Burning 2x4s

[tncattle]

I've got a pile of 2x4s and was wondering if I can burn them in my wood stove this winter without problems? It's an old Schaffer iron stove.

 

[Brute 23]

Smoke from treated lumber can be pretty potent, if it is treated. Plus it's probably not going to burn and make a good coal like logs.

 

[msplmtneer]

If they are not treated split down should make good kindling. :tiphat:

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Like said if not treated burn away. But be ready to refill the stove often as they burn real quick.

 

[ClinchValley]

Untreated is great kindling. Treated should be burnt outside with no one around. Pretty toxic.

 

[Dave]

My Dad ran a plywood mill. He would get dunnage 2 by 4's from the mill. He would get a fire going in the stove and then stack the 2 x 4 pieces in a tight straight stack. They would burn good and hold a fire. If you toss them in any which way they will burn up pretty quickly.

 

[backhoeboogie]

It if funny in the south. Wood cords are "face cords". Some of these cords are about half a cord. Everyone insists on hardwood. I figure it is the fireplaces.

In Alaska, they burn spruce and everything else in their wood stoves. Scrap wood is no issue.

A cord up north is a cord too. They go by cubic feet of wood.

 

[TexasBred]

It if funny in the south. Wood cords are "face cords". Some of these cords are about half a cord. Everyone insists on hardwood. I figure it is the fireplaces.

In Alaska, they burn spruce and everything else in their wood stoves. Scrap wood is no issue.

A cord up north is a cord too. They go by cubic feet of wood.

Oak produces about twice the heat and is most abundant. I as always told a cord was 4x4x8.

 

[greybeard]

It if funny in the south. Wood cords are "face cords". Some of these cords are about half a cord. Everyone insists on hardwood. I figure it is the fireplaces.

In Alaska, they burn spruce and everything else in their wood stoves. Scrap wood is no issue.

A cord up north is a cord too. They go by cubic feet of wood.

Oak produces about twice the heat and is most abundant. I as always told a cord was 4x4x8.

Yep, about 2 standard pickup loads, stacked to the top of the bed. What's happened is that with so many homes being built with small decorative and supplemental heat fireplaces or metal heaters, the pieces are being cut shorter and the dealers are selling face cords, ricks and racks, but selling them to city folk as 'cords' and making a killing doing so. There is no real standard for these oddball terms at all.

Face cords, ricks and fireplace cords don't necessarily tell you how much wood you are getting. These different measurements can mean different things to different people. They are really ambiguous measurements. To some, these are equivalent to 1/3 cord, but not always. Depending on who you talk to, these measurements are the equivalent to a stack of wood 4 feet high and 8 feet long. The problem is, without knowing the length of the pieces and the depth of the stack, you don't know how much wood you are getting.

So if you buy a face cord. or rick, the dealer can decide how how much wood you get by the length of the pieces. A rick or face cord of shorter pieces will be much less wood than the same stack of long pieces. If the pieces are 16″ long. it would be 1/3 cord. If they were 12″ long it would be 1/4 cord. If the pieces are 24″ long, it would be 1/2 cord.

 

[greybeard]

It if funny in the south. Wood cords are "face cords". Some of these cords are about half a cord. Everyone insists on hardwood. I figure it is the fireplaces.

In Alaska, they burn spruce and everything else in their wood stoves. Scrap wood is no issue.

A cord up north is a cord too. They go by cubic feet of wood.

Oak produces about twice the heat and is most abundant. I as always told a cord was 4x4x8.

Yep, about 2 standard pickup loads, stacked to the top of the bed. What's happened is that with so many homes being built with small decorative and supplemental heat fireplaces or metal heaters, the pieces are being cut shorter and the dealers are selling face cords, ricks and racks, but selling them to city folk as 'cords' and making a killing doing so. There is no real standard for these oddball terms at all.

Face cords, ricks and fireplace cords don't necessarily tell you how much wood you are getting. These different measurements can mean different things to different people. They are really ambiguous measurements. To some, these are equivalent to 1/3 cord, but not always. Depending on who you talk to, these measurements are the equivalent to a stack of wood 4 feet high and 8 feet long. The problem is, without knowing the length of the pieces and the depth of the stack, you don't know how much wood you are getting.

So if you buy a face cord. or rick, the dealer can decide how how much wood you get by the length of the pieces. A rick or face cord of shorter pieces will be much less wood than the same stack of long pieces. If the pieces are 16″ long. it would be 1/3 cord. If they were 12″ long it would be 1/4 cord. If the pieces are 24″ long, it would be 1/2 cord.

I burned some old cut up oak pallets in a wood stove one year, and don't know what was in them but they got hot as the hades and stunk all to heck. Never tried it again but I know some people burn lots of it with no problems.

 

[TexasBred]

I burned some old cut up oak pallets in a wood stove one year, and don't know what was in them but they got hot as the hades and stunk all to heck. Never tried it again but I know some people burn lots of it with no problems.

I tore down an old oak board corral for an old man many years ago, cut it up and burned it in the fireplace. It would run you out of the room and talk about a bed of coals. Mercy.

 

[hillbilly beef man]

I've got a pile of 2x4s and was wondering if I can burn them in my wood stove this winter without problems? It's an old Schaffer iron stove.

If untreated have at it. I burn two long bed pickup loads of truss scraps every year. An arm load each morning when I get up gets the house toasty real quick.