To buck or not

[sdt7618]

Just dropped a garden sycamore" read London plane" for landscape reasons but will be fire wood. Anyway question is, she is just starting to leaf up, should I leave it were it lies for a week of so hoping the leaves etc draw moisture out and aid seasoning, of is it bEst just to be done with it and buck it ready to split

 

[Jeremy102579]

Buck and split it....get the fun started !

 

[4seasons]

Splitting sycamore? Sounds like noodle time. Sycamore is pretty lousy firewood anyway so unless it is small enough to not have to split I would save it for the fire pit.

 

[mainewoods]

If you plan to use it this winter, it would be best to split and stack it......yesterday.

 

[woodchuck357]

Sycamore is OK firewood, not oak or hickory, but splits fairly easy if you knock off tangent splits instead of trying to split radially. Although sycamore is one of the wettest trees around, it dries very fast. Split it now and it will be ready to burn by fall. It will loose more than 50 percent of its weight when dry.

 

[zogger]

Either way works, but I tend to let leafed out trees wither first, then cut. I can't prove it, but I think it helps to lose moisture.

 

[timberjak]

I have had great results letting the leaves come out and wither. My favorite option if possible.


Sent from my iPhone using my nose

 

[woodchuck357]

Side by side comparisons between trees of the same species (red oak) and size proved to me there is no difference in the moisture left in the wood that was blocked off right away and the one that was left for 5 days before cutting up. Not that most would change their mind even if they tried it. It is one of those things people are sure of and all the contrary evidence in the world won't change their minds.

By the way, the red oaks were cut in the middle of a dry spell in july, so if there would be any difference it should have shown up. Sycamore just budding, not a chance.

 

[audible fart]

Side by side comparisons between trees of the same species (red oak) and size proved to me there is no difference in the moisture left in the wood that was blocked off right away and the one that was left for 5 days before cutting up. Not that most would change their mind even if they tried it. It is one of those things people are sure of and all the contrary evidence in the world won't change their minds.

If i could figure out what the hell you're talking about i would decide if i agreed or not.

 

[zogger]

Side by side comparisons between trees of the same species (red oak) and size proved to me there is no difference in the moisture left in the wood that was blocked off right away and the one that was left for 5 days before cutting up. Not that most would change their mind even if they tried it. It is one of those things people are sure of and all the contrary evidence in the world won't change their minds.

By the way, the red oaks were cut in the middle of a dry spell in july, so if there would be any difference it should have shown up. Sycamore just budding, not a chance.

Five days I believe it. Longer though, don't know. When I use the term wither, it means the leaves are dry and right at falling off and the end little branches are crispy and snap. It takes more than five days, takes some weeks.

But, I don't think it is a big deal either, ideally, cut it cut and split and stacked soonest, just depends on your schedule and access, etc.

 

[sdt7618]

well it will be at least this weekend, or maybe next before I get back to it, so whether it makes a difference or not it will be bucked and split in the coming month or so.

Have used mostly sycamore for the past 2 years to heat my home, neither had issues splitting of by lack of heat. might use a bit more than say if I had oak, but you burn what you got

 

[cat-face timber]

I would buck it asap.
If you are planning on using it next winter especially.
More surface area the better to dry.

 

[philoshop]

Everything I'm cutting now gets split right away. If it's something I want to burn this year it gets split pretty small as well.
I'd rather deal with all the hassles of small splits that are actually dry than with wood that's not 'quite' ready.
In the winter I'll sometimes drop trees and wait for more humane conditions to buck and split.

 

[TeeMan]

A tree service dropped two sycamore trees at my neighbors and bucked them in December. We got around to splitting them in January. I've already started to burn them in my fire pit (and will tonight) as well. It took just three months for it to dry out enough to burn (ashes a bit more than say oak). I'd get them bucked, split, and stacked...these fought us a lot though splitting (with a splitter). Some of the ones we split.

 

[Milkweed Seed]

Army man wood is tough splitting, but love that camo looking bark....

 

[Milkweed Seed]

If i could figure out what the hell you're talking about i would decide if i agreed or not.

 

[woodchuck357]

A tree service dropped two sycamore trees at my neighbors and bucked them in December. We got around to splitting them in January. I've already started to burn them in my fire pit (and will tonight) as well. It took just three months for it to dry out enough to burn (ashes a bit more than say oak). I'd get them bucked, split, and stacked...these fought us a lot though splitting (with a splitter). Some of the ones we split.

We dropped some problem sycamores at the camp ground and that evening some of the green limbs were being used on campfires. Lots of hissing of sap out the ends but they burned just fine, for stove wood it needs to be dry.
Sycamore is one of the woods that split easier, for me, with a maul or ax than with a splitter. I sometimes think the plywood inventor came with the idea after spitting sycamore.