cherry or maple

[Wood Doctor]

Check this chart

http://extension.usu.edu/forestry/HomeTown/General_HeatingWithWood.htm

This table is a bit suspect. It might be showing Appalachian oak for red oak, which is much less dense than pin oak or other red oaks. I can assure you that dry mulberry, for example, is not as dense as dry pin oak. However, this table shows a cord of dry mulberry outweighing red oak. In my neck of the woods, that's just not true.

I'd love to ship this guy a truckload of 2 to 3-year old red oak from a 110 year-old tree that I just split and let him rerun his analysis.

 

[ks_osage_orange]

It's not a species of maple. The hard (wood) maple of the NE is sugar maple, closely followed by norway and black maples. Black maple is VERY similar to sugar maple.
There is a norway maple species; what's "autumn blaze"? Variant of what?
Sugar maple is definitely the beauty of the bunch, year-round.

Autumn Blaze is a new Hybrid variety of Maple (a cross between Silver Maple and Sugar "red" Maple) grows fast like a Silver Maple, but has red color in fall. I've bought and planted a few here in KS, they seem to grow better here. Don't exist in the wild as far as I know.
Sounds like your region has many more varieties than what I am familiar with in KS.

"You might have burned norway maple , looks like leaves look like sugar maple but the bark is smother , and it doesnt put out BTU's like sugar ."

You could be right? Other than Silver Maple, I don't have much experience burning it.

 

[Brushwacker]

Our woods here have quite a few Red Maple and Silver Maple. Wasn't until about 10 years ago I noticed they wasn't the same. I thought they were all Silvers until I noticed smaller helicopter seeds much later in the year then the Silvers release them. The leaves are differant and I think the Red, the wood is a bit denser , but a lot similiar in appearance. The bark also is similiar.
Anybody else used Red Maple and noticed much differance then Silver ?
I like Cherry for its smell and it burns nice and consistant. On cold winter nights or when I will not be home to stoke the fire on time I like to have some big pieces of dry Oak or Locust ( because its usually the best I get ) to keep it going and put out as much heat as possible. It takes a while to get the floors and furniture warmed back up if the house cools and stays that way to long. If I'm at home to feed the fire I don't mind burning some maple , cherry, pine or just about anything other then willow or cottonwood because of tons of ashes. I enjoy the smell of burning cherry or pine. Pine smoke reminds me of living in the mountains of the northwest.

 

[oldchuck]

Regional differences, ks-Osage. Doesn't sound to me like you have any sugar maple, hard maple (acer saccharum) in Kansas. That's the kind you tap for maple syrup. In the northeast we call red maple "soft maple." Silver maple has smaller leaves and is not great firewood. I would prefer cherry to silver.

 

[Sandhill Crane]

The cherry I put up last year is filthy with a fine powdery dust and bug tracks in the surface of the wood beneath the bark. It is dry, the bark coming off every piece, burns great, but what a mess to handle and bring into the house. Later today I'll be putting up some silver maple for next year. I've never cut or burned any before. Half of it is probably too large a diameter for my arch to handle (28" dia./2,000 lbs.). The log weight charts on the web will be handy for the rest of it. Beautiful trees. What I'm cutting is one third that split off in a storm. The tree is at my sisters. Should I seal the wound with anything or leave it alone?

 

[PLAYINWOOD]

This table is a bit suspect. It might be showing Appalachian oak for red oak, which is much less dense than pin oak or other red oaks. I can assure you that dry mulberry, for example, is not as dense as dry pin oak. However, this table shows a cord of dry mulberry outweighing red oak. In my neck of the woods, that's just not true.

I'd love to ship this guy a truckload of 2 to 3-year old red oak from a 110 year-old tree that I just split and let him rerun his analysis.

And I would love to ship a cord of 200 year old sugar maple from my area or further north.
The oaks I find just don't burn right, they coal and last forever and throw higher/medium heat.They leave a ton of coals for the morning though.
Re oak will cure in a year, white/burr I'm not sure if it ever does.

Beech does well but doesn't last, yellow birch does better than the btu charts show and I'm disappointed in the ash species.Low heat and no coals.Splits as hard as elm but better heat and coals plus a nice fragrance.

I've only burnt Black locust once and it spit and sputtered and popped but threw good heat but was like beech, 3 hours later its almost dust.

Lots of locals burn and like Red Maple aka swamp maple aka soft maple. It splits easy, almost no ash,plentiful,cheap, and if you cut on a swamp you don't have to clean up the brush because its gone when the ice melts. starts nicely and if your home to keep jamming the stove, it throws a decent amount of heat. Not many coals though.
You also never have to sharpen a chain more than once a week cutting on ice.

Ironwood/hop hornbeam is the ultimate wood in this area, lasts long, has more btu's per pound than soft coal and leaves a decent amount of coals in the morning.
The only problem with it is it takes about 8 hours to cut and collect a cord because it only grows to 8" dbh 35 feet tall with most trees 6 inch.
Its been suggested a full diet of this stuff will warp a stove baffle plate.

The only Hickory we have is smooth bark or bitternut. It burns and works up good, It just hasn't jumped out at me with superb burning qualities.I wouldn't refuse it though.

With 20 years of burning under my belt and 500ish cords cut and split and sold I have found that the best combination on a cold winter night is 3 hard maple with one piece of red oak for coals.
But if the truth be known I will burn just about anything that falls on the property even basswood but I would get picky if i was paying for it.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Yellow Birch is Incredible.

+1 on the yellow birch. That's the most underrated firewood that there is. We can't get it around here because nobody plants it, but I have used it to make almost all my rec room furniture by buying from sawmills that import it from Canada or upper New York. It's as hard and as dense as white oak. I've even cut boards of identical size and weighed them. The yellow birch is every bit as dense. I have also seen tables showing that the bending strength of yellow birch boards is the highest of any commercial furniture wood growing the USA, and that includes quartersawn white oak.

My solution to burning red oak is to season it at least two years and then mix it 50:50 with elm, ash, soft maple, or cottonwood. Then all the oak will disappear when it burns and no cinders are left in the stove. White ash, by itself, is still tops in my book as the best firewood that there is, primarily because of good density, fast drying, slow to rot, and relatively easy to split straight pieces (non-crotch).

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

 

[Steve NW WI]

BTU's rule the roost.

Hard/sugar Maple for winter

Cherry for aroma, or autumn/spring, valentines, one night stands.

Does Mrs wdchuck know about this?

 

[ks_osage_orange]

Regional differences, ks-Osage. Doesn't sound to me like you have any sugar maple, hard maple (acer saccharum) in Kansas. That's the kind you tap for maple syrup. In the northeast we call red maple "soft maple." Silver maple has smaller leaves and is not great firewood. I would prefer cherry to silver.

Just did a little research in a book I have "Trees, Shrubs, and Woody Vines in Kansas" to confirm we do have acer saccharum in the state, but only in the extreme eastern counties. I used to live in one of the counties where they are found (This is when I burned one I thought was sugar maple, probably 7-8 years ago). There is even a Maple Leaf Festival in the town of Baldwin City 3rd weekend of october celebrating fall colors. The book even had the alternative name "hard maple" in it although I personally don't know of the term ever being usd here.

 

[dingeryote]

The cherry I put up last year is filthy with a fine powdery dust and bug tracks in the surface of the wood beneath the bark. It is dry, the bark coming off every piece, burns great, but what a mess to handle and bring into the house. Later today I'll be putting up some silver maple for next year. I've never cut or burned any before. Half of it is probably too large a diameter for my arch to handle (28" dia./2,000 lbs.). The log weight charts on the web will be handy for the rest of it. Beautiful trees. What I'm cutting is one third that split off in a storm. The tree is at my sisters. Should I seal the wound with anything or leave it alone?

Sandhill,

I'm guessing it was a forked Cherry and one side split at the crotch?

If so, there isn't much you can do but plan on that tree needing to be taken down shortly.
They usually do not last too long after splitting like that because they already have rot started.

Take a close look at the trunk at the split and check for signs of insect activity near the base.

If in doubt, have her call an arborist and get an estimate if it's near anything that might get crunched.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Marine5068]

It's funny that some like the smell of Cherry and some don't.
I myself can't stand the smell of it. When it's in the wood stove I don't care. But walking by the wood pile I plug my nose...lol. It's stinky.
Sugar Maple is the best of the Maples as far as btu output. Of course all woods need very dry content to burn efficiently.
White oak is a bit higher but the hard maples are my fav to burn.
We have TONS of it here in Ontario, Canada.
Here's a "BTU's per air dried cord" list of some common firewood species. Hardest woods are at the top.
Rock Elm-32,000
Shagbark Hickory-30,600
White Oak-30,600
Bitternut Hickory-29,200
Sugar Maple-29,000
Beech-27,800
Red Oak-27,300
Yellow Birch-26,200
Red Elm-25,400
White Ash-25,000
White Elm-24,500
Red Maple-24,000
Tamarack-24,000
Black Cherry-23,500
White Birch-23,400
Black Ash-22,600
Green Ash-22,100
Silver Maple-21,700
Manitoba Maple-19,300
Large Tooth Aspen-18,200
Hemlock-17,900
Trembling Aspen-17,700
Butternut-17,400
Balsam Poplar-17,200
White Pine-17,100
Basswood-17,000
White Cedar-16,300
White Spruce-16,200
Balsam Fir-15,500