by CathyMac
(Pennsylvania)
I was told but don't believe that the wood of the stump of a tree is the hardest and is the best to burn in a wood stove. Is this true?
Cathy
Answer
Cathy,
Very interesting question. I must admit that I have never really thought about this before, but I do have an opinion.
First, for almost all species of wood, if there is a difference between burning the roots and the stem of the tree, it is negligible.
I know that the wood from the butt log of a tree (the bottom of the tree)tends to be a little firmer than the top of the tree. So using that logic, the root ball of a tree should also be fairly firm. But the bottom line is that it's chemically the same, so it really shouldn't make a noticeable difference when burning it.
The only example I can think of where stumps are harvested for firewood would be in the case of fatwood. Fatwood is a product made from the stumps of pine trees(usually longleaf pine) that makes an excellent firestarter. The reason for this is because of the highly flammable resin found in the stump.
Even if stumps did make better firewood, I certainly don't think that it would be worth the effort to harvest them for firewood. What a pain that would be!
If anyone else has any experience or opinions on this, feel free to share them with us via the comment link.
-Firewood Matt