Beech as firewood? Any good?

[JUDGE1162]

I am trying to impliment a forrest management plan I had done resently for timber production

One of the reccomendations in the report was to remove numberous beech trees from my property to help more profitable timber grow. No problem I'll cut them down this spring but the question is is beech any good as firewood I see by the firewood charts on the board it has a high BTU per cord rating but like many thing in life there is more to firewood then what is in a chart.

How well does it season, split (I split by hand so this become important), anything else I should know.


The many issue is these beech trees is they are not close to my house and not close to any trails so it means hauling it out of the brush, there are 10 good size trees with about 4 or 5 cords of wood in them. so basically are beech trees worth all the work, I presently burn a lot of oak and soft maple which are accessible on the property.

 

[ghitch75]

burns good and hot and hell on chains!

 

[trimmmed]

good stuff!

 

[NORTHERN NYer]

Excellent firewood. Not much oak around here, sugar maple and beech is prime stuff for our area. I prefer beech over maple, much cleaner, I will take all I can get my hands on. Usually splits pretty decent especially if frozen.

 

[Jimfound]

Never burned it but from everything I've read, Beech is great. High water content may mean more time to season. Also read it may tend to spark. Looks like its relatively easy to split and burns great. Does anyone know if beech is an "aroma" wood? I think I remember hearing beech has a pleasant spearmint type smell. Anyway - wish I had some.

 

[046]

where's gypo?

seems like he's split a ton of beech by hand..

 

[wmthrower]

Beech is a great wood to burn. Tough to split sometimes. It also good for the wildlife. I don't have any oak where I am so the beechnuts are a main food supply for deer, turkeys, squirrels. etc

 

[MS-310]

I think i mite be right on this but I think it makes very little ash also.
Lots of heat and no ash.....Cant be bad.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Excellent wood! Burns with a bright, lively flame. Throws very good heat!

 

[TooTall999]

Nope..you don't want it for firewood...I'll take it off your hands :hmm3grin2orange: Seriously though it's excellent firewood,and if you have some nice sawlogs,they may bring a decent price.

 

[begleytree]

IMO, hard to find a better firewood than Beech. great trees too, my favourite actually. I'd take Beech for firewood over Oak anyday.
-Ralph

 

[MikeHammer]

Also really good for smoking food!

 

[stihl 440]

beech

Beech is excellent firewood. If you have any clear sawlogs of it , it has some preety nice grain, and price. It also smells good when it burns.:hmm3grin2orange: :biggrinbounce2:

 

[JUDGE1162]

They are not saw log quality which is why the forrester wants them removed so that the maple and cherry around them can get better light and have some room

Thanks for all the info, I look forward to trying some

 

[GRAYSTONE]

Beech Firewood - Good Stuff

I get alot of beech logs in my loads and I find it very good to burn. I find it cuts ok but the chips from the chain seems to be much smaller than say cutting maple or gold birch. Must be because it is harder wood. It splits easy when frozen but can be tough when you get near a branch.
I am getting beech logs from 15" to 22" in diameter. See picture. Beech are the large logs.
Thanks
Andrew

 

[Full Skip]

It is great firewood. Like mentioned earlier, it is also great for wildlife, from the nuts to the catkins, just about every game animal makes use of something. It is just great wood period. I am a hunter, so I would be inclined to leave them standing. If I absolutely had to take them down, I wouldn't burn them. I'd cut timbers out of them.