Let's Discuss Mulberry

[jrider]

I really like it. More btus than most oaks.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Mulberry is great fuelwood and it grows like a weed here in PA. It was introduced many years ago to help with the silk industry but it didn't quite work, but it is very plentiful and like was said splitting it green is much easier than when it is drier. Sparks a lot and I always thought that was because of moisture pockets and it can REALLY put on a spark show at times, but throws a lot of heat, great stuff!

 

[JeffHK454]

Mulberry is great fuelwood and it grows like a weed here in PA. It was introduced many years ago to help with the silk industry but it didn't quite work, but it is very plentiful and like was said splitting it green is much easier than when it is drier. Sparks a lot and I always thought that was because of moisture pockets and it can REALLY put on a spark show at times, but throws a lot of heat, great stuff!

Yep..the sparks come from moisture trapped in the cells of the wood fiber. I've burned a bunch of it over the years and never miss any opportunity to get more.

The berries makes for bright purple bird crap and I own two white trucks so every Mulberry I cut down is one less weekend washing pickups.

 

[Deleted member 149229]

Mulberry is great fuelwood and it grows like a weed here in PA. It was introduced many years ago to help with the silk industry but it didn't quite work, but it is very plentiful and like was said splitting it green is much easier than when it is drier. Sparks a lot and I always thought that was because of moisture pockets and it can REALLY put on a spark show at times, but throws a lot of heat, great stuff!

Around my area mulberry is almost as rare as a live ash tree. As a kid I can remember waiting for the neighbors tree to start dropping ripe berries, it was to big to climb with no low branches. Loved those berries.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I have a few mulberry tree's here close to the house, I really like the berry's, so they aren't going to be firewood any time soon!

SR

 

[sbhooper]

I like both the wood and the berries!

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Around my area mulberry is almost as rare as a live ash tree. As a kid I can remember waiting for the neighbors tree to start dropping ripe berries, it was to big to climb with no low branches. Loved those berries.

There used to be a Mulberry tree on the corner of my grandmother's property and when I would cut her grass I would always take a handful when I made a swipe past it, they tasted good! But it also made it hazardous because if they were on the ground it was very easy to slip on them, I used to envision me falling under the push mower lol!

 

[Cody]

I've got a small one, 8-10", that I cut a few years ago and have burned, but never solely in the stove. Never noticed a lot of sparking. The largest one we have is right over the chicken coop, grows primarily to the east because there is a large oak triplet not 4' to the west of it. I'm thinking about cutting the mulberry down though, as we have enough that produce berries, and a whole lot of young ones around the property as well. It's nice though, pick the berries off by the fence and feed them to the goats/horse.

 

[Deleted member 149229]

I've got a small one, 8-10", that I cut a few years ago and have burned, but never solely in the stove. Never noticed a lot of sparking. The largest one we have is right over the chicken coop, grows primarily to the east because there is a large oak triplet not 4' to the west of it. I'm thinking about cutting the mulberry down though, as we have enough that produce berries, and a whole lot of young ones around the property as well. It's nice though, pick the berries off by the fence and feed them to the goats/horse.

You waste the berries on horses and goats!!! Sacrilege!

 

[Cody]

You waste the berries on horses and goats!!! Sacrilege!

Handfuls here and there.
The tree produces rather well.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I'm taking pics tomorrow of the drop-off load from my logger friend who worked his butt off Friday and delivered a bunch to my work site with his picker truck. He said that he also included some elm and hackberry for salt and pepper. Sight unseen, I gave him two thumbs up today on Easter Sunday. I am now sharpening chains for my Stihl 026 PRO, Husky 353, Makita 520i, and Stihl MS361. That should do it. But, if anyone sees any other saw that I need in my artillery for producing lots of rounds to split, please advise,

 

[Wood Doctor]

As promised, here are a pair of Pics of the pile dropped off by the logger from slightly different angles:

Note how fast these images loaded on your machine. I made an MS Word file, printed it to Adobe Illustrator, removed the margins, and saved it as a JPG. That procedure shrank the two image files by a factor of twenty.

Some hackberry, elm, and cottonwood also arrived. I already bucked the cottonwood to length as shown to the left of the pile on the pallets. In all, I estimate 10 to 12 cords of splits will emerge from all of this. Does $350 for this collection seem reasonable?

 

[Guswhit]

I have split quite a bit of Mulberry for my camp fire bundles. I have mixed emotions on this. Here is what I have noticed in my area.
I can appreciate the heat it gives off as well when I have used it for my OWB.
The larger trees around here tend to grow not so straight and have lots of limbs so it can be a little painful to cut and split uniform pieces. I also see lots of areas in the logs that have had wounds or the little branches die and these areas seem to create places that ants seem to love. I have had a lot of this wood when split show huge colonies of ants in. Really sucks if you happen to carry it inside and the little buggers warm up and start moving around. I keep all of it outside for campfire wood only now. It dries pretty fast and gives off a fairly pleasant odor for the campers.

 

[bowtechmadman]

I remember eating the berries as a kid from the neighbors tree!! Never had any experience burning it. Wood Doc I think I'd break out one of the larger saws for that pile (Poulan 4k, Stihl 046/660). I think you are a bit heavy on the small 50ish CC in the 353/026/520i for this cutting adventure.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I remember eating the berries as a kid from the neighbors tree!! Never had any experience burning it. Wood Doc I think I'd break out one of the larger saws for that pile (Poulan 4k, Stihl 046/660). I think you are a bit heavy on the small 50ish CC in the 353/026/520i for this cutting adventure.

Good advice, especially for the bigger logs on the far end. I was able to cut about 20% of the pile yesterday with my Husky 353 and an 18" bar. My strategy will be to keep using that or my Makita 520i until I run into some big boys. That's when I'll pull out my Echo CS-670 or my 064 AV that's begging for attention. That Poulan 4k is a dandy, underrated saw. An older, retired friend gave that to me last year and all it needed was a new choke lever that I made in my shop:


A sawyer friend with an Alaskan sawmill has shown some interest in taking down one of the large logs for drying and woodworking. He likes figured wood for making furniture items and Mulberry is like a domestic exotic. No sawmills around here process and sell it. He uses a Makita 6421 with a 32" bar whenever he rip cuts.

So, my work is cut out for me. And, BTW, I've tried burning some of the dry limbs in the pile after I cut those to 18" lengths. So far, they produce pure, unadulterated heat and throw very few sparks in my Federal Airtight 288 stove. The stove is getting a great draft from the wind and gobbling them up like gum drops.

 

[lindnova]

I think native black mulberry is native and white mulberry (prolific weed) was imported for silk. Now we have hybrids driving us nuts with the prolific nature.

I have some big ones that I figure are living stock for firewood for the year I don't find enough dead trees. I am still trying to find a good use for the berries. Not good on ice cream. I should try to get my wife to make pie or we could do wine?

As far as burning I haven't done much but like it. I threw on a 8" round on the campfire last summer for fun and we all had to back for a while up after it got going. I remember someone burned their sweatshirt on an ember...

 

[farmer steve]

Good advice, especially for the bigger logs on the far end. I was able to cut about 20% of the pile yesterday with my Husky 353 and an 18" bar. My strategy will be to keep using that or my Makita 520i until I run into some big boys. That's when I'll pull out my Echo CS-670 or my 064 AV that's begging for attention. That Poulan 4k is a dandy, underrated saw. An older, retired friend gave that to me last year and all it needed was a new choke lever that I made in my shop:
View attachment 644068

A sawyer friend with an Alaskan sawmill has shown some interest in taking down one of the large logs for drying and woodworking. He likes figured wood for making furniture items and Mulberry is like a domestic exotic. No sawmills around here process and sell it. He uses a Makita 6421 with a 32" bar whenever he rip cuts.

So, my work is cut out for me. And, BTW, I've tried burning some of the dry limbs in the pile after I cut those to 18" lengths. So far, they produce pure, unadulterated heat and throw very few sparks in my Federal Airtight 288 stove. The stove is getting a great draft from the wind and gobbling them up like gum drops.

nice poulan Doc. don't think i'd cut with it .did you add that handgauard? looks different from others i have seen.

 

[Wood Doctor]

nice poulan Doc. don't think i'd cut with it. Did you add that handguard? looks different from others i have seen.

Nope, that's the handguard the original owner gave me with the saw. I think he said the year he bought it was 1979. However, it it could be that the original guard broke and the dealer replaced it with this one. I recall that I may have upgraded the fuel lines while I was at it and made a couple of carb adjustments. That was it. The saw fired after it had sat in a garage for six years unused. Needless to say, I was in disbelief.

 

[farmer steve]

Nope, that's the handguard the original owner gave me with the saw. I think he said the year he bought it was 1979. However, it it could be that the original guard broke and the dealer replaced it with this one. I recall that I may have upgraded the fuel lines while I was at it and made a couple of carb adjustments. That was it. The saw fired after it had sat in a garage for six years unused. Needless to say, I was in disbelief.

looking at the acres site it says the saw was introduced in 1983. here's the pic they have. the handgaurd on this one looks like the one on my 5200 that's why i asked if it was original. thanks

 

[Wood Doctor]

looking at the acres site it says the saw was introduced in 1983. here's the pic they have. the handguard on this one looks like the one on my 5200 that's why i asked if it was original. thanks

Quite a difference. But, they are two different model numbers. Regardless, I suspect mine is quite possibly a replacement handle. I'll ask the original owner and see what he has to say about it. Meanwhile, let me cut some of this big mulberry with it. I hate chain saws sitting around in retirement and not being used, especially when they have already proven that they run well and are good to go.