good kindling wood

[OKnewguy]

My dad has used wood to heat with his whole life, plus he used to deliver furniture. Over the years, alot of the cedar shack roofs have been replaced with other roofing materials. So good old dad would keep an eye out and stop by a roofing job a couple times of year and would fill up a couple of trash cans with used shingles. A single shingle would get the fire going great (kind of scarry people ever put these things on their houses). All it would take would be about 1 trash can for the whole season. We also had a bamboo patch that we would cut back every season, that stuff makes pretty good kindling too.
Dave

 

[deerefan]

there is a dead pine, about 80 ft tall, that I'll see if I can get some help falling and I'll see if I can get some lighter pine from it. I have a section of the property (about 20 acres) devoted to timber (pine) and the trees are about 6 years old. I have thought about gathering some of the lower branches that have started to die off from lack of sun, some pine needles and pine cones and making bundles of a few branches, some needles w/ a cone or two in the middle and tying them together with hay string to see how that works. I need something that won't burn up too fast though.

 

[Matt_W]

I used to hand spilt some straight grain locust into smaller pieces and that worked. This year I saved all the smaller wood pieces around the splitter in a 5 gallon bucket and mixed some in each log cradle. Throw in a couple of handfuls and works great and is less work.

 

[dmccarty]

I used to hand spilt some straight grain locust into smaller pieces and that worked. This year I saved all the smaller wood pieces around the splitter in a 5 gallon bucket and mixed some in each log cradle. Throw in a couple of handfuls and works great and is less work.

The 5 gallon bucket is a great idea. I saved as many "splinters" from the log splitter but I just threw them into the cord wood stack. I get a handful or so per wheel barrow load which works but yours is a better idea.

I let the fire burn down over night. Guess I was tired. So this morning I brought in the rubbermaid box to start up the fire. Tossed some sticks on the banked coals and the fire was a roaring again.

Later,
Dan

 

[schmism]

i use pallets. i cut the slats off with a skill saw and they split easyly into small kindling pieces. are dry seaonsed wood and one pallet will light a dozzen fires.

i cut the center slats up in thirds and burn those 2 but your left with the nails in the ash which is an issue for some... (not me)

 

[N80]

There are potential (but maybe not significant) problems with some types of kindling. A lot of ,umber, especially dry scrap, pop really badly. In a fireplace that can throw burning embers. Some types of lumber have various chemicals in them that may or may not be potential inhalation hazards. Burning regular pine can cause pitch to build up in the chimney which can potentially lead to chimney fires and poor draw.

Fat wood is pine, of course, but it takes much less fat lighter to get a fire going than pine branches and split pine logs. Plus, it does not generally snap and pop like lots of other 'dry' woods.

And I'm not joking about lighting it with a match. If it is real fat, you need no paper or anything else. Hold a match to the fat and off you go!

I've used everything imaginable for kindling, (in a lot of really sorry fireplaces too) and nothing compares to fat lighter.

 

[KentT]

I've used everything imaginable for kindling, (in a lot of really sorry fireplaces too) and nothing compares to fat lighter.

I agree 100%.

IMO, the only thing that comes close is paraffin-soaked stuff... and it is harder to light. One advantage of paraffin-soaked stuff is that it is "waterproof" -- as a scout leader, we made emergency fire-starters by cutting corrugated cardboard in 1" strips, then tightly coiling the strips, inserting something in the center for a wick, then soaking the whole thing in melted paraffin.

It's harder to light than fatwood, doesn't smell as good, and it costs money... meanwhile fatwood is "all-natural" and free, if you pick it up out of the woods...

 

[mjarrels]

How about using all those credit card offers received in the mail... plastic burns hot.

mark

 

[Farmwithjunk]

How about using all those credit card offers received in the mail... plastic burns hot.

mark

Firebox isn't big enough for all of 'em we get each day.


Being a carpenter has a few perks. Kindling is one. When I am out of the office, it's usually at the end of a job where we're doing the interior trim. I manage to accumulate a good bit of scrap poplar trim over the summer. Just a few small pieces and a couple sheets of wadded up newspaper and we're off! Just as important, maybe more so is having good firewood that lights easily. I burn mostly beech and white oak. I usually cut up a downed pine or 2 and mix in with the rest of my wood. Beech needs a hot fire to catch, but it in turn produces a lot more heat.

I grew up in a house that was heated solely with wood. FOUR fireplaces. Unless it was down around zero, we only used 2 normally. Dad used a propane torch to quick start fires from time to time. I was 16 before I found out my name wasn't GO GET WOOD

 

[Matt_W]

The 5 gallon bucket is a great idea. I saved as many "splinters" from the log splitter but I just threw them into the cord wood stack. I get a handful or so per wheel barrow load which works but yours is a better idea.

I let the fire burn down over night. Guess I was tired. So this morning I brought in the rubbermaid box to start up the fire. Tossed some sticks on the banked coals and the fire was a roaring again.

Later,
Dan

Still having those hot coals in the the morning sure makes starting a fire a little easier!