Silver Maple ??

[nickg]

After our Winter Storms , i have plenty of Silver Maple on the ground, i bucked it in 14 inch rounds, and began splitting it this weekend,, I'm not to sure about the Silver Maple as good firewood, any thoughts ?

 

[ms310]

After our Winter Storms , i have plenty of Silver Maple on the ground, i bucked it in 14 inch rounds, and began splitting it this weekend,, I'm not to sure about the Silver Maple as good firewood, any thoughts ?

Good wood, get it split and stacked, should be good to go this winter, if this is what I call sugar maple ranks up there with oak as far as btu and splits, burns better. IMHO http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm

 

[Oldtimer]

Silver maple will burn fine, and keep you warm. It isn't the same as hard maple, nor any where close to hard maple or oak in BTUs.
A bird in the hand is worth 4 in the bush. Burn it and love it.

 

[flushcut]

It burns and it's free you win in the end.

 

[PA Plumber]

Silver Maple burns similar to Norway Maple and Tulip Poplar.

Hot fire quickly, but not a very good all night wood.

When I have some Silver Maple clean-up, I do buck it and split it. A nice addition to the woodpile mix.

Finally, it only takes a few months to season out split wood.

 

[komatsuvarna]

Silver Maple burns similar to Norway Maple and Tulip Poplar.

Hot fire quickly, but not a very good all night wood.

When I have some Silver Maple clean-up, I do buck it and split it. A nice addition to the woodpile mix.

Finally, it only takes a few months to season out split wood.

:agree2: Burns hot, but not for long.

 

[nickg]

Looks like some Suger Maple also, and of course some Mystery Wood which i cant identify, some sort of multi trunked Maple leafed trees.

 

[needwood]

After our Winter Storms , i have plenty of Silver Maple on the ground, i bucked it in 14 inch rounds, and began splitting it this weekend,, I'm not to sure about the Silver Maple as good firewood, any thoughts ?

I just split a bunch of it today myself. It will be the first wood ill burn next fall before it gets really cold. It burns good but not for long.

 

[unclemoustache]

One of the things I like best about silver maple is that it splits very easily, and it leaves very little ash. BTU's are pretty low, though.

 

[biggenius29]

90% of my wood is sugar maple. Not a long burning wood. I get about 6 hours from a load of it in my Caddy.

But it beats paying the gas bill.

 

[Cambium]

Yeap..I got some Silver Maple fresh from a cut. I pulled over when I saw the chipper. and the nice guys left it for me on the curb for next day.. Its the ones on the right in the pic.

I tried one in the stove and no way would it burn green...take a while to season but should be nice and hot when ready...Maples dont burn slow but should give you a lasting fire..

 

[howellhandmade]

After our Winter Storms , i have plenty of Silver Maple on the ground, i bucked it in 14 inch rounds, and began splitting it this weekend,, I'm not to sure about the Silver Maple as good firewood, any thoughts ?

You can beat it for btus per cord, but if it fell down in your yard you can't beat it for dollars per cord. Stored outside, there's a window between when it's dry enough to burn and when it starts to get punky. I'd plan on using it next winter.

Jack

 

[bobt]

90% of my wood is sugar maple. Not a long burning wood. I get about 6 hours from a load of it in my Caddy.

But it beats paying the gas bill.

If you have real sugar maple it is "Acer Saccharum" and it is the real deal hard maple. One of the premier firewoods.

 

[Brushwacker]

Silver Maple seems to crack and dry faster then most. I like to leave it big as I can and fit it in the stove and it will burn reasonably long. Late Dec. and Jan. I prefer better wood. The rest of the winter I get plenty of heat from silver maple. Keep it of the ground, give it plenty of air and sunshine and use it up within 2 years and it shouldn't be bad. Do the opposite and it will decay in less then half the time. It bucks up quicker and usually splits easier then oak so that componsates some for the less btu's. Actually its not far behind cherry and a lot of people think cherry is great heat.

 

[biggenius29]

If you have real sugar maple it is "Acer Saccharum" and it is the real deal hard maple. One of the premier firewoods.

Then it must be silver maple.

 

[makomakoman]

Then it must be silver maple.

Nah, I bet you have Red Maple aka Soft (swamp) maple. The leaves of the Sugar and Red and very similar leaves. Red Maple at the edges are more irregular.

The bark is different on the older tree's but quite similar on younger tree's.

Silver maple has a funky leave and fruit compared to the other 2.

 

[StihlyinEly]

Nah, I bet you have Red Maple aka Soft (swamp) maple. The leaves of the Sugar and Red and very similar leaves. Red Maple at the edges are more irregular.

The bark is different on the older tree's but quite similar on younger tree's.

Silver maple has a funky leave and fruit compared to the other 2.

There are a lot of common names for trees that vary based on what region of the country we are in.

What we call northern red maple up here has a BTU rating (18.7 mBTU/cord) close to black ash (19.1 mBTU/cord) and white birch (20.3 mBTU). That red maple is Acer rubrum. It's not what I'd call soft. It's not up to sugar maple (24 mBTU), but it's not nearly as soft as silver maple and box elder, the two softest maple species I know of.

And interestingly enough, of the red maple, white birch and black ash, it's the maple that has laid down a really good bed of coals that lasts the longest for me. It's got the lowest BTU rating but seems to put off heat the longest and most evenly of the three.

I'd love to burn wood like oak and hickory with mBTU ratings well over 20, but there just ain't none of that stuff over here.

Of the three I typically burn, the ash is my favorite for ease of splitting and drying and heat. White (paper) birch can in some cases be really stringy when using a hydraulic splitter, and the bark causes problems getting splits apart. The maple is really twisted up here and tough to split evenly, and because we're on the edge of its useful range here in the boreal forest, it can get fairy rotten and punky in the middle when it's only 10 inches in diameter. The black ash I've been cutting, splitting and burning doesn't show any of these problems.

 

[makomakoman]

Acer rubrum - aka Soft maple or Red maple, swamp maple. Most of the firewood listed in Maine that says Maple; it is red Maple. It is good for firewood.

I agree Silver maple is very soft compared to Red and gets very Punky fast. I have never burned box Elder.

 

[komatsuvarna]

I'd love to burn wood like oak and hickory with mBTU ratings well over 20, but there just ain't none of that stuff over here.

Thats one good thing i can say about this redneck state, theres hard wood everwhere you look. We have a big variety of oaks and hickory. Beech, hackberry, walnut, cherry, and sugar maple. The maples get doatey here when they get real big.

 

[stackwood]

Silver maple burns fine , I get ALOT of it and burn it every year , just keep some 8" rounds for over night burning .