[johnmac]

Hello all. I got a lovely new Stihl chainsaw last month so I can become log self sufficient to reduce my heating costs! :-D

I've got loads of trees around the farm which I'm free to chop until my hearts content... With a good seasoning (hot dry summer?!?!?!... Is it possible?!?) they'll be ready for Winter 2011.

I've got an app on my iPhone and have so far chopped down and split about six cubic metres of Alder and a cube of Ash. I know ash is the best firewood, but getting mixed response on alder. Most websites say it doesn't give out a lot of heat and burns quick but a quick google 'is alder good firewood' has some people saying it's good?!? Confused.. I am!

Has anyone on here any personal experiences of using Alder?

Ideally I hope it's good, cos 90% of the trees appear to be alder!

:-D

[doganjo]

Oak logs will warm you well, if they're old and dry;

Larch logs of pinewood smell - but sparks will fly!

Beech logs for Christmas time; Yew logs heat well;

'Scots' logs it is a crime for anyone to sell;

Birch logs will burn too fast; Chestnut scarce at all!

Hawthorn logs are good to last, if you cut them in the fall.

Holly logs will burn like wax - you should burn them green;

Elm logs like smouldering flax, no flame to be seen!

Pear logs and apple logs, they will scent your room;

Cherry logs across the dogs smell like flowers in bloom!

But ash logs, all smooth and grey, burn them green or old;

Buy up all that comes your way - they're worth their weight in gold.

[robert waddell]

you don't need heat just wind if they are cut in 3 to 4 ft lengths or what you can easily handle  and stack to dry the worst wood is willow(the one that we cut up must have been 2 to 300 years old) the best is elm that is dead you could always flag one of the many timber lorries that pass through the Blair what are you doing about a log splitter alder grows best in wet areas and has quite a bit of sap sycamore is also good once dried

[johnmac]

Thanks for the rhyme doganjo... Is the fact alder ain't on it good or bad??? :-D

as for the logs... I've already cur and split them to about 15" lengths and stacked three rows deep bit with lots of air gaps! The splitting is being done with my 4lb axe and large bulging triceps ! Ha haa :-D

thought about getting a splitter, bit at £100+ for a cheapo... I'd rather do it by hand! I can fell chop and split a cubic metre inside two hours... So I'm happy with that, just pick away at it on the weekends!

[doganjo]

Thanks for the rhyme doganjo... Is the fact alder ain't on it good or bad??? :-D

No idea - I just yahooed and this came up top http://thankstrees.tripod.com/id16.html

I'll be buying my logs ready chopped - once the damned snow goes away and I can get the man with the van down here to put my log burning stove in!

[HappyHippy]

If it's free then all wood's the same  
But seriously, get as much ash as you can, then start with the rest. Just cut it all up and stack it so the wind can get through it. We're surviving on fallen trees at the mo - plenty of them lying around here ! Because they've been down for a few years we're just cutting and burning (but mostly ash so it's okay)
Hubby's huskey (his xmas pressie from me ) arrived on friday, now that he's off for a few days he's itching to get out and see how good it is !
I'll check with the resident tree hugger about alder tomorrow and see what he says (my dad's the best search engine I've used lol!)

[johnmac]

Thanks! I installed my own woodburner in November... Timing couldn't have been better and it's saved me a fortune so far! Four months heating oil last year was 2,200l ... So far two months in 500l bought, 250l of it still left in tank! :-D

[doganjo]

Thanks! I installed my own woodburner in November... Timing couldn't have been better and it's saved me a fortune so far! Four months heating oil last year was 2,200l ... So far two months in 500l bought, 250l of it still left in tank! :-D

I was caught on the hop - ordered my stove early October, then had to wait for delivery, then the man was unavailable for a couple of weeks, then the snow came - and came, and came - and it's still here.  I HATE snow!

[Mo]

Here's the poem I have by Celia Congreve:

Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year,
Chestnut's only good they say,
If for logs 'tis laid away.
Make a fire of Elder tree,
Death within your house will be;
But ash new or ash old,
Is fit for a queen with crown of gold

Birch and fir logs burn too fast
Blaze up bright and do not last.
It is by the Irish said
Hawthorn bakes the sweetest bread.
Elm wood burns like churchyard mould,
E'en the very flames are cold;
But ash green or ash brown
Is fit for a queen with golden crown

Poplar gives a bitter smoke,
Fills your eyes and makes you choke,
Apple wood will scent your room
Pear wood smells like flowers in bloom
Oaken logs, if dry and old
Keep away the winter's cold
But ash wet or ash dry
A king shall warm his slippers by.

[HappyHippy]

Okay, resident tree hugger say's Alder (not Elder - it's rotten stuff and stinks when you burn it) is really good, but needs plenty of time to season.
Here's a link to a good forum & topic John,
http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/firewood-forum/14232-alder-firewood.html
HTH
Karen x

[johnmac]

Thanks HappyHippy! x yipeeeeee!! Free logs and free heating! :-D x

[HappyHippy]

Cannie whack it 

[northfifeduckling]

weird , these superstitions. I always felt uneasy about cutting our Elder  although I don't even remember ever having been told the rhyme or stories...no one died (yet)
Poplar is rubbish to burn, does not season at all, still alive and moist after 2 years!! It might be good for growing mushrooms on ??

[garden cottage]

weve had woodburners for donkeys years (however long that is) must admit i wouldnt bother with elder considered a very poor firewood but just about anything else as long as its dry/seasoned mix of everything is best,weve heated our house entirely on fork lift pallets for the last 2 years and apart from millions of nails in the woodburner its free heating!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Mo]

We have converted pallet piles to nail piles too