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I'm only bothering with Hedge from now on. I got a bunch of oak last year. I'm about through it. We burned it a lot when I was a kid, but then switched to Hedge. I've burned Hedge for awhile, but then got this oak. The oak was just cold-burning. I know all about the BTU's etc., but the real difference is stark. House was sure cold burning oak. A lot warmer with a big piece of Hedge. I'm done with everything but Hedge unless I just have to burn something else.

Hedge? As in Hedge Apple (aka Bodock, Osage Orange)?

around here most burn cottonwood cause thats what is here for the most part....makes a decent fire but not great.....my father in law got the opportunity to cut down a very large, old russian olive if he would haul it off......loved using that stuff for camp fires, it burns long and hot....only issue is its rare to find a russian olive big enough to be worth much fire wood....

interesting. it might have something to do with the moisture content of the wood?

on a pound for pound basis, at a given MC, i don't imagine there's much difference in heating content among different species of trees. but some trees have oily bark, etc., that could effect BTU content.

Yup. Farmers around here planted them as windbreaks in years past. I assume they were planted in the 30's to control wind erosion, but it may have been even farther back than that. They are the main nuisance tree in our area...possibly the main tree. They make great posts and firewood. They are the top wood, BTU-wise. Burn really hot. The downside is the sparks.

Bois d' Arc, Osage Orange, Hedge...all the same tree. The Ozark Mountains are supposedly named after them, due to the term French explorers came up with to describe the area. Aux-Arcs, which translates, "land of the bows" after the bows of the wood made by the native Osage Injuns. My Grandma in Texas called the trees "Bordark Trees". Everybody around here calls 'em Hedge Trees. Indeed they produce green fruit about the size of a softball, called "Hedge Apples". The wood is orange-yellow and stringy. It has some thorns, but not near to the extent of either Honey or Black Locusts-which also burn very hot.

Certainly the moisture content would have an effect. The moisture content very much effects how easily it catches fire and burns too. There are big differences unrelated to moisture content, IME though. Hedge just burns hotter. I know Oak burns fairly hot, both by experience and by looking at the charts. I wouldn't have thought the difference in reality, was so pronounced though. Plus the Hedge lasts a lot longer.

I wouldn't burn a dammed Cottonwood for it. Elm is worthless too. Cedar, not too good. Apple smells so good that it is worth the cold heat. I burnt some Redwood that my Dad cut up from his yard in town. It sucked pretty bad too. I'm a Hedge man from now on...unless I burn something else. I've got a whole stack of old posts to cut up, plus a tree out at the edge of the yard that I killed and is ready for working up. Goodtogo.

you find me something around here to cut down that aint cottonwood and ill burn it, ppl tend to get pissed at someone going logging in their front yard though

Oak and Hard Maple.Yellow birch is decent.Big chunks of Hard Maple go all night.Aspen and white birch are good for a fast hot fire.Cedar makes the best kindeling wood.Been heating with wood for over 30 years now.

Get some hedge thorns buried in your arm after cutting it and you'll know for several days, at east for me they sure are sore for a week.

The chart I just looked at showed hedge to be about 30% more BTU/chord than oak, and cottonwood about half of oak. I know you have to do what you have to do.

It's good to burn Hedge around here because of the nuisance factor. You're killing two birds with one stone. Same with Locust but most folks don't want to deal with the thorns that are truly much worse than Hedge. They seem to have more poison in them, besides just being longer. I've seen some Locust thorns over six inches long.

No offense intended Rattler. I just was incredulous that you would burn Cottonwood 'cause we have cut many of them down as nuisance trees and they ain't worth a darn for heat. I guess as Cheesy says, you gotta do what you gotta do.

if one is buying wood by the pound, it's better to purchase the driest available. green wood straight from the forest has lot's of moisture, and it's costly. we buy our wood in late summer that has been piled since march or so.

a cord of wood is volumetric measurement. a cubic foot of oak has a different heating value than a cubic foot of good ol sweetgum at an equal mc. pound for pound at a given mc, they're the same. what comes into play, is how often do i need to tend the heater? we've burned wood in a fireplace, and now a heater all my long-life. the more a dry-cord of wood weighs, the better.

I burn about seven cords a year and have been for over 20 years. I use mixed hardwood, beech, red oak, white oak, locust, hard maple, black birch and black cherry. The oak takes at least 2 years under cover to dry properly, in my area anyway. The locust burns really hot. I never load the stove with all locust but mix it with cherry or maple. I never heard of Hedge. It must not grow this far north, at least in quantity.

Bob

didnt take it as such.......know lots of ppl that say they wont burn cottonwood, but thats usually cause they have a choice....seriously other than the odd russian olive its rare to find a tree someone will let yah cut down around here that aint cottonwood though occasionally someone wants a maple or something removed from their yard.....the entire river bottom is just cottonwoods and up off the river trees are few and far between and most of those are more like real tall bushes than actual trees you can use for firewood

We have a fair number of them around here. The the big green "apples" make quite a mess on the road. I helped a neighbor dig up a Hedge Apple stump a few years back. When the ax head hit the roots it would ring like it was hitting a piece of iron. It can dull a chainsaw chain pretty quick too. But it is good firewood.

It does have a reputation for burning hot. I've heard people claim that it burned the grating out of their fireplace/stove. Black Locust is in the same class, and hickory runs a close second. Hickory is some of the dirtiest burning wood I've used though.

I've been burning a fair amount of Wild Cherry that I cut out of my fence rows this year. Its not nearly as good as some other woods, but it runs close to Oak. And in my case its free.

Plus one on that! The crick bottoms are lined with cottonwood. Ponderosa pine on themoutnain. The only hardwood here comes in the form of a pallet!

Keep tellin' them boys from back east that come huntin' to bring a semi load of hardwood firewood. They could pay for their trip!

Around here, the most popular species are Douglas Fir and Western Larch. Lodgepole Pine is pretty popular as well, esp since the beetle kill trees are all over and pretty easy to get. Occasionally you'll see someone cutting spruce, white pine, grand fir, or hemlock, but most prefer the better species.

TFF....that reminds me my father in law has torn apart the pallets we get paper in on to burn as firewood cause it burns hotter than cottonwood

Sometimes that is the only firewood available... about 1000 2"x2"x3ft oak and maple stakes follwed me home this summer. They were going to toss them in the trash.

Osage makes great bows. I've used it a lot.

Wood burns pretty much the same per pound if you start off with dry wood. If it's green, it doesn't burn as hot, of course. Osage is pretty dense, which is why a stick of it will burn with more heat than a stick of oak, but the difference is in the weight (and considering both are dry.)

Fifteen years ago, folks would pay $50 for a pair of billets to make a bow, if the billets were 3 feet long and came side by side from the tree. They'd have to join them in the handle. I suppose they still would.