How do you identify types of trees for fire making purposes?

[Emperor]

 

I've read that the wood of certain trees burns at different rates and different temperatures. Furthermore, the wood of some species of trees is more likely to make sparks or explosions than the wood of other types of trees. I've read that hardwoods make good firewood because they are slow burning, and softwoods are lousy for firewood because they burn so fast.

 

Even if I was able to identify what species different trees were by their leaves, and I knew their suitability for firewood, this knowledge probably still wouldn't help me pick which branches to use for firewood. Green wood that has leaves that I can identify is not good for firewood anyway. Only deadwood is suitable for fire wood, but dead wood doesn't have leaves on it.

 

For example, I've read that wood from ash trees makes good firewood, but if I see a dead tree branch/log on the ground, how do I know it's ash wood if it does not have any leaves on it?

 

How do I identify trees types on dead wood with no leaves?

 

Is it done by finding a dead tree and somehow identifying the tree after it has died by its branch structure?

[Beavah]

Yah, welcome Emperor!

 

Most of us just look up, eh? When yeh find a branch, chances are it came from a tree, and most trees grow in stands. So typically, it's immediately obvious from context if you pay attention. A white-barked log in a patch of birch trees is probably birch, eh?

 

Now, if you get wood from a lumber yard or some commercial outfit rather than off the ground, then typically you can just ask 'em what it is, or even specify what you're lookin' for when you order.

 

It is possible to tell wood by color/texture/smell/bark/hardness/weight, but only if you're fairly familiar with it from handlin' it a lot. If you aren't, then it can take you a while to pick up on that.

 

B

 

[SctDad]

Hardwoods are good for fires. So when you are going through the woods, look for something that is hard and dense in material. It will be a little harder to light but once it is going it should provide a good fire.

 

Sometimes the soft woods are OK in that you won't have to go through and wait forever for it to go out and waste good firewood for each fire. Do you catch my drift.

 

Hope this helps.

 

YIS

SctDad

[BrotherhoodWWW]

There are a number of ways that I can think of to identify trees once dead. Some have distintive bark. Most have distintive color of the heart wood i.e. ash is rather light colored, as is maple. Some hardwoods are really dense and heavy like white oak. Some have distintive aroma, like black walnut, color is also a good tell tale sign of walnut. Softwoods (conifiers) also have distintive charcterisitcs. Bark, color and smell.

 

Out here in the wild, wild west we mostly have softwoods. Pines are not the best, most firs are pretty good, some cedars are good for kindling, western larch is the best.

 

In some places that I've camped I've found birch, aspen, alder, and willow.

 

It helps to learn to idetify the live trees as you will find dead trees of the same type close by to compare the bark. You could spend some time in a lumber yard and closely inspect multiple examples of different species by the color, texture and aroma of the heartwood and or sapwood. If you know a woodworker perhaps you could talk him out of labeled scraps.

 

BTW welcome to the cyber roundtable.

 

For cold weather hunting/ camping I have a wood stove heated wall tent. I almost always use softwoods as there is usually not much else available where I go. Contrary to what some say softwoods do burn down to coals and in the chill of the morning I simply have to add a few sticks of kindling and a couple of larger logs and I'm back to being warm and comfortable. It is a matter of timing for the coals; if you wait too long the fire will bund to ashes but so does every single hardwood that I've ever used to fire my wood shop's stove.(This message has been edited by brotherhoodwww)

[goodscout]

First start with just a couple of hardwoods from your area. Keeping it down to just a couple will not bog you down with too much to learn at one time. Find one that is living that you can identify easily, then go through the woods looking only for and identifying that specific tree. Look at the leaves, bark, and general structure shape. Look for young and old trees both, because the bark can look a little different on a 5 year old tree vs a 30 year old tree. Look at the dead branches on the tree and how the bark and tips look where the leaves would have been.Look at the color of the wood and how the grain looks under the dead bark. Keep looking and identifying for a couple of weeks until it is easy to spot one anytime you are around it. Then start looking for the dead trees of the same kind. usually there will be some dead ones around the living ones you identified earlier. Do this for a couple of weeks until it is easy to identify this specis dead or alive. Then go to another different tree and do the same. A favorite of mine from my area that not many people talk about is Dogwood. It burns super clean, is extreamly hard and makes a good bed of hot coals.The tree does not get very big, so most of the time the pieces you gather are small enough to use without splitting, and there are tons of dead dogwood trees around to be used.

 

Hope this helps and good luck.

[red feather]

Welcome to the campfire. Pull up a log and have a cup of joe.

 

Good info in this thread. For fire starting or making purposes I prefer the dead twigs/branches from any conifer as they have pockets of pitch in them that burn hot and will get other woods started. I also keep some birch bark in my kit for fire starting. Birch bark will light in almost any situation even when wet. A small roll about an inch in diameter and 6 inches in length will work very well.

 

As the others have said, look up and around, you will see where the downfall has come from. Practice, practice, practice and you will come up with the best woods that your area will work for you.

 

You are correct in that various woods burn at different rates with different BTU output. There are many sites on the web that will lay that out for you. Don't overlook the various 'punk' woods either. Punk wood is the wood that you look for that can catch a spark, maintain it and then combust. The heart wood of many pines are great for that.

 

Hope this help.

 

yis

red feather

[Emperor]

Thank you for the information, people.

 

I have a couple more questions.

 

What is heart wood?

 

What is sap wood?

 

 

[AnneinMpls]

These hardwoods burn well and slowly:

Ash, beech, hawthorn, oak and holly

 

Softwoods flare up quick and fine:

Birch, fir, hazel, larch and pine

 

Elm and willow you'll regret,

Chestnut green and sycamore wet.

 

and another one:

You can sit by the camp-fire, watching

The leap of the yellow flame,

But the wood of each tree is different,

And no two burn the same.

 

ASH I reckon the finest kind:

Burns good whether green or dry.

POPLAR, now, is no manner of use;

You might just as well let it lie.

 

PINE-CONES and FIR-CONES, they're kindling wood;

They're handy to use as such.

Dry JUNIPER boughs burn fierce and hot,

But flare and crackle too much.

 

BIRCH burns quickly, is mighty good

If your fire be newly lit;

And remember that FIRS are useful too,

But, I warn you, they spark a bit!

 

There's magic, Guides, in the camper's fire;

It's been told of in song and rhyme,

And the light of it shines down darkened years

To the dim beginning of time.

 

- G Briggs (The Girl Guide Annual 1964)

These were both lifted from the BOGUK site (Best of Guiding UK)

 

Also, several stories in the old Foxfire series talk about using green woods - they do burn just takes longer to get them going.

[red feather]

Heartwood is the center core of a tree that no longer has the ability to carry nutrients up and down the trunk. This wood will still be moist and will need seasoning. Heartwood provides the structural strength of the tree or bush.

 

Sapwood is the outer layers of the tree or bush that is the circulatory system of the tree that moves the sap up and down the tree. The bark of the tree protects this layer. This is the layer that when pierced all the way around the trunk preventing this movement will kill the tree.

 

Hope this helps

 

yis

red feather

[Bob White]

One thing that will help you is to keep some resources on hand. I kept a library of nature identification books in a small plastic tub on a table in camp where the scouts could look uyp info as needed.

 

I found the Peterson Field Guide Series to be outstanding. Not only does it teach you tree identification by leaf but also by bark and bud configurations.

 

As a rule hard woods burn long and slow and leave firm coals, soft woods burn fast and leave mostly ash.

 

Slow growing tree varieties will render harder wood than faster growing trees.

 

In most cases (but not in every case) deciduous trees are often hard woods and most coniferous tress are soft woods.

 

I hope this helps.

BW

 

 

 

[Gold Winger]

I'm an indiscriminate burner. What ever happens to be lying around goes into the campfire.

 

If I have my druthers, it would be oak, well seasoned, but out in the woods . . . whatever I don't have to cut and is dry.

[le Voyageur]

If you think about it there's no need to identify the tree. A dead tree is a dead tree and matters little if it's a hardwood, or a softwood unless we're putting up wood for a long winter.

 

Yes, a hardwood fire with it's glowing embers is nice, but for backpacking, and where open fires are permitted, I just want to warm up a bit, and boil a pot of water before putting the fire out for the evening, thus it matters little has to the type of wood being used....

 

However, in the backcountry I prize cedar bark for it's tinder, or any living pine oozing pitch which makes starting a fire with wet wood a lot easier...