Poplar as firewood

[Elone]

Hi everyone! I am a newbie here. I get firewood for two households so I dont pass up any usable wood. I have access to a couple large just cut down poplar trees. I have heard that they are not so good to burn, however my thought is that wood is wood as long as it is dry, it will burn. Some wood will burn better than others. My question is whether anyone here has any prior experience with poplar? Do you have to let it dry for two or more years or is there anything about poplar that makes it unusable?

 

[yooper]

It burns fine just hot and fast....its gofer wood, always have to go for more to throw it in the stove. If its easy to get I would take it. like ya said wood is wood. just mix it in with hard wood or burn in in the spring and fall just to warm up the house in the mornen. it wont leave coals burnen all day.

 

[Elone]

Thanks yooper. I just didnt want to put a lot of time into it if it wasnt any good for some unknown reason. I'll split and stack it separately, maybe use some for kindling. Thanks again.

 

[S Mc]

As you are in New York, I am unsure whether you are talking about what we would call cottonwood, Populus deltoides or the yellow poplar, Liriodendron tulipifera, found back east.

However, we use cottonwood alot. As said, it is wood and it burns. We heat and cook with wood. Makes great kindling, starter fires, if baking will hold the stove at an even temperature without getting too hot. Puts a good bed of ash to hold hard wood coals through the night. And, again as said, makes a quick fire for those days when you don't want to heat up the house excessively.

Go for it.

Sylvia

 

[DocDryden]

as long as it is FREE its good wood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it burns fast and hot.

 

[Elone]

I believe it is cottonwood (yellow poplar) because that is what I heard someone else call it and turned their nose up at it. I appreciate your input. Man is that stuff heavy when wet. It is a good thing I have a dump trailer. I am making sure all the rounds are on their side after being dumped. Last year my brother got about 4 full cords of oak and maple from an estate his friend was caretaker of and he left alot of it standing up in the dirt. When I went to help him split it last fall alot of it was still very wet. I may be new at it but I learn fast LOL.

 

[Hlakegollum]

I believe it is cottonwood (yellow poplar) because that is what I heard someone else call it and turned their nose up at it. I appreciate your input. Man is that stuff heavy when wet. It is a good thing I have a dump trailer. I am making sure all the rounds are on their side after being dumped. Last year my brother got about 4 full cords of oak and maple from an estate his friend was caretaker of and he left alot of it standing up in the dirt. When I went to help him split it last fall alot of it was still very wet. I may be new at it but I learn fast LOL.

Try to keep it dry, I had some rot after about a year outside. In the woodshed it really gets light. I use it to start fires and spring/fall heating.

 

[Toddppm]

Yooper's got it, stuff burns fine, just need alot of it. I just about ran out of wood and split some Poplar up right after I took it down in January, sap was down so it dried pretty fast and we've just about burned a cord of it since then. The pieces I didn't split at the time I split this past weekend and won't be able to use it this winter since it's almost over.
I would try ot burn it by next winter though I doubt it will last past next winter before it starts rotting unless you have it split/dry and covered.

Oh, I'm talking Tulip Poplar not Cottonwood, might go even faster if the latter.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

We use cottonwood because that's what we have. My experiences:

Small logs, under 12", will dry fairly quickly, as long as the bark is off. The larger ones will stay wet for a year or two unless you block them up. Blocked up, they will dry enough to split in a couple of months. Cottonwood is notoriously hard to split when wet. I don't even try it unless I have to.

Keep a full log off the ground and it will last three years or more. On the ground, even in this arid climate, and they'll rot in a year.

Heat value isn't that good, cottonwood weighs about 40 lbs per cubic ft. But it burns clean and hot, and doesn't produce all that much ash. One cord of cottonwood produces a 30 gallon trash can full of ash.

I can throw one full round about 6" or 7" on top of two or three splits at bedtime, and have coals at 6:00 am.

 

[Joshlaugh]

I burned a fair amount of yellow poplar(tulip) this year. I thought it burned fine, I kept it in larger pieces since it does burn faster than say an oak, hickory, or maple. I don't burn cottonwood. Big picture, you have two houses to heat and the wood is free, I would go for it.

 

[371groundie]

you are kind of correct.

oven dry pound for oven dry pound all cellulose has the same BTUs per pound. but it takes alot more space to fit a pound of poplar than a pound oak. only exception is that some softwoods have higher BTUs per pound because of the resins in the wood.

poplar will burn well enough. as has been said hot and fast burn. grandpa called it biscuit wood.

 

[bigoakhunter]

Popple gives alot of heat

I have had the luxury of having burning all hardwood ( oak, ash, maple ) for last 2 years. Before that we burnt 50% hardwwood and 50% Popular. The popular was u when starting or mixed in and provided good heat, but did nt last nearly as long as hardwood!

 

[Vangellis]

The poplar I've cut really reeks when fresh. I call it the "poopy" wood. Stringy and tough to split too. After it dried it smelled ok and burn't well, but as said, fast.

Kevin

 

[willsaw4beer]

I hate poplars, I'd rather burn pallets.

 

[yooper]

The poplar I've cut really reeks when fresh. I call it the "poopy" wood. Stringy and tough to split too. After it dried it smelled ok and burn't well, but as said, fast.

.

Kevin

ever notice some poplar also smell like fruit loops when cut

 

[savageactor7]

It's great as a shoulder season wood.

One year many moons ago we heated all year with poplar. Had to throw in wood every 25-35 minutes. Yeah it saved us fuel oil but I would not recommend that be your sole source of wood.

Also it's a good wood first thing in the morning in a cold house.

 

[abohac]

I burn a ton of it. It's better to split it and stack it off the ground (seems to rot under the bark if not split) Dry it for at least a year. It's not oak but it works for me.

 

[Ductape]

I burn poplar along with the rest of my hardwood. I wouldn't rush out for a full load of it, but I'll always take it along with other wood. I always say..... if its free, its for me !

 

[Knotdodger]

It last's longer than pine. That's all my dad burnt was "popple" when I was young. It always heated our house here in michigan with no problem. I would like
oak, beech, and some locust. But when your cutting free
wood the "good wood" is hard to come by. Like some of
you guys said "free wood is good wood......

 

[markt45]

I heat around 2000 square feet of house, a 32 x 40 garage all winter and a pool all summer with an OWB, a buddy of mine owns a tree business and dumps the wood he cant sell in my yard, lots of pine, poplar. I burn my fair share of wood during the year and prefer red oak or hard maple. in the 5 years since i was a newbie and wouldnt burn anything but oak or maple, i have changed my ways, two rules i live by now with an OWB #1 Never turn down free wood and rule #2 Well just refer back to rule number one if you ever get confused. Some days just have to make more trips out to the "dragon" i call it and feed him more. Keep him fed and keep the wife warm and everyone is happy.