List or table of woods and their cutting difficulty, green and dry

[NHden]

Can anyone point me to such a list? I'm interested mostly in New England woods but all of East coast or the entire country would be nice.

 

[capetrees]

Wouldn't it depend on the chain you're using?

 

[NHden]

Yes and that's where it would be good to know the best tooth profile for a given job. But that's probably not in a chart anywhere.

Just a newbie to tree cutting here. Years of wood and metal working but trees are different to me.

Are Janka ratings of any use? I'm guessing not since they are an impact test for hardness. This may tell little about how easily (or not) the wood fibers cut.

 

[HansFranz]

I bet a table showing density (weight per unit of volume) would track pretty close to how hard various woods are to cut. For example, black locust is very dense, and it's also very hard.

IIRC, the heat value of wood, in BTUs per cord or other unit of volume, also tracks closely with density of the (dry) wood. In other words, most (dry) firewood species have about the same number of BTUs per pound, with the exception of real resinous species like pine.

https://firewoodresource.com/firewood-btu-ratings/
In the tables on that page, it looks like among Eastern woods, the densest is osage orange (I think some people call it "hedge"). I've never cut that wood...is it hard to cut? Anyone know?

 

[MacAttack]

There's some stuff around here in Western NY my dad calls "Ironwood", I did a little research and sounds like it's Eastern Ironwood, the smaller trees have this sort of smooth, twisted appearance, it's pretty dern tough stuff.

 

[northmanlogging]

Can anyone point me to such a list? I'm interested mostly in New England woods but all of East coast or the entire country would be nice.

https://www.precisebits.com/reference/relative_hardness_table.htm

 

[northmanlogging]

though, dry vs green are totally different with most woods, madrone for example very hard when dry, cuts like butter when green. So... some extrapolation might be necessary

 

[grizz55chev]

though, dry vs green are totally different with most woods, madrone for example very hard when dry, cuts like butter when green. So... some extrapolation might be necessary

Madrone is my pick for the best firewood available in my area of the central Sierras, burns hot and clean, leaves very little ash. Splits nice when green,not so nice when dry!

 

[NHden]

https://www.precisebits.com/reference/relative_hardness_table.htm

Thanks, hadn't found a list that complete.

 

[RADeHaven]

I bet a table showing density (weight per unit of volume) would track pretty close to how hard various woods are to cut. For example, black locust is very dense, and it's also very hard.

IIRC, the heat value of wood, in BTUs per cord or other unit of volume, also tracks closely with density of the (dry) wood. In other words, most (dry) firewood species have about the same number of BTUs per pound, with the exception of real resinous species like pine.

https://firewoodresource.com/firewood-btu-ratings/
In the tables on that page, it looks like among Eastern woods, the densest is osage orange (I think some people call it "hedge"). I've never cut that wood...is it hard to cut? Anyone know?

Osage orange cuts like concrete with re-bar. It has nasty thorns. One of the few woods where I have seen sparks come off the chain while cutting the green wood. While cutting, sharpen the chain every tank of gas or even half tank.

Advise arborist to not take jobs that involve this species.

Instead, call in someone with a D6 cat tractor, push them over, pile them up, and burn them. Poison any sprouts or seedlings.

Find these trees on older farm land where they where used as wind break or hedge to confine cattle before barbed wire was available (so I have been told by old timers).

 

[bwalker]

Density and thus hardness also greatly depends on how fast the tree grew. For instance the lake effect snow belt regions of New York and MI have very hard dense wood, that is on average a little harder than what one would expect.
I have also cut old growth Douglas Fir and it cuts tougher than second or third growth DF.

 

[nygrappler]

There's some stuff around here in Western NY my dad calls "Ironwood", I did a little research and sounds like it's Eastern Ironwood, the smaller trees have this sort of smooth, twisted appearance, it's pretty dern tough stuff.

Where abouts are you? I’m in Boston, NY

 

[HansFranz]

Density and thus hardness also greatly depends on how fast the tree grew.

I remember talking to a Virginia sawmill operator about some green lumber I was buying from him, and he said that hardwoods like oak seemed to get "better" the further north you went and softwoods (mainly YP) better the further south you went.

Also, in searching for the site I posted above listing densities and BTU values of various woods, I found a page that claimed that faster-growing wood was usually more dense/hard than slower-growing wood, which makes zero sense to me...I tried to backtrack to check where I read this, but couldn't find it. Sounds backwards to me.

 

[MacAttack]

Where abouts are you? I’m in Boston, NY

Haha I'm your neighbor! East Eden Rd., North Boston / East Eden

 

[MacAttack]

I remember talking to a Virginia sawmill operator about some green lumber I was buying from him, and he said that hardwoods like oak seemed to get "better" the further north you went and softwoods (mainly YP) better the further south you went.

Also, in searching for the site I posted above listing densities and BTU values of various woods, I found a page that claimed that faster-growing wood was usually more dense/hard than slower-growing wood, which makes zero sense to me...I tried to backtrack to check where I read this, but couldn't find it. Sounds backwards to me.

Agreed, any fast growing trees I can think of are very soft.
I wonder if it meant "hardwoods that are able to grow faster" are more dense?

 

[bwalker]

I remember talking to a Virginia sawmill operator about some green lumber I was buying from him, and he said that hardwoods like oak seemed to get "better" the further north you went and softwoods (mainly YP) better the further south you went.

Also, in searching for the site I posted above listing densities and BTU values of various woods, I found a page that claimed that faster-growing wood was usually more dense/hard than slower-growing wood, which makes zero sense to me...I tried to backtrack to check where I read this, but couldn't find it. Sounds backwards to me.

Slower growing wood is more dense.
Even with Douglas Fir. The stuff you cutvat 9000' is heavier than the stuff found at 3000'.

 

[MacAttack]

Slower growing wood is more dense.
Even with Douglas Fir. The stuff you cutvat 9000' is heavier than the stuff found at 3000'.

That seems more intuitive for sure, I haven't had the opportunity to test it since it's relatively flat here.

 

[HumBurner]

Madrone is my pick for the best firewood available in my area of the central Sierras, burns hot and clean, leaves very little ash. Splits nice when green,not so nice when dry!

Aside from live oak, it has the highest BTU ratings, with tan oak/pecan/chinquapin, and Manzanita being some of the next in line.....for out/up here

Live oak is pretty much the top dog.

 

[HumBurner]

Slower growing wood is more dense.
Even with Douglas Fir. The stuff you cutvat 9000' is heavier than the stuff found at 3000'.

Dense doug-fir limb wood burns as good as hardwood and leaves coals.

Occasionally we prune or do cleanup on old-growth firs (NOT large meadow-firs with fat ring-gaps) and all grab a little to take home.


I see people put tons of time.and energy into processing 3-4' dia meadow-firs that have piss-poor btu because they think any large tree is quality. 40-70 year old big trees aren't hardly worth a damn.

 

[Jonny Quest]

Osage orange and Ironwood.