Catalytic Stove - Is it okay to burn Tulip Poplar?

[Sarad]

I have a Progress Hybrid and some of the seasoned wood I have is from a Tulip Tree. It is a type of Poplar, very large. Is it safe to burn in a cat stove?

 

[rideau]

I have a Progress Hybrid and some of the seasoned wood I have is from a Tulip Tree. It is a type of Poplar, very large. Is it safe to burn in a cat stove?

Yes

 

[Sarad]

Yes

Thanks. I had read that it was too soft.

 

[begreen]

It's a low heat wood, but ok to burn in milder weather as long as it's properly seasoned.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Sarad, what you posted makes me think you've probably also heard to not burn pine in the stove. If so, forget it. You can cut wood from any tree that I know of and burn it.....so long as you give it the proper amount of time to dry. For most wood, that is a year, but don't count the time until after the wood has been split and stacked outdoors, preferably in the windiest spot you have.

Also, even though it is called tulip poplar, it is much different from any of the other poplars. Makes good lumber too.

 

[Sarad]

Backwoods Savage -

I sure did hear that pine was forbidden. I never knew why but I assumed it was the sap.

So are all well seasoned woods okay to use? What is the difference between different woods? I laso have ash which I read needs very little seasoning.

Thanks

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Sarad, sorry but I had a phone call. The pine thing goes way back and what really happened was people always cut their wood in the fall and burned it that winter. This gunked up the pipes. Well, a few probably burned some pine and no doubt it was like the rest of their wood; not dry. The excess sap burned really hot, which started a chimney fire. They blamed it on the pine. This then became one of those old wives tales.

Ash is one more of the woods that is grossly misunderstood. Many times you'll hear that you can cut ash and burn it right away. Well, you can, but.... Ash is one of the lowest moisture trees out there and it gives up its moisture quite well, especially compared with oaks. However, from experience I can say without a doubt that time does make a huge difference. We've burned a lot of ash. One year we had to burn some that was freshly cut. Nightmare.... Long story there too. Then we've burned ash that was drying for a year and that for sure burns better. But to take this further, we've burned ash that was 2 years in the stack and 3 years and on up to 8 years. We've found that 3 years is really ideal. You can burn it sooner but I'm just saying it is much better if you give it the extra time.

There are woods that are commonly called softwoods and hardwoods. Technically, any tree that drops leaf in the fall is a hardwood. However, most folks will tell you that poplar, cottonwood, willow, etc is softwood. Even when I milled lumber or logged, we referred to those as softwood. Most of those "softwoods" we don't bother with here but in places that is all they have. They get along fine. However, if you have the choice, then woods like maple, oak, locust, hickory, ash, beech, etc will give you more btu's than will poplar or cottonwood or pine. In time you'll notice there can be a huge difference in the different trees and it is just one more thing that makes this interesting. I'm still learning!

 

[oldogy]

I have a lot of Tulip Poplar on my place and have burned it. In fact, I have a couple pieces in the wood box this evening but burning mostly Hickory tonight. Tulip Poplar is straight grain and splits easily but I get little heat out of it. No reason why it should damage a cat that I can think of.

 

[stoveguy2esw]

biggest difference is wood density. pretty much any species of wood will contain approximately 8500 BTU of potential (or stored energy) its density determines how long it burns and "how hot it burns"

take for example, balsa wood, very light in comparison to a piece that by volume is the same size made of say oak when both are seasoned to the same moisture level.
now picture a 1 pound block of each species, the balsa will be much larger though it weighs the same. this means you would need a much larger "stack" of balsa wood to produce the same amount of heat as with oak. so you would have per load a much heavier charge of wood which would take longer to burn due to density as well as having more wood by weight in a typical load. hence , denser wood will yield more heat than lighter less dense wood over the course of the fire.

 

[BrotherBart]

Tulip pop is a dream to burn. Nice burn, low ash. Just gotta dry it good. Covered because it will soak up rain.

That cat don't care what wood the smoke came off of.

 

[fire_man]

I'm now burning 3 year seasoned Cottonwood. This stuff is lighter than styrofoam. It's 35 degrees out and 72 degrees in here. It burns quick, but throws a ton of heat.

Luckily my stove has good control and I can damper it back pretty far. Even with thinly split and bone dry Cottonwood, I can control the fire very well.

Cottonwood is the Rodney Dangerfield of firewood: it gets no respect! But it heats just fine.

 

[greenbrierwv]

ive got lots of poplar on my place amidst the oak and locust. poplar actually burns very nicely in the progress hybrid, in my experience. ive posted before that the stove seems to burn lighter poplar types well. i dont have experience with pine however, mostly hard woods here.

 

[Huntindog1]

Thats What I have alot of is Tulip Poplar. Its low heat but good for shoulder season.

I have split some of it for kindling, it works but heats stove up slowly.

It makes my window dirty even if it seems dry.

 

[Highbeam]

I too burned many cords of cottonwood in non-cat epa stoves. That happens when a cottonwood tree is taken out since the dang things are several feet across, I had 7 cords to burn up from only a couple of trees and I found the rumors to be mostly untrue. The stuff burns great in a modern stove but it does have a smell.

Be warned though that there are regional differences in cottonwood and even cedar.

 

[Sarad]

Sarad, sorry but I had a phone call. The pine thing goes way back and what really happened was people always cut their wood in the fall and burned it that winter. This gunked up the pipes. Well, a few probably burned some pine and no doubt it was like the rest of their wood; not dry. The excess sap burned really hot, which started a chimney fire. They blamed it on the pine. This then became one of those old wives tales.

Ash is one more of the woods that is grossly misunderstood. Many times you'll hear that you can cut ash and burn it right away. Well, you can, but.... Ash is one of the lowest moisture trees out there and it gives up its moisture quite well, especially compared with oaks. However, from experience I can say without a doubt that time does make a huge difference. We've burned a lot of ash. One year we had to burn some that was freshly cut. Nightmare.... Long story there too. Then we've burned ash that was drying for a year and that for sure burns better. But to take this further, we've burned ash that was 2 years in the stack and 3 years and on up to 8 years. We've found that 3 years is really ideal. You can burn it sooner but I'm just saying it is much better if you give it the extra time.

There are woods that are commonly called softwoods and hardwoods. Technically, any tree that drops leaf in the fall is a hardwood. However, most folks will tell you that poplar, cottonwood, willow, etc is softwood. Even when I milled lumber or logged, we referred to those as softwood. Most of those "softwoods" we don't bother with here but in places that is all they have. They get along fine. However, if you have the choice, then woods like maple, oak, locust, hickory, ash, beech, etc will give you more btu's than will poplar or cottonwood or pine. In time you'll notice there can be a huge difference in the different trees and it is just one more thing that makes this interesting. I'm still learning!

I have a lot to learn. I was told that the ash did not need to season, but I did not believe it. I just got a lot of Oak compliments of Sandy, but it won't be ready for 2 years at least.

My Tulip has been seasoning for three years so I'm glad that it is okay to use.

I did not realize that wood had to be seasoned split. I better get to work on that Oak.

 

[Sarad]

Thats What I have alot of is Tulip Poplar. Its low heat but good for shoulder season.

I have split some of it for kindling, it works but heats stove up slowly.

It makes my window dirty even if it seems dry.

My window is dirty now too. Any tips how to clean it?

 

[Sarad]

Tulip pop is a dream to burn. Nice burn, low ash. Just gotta dry it good. Covered because it will soak up rain.

That cat don't care what wood the smoke came off of.

Does that mean that not all wood needs to be covered?

 

[corey21]

I have a bunch stacked for the future yellow poplar.