[Bubbas Boys]

We are getting ready for our first ever year with wood heat( as most of u know with my 100s of posts) haha. I am wondering, can we use construction lumber cut up small and thin for starting fires? We have tons of scrap 2x4s and I was going to start stripping it up if that would be ok to use! Thanks

 

[handymama]

Are they treated lumber? Because those two by fours, if treated, have some chemicals in them that are poisonous to inhale.
They turn all sorts of pretty colors if you burn them, however.

 

[Bubbas Boys]

No, none of it is treated. Thanks

 

[handymama]

Then yea, wear it out

 

[badlander]

Yep, would make great kindling, just won't put out much heat if it is pine but a handful of small pieces would work great for starting a good fire. We were lucky in that our home's builder was an Amish cabinet maker so he left us a lot of scrap oak and hickory. We are still using some of it as kindling to get a fire going.

Once the scrap wears out, look for shag bark hickory bark to use as kindling. Best stuff around. It ignites fast and burns hot. Best stuff for getting a fire going IMHO.

 

[maddy]

Pieces of 2x4s aren't going to be very good for starting a fire unless you cut them into the tiniest pieces, and who in their right mind would do that? What you really need are very thin pieces that will catch fire easily. Sometimes cabinet shops will put out a bin of scraps, which tend to be long, 1/4" or less strips that you can break up into foot-long pieces. Your 2x4s will be great for feeding a small fire once it gets going, but for kindling, I'd stick with the really small stuff.

 

[katlupe]

I'd use them! We use all types of kindling, including pine, which gives us a really hot fire. We load up containers all year long for fire starting since we cook and heat with wood. As long as it is dry, it doesn't have to be tiny, to start a fire, just not too big. Dry is the most important, though we have gone out in the woods just to get pine branches in the winter, when we didn't have enough kindling in the house. Even with snow on them, they'd start a fire.

 

[jwal10]

Here 2"x4"s are Douglas Fir or Hemlock and makes great kindling split small. We have a wood cookstove and more than 1/2 the wood we burn is construction waste....James

 

[Chief Cook]

Not only did we use untreated 2x4s split skinny. We used a couple of wood spools that were dropped off here by who knows and after DH took a chainsaw to them, they split like they were made for it. Be sure to get a way to start your fire even if your main wood is a little wet. I have a package of "fat wood"? that some one gifted us and after all these years I can still use it. It just takes a little piece to get things going. Good luck and I hope you get to enjoy your stove for many, many happy years!

 

[jwal10]

I have nearly a 1/2 cord of old shingles and shakes that were stripped from buildings when reroofed. It makes great kindling....James

 

[FarmboyBill]

IF you know of a sawmill, there slab wood, split up. makes good hot fires.

 

[Jacki]

The thing I find best is fat wood. It is pitch impregnated wood that has dried when the stump has rotted away. Usually pine or Doug fir.

There are several suppliers, but much is imported from Central America, so if you buy it, try to find a local supplier. The cool thing is that it only takes a couple of sticks to start most fires.

Jacki

 

[7thswan]

short 2x4's split with a hatchet is my favorite starter for my wood cookstove. I keep a slab of a tree next to my stove, just for splitting them.

 

[Nimrod]

Construction lumber is kiln dried and the scraps make excellent kindling.

I use kindling spring and fall to start fires when the afternoon is nice but it gets cold in the evening. From November thru March the fire never goes out. I fill the woodbox before bed and just throw some more firewood on the coals in the morning.

 

[MichaelZ]

For a stove where you can shut off the air intake, you can burn this and get some good heat, but you will have to feed the stove quite often. If you can not shut down the air, this bone dry wood will burn very hot - make sure you have a good chimney that is not full of creosote that might ignite.

Last spring we were burning such wood like scraps from my shop, and any other wood we could get, with our record cold winter. Was getting so bad that I was cutting up old fence posts!

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

I have used kiln dried, non treated lumber for kindling oftentimes. Works great. If you have access to fat wood (often called lighter wood down here), it's the best natural product for kindling. In the Spring, I check the local Walmarts to see if they are closing out a Diamond product call "Strike-A-Fire". It comes in a package of 48 sticks, and while the intent of the manufacturer is to use one stick per fire, I break it into thirds. Gets the fire started every time and makes the package go three times longer.

If you can keep a good bed of coals until the morning, you will not need much kindling. Good luck.

 

[Cash]

Neighbor who is a carpenter/contractor brings home loads of construction scrap all year long and uses it for kindling. He swears by it, and besides, it's free! As noted, do not use treated wood.

 

[Ozarks Tom]

Yep, like everybody said, scrap lumber works fine. It's kiln dried, so it lights off fairly easily.

If you've got a pine stump on your place, you might dig it out and cross cut it into 1' rounds. Split it up into very small pieces (1/4" wide) and have you own supply of fatwood. I'm lazy, so I bought a 35# box from Plow & Hearth a few years ago. If only takes 2 - 3 pieces to start off seasoned oak.

 

[Rustaholic]

I cut up and burn used shipping pallets.
It is better heat and easier by far than cutting, splitting, stacking, moving tree parts.
Just two days ago someone gave me a half facecord of them tree parts.
Just stacking them and covering them with a tarp was way more trouble than I need.
That stuff burns okay but with my pallet boards I get easy ten to eleven hours burn to coals. I have done the three month no matches thing with pallet boards with overnight burns and gone eleven hours at work too.
30 years of our 37 years here in this house we have been nice and warm in these cold Michigan winters thanks for the pallets.

 

[Nimrod]

I cut up and burn used shipping pallets.
It is better heat and easier by far than cutting, splitting, stacking, moving tree parts.
Just two days ago someone gave me a half facecord of them tree parts.
Just stacking them and covering them with a tarp was way more trouble than I need.
That stuff burns okay but with my pallet boards I get easy ten to eleven hours burn to coals. I have done the three month no matches thing with pallet boards with overnight burns and gone eleven hours at work too.
30 years of our 37 years here in this house we have been nice and warm in these cold Michigan winters thanks for the pallets.

OK What happened those other 7 years? Inquiring minds want to know.