cwatkin
ArboristSite Member
I recently moved to the country and plan to burn wood for the majority of my heating needs. I live in the Ozarks of Missouri so there are a lot of good hardwood trees available. This year, I bought a place with some fired wood included but don't feel this will be enough for the entire winter. I have been cutting standing deads and blowdowns from my property and it seems that some of the standing deads don't take more than a month of so to cure nicely. I was wondering if there are any trees I should just avoid at all costs as well as trees that make good firewood, especially of one doesn't have a ton of time to wait for them to cure. I have compiled a list of stuff I find commonly available.
1. Red oak - seems like a great wood when cured but takes a while to cure. As for something that is common around here, I think this is one of the best.
2. White oak - seems good but I prefer red oak. I know a few people who like this while others say it is just junk wood. If I had my choice, there are other better woods, but what if it is good and plentiful?
3. Black oak - this seems to rate somewhere between red and white oak from my burning experience
4. Elm - standing deads with no bark are great for hot but quick heat after being stacked and cured for a short time. Anything not well cured is not worth trying to burn and will not give any heat and just smoke/burn very slowly.
5. Hickory - great wood but takes a while to cure
6. Black walnut - I know this is supposed to be valuable but is it worth trying to sell for just one or two trees? I just cutup a nice one that had blown over but how would I go about selling it for lumber? Again, this one looks like it will take a while to cure.
7. Persimmon - I have a friend who is clearing fields and gave me a bunch of this. I understand it takes a while to cure but it EXCEPTIONAL firewood once dry.
8. Boxelder - This seems like a junk tree to me but it appears to cure quick and provide hot but very quick heat. I recently got some of this from the same guy clearing fields and took it just to be nice. He gave me LOTS of other very good wood such as oaks, hickory, persimmon, etc. and I know that me taking this sames him time and effort.
9. Silver maple - this seems to be one of the big three for falling or losing limbs in wind, snow, ice, etc. It is junk wood from an ugly junk tree but I have taken some to be nice and it does burn hot but quick after curing.
10. Bradford Pear (and similar) - These are another tree that is lousy for holding up long term and is another of the big three for falling over/breaking around here. Again this isn't one I would choose and I understand these have now been classified as a non-native noxious/invasive weed by several agencies.
11. River birch - Why do people even bother planting these? These are right up there with Bradford Pears for breaking under any load and are probably the top of the big three for falling down in wind or anything else.
12. Cedar - I don't really like burning this but there are tons of these on my property and a bunch that have been piled up during the clearing of a powerline. I kinda want to get rid of these as a view all this downed wood as a fire hazard but know it isn't the best to burn. I have burned some that is well cured and it burns quick and hot but the overall BTU content is like 1/3 of a decent hardwood. I like mixing a bit of this in my woodpile as it seems to keep a lot of bugs and critters from taking up residence in my woodpile but hate thinking that all that space being taken up by cedar has 1/3 the energy of some other wood that is plentiful around here. The hot burning nature of this makes it useful when starting a fire.
13. Black locust - I have a little of this on my property including some that was down already. I cut and stacked this but burned a rotten piece. Even the rotten pieces burned very well and put out lots of heat. This was spongy, punky wood and I would have thrown it off into the woods had it not been dry. I figured why not if it was there and I just wanted to get rid of it.
I have TONS of downed cedar on my property and want to get rid of some to prevent a big fire hazard. There are also good hardwoods in this pile and I am working on getting them cut. How should one handle the cedars? Just cut a little at a time and mix it in/use it to start fires???
Are there any woods one should just avoid no matter how easy they are to obtain? The boxelder I took didn't really cost me and extra trip to the location with my truck but I was wondering if this is even worth my time. What woods are good for quick curing firewood, even if they aren't absolutely ideal? I kinda need some quick curing wood (2-3 months) for this winter and then I can plan better for next winter. I am going to use a bunch of the trees that have been pushed over for the powerline as many of them are suspended and partly seasoned already. There are a LOT of cedars and I don't know what to do with those but do want to get rid of them due to the fire hazard associated with all of these.
Thanks,
Conor
1. Red oak - seems like a great wood when cured but takes a while to cure. As for something that is common around here, I think this is one of the best.
2. White oak - seems good but I prefer red oak. I know a few people who like this while others say it is just junk wood. If I had my choice, there are other better woods, but what if it is good and plentiful?
3. Black oak - this seems to rate somewhere between red and white oak from my burning experience
4. Elm - standing deads with no bark are great for hot but quick heat after being stacked and cured for a short time. Anything not well cured is not worth trying to burn and will not give any heat and just smoke/burn very slowly.
5. Hickory - great wood but takes a while to cure
6. Black walnut - I know this is supposed to be valuable but is it worth trying to sell for just one or two trees? I just cutup a nice one that had blown over but how would I go about selling it for lumber? Again, this one looks like it will take a while to cure.
7. Persimmon - I have a friend who is clearing fields and gave me a bunch of this. I understand it takes a while to cure but it EXCEPTIONAL firewood once dry.
8. Boxelder - This seems like a junk tree to me but it appears to cure quick and provide hot but very quick heat. I recently got some of this from the same guy clearing fields and took it just to be nice. He gave me LOTS of other very good wood such as oaks, hickory, persimmon, etc. and I know that me taking this sames him time and effort.
9. Silver maple - this seems to be one of the big three for falling or losing limbs in wind, snow, ice, etc. It is junk wood from an ugly junk tree but I have taken some to be nice and it does burn hot but quick after curing.
10. Bradford Pear (and similar) - These are another tree that is lousy for holding up long term and is another of the big three for falling over/breaking around here. Again this isn't one I would choose and I understand these have now been classified as a non-native noxious/invasive weed by several agencies.
11. River birch - Why do people even bother planting these? These are right up there with Bradford Pears for breaking under any load and are probably the top of the big three for falling down in wind or anything else.
12. Cedar - I don't really like burning this but there are tons of these on my property and a bunch that have been piled up during the clearing of a powerline. I kinda want to get rid of these as a view all this downed wood as a fire hazard but know it isn't the best to burn. I have burned some that is well cured and it burns quick and hot but the overall BTU content is like 1/3 of a decent hardwood. I like mixing a bit of this in my woodpile as it seems to keep a lot of bugs and critters from taking up residence in my woodpile but hate thinking that all that space being taken up by cedar has 1/3 the energy of some other wood that is plentiful around here. The hot burning nature of this makes it useful when starting a fire.
13. Black locust - I have a little of this on my property including some that was down already. I cut and stacked this but burned a rotten piece. Even the rotten pieces burned very well and put out lots of heat. This was spongy, punky wood and I would have thrown it off into the woods had it not been dry. I figured why not if it was there and I just wanted to get rid of it.
I have TONS of downed cedar on my property and want to get rid of some to prevent a big fire hazard. There are also good hardwoods in this pile and I am working on getting them cut. How should one handle the cedars? Just cut a little at a time and mix it in/use it to start fires???
Are there any woods one should just avoid no matter how easy they are to obtain? The boxelder I took didn't really cost me and extra trip to the location with my truck but I was wondering if this is even worth my time. What woods are good for quick curing firewood, even if they aren't absolutely ideal? I kinda need some quick curing wood (2-3 months) for this winter and then I can plan better for next winter. I am going to use a bunch of the trees that have been pushed over for the powerline as many of them are suspended and partly seasoned already. There are a LOT of cedars and I don't know what to do with those but do want to get rid of them due to the fire hazard associated with all of these.
Thanks,
Conor