More BTU than osage orange?!? I want some of this!!!!!!

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.
turn_n_burn

turn_n_burn

Burning Hunk
Aug 14, 2015
174
Idaho
Anyone here have any experience burning mountain mahogany? I had never really heard of this stuff, but after a little research I found it grows in the Owyhee mountains not 45 minutes from where I live. I know it's a shrubby little tree, but according to wood-database.com it has a VERY high specific gravity, heavier than hedge, and I saw somewhere that someone claimed it had like 33-35 MBTU per cord! It's listed at 69 lbs per cubic foot, whereas hedge is only 54. That seems to put it just at or below desert ironwood. For that kind of density and output, it seems well worth it to me. It would seem that oak or black locust could not hold a candle to this. I was gonna head out there to get some juniper, but it seems like I might have struck gold here........................
 
I read it's also called black birch rated at 26 mbtu. It's a shrub though so I'm sure it would take a lot to make a cord.
 
No, it's not a birch. Black birch (betula nigra) has been called mahogany birch, but this is an entirely different species belonging to the genus cerocarpus, and it only grows out here in the west in arid, high altitude climates. I can find plenty of taxonomy based information, but little to nothing on the firewood aspect. The only thing I have to go by is the density, and man, this stuff is friggin' heavy. Way heavier than black birch. Here's a shot of it.
cercocarpus_ledifolius_jknelson_lg.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Pretty picture!
 
turn_n_burn said:
The only thing I have to go by is the density, and man, this stuff is friggin' heavy. Way heavier than black birch. Here's a shot of it,
Click to expand...
Density may or may not make it good fire wood. It does mean there is allot of potential btus there but it may not burn well. It also may not split or may take 5 or 6 years to dry. But it also may be fantastic there is only one way to find out
 
  • Like
Reactions: Soundchasm
Well, I found some anecdotal reports of locals burning this stuff, and it definitely is associated with overfiring stoves. Can't wait to get some. It'll be used mostly in my backyard firepit mixed with tamarack. Sorry, Seanm, I totally forgot to take pics of the big Tammy I took down last week. I got to splitting it, and once it was stacked I remembered. So, in honor of my word, I'll take a pic of the stack if necessary.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Seanm
I've got some blocks of green heart wood. Its from the rain forest. It's heavy as all hell. Look it up for more information. I want to split a block or two but not sure if it's a good idea.
 
turn_n_burn said:
Sorry, Seanm, I totally forgot to take pics of the big Tammy I took down last week. I got to splitting it, and once it was stacked I remembered.
Click to expand...
Its all good. Ive gotten into some fun trees that would have made some good photos but get wrapped up in the work that pics end up being an after thought. I was at 5800 feet yesterday and dropped a few trees ready for the stove! Split them today and now they are stacked in the garage waiting to be burned. Garage smells real nice!!
 
I guess it doesn't help that the 2 counties (owyhee in idaho, malheur in oregon,) where this is available around here are the most sparsely populated per square mile in the lower 48. I knew this was gonna be an obscure one, but from what I've read in the last little bit, it's supposed to burn VERY LONG and REALLY HOT. I read in a post on arboristsite.com that a guy loaded his Blaze King up with mountain mahogany and still had a bunch of reddish-orange coals almost 40 hours later. As far as the black birch thing, I'm pretty sure it's just a colloquialism or misnomer, kinda like out west where we call western larch (l. occidentalis) "tamarack", although real tamarack is eastern larch or l. laricina. I'm gonna try to get some in the next week or 2 once I get a BLM permit secured, and I'll post pics and a thorough review of how it performs. It's supposed to have a good aroma that can be used for barbecuing. It's technically not a real mahogany, but the wood has very similar characteristics and is amazingly dense. Gonna have to leave my little Poulan at home for this stuff.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JA600L
turn_n_burn said:
It'll be used mostly in my backyard firepit mixed with tamarack.
Click to expand...
Really you are going to burn what may be ultra premium fire wood in a firepit? BLASPHEMY lol. But seriously why would you waste good firewood in a firepit?
 
I enjoy the different flame/coal/smell/burning characteristics of different kinds of wood and it's impossible to do this in a sealed woodstove. I do it for the same reason a money collector wastes money by putting it in a little plastic sleeve and never spending it. I a dedicated wood hoarder, and I like my variety. I have plenty of black locust for the stove, besides I'd probably end up overfiring it with mahogany anyways. It'll also get used in my open fireplace too. Either way, it'll get used to roast dinner on a stick. In this very specific regard, I only consider it wasting it if I consider what I'm doing as wasteful. I'm not burning a metric ton at a time, nor am I putting clouds of black smoke into the sky for everyone to see. Different things mean different things to different people, as I like to say :)
 
Last edited:
turn_n_burn said:
I enjoy the different flame/coal/smell/burning characteristics of different kinds of wood and it's impossible to do this in a sealed woodstove. I do it for the same reason a money collector wastes money by putting it in a little plastic sleeve and never spending it. I a dedicated wood hoarder, and I like my variety. I have plenty of black locust for the stove, besides I'd probably end up overfiring it with mahogany anyways. It'll also get used in my open fireplace too. Either way, it'll get used to roast dinner on a stick. In this very specific regard, I only consider it wasting it if I consider what I'm doing as wasteful. I'm not burning a metric ton at a time, nor am I putting clouds of black smoke into the sky for everyone to see. Different things mean different things to different people, as I like to say :)
Click to expand...
I really dont have a problem with it if that is what you want to do. I just cant bring myself to burn good hardwood in a firepit. I save the softwoods for that
 
Sorry if I sounded a bit cranky there. Had a b*tchin' cold the last few days. I tend to sit around the fire for hours at a time, and I like some of the colored flames you get with hardwoods. Most of my softwood pile is Lodgepole and Tamarack, and it it gets goin' too hot it spits sparks all over my backyard, and the wind has carried them onto my hillside, which is covered with dry bromegrass. Haven't had the fire dept. out, though. One of these days I'll get around to burning my pile of tulip poplar, it doesn't smell too bad, and doesn't really spark. What kinda softwoods you workin' with in PA?
 
turn_n_burn said:
What kinda softwoods you workin' with in PA?
Click to expand...
White pine hemlock spruce larch and lots of others but those are the main ones. I include poplar in there even though it really isn't a softwood. We have tons of hemlock lots were killed off by the algenid in the last few years and no i probably didn't spell that right but i don't feel like looking it up lol. I rarely run any soft woods through the stove i have plenty of hardwood available. I will burn some in fall and spring but not much
 
bholler said:
White pine hemlock spruce larch
Click to expand...
You have Larch? I guess I need to look at my larch distribution maps. Wouldnt have figured youd have it there but what do I know.... never been to your neck of the woods.
 
Leave them Mahogany trees alone! I hunt Grant County and the elk love them for shade...and fire restrictions permitting, we have been known to burn it around camp, makes lots of smoke...burns hot, but just not this year. Firefighters were busy enough.
 
I don't plan on clearcutting any of them, just a few to supplement the load of juniper I'm going to get. And don't worry, I don't plan to do it in Grant county. From what I know, deer and elk do utilize them, but mainly for the seeds/fruit/leaves, and the ones I'm planning to cut are all dead, and useless to the animals anyway. I don't cut live wildlife trees. Elk are the most majestic, beautiful wild animals I have ever hunted, and they look especially nice through my 3x9 Leupold VariX. With ya on that one. I hope I can actually find a stand of mahogany this year, the Soda fire in Idaho/Oregon burned something like 280,000 acres of the Owyhee rangeland. I could see the actual smoke plumes directly from my house in Payette, 70 miles away.
 
That Osage is hot enough for me. Even locust when it gets going is real hot. I'm sure that mahogany doesn't grow near me anyway.
 
Babaganoosh said:
I've got some blocks of green heart wood. Its from the rain forest. It's heavy as all hell. Look it up for more information. I want to split a block or two but not sure if it's a good idea.
Click to expand...

green-heart is really great burning wood, high btu's , but be careful cutting it and splitting, believe it or not it can explode and send pieces flying hard and fast, i get lots of it from local marinas.
 
Well, shoot. The BLM here in Idaho doesn't sell cutting permits for mahogany, and the nearest hedge grows 200 miles from me. Guess I'm back to the search for more black locust. Still gonna go get some juniper, though. Stuff burns like crazy. I'll mix it with the locust so my neighbors don't hate me.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom
Back