burning/splitting poplar

[woodlumn]

Hi there,

I've found a lot of great info on this site, but this is my first post.

I recently became the recipient of a lot of tulip poplar. about a dumptruck's worth of it! I've read that this isn't the best burning wood, but I've also read that it's not bad, especially if it's free.

So I've got two questions:

1. What are your opinions on burning tulip poplar? (I heat my home with an outdoor wood furnace.)


2. The wood is cut up as 6" thick discs (about 24" diameter). What is the best way to split and stack this stuff?

Thanks for your advice!

 

[mga]

i've cut and split poplar...not tulip poplar, but poplar trees. they burn quick and hot as long as they are seasoned right.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Let them dry a little, lay them on the ground and smack them with a sledge or maul. Youll wind up with 2 big D shaped pieces that will fit in your OWB and will burn for a while due to their thickness.



.

 

[woodlumn]

Thanks for the advice!

I figured the "D" shape would be the answer.

Any tips on how to stack those Ds for proper seasoning?

 

[Wood Scrounge]

I burn a lot of tulip poplar it burns hot and fast as long as it's dry.

 

[hydro2]

I have burnt a great deal of it also. Not oak, but does fine.

 

[Husky137]

Poplar will pretty much split just by looking at it. I wouldn't bother stacking it, you'll be too busy shoveling it into the OWB. But free wood is free wood.

 

[doubletodd]

ditto don't know of a way to stack those, throw in apile and burn

 

[acer saccharum]

However you pile it up, keep the cut faces apart so it can dry.

Free heat is.. free. I has several years worth of poplar at one point and my oil bill was close to zero. But it definitely burns pretty quick. You will be going outside to reload your burner quite a bit if that is all you have to burn.

 

[woodlumn]

well, I've got a dump truck and a half's worth of these poplar cookies here, and about two cords worth of free pine as well.

I got pretty excited with all this free stuff, but now I think I'll get pickier and limit the next couple of scores to just hardwoods...figure I can mix it all together and be alright!

 

[buckwheat]

Try to keep your poplar off the ground and dry while it is seasoning; otherwise it'll start sprouting fungus all over.

 

[Zodiac45]

I have burnt a great deal of it also. Not oak, but does fine.

LOL Oak it ain't! I got some red oak (big stuff) that was on the ground for 2 years. After bucking and splitting it, I still seasoned it for an additional 2 years and am burning it now mixed with some hot burning tamerack. It's just perfect and makes a nice big bed of coals.

 

[habanero]

Poplar will pretty much split just by looking at it.

You must have some different poplar from what I got (at least the arborist I got it from called it poplar). The stuff I have is insanely difficult to split (mind you this is using a maul). To put it one way, a couple months ago I had a pile of green elm and the pile of poplar to split. I'd already started enough on the poplar to know better, and chose the elm.

 

[bama]

I just started cutting up some blowdowns in the back from a storm over a year ago. I had already cut the base from the stump and it was still wet when trying to burn it. White poplar is what we have here(that is the color). Maybe it is Quaking Aspen?? It was even sitting off the ground.

I will burn it since I really need it. I am out of my seasoned wood in the garage.

 

[Wood Scrounge]

You must have some different poplar from what I got (at least the arborist I got it from called it poplar). The stuff I have is insanely difficult to split (mind you this is using a maul). To put it one way, a couple months ago I had a pile of green elm and the pile of poplar to split. I'd already started enough on the poplar to know better, and chose the elm.

hmm, the tulip poplar I burn will split if I just stare at it long enough.

 

[RaisedByWolves]

Yep, the Poplar just pops apart.



When my nephew and his buddies come to split they allways want to try the axe for some fun. I go to the pile and select a huge round of pop and whack it up in no time.


Then I set a chunk of Sycamore or Oak up and let them hack at it for an hour, all the while telling them their just weak.:greenchainsaw:



.

 

[habanero]

hmm, the tulip poplar I burn will split if I just stare at it long enough.

It's quite possible this stuff isn't poplar, then. This is the first poplar I've ever been around and all that was left was the trunk sections (so no leaves or seeds to go by for ID). Since the guy had been through all the arborist training, I assumed he knew what he was talking about, but then again I know a lot of educated idiots (comes from working at universities most of my career).

Whatever the stuff is, it is insanely difficult to split and is just going to sit there until I bring Dad's splitter back the next time I'm home.

 

[Geez]

It's quite possible this stuff isn't poplar, then. This is the first poplar I've ever been around and all that was left was the trunk sections (so no leaves or seeds to go by for ID). Since the guy had been through all the arborist training, I assumed he knew what he was talking about, but then again I know a lot of educated idiots (comes from working at universities most of my career).

Whatever the stuff is, it is insanely difficult to split and is just going to sit there until I bring Dad's splitter back the next time I'm home.

Well, I took down a huge, dead poplar tree last fall and it sure didn't split easy. Kinda tore apart, leaving jagged sawtooth edges to the splits. I've split some stuff from younger trees that split nice, but the main part of that biggun was a bear. And I used to be in the tree care business, so I know my trees. Definitely poplar.

 

[habanero]

Well, I took down a huge, dead poplar tree last fall and it sure didn't split easy. Kinda tore apart, leaving jagged sawtooth edges to the splits. I've split some stuff from younger trees that split nice, but the main part of that biggun was a bear. And I used to be in the tree care business, so I know my trees. Definitely poplar.

How you describe it splitting is what I'm seeing with the stuff I have. It doesn't so much split as tear apart-but it's not stringy like elm. Harder than he!! too; the maul sort of bounces off the first several hits (13lb monster maul). This trunk I have is probably around 16" DBH, so it's an older tree.

 

[acer saccharum]

This thread inspired me to open up my tree identification book. There are multiple unrelated trees that are commonly called Poplar. So it is quite possible that everybody has correctly identified their wood.

The only gripe I have about my book, I forget the title but it is published by Audubon, is that it does not describe the wood. It has the bark, leaves, flowers fruit and sketch of the tree, but no cut wood.