Tree of Heaven

[Sethsfirewood]

Hello all,

I have a problem. I run my own firewood business and work on a property where I have several different types of trees to pull from. I currently sell the following woods under a "mixed hardwoods" label: White and Red Oak, Green and White Ash, Elm, Sassafras, Dogwood, American Beech, Sugar Maple, Norway Maple, Silver Maple, Shagbark Hickory, Sycamore, Plane Tree, Tulip Poplar.

Unfortunately, my crew cut down and processed a large portion of the wood known as "Tree of Heaven". Usually, these trees are off limits due to their junky nature (endless suckers and sprouts when you cut them down). Furthermore, it is now so intermingled with everything else, I was hoping to just sell it as a mixed hardwood. Most of my clients aren't the most knowledgeable about their wood types either.

I guess my question is whether this wood will burn or should I purge my supply? I really don't have the time to do so, but if it burns really poorly or has odor, then I guess I am gonna have to suck it up and do it.

Any and all advice on this wood and its potential use as a firewood is greatly appreciated.

Seth

 

[blacklocst]

opcorn: BTW welcome to the site, many replies coming shortly.

 

[MotorSeven]

This might help:

http://www.arboristsite.com/firewood-heating-wood-burning-equipment/151431.htm

I never heard of it, but it sounds like you should just reduce your prices a bit until it's out of your inventory.

 

[z50guru]

IMO, The Alanthius is no worst than the poplar or sassafras varieties your currently mixing with your fire wood sales. Question is, has it diluted your supply of quality wood to the point where the consumer receives a lesser quality load? I've heard the wood smells like cat piss while stored and not much better when burnt. Maybe distribute the "rank" wood, when delivering to a customer using an outside WB. Sassafras is fragrant and soft as well as poplar for indoor customers... Basically, if your clients are satisfied with your quality of fuel wood "as things are", distribute the "hell wood" as evenly amongst the load as you normally would until its gone. Then, try to avoid ever cutting it again from a distribution perspective.

 

[brenndatomu]

What the heck, I ain't never heard of a "tree of heaven" before and here we have the second post about them within a week!

Welcome to AS seth. Sorry, I don't know what to tell ya about your problem. But I'd say if ya tell people there may be a little softwood (or stinkwood) (why is it called tree of heaven?!?!?) mixed in, most people would be OK.

 

[stumpy75]

To me, the Tree of Heaven really smells bad, both in the split and burning. However, my neighbor burns it, and says he can't smell anything! We all smell things different...

As mentioned, it is a light weight wood. Ok, IMHO, to mix into a mixed hardwood pile, but just not too much of it. And if your customers complain about the smell, offer to drop them off a little more wood to compensate!

 

[OH_Varmntr]

It's referred to as "Tree of Heaven" because in China where it came from, they have been using it for years and years for medical purposes, as it's been thought to treat everything from mental illness to baldness.

I've also heard it called Tree of the Gods.

 

[z50guru]

It's referred to as "Tree of Heaven" because in China where it came from, they have been using it for years and years for medical purposes, as it's been thought to treat everything from mental illness to baldness.

I've also heard it called Tree of the Gods.

Ironic that the Chinese find it to cure ailments for humans. As for anything it sets up shop next to botanically speaking, is as good as dead. Extremely invasive and fast growing, it thrives on exploited plots. Often confused with Sumac, but a whole new animal. Kill em' all! :bang:

 

[Shmudda]

Tree of hell.....

This wood is nothing but garbage plain and simple. It stinks when cut, dug, and burnt. Typical China SH!T.....garbage!

Next on the list is Stink Bugs....They were brought in from China too. Why is everything from China a pain in the ass?

Craig

 

[zogger]

I think mixed wood is a good idea, that's what I burn, but depending on your location and how many really cold days there are, you want more of the higher BTU woods in there.

If you are concerned over that one species being in your mix, add in some extra better wood when going to make a delivery.

Around here..man..I think both the buyers and most sellers are nuts. This ain't the arctic circle, I have *no* idea how people burn just pure oak or hickory on just cool days. One little bitty stick at a time? I keep 2-3 days worth stacked up inside behind the heater, I could have half a dozen species most times in that pile. Plus a variety of sizes. I adjust my heat output just as much or more by grabbing a specific chunk as I do quantity crammed in the stove.

Whenever a chunk of primo goes in, I usually always drop a lesser BTU and smaller split or round chunk down underneath it at the same time, even if there are a lot of hot coals.

I don't know might be an anticipation placebo effect, I have no way to scientifically measure all that is going on, but it seems to work a little better, probably removing that last few percent of moisture before the real hard wood catches.

Anyway, for me, trying to change my habits this year and get far enough ahead so the least seasoned wood will be like three summers dry. One season will burn OK, even dense oak, etc, anything around here, two is better, I think three will give the best results and after that it really isn't going to gain much more, a percent or two maybe.

Hickory I am still experimenting with more. I can't come up with any way to store it long except pure debarked. Leave any bark on, just feeding the bugs.

 

[Pa Pa Jack]

We've been trying to get rid of Tree of Heaven on our property in PA for about 10 years. It is next to impossible to kill. We have two pastures that are really polluted with it now. We thought it was sumac, at first. Our forester recognized it and we've been wroking on it ever since.

 

[Sethsfirewood]

Thanks everyone,

I sell to all kinds of people and al amounts via Craigslist. I sell to guys who wanna heat their homes, have a nice fire in their living room, enjoy their fire pits or are going camping. There is really no one I won't sell to and I take the time to separate my stacks accordingly. I have some stacks which are for my "stove folk" who sometimes have two or three stoves in their home. These are mainly beech, hickory and oak, but I do add some lighter woods for the not so cold nights of the fall and Spring and I season them at least 18 months for good measure.

As for fireplaces and fire pits, I really mix in anything as most of my clients like the convenience of throwing lighter stuff on there so they don't have to sit for hours tending an oak or hickory fire. I don't sell conifers, but wanted to make sure that the "Tree of Heaven" would be acceptable to most who are casual burners. I have managed to keep it outside of my stove stash for the most part, but I own two other businesses on top of this firewood business and simply do not have the time to separate all of it out of my stash.

As for the Chinese comments, the reason that this tree is so invasive is because of its uncanny ability to reproduce, grow and spread. Furthermore, it has such a sprawling canopy and leaf structure and grows so fast, that it simply chokes out deciduous species. However, not all Chinese trees are undesirable as the Bradford Pear and Dogwood are from China as well.

The stink bug was introduced to North America just a short distance from my location in Allentown, PA in the 80s. The stink bug simply has no competition in this area which is why they seem to be so invasive....just a fun fact.

 

[zogger]

We've been trying to get rid of Tree of Heaven on our property in PA for about 10 years. It is next to impossible to kill. We have two pastures that are really polluted with it now. We thought it was sumac, at first. Our forester recognized it and we've been wroking on it ever since.

I have no experience at all with this tree and not sure I could recognize it without having a picture in my hand.

With that said, what are you doing to try and control it? I am always interested in pasture maintenance stuff, as I am still learning there as well.

 

[Pa Pa Jack]

I have no experience at all with this tree and not sure I could recognize it without having a picture in my hand.

With that said, what are you doing to try and control it? I am always interested in pasture maintenance stuff, as I am still learning there as well.

We've been cutting every one we find, and then treating the stump with 41% glyphosate or Arsenal. It only seems to set it back for a while then it resprouts from suckers. Eventually, it does seem to work but it is very intensive. the issue it that birds spread the small seeds so fast that it's amazing. We burn all that we cut down because we were told it can spread new roots from green wood in contact with the soil. If we could control it, it is a beautiful, fast growing shade tree. We manage that property for deer hunting and this tree has no value in that area.

 

[zogger]

I was just reading the wiki article on it

Ailanthus altissima - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And down towards the bottom it says there is anecdotal evidence the tree can cause contact dermatitis in some people. If this is true, using it in a firepit might be a bad idea. A big burn pile, once established, seems stay upwind obviously, but actually leave the area, get far away.

A whole heaping ton of these invasive species appear to have been delibarately introduced for some perceived benefit (another example, kudzu).

An industrial steam plant/boiler would probably be the best way to burn this stuff and get anything useful from it, electricity or just the steam, etc..(besides any possible truth to the various medicinal claims and silk production) *Perhaps* Something useful and also to keep humans as far away as possible from the smoke and odor.

I'll keep my eyes open and if I see any, wipe it out as soon as I find it. I mean I'll cut it down and drill or borecut holes in the stump and pour full strength herbicide in there.

Here, multiflora gives me the biggest grief, but you can actually kill it without much effort just nailing it once or once again the next year with spray. You then have a lot of woody thorns though, but at least it is dead. Privet is a little harder, but not much, and it actually makes decent firewood, the thicker trunks anyway. The only hard part with those two species is trying to avoid hurting any nearby desirable plants/shrubs/trees, etc. if it is in a mixed species thicket form.

 

[Sethsfirewood]

I work on a golf course which is adjacent to woods, so I have a lot of experience controlling this tree. Furthermore, I work with all of the cutting edge chemicals and their respective companies. When all is said and done, the best stuff that I've used is Brushmaster. The stuff takes names and if you stay on top of the suckers with a weed whacker/brushblade, the trunk doesn't stand a chance.

To give you all perspective on how invasive the seeds can be, I have cut these trees down in the winter time and the canopies have landed on some of our herbicide-treated fairways only to find them sprouting up through A-1 Creeping Bentgrass (an exceedingly dense grass plant).

You have to stay on top of these trees whether you are trying to limit new growth or trying to clear them off your property. My assistant superintendent equated them to cutting a hornet's nest out of a tree...once it hits the ground, they're EVERYWHERE!!

At the end of the day, the ultimate demise for any Ailanthus stump is a stump grinder, but I know that isn't realistic for many of you. We bring one in every few years, so between those times, I have to control them somehow.

 

[mtfallsmikey]

Yes, Virginia, it's Heavenwood...

I had a bunch of heavenwood lumber given to me some years ago at a local sawmill where I had bought some red cedar. Never burned it, other than scraps, but it sure stunk when I planed/sawed/routed it. It has an interesting cathedral grain to it, have made some pieces out of it, never tried to stain it, but looks nice finished. I had heard that it was planted in W.Va. to possibly replace pine for construction lumber, but is not strong enough. It spread like wildfire there. At the end of the day, I would put it in the same category as sumac.

Welcome to AS, Sethsfirewood

 

[Pa Pa Jack]

For those of you not familiar with it, maybe this pic will help. the tree to the right of center is Tree of Heaven.

View attachment 266348

 

[slowp]

Are your guys OK? Before I retired, we took our bucking certification test and cut a tree of heaven. Afterwards, we two buckers had mild sore throats, but the faller was coughing a bit.

The wood was taken out to the woods and thrown on a slash pile to be burned. We weren't sure if the smoke would be an irritant or not.

 

[Pa Pa Jack]

Are your guys OK? Before I retired, we took our bucking certification test and cut a tree of heaven. Afterwards, we two buckers had mild sore throats, but the faller was coughing a bit.

The wood was taken out to the woods and thrown on a slash pile to be burned. We weren't sure if the smoke would be an irritant or not.

I had no idea that cutting these trees could pose a health hazard. I, personally, have never noted any effects, but my cousin was very ill for a couple days after we did some clearing last summer. I just talked to him about it and we decided to come up with a new plan to handle them in the future. I wonder what other types of wood can be hazardous.