growing your own firewood?

treestyle

hi,

looking to get a property out west a bit (not too far). was thinking if it would be sustainable to grow own firewood?

maybe use Euc. crebra. would have 3 or 4 denses groves and every season rotationally cut a grove leaving stumps to grow back for next 4 years.

any thoughts would be appreciated, thanks!

treestyle

not one reply hey?

this wood will be for personal use, not looking to commercialize.

thanks

Eric Frei

Well, what about fast growing and good burning black wattle, just a thought, stole the idea from a kiwi who reckons it grows nuts over there and is primo firewood.

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Tree Machine

Pawlonia? Actually, I'd like to know the correct spellling on that. The internet world doesn't seem to know.

Grow Paulownia and teak. Mill the wood into pricey stock. Use the trimmings and scrap as your personal firewood. Teak burns nice. I don't know how Paulownia burns, but it's got pretty grain.


Plant the entire perimeter of the property in fruit trees, tall macademias at the far-sun end.


Hey Treestyle, I don't mind spending your money

TreeDimensional

OR you could buy a plane ticket, come on up here and Buy my farm and tree-care business. DON'T forget your check book! There's more wood to deal with than you could burn in a lifetime. Surprising really cause we don't have a lot of trees.

What land worth an acre (hectare) down under?

azrael

WATTLES , EUCS, and CASUARINAS.
(Ref: Forestry Commission of N.S.W. "Trees & Shrubs for Eastern Australia")

That's about it for native trees ... except for Callitris which is a conifer and will spit like crazy ....good for kindling only.

Paulownia ...I know its pretty soft and light ... used for making plywood, musical instruments and coffins.
Once cut, it isnt weather hardy ... and rots away quickly (at least down here it does).
Paulownia

Found this link.... It may be of interest although its for Victoria, Aust.
hhttp://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/DPI/nreni...ACBD?opentp://
Az

treestyle

cheers!

wattle is a good idea! you think it can be planted too dense? 1m spacings?

thanks!

azrael

I dunno what happened with that 2nd link ...
In it were useful specs for all types agroforestry including this one for Blackwood (Ac.melanoxylon).....
Blackwood for Farm Forestry
...which recommends 2.0 to 2.5m spacings

and this one for Ac.mearnsii (Blackwattle) ... which BTW are a very short lived species.
http://www.dpi.vic.gov.au/DPI/nrenin...0808_Nov07.pdf

and preliminaries for set-up
Site preparation for farm forestry

Eric Frei

That black wattle grows like weeds around Brisbane and can tolerate poor soils and droughts.

Casuarinas around here (unless coastal) are slower growing and tend to get problems, rot etc. Nah, junk I reckon.

Wattle is the go, burns real hot. You prep that place right, drive a water tanker down the rows every now and then, mulch fertilize etc they'll go nuts. And they aint gonna be some 50'+ felling job either.

Downside is they dont coppice for regrowth.

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shaggs

G'day treestyle,
I used to subscribe to this woodlot magazine
Sawmill & Woodlot Magazine Online
Its not a bad magazine and you can read bits of it online, although it does mainly refer to american species/softwoods I think.
Every now and then a firewood "farm" pops up on Landline (ABC channel), may be able to find some back stories there?
I have cleared wattle off some acreages and have used it as firwood myself, it is very good burning timber......especially when it dies for you and borers provide ventilation holes!!!!
Good Luck

Reena499

Firewood has become expensive, and is becoming scarce in some areas with the sources becoming further and further away from the major cities.Wood fires, primarily as a source of heating, and sometimes as a source of cooking, have increased in popularity and usage in the past decade or so. Growing trees for firewood is therefore one option to overcome this scarcity of firewood in the years ahead.
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Reena499

Tree Machine

Thanks for that input. Growing trees is a definite source of income for someone for the future. The real key may be in keeping costs of processing really low, tree (crop) rotation, what do I mean?, specie succession in good management. Always having something coming up behind something else.

Firewood packaged properly, with an eco-friendly spin, the wood can be marketed in those 5 or 10 dollar bundles, gourmet firewood. People will pay a mint for that stuff if you give them the quality. Delivery services bring you extra dough.


I consider firewood to be a valuable resource, so much that my career is solidly revolved around processing it from the raw so that it can be recycled easily and spontaneously and locally with minimum work to myself and impact to the planet. Giving wood away for free is the easiest manner of it instantly finding a good home. For large truckload amounts I will pay happily for two dudes and a truck to come get the bulk 16" blocks, and give them like 30 bucks courtesy cash. They come eagerly, appreciatively and take all that I have whenever they come to my tree job. I consider them the best deal going, they save me hours of intense and heavy work day-to-day and eliminate my need to think about buying big, hydraulic gear and trucks and more personnel. For a commercial Arborist, I recommend to you finding someone in the business of selling firewood because they will need you as bad as you need them. It's a win-win, and those relationships are sustainable.

As far as growing trees, I don't have land. But if I did, I'd have a tissue culture lab, a greenhouse and then the plantation. I'd go after having a tree-based freakin theme park. I would set a goal to propagate and raise one million trees, and worry about the problem of having too many trees later on down the road.

And Reena, thank you for dropping in. Welcome to Treeworld.

TreeBot

I have thought about marketing "designer" firewood bundles to ski resorts and interior designers.

Dark purple walnut, bright yellow mulberry, orange hedge with some ash or other white colored wood for contrast. All split at the last minute to keep the colors fresh. This would be good hardwood firewood but the primary purpose would be to look pretty sitting next to the fireplace.

The emerald ash borer closing in on us and all of the other problems with moving firewood long distances pretty much kill the idea, though, at least on anything but a very small scale.

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www.KansasTreeCare.com Lawrence Kansas certified arborist, tree trimming, tree removal, stump grinding

"Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?" George Carlin.

treekiwi

Hi guys,
just a bit from nz on the subject. Wattle and gum are the most common crop. wattle has its problems because it can have terrible form if exposed to wind or in an exposed site. Have seen some real shockers and this means they are hard to split and difficult to get a good crop out of. I would suggest a mix of acacia and eucalpyts with a row of eucs around the outside and an even mix of acacia and euc in the centre. This means the trees are drawn up to compete for light which means a good solid trunk and nice and easy to split. The complement each other very well. Just my two cents...

Paul Toivonen

I agree with NZ.
A mix of Acacia and Eucalypt sp. will fulfill your requirements.
The Acacias will also improve the soil by fixing N.
Eucs.will be a good longer term solution.
Some "Exotics" Teak, Walnut, Persimmon, Osage etc. take your pick all grow slowly , the next gen. might see the use of them.
A.melanoxylon as mentioned
E.globulus, E.macrorynca, E. baxteri.
Paulownia has the most irritating dust I have come across.

ScottyAFoster

Doing a mixed species stand may be the best option. Mixing a few slow with some fast growing species would give you more wood in the end run.

Gleno's_firewood

Firewood needs a moisture content of less than 24%. With ironbark alone this could take well over a century to achieve. The tree needs to have no bark. Burning live wood in a confined space such as your home is not a recommendation I would endorse, and if you happen to pursue any commercial enterprise you will fail.

Paul Toivonen

How does it take 100yr to grow an ironbark for firewood?
Sure they arent Blue gums but I thought they grow a bit quicker than that.
Not sure about the barkless tree either?
Most species I know( Ironbark included) have bark, but it is only on the outside....usually.

Gleno's_firewood

Hi Black Moses.
I'll try and get a photo album up over the next couple of days. The trees have to grow, then die, then season. The bark of an ironbark generally falls off as it's lifespan finishes. I've just finished cutting a section on my property that was bulldozed 30 years ago for a fire break, with the ironbarks pushed into piles. This is where they have remained untouched for that 30 year period. The moisture content on some was around 20%, with most at the usual 18%.
So 60 to 70 years to grow then 30 years to season. There's your 100 years.

Paul Toivonen

I would have thought you block, split then rotate it in bays to dry it out?
I am only new to firewood and hoping the batch I did this winter will be ready for next year.
It is all stacked with good air circulation.
The stringy bark mostly came off when splitting.

Gleno's_firewood

That would be the way to go. You will know if it is ready. Burn some to see how much smoke and heat is produced. less smoke = less moisture. Wood with too much moisture won't burn as hot.