hard maple/ soft maple???

[Mac88]

Yup. but it sounds like your doing well with that stock pile of hedge.

It ain't ALL hedge. I was looking in there today and there was hedge, red and white oak, mulberry, cedar, walnut, silver maple, and some other stuff that I don't remember. It all burns. Silver maple burns fast, but I can split it 3 times as fast as hedge or oak, so I figure that's a fair trade off.

 

[howellhandmade]

Good info on identification and hardness. I think if "aaronmach1" is looking for firewood, he would be mostly interested in BTU content. There's not a tremendous difference between any of them.

I dunno, maybe not tremendous but I'd call a 35% (or so) difference substantial. If it were a matter of choosing I'd go for for Sugar Maple. I've got a big Silver Maple in my yard that needs to come down as soon as I have room in the stacks for it; I reckon it's got just so many BTUs regardless how much room it takes.

 

[Steve NW WI]

stihly dan,

Well cured red or noway is pretty good firewood.
Box elder sucks.

If I have to cut box elder, I burn it. Sometimes in big piles in the field, mostly in the fire pit (once it's well seasoned, it loses the stink - don't try to burn it if it ain't good and dry, your party guests will find a different party!), and some in the stove spring/fall. It's the bane of my existence, it grows faster than you can cut it.

Any of my friends that want me to cut box elder for them had better have a plan for the wood when it's cut, cause it ain't worth my time, effort and fuel to haul it. The exception is if there's some prime firewood with the deal, as is often the case in fenceline clearing. Usually fencelines around here are about 1/2 box elder, 1/3 elm, and some cherries and oaks.

 

[aaronmach1]

damn thanks guys! this thread blew up over night! great info

 

[AIM]

Here is the ID website I use all the time.
Ohio Trees Index

 

[haveawoody]

Steve NW WI,

I burnt about 1 full cord of box elder last winter.
It was so mild a winter that box elder heated my house for quite a good part of the winter.
It was cut from my own property or i wouldn't have had any.

It wasn't the worst wood to burn but it sure likes to get mouldy even stacked, and like you say the smell waiting for it to cure peyoo.
If you can cut down an oak and a cherry and have a box elder bonfire then it's pretty good stuf

 

[mga]

how do i know what maples i should cut for firewood? Anyone have pics?

was it free?

if so...burn it.

if you're selling fire wood, better learn to ID it first.

 

[giXXer]

Heck of a load you got there! Sent you a rep.

Thank you much! That was a great week of hard work. 8 full trailer loads of maple and oak and got paid for hauling it to boot! So I don't hi-jack this thread I'll start another if anyone is interested in the pics.

 

[giXXer]

If I have to cut box elder, I burn it. Sometimes in big piles in the field, mostly in the fire pit (once it's well seasoned, it loses the stink - don't try to burn it if it ain't good and dry, your party guests will find a different party!), and some in the stove spring/fall. It's the bane of my existence, it grows faster than you can cut it.

Any of my friends that want me to cut box elder for them had better have a plan for the wood when it's cut, cause it ain't worth my time, effort and fuel to haul it. The exception is if there's some prime firewood with the deal, as is often the case in fenceline clearing. Usually fencelines around here are about 1/2 box elder, 1/3 elm, and some cherries and oaks.

We must not have much (or any) box elder in northern Michigan because I don't believe I have ever cut any. If it's the "odd-ball" (unconventional leaf clusters) maple with the little helicopters it grows south of here. Lots of them in the Grand Rapids area, but I don't believe I have seen any up here. We have a lot of the other "lesser" species. Basswood, aspen, and of course, a lot of sticky, sappy pine.

 

[giXXer]

Bark in the pic looks like soft maple. And unless your in an area that doesn't have much good hard woods, all soft maple sucks.

If you are referring to my pic here is another load with some leaves. I am pretty confident that it is hard maple. I have been wrong in the past though. In the pictures, all of the wood is not from the same tree. There were a few oaks a few hard maples, two silver maples, and one pine so it got mixed together a little.

 

[Steve NW WI]

We must not have much (or any) box elder in northern Michigan because I don't believe I have ever cut any. If it's the "odd-ball" (unconventional leaf clusters) maple with the little helicopters it grows south of here. Lots of them in the Grand Rapids area, but I don't believe I have seen any up here. We have a lot of the other "lesser" species. Basswood, aspen, and of course, a lot of sticky, sappy pine.

This is the stuff:

The scourge of fencelines, field edges, abandoned farmyards, CRP fields, and pretty much anywhere the soil is undisturbed for more than a year or two without mowing or herbicides.

 

[giXXer]

"The scourge of fencelines, field edges, abandoned farmyards, CRP fields, and pretty much anywhere the soil is undisturbed for more than a year or two without mowing or herbicides."

Thanks Steve. I googled it after posting since I was curious. I see a lot them in front yards, used as shade trees, and just about everywhere in southern lower Michigan. When we were children we played with the "helicopters."

 

[Hedgerow]

"The scourge of fencelines, field edges, abandoned farmyards, CRP fields, and pretty much anywhere the soil is undisturbed for more than a year or two without mowing or herbicides."

Thanks Steve. I googled it after posting since I was curious. I see a lot them in front yards, used as shade trees, and just about everywhere in southern lower Michigan. When we were children we played with the "helicopters."

When you live in my area, about any tree is a decent tree... I have 3 Boxelders growing together in a fence row... I've taken one out for 2 test logs that go on the saw buck... The others, I'm pruning and cultivating for GTG race logs...
They make real good saw fodder... Got my eye on a Poplar tree out by the lagoon too...
:hell_boy:

 

[giXXer]

When you live in my area, about any tree is a decent tree... I have 3 Boxelders growing together in a fence row... I've taken one out for 2 test logs that go on the saw buck... The others, I'm pruning and cultivating for GTG race logs...
They make real good saw fodder... Got my eye on a Poplar tree out by the lagoon too...
:hell_boy:

I enjoy cutting poplar with a big saw and sharp chain. It's like butter! The saw just pulls itself right through the wood and makes woodchips.

 

[Steve NW WI]

When you live in my area, about any tree is a decent tree... I have 3 Boxelders growing together in a fence row... I've taken one out for 2 test logs that go on the saw buck... The others, I'm pruning and cultivating for GTG race logs...
They make real good saw fodder... Got my eye on a Poplar tree out by the lagoon too...
:hell_boy:

Box elder may be a "hard wood" by definition, but it's real soft cutting wise. You could drop the rakers down some compared to oak, elm, hedge, etc.

I'll bring a box full of box elder helicopters with me to IA, and you can have the market cornered on box elder...

 

[TreePointer]

I'll bring a box full of box elder helicopters with me to IA, and you can have the market cornered on box elder...

Oh, you wicked, evil man. You are officially banned from Pennsylvania.

 

[Hedgerow]

Box elder may be a "hard wood" by definition, but it's real soft cutting wise. You could drop the rakers down some compared to oak, elm, hedge, etc.

I'll bring a box full of box elder helicopters with me to IA, and you can have the market cornered on box elder...

Woo-Hoo!!!!!:big_smile:



Not...

I'll give em' to Stumpy...

 

[stihly dan]

Mr. pointer, good thing you left out that last S on the hat.

 

[rmount]

I always have both hard and soft maple in the wood pile - and I never get cold!

 

[TreePointer]

Mr. pointer, good thing you left out that last S on the hat.

Good observation. They gave Spacemule the one with the extra "S."

And you can call me Tree. Mr. Pointer is my father.

Some call me TP for short. I don't mind. It's quite valuable in the wilderness.