Appreciation for silver maple

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Jon1270

Jon1270

Minister of Fire
Aug 25, 2012
2,048
Pittsburgh, PA
www.workbyhand.com
When I started gathering wood last fall after a hard lesson in how hard it is to buy decent firewood, I was not looking for silver maple. Locust, mulberry and cherry were what I hoped to find. I only acquired this stuff because there was nothing else, and I felt like swinging an axe. But I have changed my mind.

This tree was cut just over 9 months ago, and sat in rounds until about 6 months ago. Then I split it, and it sat on a grassy hillside in partial shade all summer. I just re-split a hunk of it and my old and primitive meter put it somewhere between 14-18% MC.

It may not be any good for overnight burns... unless one has a big cat stove, I suppose. It may not be pretty. Maybe it doesn't smell like much. It's not fancy in any way. But there isn't anything wrong with it, either. Any wood that is easy to get, seasons in six months, is reasonably dense, splits easily and doesn't actively stink doesn't need to apologize to me.

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It's going to take X btu's to get us all through the winter. I'm certainly not picky on where they come from, so long as they are there.

Well done.

pen
 
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Oh ya , burned a bunch of red maple last year ,saved my a$$ along with the dead ash
 
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pen said:
It's going to take X btu's to get us all through the winter. I'm certainly not picky on where they come from, so long as they are there.

Well done.

pen
Click to expand...
+1
 
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Jon
Silver maple is fine with me too. I still have half a cord to burn from last year and will use it with some pine and sassafras for the fall.
 
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Its good to have a mixture to make your stacks more effective. Sort of like having both infantry and armor in a battle.
 
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I'm another fan of Silver Maple...burns a little on the faster side but it burns with a nice, lively clean flame, if that makes sense! I rarely pass it by if I see it...
 
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The tree companies cut on Silver Maple in our neighborhood all the time. It's all over the place here, and it isn't the most resilient or prized yard tree. I'm with you all the way, a tree company dropped slightly less than 1 cord of Silver Maple in my driveway in March, I checked it last weekend. It's between 18 to 22%, and I'm happy. Splits easy by hand on the straight sections, feels like a waste of gas to noodle the crotches and the y's but what can you do, cuz it's impossible when twisted and branched.

Anyway, fantastic turn around on your effort, grats on the shoulder season wood. Mix it later in the season and it will continue to do it's job. Like you said, it's got nothing to apologize for.
 
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I too like it for burning when I'm home and can tend to the stove. I don't turn down anything except box elder and willow.
Box elder stinks and willow is a weed with thick bark.
 
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I got two truckloads of silver on my property waiting to get split on Monday, and a big old tree coming down this fall. Will be good burning next year.
 
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I'll just say this , MAPLE soft or hard is some of the best firewood you can get. Seasons pretty fast. easy to split. If your looking for longer burn times with maple leave your splits around 6-7 inches.;)
Maple is one of my favorites. as well as cherry . I definitely believe you have to have a mix of good hardwoods and softwoods.
 
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Silver Maple is fine wood. I split mine pretty large. The bigger the better with e Silver.

Very good wood for the 1st fire when you get home, shoulder season burns, or weekend fires when your home, and just want some quick heat.
 
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I have plenty of silver in my stacks too. Haven't been fortunate to get much of the harder woods seasoned yet.
 
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We sir are in the same boat from last year (hope you get to fully experience your new stove this year!) And I also cut a silver maple in February (first tree I cut on my property) and it too is down to 15% mc and going to be first used this year. Funny how only 10 months in and how much Ive learned from EVERYONE here.

Jon Im expecting a FULL report on your stove cause I haven't pulled the trigger yet and really am on the fence about going to a full insert. Thanks!
 
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I've got 2 cord of Maple...most was c/s/s last fall.
I'll use about 1/2 in the late and early SS after and before the pine.
Lots here on the property and at my sis-in-laws place.
 
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I've said it many times on here....silver and red maple sometimes get a bad rap, undeservedly.
Silver maple and ash were my main woods all last winter....I literally had around 4 1/2 cord of it ready. And it worked awesomely. I kept the oak and locust for overnighter/extended burns, and always threw some of that silver in with the locust to get it started up.

I wouldn't be without a heap of silver maple in my stacks. I got a HUGE one (possibly THREE huge ones) to cut down later next month, I'm looking forward to it.....one of the fastest seasoning woods there is. And it's a clean hot fire when burning it too!
 
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Right on! I've been saying all along that it is good wood. It is also the fastest drying wood I know of. In addition, this is also the exception in that you could drop a tree and leave it for a 1-2 years and the whole thing will be dry! Leave it 3 years and it will start to turn punky. But cut one in February or March, split it and then you can burn it the following fall and winter.
 
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Silver maple is great stuff ! Both it and sassafras make excellent early and late burning season wood . The dry about as quick as any wood I Can think of as well . They are also great for getting the harder to light wood like locust and hedge lit off on a cold night .
 
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I would say I burn about %80 Silver Maple, %10 Birch and %10 Random. Silver Maple is all we seem to have on this island I live on =) It burns great for me, would love to try Oak some day, but it's not a popular tree around here.
 
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Nixon said:
They are also great for getting the harder to light wood like locust and hedge lit off on a cold night .
Click to expand...

Conveniently, this maple came packaged along with black locust. The homeowner took down several trees, mostly locust but one or two maples. Sadly, the locust isn't ready to burn yet despite a lower initial MC. But one of the nice things about having some wood that dries so fast is that I can afford to give more space over to slow-drying woods than I would otherwise.
 
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Forgot to mention that the guy I got this from (this guy) just emailed me to say he'd be taking down more locusts "over the years" and asked whether I'd like him to get in touch when he does.

It's almost too easy.
 
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image.jpg This was my day off project-- all silver. The pile, I mean not the stacks.
 
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