Almond Oak And Eucalyptus Firewood

by Tom Germino
(Los Banos, Cal.)

Here in central California, we have many choices of good to superb trees to burn. The top three (IMHO) 1)almond, 2)oak and 3)eucalyptus, in that order.

I often wonder how they, especialy almond, would stack up against other woods that are highly spoken of, namely towards the East because I'm here to tell you, almond is nothing short of awesome.

It is everything you want in a firewood, maxed out. By far, burns the longest, leaves very little ash and burns nearly as hot as eucalyptus. Eucalyptus is full of oils and man, you've got to be careful with it. It can rage. Brutally hot.

I've read that the fastest forest fires in the world are the eucalyptus forests in Australia, up to 40 mph. I believe it but my God, it can be like going against the devil himself when it comes to splitting it. One tough SOB. Wiggely grain that slants and bends. Even the little pieces can sometimes test you.

When I know I'm going to be working eucalyptus, I know I'm going to war. Me and my mauls against the unforgiving and the unrelenting. But I won't pass up a chance to put it in my stacks, it's still a great burning wood.

I wish some magazine or whom ever had the resources to do so, would do a burn comparison of the great woods from across our country. I'd even supply them with the three mentioned above.

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Aug 10, 2020
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Not all eucalyptus are the same.........
by: Anonymous

Just a comment on eucalyptus as firewood. There are over 600 types of eucalyptus or as they are called in Australia "gum trees" as a generic name.

The two very best firewood varieties are Iron Bark and Yellow Box. Both are hardwoods and burn slowly and well with little smoke. They both should be well aged and dry when used.

Jul 18, 2018
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How To Make Splitting Eucalyptus Easier
by: Ron

Eucalyptus is a great firewood. It splits easy when it is green. The grain is spiral and looks like it is weaved. The key to easy splitting it is to pop off pieces along the tangent (parallel to the rings).

Nov 20, 2014
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Water Oak Firewood In Georgia
by: Jason

Water oak is a great firewood in south Georgia. It is abundant here and it's hard to split sometimes, but when it's seasoned it burns extremely hot.

It doesn't take a lot to get the house heated up. A good rick of wood can last all winter long and before you know it, spring has come and you still have plenty for the start of next winter.

Feb 10, 2014
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In the middle of WWlll
by: Tom Germino

A very large eucalyptus has fallen on the property, I estimate it was nearly 90 feet high. I've cut and bucked it to within 20 feet of the roots and the rounds are nearly 5 feet in diameter. They'll be well over 6 before I'm through.

To deal with this monster I have purchased a new, used Husqvarna chainsaw on ebay. Plus, I finally went to the biggest chain store in the US and spent $50 to get the Fiskars x-27 splitting axe, along with buying another wedge. This will make 4 wedges total in my arsenal.

Even after making a deep cross cut to start the wedges, I'll have one half way driven in and it still gets kicked out. It has gotten so even after having driven all 4 wedges well down into the split, I still have to finish it off with numerous blows from the big orange maul.

After every battle with this behemoth, which is about twice a day, my clothes, down to my underware, are soaking wet with perspiration and it ain't that hot.

But come next year, I'll be sitting sweet when firewood sales start. It'll be a great xmas!

Feb 10, 2014
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Bangor Maine Firewood Choice
by: Bob

Well, where I live (Central Maine), pretty much all species are readily available.

I prefer when available oak, but it takes longer to properly season oak and sometimes it becomes an issue. My two favorites that are easy to season are beech and yellow birch.

Beech is a good dense wood that burns great when dry and the yellow birch burns as easy as white birch but burns longer than white birch or white maple. Yellow birch is a bit more difficult to split sometimes but worth it.

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