beech bark disease and btus

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pybyr

Minister of Fire
Jun 3, 2008
2,300
Adamant, VT 05640
Anyone have any {informed :) } opinions of whether beech trees dying of beech bark disease still have roughly the same BTU content as healthy beech?

Unfortunately, the beech bark malady is all over around here. It's been some time since I cut a tree with a strong case of it, and last time I did, it almost seemed to have started rotting while still alive, and it stank, so I am not sure I'd want it in my cellar.

But I know normal beech is pretty good on BTU content, and if they're dying anyway, they seem like eligible candidates for fuel- but only if the diseased wood hasn't lost too much of its fuel value

thanks
 
My 'opinion' ...If the beetles are like those dutch elm beetles they just live in the bark and pretty much leave the wood alone...so the wood is still golden...

...some trees ya cut are rotten in the middle and I don't know why that is although most of the trees I've cut like that have ants in them. The tree looks perfect on the outside though. My advice is cut all the dead beech you can not only is it a good wood to burn it good land management to cut the dead trees.

Once wood is C&S;and start drying the bugs just go away.
 
beech has very little rot resistance, but just having beech bark disease doesn't mean the tree will rot. as long as the cambium is alive, the wood will be ok (generally). once large pieces of outer bark actually die, the wood will start to rot pretty quickly.

the answer is "it depends". if you cut, split and stack beech quickly, the btu content should be pretty comparable to non-diseased beech. however, even non-diseased beech will rot very quickly if left on the ground and unprocessed.

totally different from northern red oak, which can sit on the ground for a long time and still retain a high percentage of "good" wood for btu's.
 
thanks guys- Wally- agreed that the oak (which isn't common as far north as I am) seems to hold BTUS well even when it's been laying around-- but in my experience (I burn it whenever I can get it), it also takes an especially long time to season, at least compared to sugar maple, which is my reference point for a high BTU, reasonably fast-dry wood
 
You should gain BTU's as the beetles are full of them.
Don
 
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