As far as firewood goes, we can’t get enough of our QLD Vintage Ironbark Firewood. Not only is it a fantastic wood for camping, open fireplaces, combustion heaters, wood-fired ovens, and pizza ovens, but the living tree itself is quite interesting as well.
“Ironbark” is a common name for varieties of Eucalyptus trees that have thick, solid bark. Whereas most species of Eucalyptus shed their dead bark each year, Ironbark trees accumulate this dead bark onto the tree. The dead bark dries out, at which time the tree produces a dark red sap called Kino, which fills up the dry bark. Due to the saturation with Kino, Ironwood bark becomes extremely fire resistant and protects the living tree tissue in the centre from being burned.
In addition to being great firewood, Ironbark is also a very high-quality timber as it is quite hard, durable and strong. As a result, it’s the perfect wood for archery bows and is also used for railway sleepers and construction, although because of its density and hardness it is a difficult wood to nail and plane.
At Ample Firewood, we sell only premium vintage QLD Ironbark that has been seasoned for 15 years or more, ensuring that its moisture content is only 10-15%. Seasoning is quite important for both safety and enjoyment of your fire, and we take our seasoning process seriously. Burning unseasoned wood or wood that has not been seasoned long enough will cause creosote to build up in your chimney which can lead to a chimney fire or at least a very smoky room.
As for how Ironbark burns, overall it’s long-lasting and clean. Due to the high-density of Ironbark, it can be tough to get it to catch fire, but once it’s going, it will burn slowly but with intense heat for about 6-8 hours depending on the size of the log. Ironbark also leaves very little ash behind, meaning if you’re only burning Ironwood you may need to clean out your fireplace less frequently than if you were burning other woods
Now you might be wondering how Ironbark firewood compares to our mixed bags of firewood, which contains a combination of Ironbark, Yellow Box, Red Gum, and Blood Wood. The answer is that our mixed wood varieties, while they are still very dense, achieve high heat, and burn slowly, are just slightly lower than Ironbark when it comes to these standards for firewood. Ironbark is truly the cream of the crop which is why we are a little crazy about it around here.
At Ample Firewood, we pride ourselves on supplying only the best high-grade Australian hardwood, and we take the sourcing of all our firewood very seriously. All of our wood is sourced from certified and reputable sustainable suppliers, and we sell only hardwood, never softwood. We also NEVER source from tree loppers-their practices are simply NOT up to our standards.
If you’re looking to try out some Ironbark firewood, we can deliver it straight to you six days per week, and can even provide a stacking service at your request. We are located centrally in Sydney and can supply bulk orders and yard-pick up as well.