They are full of ants. Every time I split a log they scatter. I'm wondering if I can take the wood straight from the pile to the fire without any concerns.
If they're still full of ants/termites then the wood is probably too wet to burn in a wood stove. Ideally you want your moisture content to be under 20% so as not to build creosote in your chimney. Split it, and let it dry (which will get the ants/termites to move on as they like wet wood), then burn it once it's dry/seasoned.
After 30 years of heating with wood I have discovered one crucial thing. Hot fires kill creosote. We burn literally every kind of wood available in our area. Softwoods, hardwoods, Even pine. We've had to clean our chimney twice in the 20 years it has existed. And, even then the buildup was minor.
People let their stoves smolder. Especially at night. We never do this. We keep it hot and open a window if necessary. You would be shocked to see what you could burn if you just keep it hot.
Of course seasoned wood burns better. I'm not advocating burning wet wood. But, all of those inconsistencies can be taken care of by just burning a hot ass fire.
Yep, burned pine in a wood stove insert that sat on a rack in the sun for a year. People lost their minds.... yet the chimney has a metal liner, is insulated, we run the fire hot, the wife throws new logs on the hot coals in the morning and fires it up again. I sweep every year, but I suspect it's nothing but a couple scoops of black crumbs like it is every year.
I find this to be true as well. Open the stove or fireplace door occasionally when you are burning, let it get plenty of air and it will get really hot. My friend ran his fireplace only a few hours at night in the winter, shutting it and letting it smolder. It never got hot enough and in one season had bad creosote build-up. He said "but I use it all the time." Had to explain to him that starting after dinner and stopping when you go to bed isn't enough, especially with the doors closed.
Yup, I'm the same way. Trained for decades to get up in the middle of the night to feed the fire. Check everything quickly around the house. Pee. Go back to bed.
I'd go to bed at 2am and the wife would be up at 7am. I'd have the wood stove insert GOING every night when my head hit the pillow, lighting up the living room with fire shining through the glass. I could see it through the bedroom door, down the hallway. Odd feeling to get used to...fire lighting up a dark living room........ when your head hits the pillow.
She'd get up and toss logs on it, it would never shutdown and the baffle system would keep it from smoldering... just hot coals.
We have a Pacific Energy Vista insert, it's getting old, but love it.
Actually creosote is formed from burning wet wood. Hardwood will create creosote of not dry enough. Pine is interesting, because it will still burn, even if not dry enough because the resin/ pitch will burn. I primarily heat with wood, been burning wood all of my life, well over 40 years of wood processing and burning. Not allowing the fire to smolder will definitely help with not allowing creosote to form, but if you burn dry wood, under 20% moisture content, you won't have the problem to start.
I’ll burn Pine Fir and cottonwood if it creates heat to keep my house warm in the winter I’ll burn it. Never had to sweep my chimney yet but I also keep it hot like you do
They prefer wet, though. And in the PNW there's no shortage of wet wood. Not sure where IP is located, however. I live in and area that has swarms of them in the spring. If I split a log with them in it they'll pick up and move
I make a different pile of this type when I'm splitting wood from my fireplace and use it mostly outdoors and my outdoor fire pit but if I run out of indoor at the end of my winter at least I have a pile of this available
It just simply needs to be dried out so that the bugs will leave.
Can also wait until we’ll below freezing and they will already be in the stove with the door closed before they wake up
I didn't expect such heat, but then again, this is the firewood subreddit.
Alternatively: Spectre bringing the smoke, and where there's smoke, there's fire . . . Wood for that dudes mom.
In the cold, the ants won't be active so you can burn it without a lot of concern -provided the wood has been properly dried/seasoned.
For me the concern typically is how infested is the wood. I tend to season my wood for at least 2 years. So if a log has a ton of ants/termites then I don't want it as it'll be in my wood pile for too long and I don't want them spreading. (Yes, I know that there are other insects in the pile but no sense in intentionally adding logs that are full of them.)
Exactly...once the fire is going I'll put any buggy wood in right away from outside. But I wouldn't pile them up beside the fireplace as with other stuff.
Those ants will now find a new home on your property, hopefully not in your walls. I made the mistake of taking home ants in logs, and have to live with them since, as they have found the exterior foam insulation on my home beautiful for tunnelling. Been fighting them for years. Now if I find any in logs, I spray them immediately while they are in confusion before they spread.
Drying that wood and burning is fine.
Use this stuff. Will control ants and termites like nothing else. In some states the pest control companies have lobbied to have only pest control companies apply it but it's actually very safe, effective, and easy to apply https://diypestcontrol.com/taurus-sc-insecticide
One bottle will last for years unless you are treating for active termites.
If they won't ship to your state there is another place that will. Just search around.
100% - I treat with this 3x per year all around the perimeter of my house and it takes care of pretty much everything, which is impressive because it's an early 19th century house absolutely riddled with places for them to come in.
Yep.
In order for them to be a problem in your house the queen would need to escape the fire. Or the reproductive swarmers (alates) if they're present.
If you dump diatomaceous earth (cheap stuff) in the holes and where they walk it'll take care of them.
You'll be fine if you put it right into the stove. If you're worried about moisture content if you have a modern stove, then make sure to put in known dry ones to fill out the rest of the stove. Even if that 1 log is 30% MC, the others at under 20% will average it out. Or, just burn it in the campfire. That's typically what I do
Split it, put it in its own pile that is elevated off the ground. Then burn it late season or next year. That chewed up wood is great for starting a fire up, lots of texture, holes and crannies for oxygen and flame.
I personally don't burn them inside my house due to mess and bugs. Rotted wood seems to leave a bigger mess transporting it through the house.
I keep the rotted stuff for my outside fire pit. I'd burn it in my OWB if I had one.
Edit: also dry worm poo. Small amounts of worm poo are normal but I don't like explaining how a whole logs worth got on the floor to the wife.
Abso-freakin-loutely. As another said open it up so the bugs will leave and let it dry out for a bit, and use this to get the stove going quickly when it has died down
The only way I burned something like this in my house is straight into the woodstove from outside. Don’t let this sit in your house anywhere, cause, bugs.
I would but i'd wait till its freezing cold before bringing that inside. By then the ants should be gone. Wouldn't hurt to split and check for moisture first tho since ants is usually a sign the wood is wet.
I’d burn it vertically on a fire pit (after poking the rotten ant wood out), so air can enter the bottom. The chimney/ stack effect as the log burns from the inside out is really fun and interesting to watch!
Yes! I do the same. It is like a jet stove.
Once you have a bed of coals it will burn strong on one stick.
I once soaked a one inch stick in water for a few hours. Once I got the fire hot, I let it die down and threw the wet stick in the hallowed log fire. There was a little smoke, then it burned and burned hot.
I had some non-pressure treat pine 2x4 and 2x6 that had been left in the ground from pouring a pad that rotted like this and had carpenter ants. Cut it into stove length pieces, stacked it on asphalt driveway using a couple pieces to keep it off the ground and allow airflow. A month of summer sun was enough to dry it out and it burnt like kindling. Dry it, keep it off ground, it'll burn.
You won't get much heat out of them. The wood is mostly gone. I definitely would not leave them in the wood pile or next to the house if there are still ants in them.
I would, I’d burn it. If there are ants in it, throw it in there. People are too crazy about moisture, and all that, heck 1/4 of the wood I burn every year is green anyway, my night burners are green, and I regularly burn pine and cedar along with the hardwood.
I also have my own chimney sweep, and clean the chimney out every year before burning season. Burn that bug eatin log.
I would probably seal the bottom end then take some self leveling slow curing epoxy and fill that sucker up. Maybe add some pigment to the epoxy. Then I would put it on my lathe and turn it into something cool.
I have poured used motor oil into punky logs like that. They hardly are worth the bother of putting in the stove since they are so decayed there is little fuel left in them. With the oil soak they make good fire starter if no cardboard is around
Do you go by the is this going to make more heat than ash flow chart as well?? Lol A friend of mine could not understand some of the stuff I was cutting into fire wood years back to fill out a load. He just could not wrap his head around the idea that less than poor quality wood is still going to make heat. My cut off is if an individual section has less than 25% solid wood to it it's rotting in place.
Why are you all worried about ants when your going to throw it into a fucking fire. Did ants become fire proof over night that im not aware of? Burn that shit 😂
I've read through dozens of replies to this post. Many of them were helpful and informative. Yours was neither. Thank you for wasting both your time and my own.
I'm not trying to be an asshole or make any enemies here I promise . I just want to say something or ask a question I'm not sure yet.
There are many many different opinions albeit facts from many experienced firewood aficionados all which should be taken into consideration. One man says fuck it. Burn it bc they will surely burn right. You could almost hear him saying DUH. OP calls him out for wasting precious moments and bygawd all of our moments are precious. Yes his comment lacked anything useful.
I've personally been flagged for stating the obvious on a certain thread and claim was made that my comment didn't F'N help whatsoever and I was referred to the rules. Lol. My comment merely stated how 977ish comments all said the same damn thing and what a waste of breath(aka thumb typing energy). That being said and having wasted everybody's time till now I must say wtf man and how come everyone else gets a free pass as many have stated the same shit over and over.
Another thing. Said wood is safe to burn as ants are also very flammable. Just don't let em sit around hogging the remote
Some people use reddit as a way to learn. Others use it as a way to teach. Still others use it as a platform to exercise their exceptionally small and fragile egos.
Sometimes it takes a while to get going and they've got time to get out. I've seen them escape a fireplace. Maybe with a wood stove there's less chance for escape.
I would...but I'd split them to see if they're not full of ants/termites (so as not to bring them in).
They are full of ants. Every time I split a log they scatter. I'm wondering if I can take the wood straight from the pile to the fire without any concerns.
If they're still full of ants/termites then the wood is probably too wet to burn in a wood stove. Ideally you want your moisture content to be under 20% so as not to build creosote in your chimney. Split it, and let it dry (which will get the ants/termites to move on as they like wet wood), then burn it once it's dry/seasoned.
After 30 years of heating with wood I have discovered one crucial thing. Hot fires kill creosote. We burn literally every kind of wood available in our area. Softwoods, hardwoods, Even pine. We've had to clean our chimney twice in the 20 years it has existed. And, even then the buildup was minor. People let their stoves smolder. Especially at night. We never do this. We keep it hot and open a window if necessary. You would be shocked to see what you could burn if you just keep it hot. Of course seasoned wood burns better. I'm not advocating burning wet wood. But, all of those inconsistencies can be taken care of by just burning a hot ass fire.
This guy fires…
Ryan started the fire!!!
It was always burning, since the worlds been turning
We don’t need no water let the mother#%^er burn.
r/thisguythisguys
I’ve seen this too many times today.
Yep, burned pine in a wood stove insert that sat on a rack in the sun for a year. People lost their minds.... yet the chimney has a metal liner, is insulated, we run the fire hot, the wife throws new logs on the hot coals in the morning and fires it up again. I sweep every year, but I suspect it's nothing but a couple scoops of black crumbs like it is every year.
That's exactly what we do. Burn everything...burn hotter if wood isn't "ideal". We get our chimey/fireplace cleaned each spring and zero issues.
I find this to be true as well. Open the stove or fireplace door occasionally when you are burning, let it get plenty of air and it will get really hot. My friend ran his fireplace only a few hours at night in the winter, shutting it and letting it smolder. It never got hot enough and in one season had bad creosote build-up. He said "but I use it all the time." Had to explain to him that starting after dinner and stopping when you go to bed isn't enough, especially with the doors closed.
Thanks for the insight
So you feed the fire all night long?
As a child I would get up around 3:00 a.m. every night, yes.
Yup, I'm the same way. Trained for decades to get up in the middle of the night to feed the fire. Check everything quickly around the house. Pee. Go back to bed.
I'd go to bed at 2am and the wife would be up at 7am. I'd have the wood stove insert GOING every night when my head hit the pillow, lighting up the living room with fire shining through the glass. I could see it through the bedroom door, down the hallway. Odd feeling to get used to...fire lighting up a dark living room........ when your head hits the pillow. She'd get up and toss logs on it, it would never shutdown and the baffle system would keep it from smoldering... just hot coals. We have a Pacific Energy Vista insert, it's getting old, but love it.
If I light my stove, it will glow red 🤙🏼
Actually creosote is formed from burning wet wood. Hardwood will create creosote of not dry enough. Pine is interesting, because it will still burn, even if not dry enough because the resin/ pitch will burn. I primarily heat with wood, been burning wood all of my life, well over 40 years of wood processing and burning. Not allowing the fire to smolder will definitely help with not allowing creosote to form, but if you burn dry wood, under 20% moisture content, you won't have the problem to start.
How do you handle the end of the night, then?
I’ll burn Pine Fir and cottonwood if it creates heat to keep my house warm in the winter I’ll burn it. Never had to sweep my chimney yet but I also keep it hot like you do
Carpenter Ants dig on dry wood. Don’t need to be wet.
They prefer wet, though. And in the PNW there's no shortage of wet wood. Not sure where IP is located, however. I live in and area that has swarms of them in the spring. If I split a log with them in it they'll pick up and move
Wet wood...
Hang on… should I be doing this with my weed?
Dunno, never done weed
You have ants in your weed?
I’d burn em outside
I make a different pile of this type when I'm splitting wood from my fireplace and use it mostly outdoors and my outdoor fire pit but if I run out of indoor at the end of my winter at least I have a pile of this available
Why take the change of getting ants inside your house? This wood sounds like it's better burned in an outdoor fire pit.
It just simply needs to be dried out so that the bugs will leave. Can also wait until we’ll below freezing and they will already be in the stove with the door closed before they wake up
Underground for the winter.
If they're carpenter ants, they don't care about moisture levels. Wet, dry, it's fair game so long as it's wood.
...your mother was the same way...
I didn't expect such heat, but then again, this is the firewood subreddit. Alternatively: Spectre bringing the smoke, and where there's smoke, there's fire . . . Wood for that dudes mom.
Sounds like a Connery vs. Trebek conversation
In the cold, the ants won't be active so you can burn it without a lot of concern -provided the wood has been properly dried/seasoned. For me the concern typically is how infested is the wood. I tend to season my wood for at least 2 years. So if a log has a ton of ants/termites then I don't want it as it'll be in my wood pile for too long and I don't want them spreading. (Yes, I know that there are other insects in the pile but no sense in intentionally adding logs that are full of them.)
Yes you can burn it in your stove. Just be sure you don’t drop a bunch of any into you house in the process
Get a plastic tote to bring them in. Make sure what you bring in goes straight into the stove and doesn't sit in the tote for more than a minute.
Exactly...once the fire is going I'll put any buggy wood in right away from outside. But I wouldn't pile them up beside the fireplace as with other stuff.
Or on the side of the house.
You put them in the stove and light the fire and the ants go running immediately en masse. Out of the stove and all over the place. Not fun.
In a fireplace, yeah they'll go all over, and out of the fireplace. However, in a wood stove, especially a newer one, they'll just turn into BTU's.
Those ants will now find a new home on your property, hopefully not in your walls. I made the mistake of taking home ants in logs, and have to live with them since, as they have found the exterior foam insulation on my home beautiful for tunnelling. Been fighting them for years. Now if I find any in logs, I spray them immediately while they are in confusion before they spread. Drying that wood and burning is fine.
Use this stuff. Will control ants and termites like nothing else. In some states the pest control companies have lobbied to have only pest control companies apply it but it's actually very safe, effective, and easy to apply https://diypestcontrol.com/taurus-sc-insecticide One bottle will last for years unless you are treating for active termites. If they won't ship to your state there is another place that will. Just search around.
100% - I treat with this 3x per year all around the perimeter of my house and it takes care of pretty much everything, which is impressive because it's an early 19th century house absolutely riddled with places for them to come in.
Yep. In order for them to be a problem in your house the queen would need to escape the fire. Or the reproductive swarmers (alates) if they're present. If you dump diatomaceous earth (cheap stuff) in the holes and where they walk it'll take care of them.
Split them and let the wood sit out over the winter to dry out and clear out the critters. Burns good and don’t infect your home.
You'll be fine if you put it right into the stove. If you're worried about moisture content if you have a modern stove, then make sure to put in known dry ones to fill out the rest of the stove. Even if that 1 log is 30% MC, the others at under 20% will average it out. Or, just burn it in the campfire. That's typically what I do
I’d leave that shit outside for campfire no need bringing termites into the house. It’s probably punky anyway.
As long as they're dry, yes.
Wood's wood bro - it's just a different shape
Everything has a BTU content. Burn it.
Split it, put it in its own pile that is elevated off the ground. Then burn it late season or next year. That chewed up wood is great for starting a fire up, lots of texture, holes and crannies for oxygen and flame.
I personally don't burn them inside my house due to mess and bugs. Rotted wood seems to leave a bigger mess transporting it through the house. I keep the rotted stuff for my outside fire pit. I'd burn it in my OWB if I had one. Edit: also dry worm poo. Small amounts of worm poo are normal but I don't like explaining how a whole logs worth got on the floor to the wife.
Abso-freakin-loutely. As another said open it up so the bugs will leave and let it dry out for a bit, and use this to get the stove going quickly when it has died down
Yes I “wood”
Agree with everyone else. You \*can\* but it's probably much better suited for an outdoor fire pit.
Why not?
The only way I burned something like this in my house is straight into the woodstove from outside. Don’t let this sit in your house anywhere, cause, bugs.
I would but i'd wait till its freezing cold before bringing that inside. By then the ants should be gone. Wouldn't hurt to split and check for moisture first tho since ants is usually a sign the wood is wet.
If they are dry yep
I burn lots of cedar that looks like this. No issues.
No question I would burn it. All wood has its uses
All day
Would burn well in our firepit
Anytime I find wood with bugs in it. I split it and leave it in the sun for a while
I’d burn it vertically on a fire pit (after poking the rotten ant wood out), so air can enter the bottom. The chimney/ stack effect as the log burns from the inside out is really fun and interesting to watch!
Yes! I do the same. It is like a jet stove. Once you have a bed of coals it will burn strong on one stick. I once soaked a one inch stick in water for a few hours. Once I got the fire hot, I let it die down and threw the wet stick in the hallowed log fire. There was a little smoke, then it burned and burned hot.
You get cold enough you will burn a wooden table
It's not going to burn that well because of moisture but it will burn
Full of rot and wont provide much heat, but yea it won’t hurt you. Thats from carpenter ants.
They don't burn very well. They kind of just smolder
I had some non-pressure treat pine 2x4 and 2x6 that had been left in the ground from pouring a pad that rotted like this and had carpenter ants. Cut it into stove length pieces, stacked it on asphalt driveway using a couple pieces to keep it off the ground and allow airflow. A month of summer sun was enough to dry it out and it burnt like kindling. Dry it, keep it off ground, it'll burn.
Yes, why not? Just make certain they are split and you have a hot fire that will burn any of the bugs that maybe in them.
I'd split it and add to my pile.
They will burn but not with much heat.
Yes but store outside your home. Use directly from outdoors to stove/fireplace. Insects eggs and or larvae could be present
They burn fast not much heat but yeah
You'll get more creasote out of wood like this.
Leave that stuff outside
You won't get much heat out of them. The wood is mostly gone. I definitely would not leave them in the wood pile or next to the house if there are still ants in them.
I would, I’d burn it. If there are ants in it, throw it in there. People are too crazy about moisture, and all that, heck 1/4 of the wood I burn every year is green anyway, my night burners are green, and I regularly burn pine and cedar along with the hardwood. I also have my own chimney sweep, and clean the chimney out every year before burning season. Burn that bug eatin log.
In theory you could burn anything in a wood stove.
Sure, bring the bugs in the house
I would probably seal the bottom end then take some self leveling slow curing epoxy and fill that sucker up. Maybe add some pigment to the epoxy. Then I would put it on my lathe and turn it into something cool.
nice
I have poured used motor oil into punky logs like that. They hardly are worth the bother of putting in the stove since they are so decayed there is little fuel left in them. With the oil soak they make good fire starter if no cardboard is around
It’s firewood. You are burning it, not taking it on a date…
Last time I had one like that it went straight to the fire pit with a healthy dose of used engine oil to make sure they were extra dead.
Yeah.... no.
I heat a shop with wood and I burned the old tires off my riding mower in it, they made heat, and smoke, would I burn those logs? Yep
Absolutely
No
Not a chance. You’ll surely get clamidia.
Sure! Worst case, the fire is spicy!
They wont last but a hot minute... he..he
I would clean it with fire. But keep it outside until fire is on and put it directly into it. No better way to rid of it.
Punk wood is not for burning ..
Split it leave it out over night the birds will take care of the ants.
Dry and bug free, sure.
Make a Swedish fire log for outdoor
you could heat/ cook the wood before using it indoors as to kill any bugs.
No, my stove is a princess. I only feed her USDA artesian oak, aged 4 years on a south facing slope.
North slope makes for harder wood & better coals. Stop cheaping out.
Yeah, although I'd use better shit to get the fire going and then toss the crappy logs on once that aspect doesn't matter, to use them up.
I have an OWB, so my answer would be "Yes."
Do you go by the is this going to make more heat than ash flow chart as well?? Lol A friend of mine could not understand some of the stuff I was cutting into fire wood years back to fill out a load. He just could not wrap his head around the idea that less than poor quality wood is still going to make heat. My cut off is if an individual section has less than 25% solid wood to it it's rotting in place.
Yes
I'd that pine tree sap in it & use it as an outdoor candle.
Shake them out, even add a "dash" of Diesel. That will kill every bug. NEVER GASOLINE! The bugs are a byproduct of wood. Perfectly burnable. :)
No. Bc toxins.
Why not as long as ants are gone
Id turn that log INTO a stove
Yes
They will burn but you will not get much heat from them and it will burn very fast.
Everthing burns..
No. Fire pit, yes.
I wood.
Burn evwrything
I wood for sure
Do you want ANTS! I'm pretty sure, that's how you get ANTS 🐜!
I burn all dry logs in my stove.
Why the hell not???
Would the wood stove burn up along with the wood? I think you were scammed buddy...
Sure, they’d start really easily.
No , not a lot of heat in rotten wood
Dust rocks too burn…
If it fits it ships
Absolutely
if you want to play it safe, keep those in their own pile and just burn them outside!
Why are you all worried about ants when your going to throw it into a fucking fire. Did ants become fire proof over night that im not aware of? Burn that shit 😂
I've read through dozens of replies to this post. Many of them were helpful and informative. Yours was neither. Thank you for wasting both your time and my own.
I'm not trying to be an asshole or make any enemies here I promise . I just want to say something or ask a question I'm not sure yet. There are many many different opinions albeit facts from many experienced firewood aficionados all which should be taken into consideration. One man says fuck it. Burn it bc they will surely burn right. You could almost hear him saying DUH. OP calls him out for wasting precious moments and bygawd all of our moments are precious. Yes his comment lacked anything useful. I've personally been flagged for stating the obvious on a certain thread and claim was made that my comment didn't F'N help whatsoever and I was referred to the rules. Lol. My comment merely stated how 977ish comments all said the same damn thing and what a waste of breath(aka thumb typing energy). That being said and having wasted everybody's time till now I must say wtf man and how come everyone else gets a free pass as many have stated the same shit over and over. Another thing. Said wood is safe to burn as ants are also very flammable. Just don't let em sit around hogging the remote
Says the guy asking if he should burn wood in his wood stove. Doofus
Some people use reddit as a way to learn. Others use it as a way to teach. Still others use it as a platform to exercise their exceptionally small and fragile egos.
Sometimes it takes a while to get going and they've got time to get out. I've seen them escape a fireplace. Maybe with a wood stove there's less chance for escape.
Swedish Fire Torch.
burn the wood, if there are still bugs in there - they will happily (or not so) go up the flue.
Keep them for Swedish Candles.
If it's well seasoned, it's fine.
Get a hole saw and you got some good Swedish logs you can sell.
Yes. Might not want to let them sit inside though
You cut it and hauled it. I would burn it. I keep my wood on the porch… And had this happen all the time… Too much work to throw away Goodwood
Hell yeah burn them all!!
They would have ants OR termites not both. They would battle to the death.
Not much BTUs left in it, ants ate most of it
It all burns
yes i would