Larry Caldwell
Super Member
No, I am burning oak that was down 2 years before I cut it up. All the bark fell off, but I still have to shovel out the stove every couple days. I should have cut more madrone, but the oak was laying on the ground...Larry, do you think that is from the bark? I'm asking because of a recent visit from a vendor who installed an upgraded wood stove insert in my fireplace.
I told him we only burn oak and madrone; he said it was OK to burn pine just don't burn the pine bark. He said "all" the pitch in pine is in the bark, so if you don't burn the bark you don't have the creosote problem in the flue. Never heard of that before.
We talked about madrone having virtually no ash or residue. He said it is because it has almost no bark.
Madrone (arbutus menziasii) is the premium firewood. Lights easy, burns hot, leaves a good coal with little ash, and is clean to handle with no moss, bugs, or bark. It also grows like a freaking weed, so there is no shortage. I have reformed my ways and am cutting madrone this winter.