Thanks to the high BTU that Russian olive firewood produces and its long-lasting heat, Russian olive is an effective choice of wood to use in your fireplace. i have access to some and im wondering if its worth my time to get it. Oak gets borers and starts getting dusty with sawdust falling out. #101 Olive wood burl slab Island board charcuterie resin tray 200 yr old Rawcut. Russian olive or Elaeagnus Angustifolia is viewed as an invasive species. My wife and I are renovating an old NE farmhouse in Massachusetts. A little off topic for this page so you might not get much response here. I live in an area surrounded by Russian Olive trees. ft. barn/house. Ponderosa Pine, commonly used to heat homes in this area, burns at 21.7 British thermal units (BTU), which in simple terms, means it burns hot and long. So long as youre only burning good hardwoods and/or clean white (non-glossy/colored) paper stock and kindling, you should spread your ashes on your favorite acreage for the potash. Is It Okay To Burn Russian Olive In A Fireplace? Invest in a moisture meter to know when your firewood has seasoned for long enough. I first came here and posted in 2010 . So, are Russian olives worth the trouble? I was around the wood many years ago and remembered that it smelled bad. Clear the brush around the Russian olive tree and plan an escape route. Great aroma too. Your plants roots will love you for it! They are hard to start with kindling so I have a tub of old diesel in which I soak Tanoak bark. I will definitely cut more hickory, beech and oak . For me and my outdoor boiler, I prefer the junk wood like aspen and spruce. Olive wood - what a find, limited quantity! They are the top wood, BTU-wise. Theyardable.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. They usually are 3-4 around (like I said, they grow quickly!) my experiences with Russian olive is that it is rather easy to work with and finishes very nicely. We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues. Long story short, am I wasting my time with that willow? Do deer eat Russian olive trees? Read to find out. But it does burn off a substantial amount of ash. Unless seasoned, firewood tends to produce a lot of smoke. 1) Ironwood and Hornbeam are considered the same species locally. Greenwood is wood that has just been cut and not seasoned. But its tendency to take on more water in certain settings means extended seasoning time. Hickory The wood from the hickory family of trees, which includes pecan trees, is also very dense and prized for use as firewood, being of similar quality to oak. Will burn mostly oak as it gets colder. To add a unique smoky flavor to food, place olive wood chips in a smoker box or wrap them in aluminum foil with a few holes, then position them over the heat source. #1. Any wisdom out there? The earth is drwoning in CO2 from burning sequestered carbon. Where does the hart-nut tree stand in the BTU scale? Im here in S.E. I look for fallen trees that are gray and smooth. My chimney has never had to be cleaned because of burning hedge that has been dead for many years, plus the fact that it burns so hot. If you leave oak in the woods til you need it, well, theres lots of bugs and stuff that love to digest it. Last night I was turning and sanding a natural edge bowl from this wood, leading to a pronounced and long-lasting allergic reaction in the airways (runny nose, asthma, ..). How Does Russian Olive Compare To Other Firewood? No matter what firewood you choose, regular chimney maintenance is a good idea to reduce the chance of unwanted fires. Back in the day they used to use the limbs for fence posts and the wood would last decades in the ground with out rotting. It is impossible to split when green and easy when dry, but unless special precautions are taken itll rot rather than season. Wood combustion occurs in three consecutive, overlapping stages. but apperntly most people never heard of this VERY HARD AND VERY VERY HEAVY WOOD. When you grow a tree, you take carbon out of the atmospere. My neighbors complemented on the smell of it .Its great cooking wood too . Oak is also great for grilling over an outdoor fire. I already have my next tree cut and seasoning . Enjoy your fires! Thanks for the great info Andy! The store bought lump charcoal gets it to usually 500. Does anyone else have experience burning buckthorn in a wood stove? In the fireplace, it is consumed due to the extreme heat of the wood, and the wood burns just as if it has been dead for several years. First find you a steel bucket with a metal lid . Not my favorite wood but I may change my mind after the project is finished. BTUs or British Thermal Units are a measure of the amount of heat energy available in any given substance. Otherwise, you may, Read More The Ultimate Firewood Storage Guide For 2023Continue, The dogwood tree is a flowering deciduous that is native to the eastern parts of the United States, Europe, and eastern Asia. Russian olive is good firewood to use when you already have the means to start a fire. In Iowa we mix our loads in the stove out of boredom. I like to drag it out into the open on a log chain with the tractor. Though they are slightly different species, a Russian olive tree will most likely be found growing near autumn olive trees, which are just as invasive. You are using an out of date browser. Take care when cutting them and work with a partner. It is a hardwood that can produce a lot of heat for a long time. I dont know how that changes as it dries out. I didnt find any data about almond wood, in your stats, and thought you might like to include it. 1. WE DID HOWEVER, CUT AND SPLIT ALOT INTO FIREWOOD FOR, OF ALL PEOPLE, THE BAREFOOT FIREWALKERS! Some have more heat than others but if you already have it you might as well cut it up and burn it. It burns like coal,but wreaks havoc on a chainsaw and chain!!! The average efficiency rating is around 19.9 million BTU per cord. I have been clearing land of cottonwood for a hay meadow in Central Kansas and I decided to burn it. My favorite wood to burn, has always been standing dead elm. Firewood with High or Very high heat output 1 cord = 21,000,000 . The better your firewood has been seasoned, the better it will burn. Quick Answers. density, and several qualitative parameters smell, ash production, fast/slow burn, ease of starting, ease of splitting, color/look of flame, popping/sparking and probably others. While generally small and branching, Russian Olive trees can produce wood that ranges in color from yellowish-brown to darker golden-brown, sometimes with a greenish hue, and light yellow-white sapwood. correlates closely with relative weight (and deciduous. That means youll need a powerful maul or hydraulic splitter. Invest in a moisture meter to know when your firewood has seasoned for long enough. Out here people often pass up oak in favor of madrone, where it is available. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Any comment when compare to other oaks>, how much does a chord of juniper firewood cost. Its a good starter wood . Likewise, wood that does not burn clean, including unseasoned wood, produces more creosote. In fact, Im convinced you cant, conventionally. The russian olive gets it's feet in first now. In comparison, Russian olive burns at 23 BTU. I found that if you have some green (wet) wood and want to have a campfire go to your local hardware store and buy a duraflame fire log . The ongoing extinction of the Ash,all species,is supplying Depending on the types of conditions that the Russian olive tree was growing in, it may be carrying a higher moisture content than you expect. Sustainability: This wood species is not listed in the CITES Appendices or on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Oh, and one other thing. I have tentatively decided on part native Osage Orange [hedge apple] for the BTU but I see from all the knowledgeable comments here I need more than one type of wood. This wood is twice as hot as anything else. Russian olive wood burns very slowly. One BTU is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. Though seasoning the wood for long enough will eventually make the smell dissipate. I live in eastern oregon and my main problem is the identification of trees. In the wild, Russian olive trees have been known to smell very sweet and strong. Western Softwoods Figures from California Energy Commission But Rating Based on 90 cubic feet of solid wood per 128 cubic foot cord. It burns very hot,and produces nice heat. I have been looking for the B.T.U. My grad parents were pioneers who cooked /heated homestead houses with white popular ! Kaleidoscope, Mini, Russian Olive Wood, Artisan Handcrafted, Gift for all Ages, Christmas, Graduation, Birthday, Men, Women (520) Ad vertisement by wrightmade. It burned very hot with big blue-yellow flames and gave the best aroma . One cord is a stack with dimensions 4'x4'x8 or 128 cubic feet. Mix some ash firewood in with your Russian olive and you will get a good heat source burning quickly. We live in the foothills of North Carolina and heat with a Big Buck wood stove. When dry, Russian olive will give off very little smoke, making it a good choice as an indoor fire source. Unless seasoned, firewood tends to produce a lot of smoke. I believe its commonly harvested in the northwest if you are in the US. a few corrections: 1. not quite right, to characterize, as very small tree, as the tree quite regularly grows to 40 and beyond, with trunk diameters up to 4dia.. 2. the wood DOES have a distinctive/nasty odour, in machining (for me? It is difficult to evaluate available heat value of wood because of the complex process of obtaining heat from wood. I dont like the choke cherry and Orgon Ash. Cheers fellow wood burners! I have enjoyed this site tremendously and was particularly pleased to see data on Ironwood and Blue beech which I didnt have.. I live in East Tennessee which has a great variety of hardwoods. Great heat as well as flavor. Output is a whole nother cat. Russian olive wood is not known to give off a smell when burning when it is fully dry. I thought the same. It is quite old and is hanging over mine and my neighbors drive ways. When its cold out, I seem less lazy to get up in the middle of the night to keep the fire hot overnight. The more dense a wood is, the more weight and BTU it will have. Contains some non native species that can be found in the West. Step away from the tree at a 45-degree angle once it starts to fall. Do they make good firewood? I live in southwest MI and have 20 acres of woods. I have a Russian Olive that I cut down about 4 months ago and has been sitting in 100F weather for three weeks. burning solid fuel !! Audrie The wood you are looking for is Black Locust.It is a little thorny but it grows fast and burns long and hot.I sold fire wood for ten years and burned it fo thirty.Black locust was a favorite of my Amish customers. I get up in the morning and heat our little berm home from 66-67 to 71-74 degrees with cottonwood and red elm in an hour and a half with cottonwood providing the bulk of the heat. Not good for firewood but great for woodworking. if it does not stay at 30,40 C . Selecting the Right Firewood Firewood heat output is measured in "British Thermal Units" or BTUs. Many people despise Russian olive trees as they make it difficult for other trees to thrive. If you look at a BTU chart, it has either the highest or 2nd highest rating of all wood that grows in the US. Cal., I really miss having Live Oak and Eucalypyus to burn. 4) White birch (Betula papirifera) and Paper birch are used replaceably locally for the same species. A lot of people dont burn it so it is plentiful. all our needs now,and for a few more years,sad business. Cut off the limbs with your chainsaw. I used to have a orchard in San Diego and it doesnt do anything, but turn to ash. But since then, they have spread wildly due to their deep, re-sprouting roots. Compiled from various sources. Maple Burl Block Carving Craft Art Knife Call 10" $9.99 + $10.40 shipping. But unlike other woods like birch, Russian olive catches fire very slowly. We have burned about 7 1/2 cord and I just ran out. they r clean , no bark or bugs, hard as a rock & burn hot! Does anyone have any experience with gum? All of them burn well. Do they make good firewood? Funny, just made an archery bow from Autumn Olive, close relative, and it had a very pleasant smell. The only problem I have now is that Im having trouble finding trees to cut. I have not tried the Madrona yet,but have a quarter of a cord for sale for $75.00! The tree, about 30ft tall,Read more . In most cases, wood that has little sap build-up is easier to chop and quicker to dry. Even though it is not firewood you should use to start your fire, it does produce a BTU of 23 million per cord once it gets going. While some types of, Read More 11 Types Of Wood You Shouldnt BurnContinue, The willow tree is found in many parts of the world including Europe, Asia, and North America. Russian olive will mostly produce a lot of ash but will burn for a long time regardless. You could post in the forum and maybe have a better chance of a response. The Btu rating for Almond varies from 29 to 32, why the variance? Its BTU is just as high as birch which varieties produce a BTU of 23.8 million per cord and higher than douglas fir, which has a BTU of 20,7. Happiness is a full woodbox on Friday night! Here in South Central Alaska, all we have is Birch, Black Spruce and Cottonwood. Does anyone know anything about using it for firewood. Seasoning time is reduced if the tree has been dead for months. Anyone have any idea of cure times, BTU output etc? Eastern Hardwoods Compiled from various sources Consistency between charts will vary due to different variables between different data sources. Get The FactsContinue, There are 21 species of walnut trees around the world, but black walnut and English walnut are two of the most popular varieties in North, Read More How Good Is Walnut Firewood? We call them Rock Maples and they are over abundant in our town in Maine. I heard somewhere that most of the ash comes from the bark. However, as a downside, it tends to spit embers from time to time and produce a fair amount of ash. If youre going to load up your wood stove with the big stuff overnight, you might consider leaving the air intake barely cracked open. Any comments would be helpful. In the 1970s and 1980s, the Russian olive tree was introduced to the Animas Valley, north of Durango, for their decorative merits. Once dried, it will burn clean and provide slow-burning coals. Love reading the comments from Andy. Allergies/Toxicity: Besides the standard health risks associated with any type of wood dust, no further health reactions have been associated with Russian Olive. Interesting reading. When the tempreture drops to single digits or below zero the BTU output keeps my home comfortable, I also like the shagbark hickery. The density of Russian olive means that it can burn slower without losing heat. Investing in a safety fence to protect you and your fireplace is a good idea anyway, especially if you plan to use Russian olive or firewood tamarack or fir regularly. my back yard, and all of northern california would like to respectfully disagree. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. dyson ball animal pro plus hard to push. Endgrain: Ring-porous; 5-10 rows of medium to large earlywood pores, exclusively solitary latewood pores grading from medium to small; tyloses sometimes present; medium to wide rays visible without lens, spacing wide; parenchyma generally not visible with hand lens, or diffuse-in-aggregates (barely visible). We run fans in the winter as much as we run them in the summer. Dont even bother. Be sure to let it season before burning to know how it should truly burn .Funny Story, I had a friend that cut a storm fallen red oak . Its ability to spread once established classify it as invasive in some states of the United States (. I really cant speak for pecan until I can try it seasoned . Makes a mean pizza and can sear steak like nobodys business. The wood from these oak trees is prized for its strength and density, and that density makes it one of the best at producing heat. Im guessing that the Hemlock that I can get is eastern soft wood correct 15.9? Once it is dried and sealed, I love it.