sycamore any good for woodburner

[Rookie1]

Im fairly new to woodburning. Last 2 years ive got oak and maple to heat house. Everything ok with that wood. Now ive got an opportunity to get several pickup loads of sycamore. Is it any good for burning in airtight woodburner.I heard someone say the smoke is piosenous. Thanks

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Im fairly new to woodburning. Last 2 years ive got oak and maple to heat house. Everything ok with that wood. Now ive got an opportunity to get several pickup loads of sycamore. Is it any good for burning in airtight woodburner.I heard someone say the smoke is piosenous. Thanks

I've burned a lot of Sycamore and like it, actually, although most people don't care for it. You'll find that it is very heavy when wet and very much lighter when dry, but it burns nicely while throwing average heat. It is a few notches below the Maple and Oak that you've had in the past but it does burn; mix it in with some other woods. And as far as I know the smoke is not poisonous! Take it and good luck splitting it as it's very tough to split because of it's twisted grain! :greenchainsaw:

 

[Wood Scrounge]

If it's free it's good. I usually have a little in my pile seems to burn fast and give average heat.

 

[Bowtie]

If it's free it's good. I usually have a little in my pile seems to burn fast and give average heat.

+1 Im saving Chinese elm even and its not anywhere near the top of the firewood BTU chart. But it was free, I cut it in my yard, and Im gonna burn it. Free wood is good wood.

 

[dumbhunter]

+1 Im saving Chinese elm even and its not anywhere near the top of the firewood BTU chart. But it was free, I cut it in my yard, and Im gonna burn it. Free wood is good wood.

unless its gum or coffee tree

 

[johnha]

I've been burning Sycamore for years and it is yet to kill me. Though the weight of it green or splitting it might.

For its trouble, its only an average heat wood.

 

[lwalper]

Yep, loses about 40-50% of it's "green weight" in the drying process (quite a bit more than some of the denser woods). Once its dry (plan on 6 months or so) it'll burn well. Just make sure you split it before you stack it -- even the small stuff -- or it will not dry properly and will just rot in the stack. I usually split sticks down to about 2 inch size (that makes 'em about 1" after splittin' and good for kindling). Everything less than that goes in the brush pile.

 

[JBC]

I've been burning sycamore for a while, nobody seems to want it around this area. BUT if you don't have splitter, good luck, that stuff can be tough! Also, maybe it's just me but all the sycamore I've got in and around Cleveland is full of ants. Was out splitting that stuff this morning and the ants where pouring out of it.

Jason

 

[lwalper]

Jason,

I seem to recall a good many ants in what I have been working in too -- particularly the standing dead wood that had split and begun to get a bit punky. The green wood looks great and I really haven't noted any problem with that. The splitter does make things go easier, but I really didn't seem to have any real problems. Maybe I've split so much Elm lately that anything else seems like it has a nice straight grain.