Where do we source our logs?
Auckland’s favourite firewood retailers are arborists for Lifestyle Tree Care. The specialists in bagged firewood for open fires, log burners and wood ovens – all our premium bagged firewood is guaranteed dry!
Some of our firewood is a by-product of consented and permitted arboricultural work. This wood comes from trees that have been removed or pruned because they have outgrown their environment, have been damaged during storms, or are in natural decline.
Most of our Gum logs originate in the shelterbelts and woodlots of rural areas. These logs are not suitable or cost effective for use as milling timber.
How do we split, dry and bag our firewood?
Auckland Firewood’s splitting process includes a large firewood processor, a smaller hydraulic log splitter, and even hand-splitting with a maul. Difficult or knotty wood is cut down to a finished size with a chainsaw, so the firewood is not delaminated or crushed.
Once split, our firewood is stored in large wooden crates. The crates are stacked up high, enabling maximum airflow, and left to dry naturally in the sun. Every year, before winter, the towers of firewood crates are capped to ensure that our finished bagged firewood products are guaranteed to be dry.
All our firewood is bagged in natural hessian cloth sacks. We encourage refunds on reusable sacks.
Bags of firewood for general heating are packed with larger pieces for economical slow-burning value. Medium sized pieces are spread throughout the bag, and then topped with smaller slithers and nogs of wood that will assist with the lighting of the fire.
Most of our firewood is cut to an average length of around 250mm, and split into an easy-to-burn width, enabling it to be used in smaller log burners and pot bellies.
Softwood and Hardwood
What are the differences?
The most commonly burned firewoods in the greater Auckland region are Pine, Macrocarpa, Gum, Wattle and Ti-tree.
Pine (Pinus radiata) and Macrocarpa (Cupressus macrocarpa) are both conifers, and are also softwoods.
Gum (Eucalyptus) and Ti-tree – also known as Manuka (Leptospermum scoparium) and Kanuka (Kunzea ericoides) – are broadleaf trees, and are also hardwoods.
Not all broadleaved trees are hardwoods, however, nor are all conifers softwoods.
Softwoods are fast-growing trees, with comparatively large gaps between their annual increment rings. Hardwoods grow much slower, and their annual rings are very closely spaced.
In most cases, the more closely spaced a tree’s annual rings, the heavier the wood and greater its bulk density. This gives most hardwoods their slow burning properties and makes them a very desirable firewood.