Huge Cottonwood.. How much wood?

[Schaefer4152]

Hello all,

I have this cotton BIG cottonwood.. the base below the secondary beam is 14' around.. I was just wondering if you guys could guess how many cords of would I should get outta it.. Gonna pay someone to pall it soon and have a bunch of buddies help me cut er up..

Thanks

Mat

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[Schaefer4152]

how many cords of would I should get outta it

Wow.. That's horrible.. lol

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I can tell you exactly how much wood you'll get out of that:



None worth having!

 

[Schaefer4152]

I understand.. Just for campfire wood.. Prolly for life..

 

[sawbid]

WOW, that is a big one...54" diameter. Do you have enough room around to drop that big of a tree? Sure would be fun to be there to help and watch!

Cottonwood cuts real quick, and cottonwood that old is probably rotten in the middle, watch yourself...

 

[TrillPhil]

It also snaps and doesn't like to hinge, atleast in my limited experience. Why cut it down, looks to be a nice shade tree?

If I was going to put in the effort to cut a tree with alot of leads down for fire wood... I'd atleast make it something worthwhile. hard maple, oak, ash... personal fav cherry...

 

[Schaefer4152]

Its kinda hard to see from pic #1 put you can see a big split down the middle.. It gets hit by lightning 1 time a year.. the tree wants to fall away from the house for sure.. She really takes a beating.. and your right, the only downfall is that its a nice shade tree over the house..

 

[yooper]

you do realize you will have to cut it in a couple different sections? dont try to just notch the bottom! she may just start to peal apart.

 

[JeffL]

Its poplar, most of it will rot before you could even burn it. lol

 

[esshup]

If it's a good lightening rod, once it's gone what will take it's place?

 

[JeffL]

If it's a good lightening rod, once it's gone what will take it's place?

More poplars. They are pretty weedy.

 

[mowoodchopper]

I wouldnt pay much attention to all the bs about poplar and cottonwood!
Its good wood for your house or campfire either one. I sell a ton of it thats about all we burn in this area. It keeps me plenty warm on 10 below zero night and will last most of the night. Plenty of coals left in the morning. Most of the opinions you get about cottonwood are from people who have heard about it not actually burned it!

 

[NeoTree]

I'll burn cottonwood too. I'm really surprised how many intellegent people won't touch it. Sure if you got a bunch of hard wood you can ####can the cotton wood, but if its all you got burn away my friend.

I'd guess maybe 2-3 cords worth in that tree????
Purely a guess

 

[billsnogo]

I had one about the same size taken down a year and a half ago, they took the trunk, but I kept the rest and am still splitting it

I am doing it by hand since I am a tight arse, but trust me, use a log splitter, you will be MUCH happier. It tends to act like a sponge when I split it. I use an 8 pound splitting maul and sometimes it just sucks it right in

I learned to never go for the center of a large log, try and wittle it away by hitting 4" or so from the outside and keep at it.

stuff burns fast when dry, but is just fine for my fire pit outside

 

[mowoodchopper]

I had one about the same size taken down a year and a half ago, they took the trunk, but I kept the rest and am still splitting it

I am doing it by hand since I am a tight arse, but trust me, use a log splitter, you will be MUCH happier. It tends to act like a sponge when I split it. I use an 8 pound splitting maul and sometimes it just sucks it right in

I learned to never go for the center of a large log, try and wittle it away by hitting 4" or so from the outside and keep at it.

stuff burns fast when dry, but is just fine for my fire pit outside

The best cottonwood is dead standing with the bark off, it will pop when you split it , not like a sponge.

 

[jropo]

If green split when it's sub-zero this winter, all the water will be frozen.
Then mix with hard wood, stack with hard wood on the ends( when cottonwood dries out it becomes very light, and your stack will fall over:bang
then burn next winter.
Dry cotton wood burns fast and hot, and the hard wood will last long and give you better coals.

So if that tree gives you 3-4 cord of softwood, well mixed would be 6-8.

But I wouldn't cut it, worth every bit of fall clean up on a 90 degree day in the summer.

You will miss that tree!

 

[billsnogo]

The best cottonwood is dead standing with the bark off, it will pop when you split it , not like a sponge.

tell that to my logs

I strip off the bark (comes off easily) and put it up on another log I have used to raise them, take a big swing and about 25% of the time it just sucks it in. I then take a sledge hammer and whack at the back of the maul and it still fights me. Heck, there are many times I have to rip it apart by hand since it has split most of the way but keeps hanging on since it is so stringy.

Not bashing the wood, just saying it ain't easy :bang:

(reminds me I need to go out and split some more as I just added 60+ logs to the pile from other trees after I am done with the cottonwood :check: )

 

[mowoodchopper]

tell that to my logs

I strip off the bark (comes off easily) and put it up on another log I have used to raise them, take a big swing and about 25% of the time it just sucks it in. I then take a sledge hammer and whack at the back of the maul and it still fights me. Heck, there are many times I have to rip it apart by hand since it has split most of the way but keeps hanging on since it is so stringy.

Not bashing the wood, just saying it ain't easy :bang:

(reminds me I need to go out and split some more as I just added 60+ logs to the pile from other trees after I am done with the cottonwood :check: )

lmao you need a wood splitter, I dont use a maul anymore!

 

[billsnogo]

lmao you need a wood splitter, I dont use a maul anymore!

I tend to work harder, not smarter....I need to stop that. Actually after these logs, I don't think I will ever need camp fire wood ever again :monkey:

 

[mowoodchopper]

I tend to work harder, not smarter....I need to stop that. Actually after these logs, I don't think I will ever need camp fire wood ever again :monkey:

It can be a ***** to split by hand!