIT AND IT RESISTS ROTTING. Ensure that there are enough gaps between each log to allow them to air dry effectively. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creosote Endgrain: Ring-porous; 5-10 rows of medium to large earlywood pores, exclusively solitary latewood pores grading from medium to small; tyloses sometimes present; medium to wide rays visible without lens, spacing wide; parenchyma generally not visible with hand lens, or diffuse-in-aggregates (barely visible). Im curious about people melting cast iron stoves and fires getting too hot. There is more smoke from wood than coal so ignore the GreenFascist/ACORN Brownshirts and their deceits. Some people find this unsettling, while popping embers can burn carpets and rugs. Pricing/Availability: Russian Olive tends to be a very small tree, with a highly branching form that is not conducive to large or straight logs. (This is a monthly update, and your email will be kept private. I have burned about every tree that grows in this county (except cottonwood and willow, which is about worthless), and the best, by far, is Osage Orange. Im in North Texas and I have a half acre I can devote to renewable firewood. If some of the wood is used for construction, there is a net decrease in CO2 from the activity. I could turn on electric or gas boiler but the excercise and knowing you are hurting bottom line of Electrical Supply Utility keeps me You will need to use a combination of other woods to get your fire going, to begin with as Russian olive does not catch fire easily. Sounds like my neighbor would get along great with yours. I noticed a lack of information on Hickory. It is a decent fuel, but very heavy when green and very light when dry. Glad that these charts settle the madrone/euk BTU argument. I burned some buckthorn in 1.5 to 4 diameter unsplit and that stuff burns HOT in our wood stove; it stinks and its not the easiest to start. I live in Mn and it smells just like fresh cut oak. Western Softwoods Figures from California Energy Commission But Rating Based on 90 cubic feet of solid wood per 128 cubic foot cord. So if you remove the bark you have fewer ashes to clean out. If you want a stronger flavor, try combining olive with the punchy smoke flavor produced by hickory. It burns very hot,and produces nice heat. We have burned about 7 1/2 cord and I just ran out. The Russian Olive I have seems very dense, but I haven't burned much yet. Mulberry burns wonderfully, but gets so hot it put a crack in our first cast-iron stove when it was used as a full load, so we only use one piece at a time with other woods. Mulberry has a rateing of (1) unit million btu, 25.80/cord #101 Olive wood burl slab Island board charcuterie resin tray 200 yr old Rawcut. Cedar doesnt heat well for us, and throws a lot of creosote up the chimney, so we only use it for outside campfires. For example a Eucalypt that is similar in size and appearance to live oak is E moluccana ( grey box ) it grows in iron stone reliying on 12 inches of rain per year and at 3% moisture content weighs 9,856 pounds per cord how many BTUS would that equate to , or what about Waddy wood ( Acacia peuce ) it grows in the outback and at 3% moisture content weighs 13,112 pounds per cord and relies on one inch of rainfall per year what would its BTU output be ? Russian olive wood tends to warp and crack as it splits. Nothing burns green like ash. We have oaks and madrone as our more common hardwoods. Im new to burning wood in an open fireplace. But in many cases softwoods actually have more BTU per pound than hardwoods. So, give at least 1 year (12 months) for your Russian olive wood to season before use. central KS and have been burning Osage Orange for 27 yrs in a Majestic insert fireplace with a blower. Firewood BTU Chart. The cores, thick bark that protects the Russian olive wood makes it difficult for the wood to dry out as quickly as pine or fir if not split. im in lebanon,pa area. Uncured wood is also inefficient as the fire wastes energy, evaporating moisture instead of heating the room. Bandit~ Hi! With some fairly simple math based on the difference, you can calculate the BTU. Russian olive wood produces an unpleasant odor when green. Also, the top had some water damage that was lifting the very thin layer on the top. Many of the local ranchers have pulled the root bases from the banks of irrigation ditches and streams and there is an abundance of dried root balls to chose my wood from! Because of the air space between the pieces of wood, the amount of solid wood in a cord may be only 70-90 cubic feet, even though the volume of the stack is 128 cubic feet. All of the wood has been cured at least 3 years, but in our damp winters the wood picks up moisture from the air so produces less heat by late winter. Speed up the drying time further by following these tips: Olive firewood rounds have a yellowish brown or cream heartwood that tends to deepen in color with age. I like burning Birch in fireplaces but getrun away fires ( read relief valve blows @ 100 c) You are correct Bill, wood has about the same BTU per weight. as far as mulberry goes..i live in central nm and at some point in time someone started planting non bearing mulberry trees..the btu output is not even close to what the charts state above..our mulberry trees would be similar to burning elm wood..it grows verry fast and requires a lot of water..we dont even use it for cooking wood..of course most native wood in nm is verry hard because it takes hundreds of yrs to growthe growth rings are so small in some cases it takes a microscope to see them..some of the juniper trees we cut for firewood ive been told were around during the time of christ..so it naturaly is going to be extremely hard wood..ive been looking for the btu output for algarita..or desert holly..where i cut my firewood its not uncommon to find these trees from 5inches to two feet around..it takes at least a yr to season..ive seen gunstocks and stair rails made from itprety woodanyone know?? I have some birch and cherry Ive been mixing it in with that too. Much like poplar firewood varieties, the wood from the Russian olive in most cases is easy to split. Russian olive firewood leaves a lot of ashes in the fireplace once the fire burns out. They put out some tremendous heat . First is IronWood. Some locals began tackling the problem on their own by funding small removal projects, but the effort was minimal in response to the widely growing tree population. Light it then put the wet wood on top and watch the water and steam spew out of the ends . Can anyone confirm this? Personally, when I am home, I burn alot of Pitch Pine. By assessing the fire characteristics of Russian olive firewood, it will be easier to identify which scenarios and settings the firewood is best suited for. I was just cutting some live oak in California last week so I do know it is there. This varies with the size and shape of the wood, and how tightly it is stacked. I will definitely cut more hickory, beech and oak . We have tons of the best hard woods in this country . At ~$75/ton which is about the same dimension size as a cord of wood, it has about 6-7X the btu value of any cord of wood. I built a wood topped banjo with it and have loved the wood ever sense but it is a thorn bush and you will loose a lot of blood getting the wood and i lost a pickup tire to the 2inch thorns. Enjoy your fires! Creosote is a tar-like black substance deposited inside chimneys as the fire burns. It burns clean and hot. BillNole ArboristSite Operative. I am refinishing a 3 drawer, 4 cupboard piece of furniture that I believe is olive wood. Campfires need much radiant heat to keep you warm on a chilly night . While many landowners are eager to see the Russian olives removed, what to do with the cut trees remained a challenge. I added another folding screen to the hearth, plus a stainless steel screen that has 1/32 holes in it. If you leave oak in the woods til you need it, well, theres lots of bugs and stuff that love to digest it. Invest in a moisture meter to know when your firewood has seasoned for long enough. Check out the following table comparing the heat output of olive to various other common types of firewood. The good news is that virtually all of the time, they say yes. Ill have much pecan to burn this fall , we cut a huge tree . This can mean much longer burn times and less loading. The doug fir gets the bark beetles that work away the outer layer, but if you can get the bark off the wood it will last several years. The Ultimate Firewood Storage Guide For 2023, How Good Is Walnut Firewood? Many places consider it evasive now and are trying to get rid of it. A couple of small pieces placed correctly provides a flame that lasts long enough to start the main fire. Its BTU is just as high as birch which varieties produce a BTU of 23.8 million per cord and higher than douglas fir, which has a BTU of 20,7. Ive burned wood for heat much of my life, but in my new house my focus is on wood for cooking. Split horribly and had a bad odor and only arround 15.5 BTU/ cord. Ponderosa Pine, commonly used to heat homes in this area, burns at 21.7 British thermal units (BTU), which in simple terms, means it burns hot and long. It gets super hot and leaves a hot bed of coals. Many people despise Russian olive trees as they make it difficult for other trees to thrive. Common Name BTU Months to Dry Osage Orange (Hedge) 30 12 Oak, Gamble 28 36 Olive 26.7 24 Almond 26.7 24 Hop Hornbeam (Ironwood) 26.4 24 Persimmon, American 25.8 36 Mesquite25.5 24 Hickory, Shagbark25.3 24 Tanoak25.1 12 Dogwood. However, as a downside, it tends to spit embers from time to time and produce a fair amount of ash. But it does burn off a substantial amount of ash. Split each log into two to four pieces, depending on the log size. hhmmfrom what you are describing, I doubt that the cupboard is olive, or Russian olivepictures would help.. Freshly milled or sanded, the main (or only) wood Ive come across that has green heartwood is poplar. You will need to use a combination of other woods to get your fire going, to begin with as Russian olive does not catch fire easily. As others have commented the wood does have a very strong odor when working it either green or dry(4 months from felling, slabbed to roughly 2x8x24 and dried for 6 months, milled to final size(1-3/4x6x24) and glued planks dried for 3 months) its a very herby/oily (like a potent salad dressing) smell that lingers even after washing. I have the square footage of space in the house but what zone do i need so I can purchase the right sized wood stove? We run fans in the winter as much as we run them in the summer. Green wood from the olive tree is high in water content, so it will smoke in the fire. $20.00 + $21.95 shipping. One perk of Russian olive: it burns hot. Russian olive trees make dense, slow-burning firewood. Dogwood, apple and the smaller trees burn good but are only for small fires (late spring or early fall when you dont want a fire to last all day) If you are serious about heating your home with wood just stick to these trees for the max in BTUs..they burn hot and clean. The black locust sparks more as its moisture content rises. Build the fire slowly, using a combination of Russian olive wood and faster-burning wood, such as pine. Over 50 years heating with wood; Woodstock Fireview; Stihl Farm Boss 290 Stihl 180; 20 ton MTD Splitter. Have a lot of ancient dead manzanitas that also burn fantastically in the fp. Like the man said , if you got it free, its worth burning for heat. I heard somewhere that most of the ash comes from the bark. I cannot find any chart that lists BTUs for Shingle Oak anyone out there have specific information on that particular variety? In this area, several limbs come together into one knotted mess. NOW I LIVE IN ARIZONA AND THE CEDAR OUT HERE IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT! Back in the day they used to use the limbs for fence posts and the wood would last decades in the ground with out rotting. As a common invasive species, you have probably seen Russian olive often on a countryside walk. Its all from WI. i live in orth east ohio we get some cold winters up hear the wood that we burn are hickory,oak,beech,hard maple,cherry,locost wood aroun hear is easy to get people will let u go in there woods and take all the down trees i own ranch 1500 sq feet with burning all these hardwoods i only burn 2-3 cord per winter thats not very muck i know guys that burn 10 to 12 cords but there not burning seasioned wood my wood id been seasioned for 2 to 3 years but my over all fav list around hear in ohio goes like this HICKORY #1 it burns forever i had a fire the other day it lasted 7 hours loved it #2oak #3beech #4 locost #5 hard maple #6 cherry love the coals cherry produses if ther is any other northeast ohio burners let me no what u r burning and how u like it .. burn on be safe. It also won't burn and will produce excess smoke. They are also a very resilient tree, capable of living in almost any condition, making them even more of an issue to permanently remove. What is Russian olive wood good for? Its quite nice really, light to handle, splits like nothing and puts off a nice blue flame at the coals. Would I still be allergic to it or was that just to its pollen? Surprisingly, Russian olive firewood does not produce many coals. My favorite wood to burn, has always been standing dead elm. Even when thoroughly seasoned, it does tend to spit embers sporadically. When Russian olive wood is first cut, it released an unpleasant, overwhelming odor. This is because softwoods, like pine and fir, contain resins, which have more energy per weight than wood fiber does. Persimmon is one of the most dense wood around this area. Go fast on the oak. Leave the stump about 36 high. The Best Fast-Growing Trees to Use For Firewood, North Forty News: Russian Olives Fall Out of Favor, University of Missouri Extension: Wood Fuel for Heating. It is quite old and is hanging over mine and my neighbors drive ways. My wife even melted a stove once while I was at work when we were younger. Spruce and Birch both probably have about the same BTU rating, however I have found that Birch burns cleaner. with the exception of oak (usualy scrub oak), all the firewood vendors here have is Eucalyptus (no rating), Avacado (no rating), Almond (no rating) and mixed hardwood. Or would it be worth the heat and not having that pile to look at anymore? If the Russian olive woods content is still too high after a year, give it a few more months to season. Other invasive olive trees are the Autumn olive (. For the very old man. When he's not working on axes, he's probably camping, hunting, or honing his survivalist skills. Sometimes the base of the tree is hollow with a wet sawdust inside. Throw the Ailanthus away. I BELIEVE ITS CALLED SALT CEDAR. Russian olive burns clean, produces minimal creosote, and doesnt spark and pop. I find black cherry and hickory give the best burning results. Russian olive is medium-quality firewood. Superb device . Well here it is getting to be winter in upstate NY again and the little woodstove in our basement has been running since September or so. The short trunk and gnarled branches of these trees gives an impression of light wood, but don't be deceived. By time it is dry, there is nothing left. My grad parents were pioneers who cooked /heated homestead houses with white popular ! I know I know I can hear the comments about creosote but as long as it is dry and you give it air to burn it does great. (red) just now brought back a load of beech. Im here in S.E. Olive wood - what a find, limited quantity! Russian olive sprouts from the root crown and sends up root suckers. Be sure to have a good roaring fire the whole time the wood is cooking and make sure the wood that is being used for charcoal is well seasoned .The greener the wood the less charcoal will be produced and it will greatly increase the production time.My next batch will be made using a 55 gal drum to hold the wood for charcoal and I will make a concrete block kiln to hold my fire.This should make about 50 -75 lbs of hickory pecan mix charcoal.