logbutcher
Addicted to ArboristSite
Our firewood harvest each year since '99 has been about 1/3 Red Maple, 1/3 Paper Birch, and the rest a mix of Red Oak (dead and live ), Green Ash, and little Spruce and Fir for those shoulder season quick fires ( or a cool foggy July ).
Birch is easier to cut, more of it, easy splitting, and easier to get to on our place , but pooches ( "rots" for you non-Mainers) within a year even slicing the bark down to wood. Red Maple has a tougher grain for splitting, weighs more green ( tougher humping ), but seems to coal better than Birch. The red Maple stores well, but there's not more than 20-25 trees left in the woodlot.
Here's the problem: in the forestry BTU value charts for firewood ( million Btu's /cord ) Paper Birch comes out higher than Red Maple; a few other charts show Maple higher.
What's your take on which to cut more of ? We cut now.
Birch is easier to cut, more of it, easy splitting, and easier to get to on our place , but pooches ( "rots" for you non-Mainers) within a year even slicing the bark down to wood. Red Maple has a tougher grain for splitting, weighs more green ( tougher humping ), but seems to coal better than Birch. The red Maple stores well, but there's not more than 20-25 trees left in the woodlot.
Here's the problem: in the forestry BTU value charts for firewood ( million Btu's /cord ) Paper Birch comes out higher than Red Maple; a few other charts show Maple higher.
What's your take on which to cut more of ? We cut now.