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Old 12-15-2010, 05:34 PM
rburg rburg is offline
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Default Firewood - anyone burn black walnut?

Just wondering how it burns and smells. All these years as a woodcutter, the only place I've ever burned walnut is in outdoor bonfires, and then burning the slash, never the logs themselves.

Things are changing. I swallowed any pride I might have left and bought a load of mixed firewood from a guy. I didn't want trash woods, but he said it was all hardwood, mostly oak, ash, some hickory and some walnut. I got about a half rick of walnut in the deal, and carefully separated it as I was stacking the others.

I'm wondering if its like cherry and smells really good, or if its just an after run, something you burn because it goes up in smoke. Anyone know?

It sure seems to be aged. The bark falls right off, but the heart seems solid and really dark. Some sapwood, but it looks like they split up rounds that were at least 18" or better in diameter.
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Old 12-15-2010, 05:45 PM
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Sir.
I had a Aunt and Uncle that had a walnut grove. I helped pick up walnuts as a kid and shucked walnut hulls in the winter. Helped cut and stack wood. I remember it took several years to dry. They burned walnut in a open fireplace. They had fruit trees also, and a pine grove. Burned all of it.
They died of old age so I guess burning the walnut did them no harm.

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Old 12-15-2010, 05:48 PM
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I've burned a lot of it.
Does not last as long as oak, but DOES put out the heat.
Burns to a fine powder in a hot fire.

I never noticed cherry smelling all that good- smells like wood burning to me. Did you put sugar on it?
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Old 12-15-2010, 05:55 PM
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I never noticed cherry smelling all that good- smells like wood burning to me. Did you put sugar on it?
Sir.
Most of the fruit wood was used in a smoke house. I don't know that it imparted any unique flavor, but Uncle Ben made good smoked meat.
Some of my relatives were a little rustic from the backwoods of Idaho. I thought we were normal till I left the ranch and saw the big world. I now know we were different.
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Old 12-15-2010, 06:25 PM
rburg rburg is offline
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I've burned a lot of it.
Did you put sugar on it?
No, that was the gas tank! Makes the car smell like cotton candy.
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Old 12-15-2010, 06:31 PM
Jswiney9 Jswiney9 is offline
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Quote:
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Sir.
Most of the fruit wood was used in a smoke house. I don't know that it imparted any unique flavor, but Uncle Ben made good smoked meat.
Some of my relatives were a little rustic from the backwoods of Idaho. I thought we were normal till I left the ranch and saw the big world. I now know we were different.
Bill@Yuma
no, you were probably normal til you saw the big world. Ive lived both worlds, ill take my woods over the city any day. as for the walnut question, like another poster said it will take a while to cure for a proper burn and it does usually burn up into a very fine ash. Smells good IMO.
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Old 12-15-2010, 06:33 PM
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It is mediocre fire wood. At current prices, I am surprised anyone is cutting it up for fire wood.

A good log can bring $500.
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Old 12-15-2010, 06:33 PM
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Yep, I also have a burned alot of it. I would call it a semi-hard wood and would have stacked it the rest and mixed in the burning....no need to segregate the species from the burn pile.... LOL!
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Old 12-15-2010, 06:37 PM
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I am impressed Mr. Burg, not many folks these days use the word rick.
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Old 12-15-2010, 06:38 PM
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Burns great smell ok makes great stocks and grips. If you rip saw a few chunks and hit them with a little water to bring out the grain you may be warm and busy the rest of the winter.
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Old 12-15-2010, 06:45 PM
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Quote:
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I am impressed Mr. Burg, not many folks these days use the word rick.
What do they say, "half a cord?"
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Old 12-15-2010, 07:03 PM
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The bark on walnut is a bit spongy, and can hold water for a long time if you do not cover it. So you want to make sure it is good and dry or you will get a musty smell when you burn it. Like burning wet paper. It is not a particularly good firewood to burn. It burns up fast when dry, no real particular smell as long as it is dry. It is best to take the bark off the logs to dry it properly. Firewood cutters like to cut it for firewood, it is soft to cut so it is easy on their saws, and it is normally very straight grained so it is very easy to split. Unless the price was extra cheap I would not accept it for firewood. Kind of like getting Poplar. It just burns up like paper, with not near the heat(or longevity) of Oak or Locust. Tom.
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Old 12-15-2010, 07:30 PM
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I threw a couple of old broken walnut rifle stocks in the fire the other night...burned real good.
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Old 12-15-2010, 07:44 PM
Old 44 Guy Old 44 Guy is offline
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I had a walnut orchard for 14 years when I lived in Calif. Burned a lot of the prunings in the wood stove. It's OK but burns quickly. Not much ash. Oak is better.
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Old 12-15-2010, 10:20 PM
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i burn a bit of wood every winter, usually red oak, some white oak, with an occasional maple thrown in. i had a neighbor call me to come and get some walnut he had cut and split. it looked nice, and split very easily, but it didn't really impress me much as firewood. didn't last very long, and didn't really produce a lot of heat either. i guess it did smell okay, though.
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Old 12-15-2010, 10:30 PM
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Apple. When I lived near Chester, VA, a neighbor burned
some apple tree. The fragrance was amazing.

Joe
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Old 12-15-2010, 11:27 PM
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Even oak varies. I prefer red oak, but will gladly burn any oak.
Hickory is excellent, but usually hard to split.

Everything else around here is very secondary, and burned only because it is already there.
The secondary woods in MY order of preference are Cherry, apple, and walnut. If you are cold enough to need to burn poplar, just keep carrying the stuff around to get warm- works better than burning it cause you can't carry it in fast enough to keep the fire going!
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Old 12-15-2010, 11:28 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HEAD0001 View Post
... Unless the price was extra cheap I would not accept it for firewood. Kind of like getting Poplar. It just burns up like paper, with not near the heat(or longevity) of Oak or Locust. Tom.
Might not burn as slowly, but all wood species put off about the same BTU per pound.
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Old 12-15-2010, 11:45 PM
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Heck, I used to burn pine. I'd mix it in with hardwoods, and
keep the fire real hot.

Joe
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Old 12-16-2010, 12:27 AM
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we don't get too much black walnut in these parts....what I've burned of it is similar to locust.....good HOT fire with short lived coals and a fine ash.

Slabs out much better use as furniture, small cabinetry & jewelry boxes, knife & gun stocks.

Or jeep gear shift knobs.....
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Old 12-16-2010, 02:17 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ridewv View Post
Might not burn as slowly, but all wood species put off about the same BTU per pound.
Not necessarily true. And you are trying to be a bit tricky. You have hardwoods and softwoods. The main difference is the wood fiber. Softwood fiber(pines) weigh less than hardwood fibers(Oak, Poplar, Cherry). The reason why Poplar does not burn as hot is because the wood is not as dense. 1 cubic foot of poplar wood weighs less than 1 cubic foot of Oak or Locust. The most dense woood around here is Osage Orange(called Hedge Apple).

Poplar cell walls are not as thick as Oak cell walls, so the Poplar cell walls will rupture and it will dry faster than oak. This is why it really burns faster. And the fact that there is less fiber per square foot of Poplar.

So when buying firewood you get the most BTU's from the densest wood-as long as it is dry. So a truckload(volume) of Oak or Locust yields considerably more BTU's than Poplar-even though the actual volume measurement is the same. However if you weigh the Oak or Locust the same volumetric amount will be considerably heavier. So if I bought firewood I would want the densest wood I could get. Tom.
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Old 12-16-2010, 08:07 AM
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My wood guy knows to mix in a little black walnut for me. I place it on the bottom of the stack because it discourages insects.
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Old 12-16-2010, 07:13 PM
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That's something I never heard before, but will give er a try.
As far as burning poplar or aspen, we call it golpher wood here...Go For More Wood!
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Old 12-16-2010, 11:07 PM
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Not trying to be tricky. It's just that I wouldn't avoid using Cherry, Walnut or Poplar which burn just as hot as Oak. If it were me buying locally in WV? My preference would be for White Oak, Hickory, or Apple. Buying mixed hardwood is cheaper and I guess we can debate what percentage is "acceptable". Hopefully it's all well seasoned.
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Old 12-17-2010, 02:51 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spricks View Post
That's something I never heard before, but will give er a try.
As far as burning poplar or aspen, we call it golpher wood here...Go For More Wood!
spricks

The latin name for Black Walnut is Juglans Nigra. Juglans in Latin means poison. And Nigra means black.

Black Walnut is very resistant to mold and bugs. It actually secretes poison into the ground around it. That is why you never see a black walnut tree around a garden. If you remember the old farms you would always see Black Walnut along fence lines. Or actually used as living posts for a fence. This is because Black Walnut will keep the undergrowth down all around it. So the farmers did not have to work as hard to clear the fence line.

Then some idiot had the idea of importing Multi-Flora Rose into this country. And we all know how that turned out. Tom.
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Old 12-17-2010, 10:21 AM
Jswiney9 Jswiney9 is offline
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[QUOTE=HEAD0001;135736203]The latin name for Black Walnut is Juglans Nigra. Juglans in Latin means poison. And Nigra means black. QUOTE]

and that is why so many of my guys go home when we run it. it burns me up all through my throat but ive gotten used to it over time.
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Old 12-17-2010, 05:54 PM
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When you run it? As in machine it and inhale the dust? That part is unclear.

I know many of the mahogany's are toxic. Things like purple heart can really hammer some susceptible folks. Hadn't considered Walnut in the same class.
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Old 12-17-2010, 10:19 PM
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"Juglans in Latin means poison"
I found that black walnut wash "water" (the water left after washing freshly hulled walnuts in a 5 gallon bucket using a drill "agitator"), if poured on likely ground, will cause night crawlers and other fish worms to almost shoot to the surface. You can pick them up, rinse them off well, and you have "lazy" bait.
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Old 12-17-2010, 10:34 PM
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What little walnut we have around here we don't burn. We make stuff out of it.
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Old 12-17-2010, 11:33 PM
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Isn't "black walnut" different than "english walnut"?
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Old 12-18-2010, 03:40 AM
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The properties of English Walnut and Black Walnut are similar. Although English Walnut is not native to the America's. Actually it is not even native to England. It is grown in Eastern Europe and over to Asia. There are only two walnuts native to the America's(to the best of my recollection). One is the Black Walnut we have been talking about. And the other is White Walnut. Better known as Butternut or Juglans Cinerea, Tom
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