Why is hickory not favored?

Backwoods Savage said:

Hickory used to be one of the favorites around these parts. That is perhaps why we don't have many hickory trees any more too. We used to find a lot of hickory trees in cow pastures and fence rows. After the small dairy farms died out, then the fences came down and also the trees. Hence, we now have very few hickory trees. We have 5 or 6 on our place but they are very small. We do try to protect them, in fact, I just cut down a dead ash that was close to a couple hickory trees. I had to be careful how I fell them and all went well.

Click to expand...

I have several large hickory trees in my cow pasture that I will not cut until they die or are blown over. They are excellent seed trees. Rather than let nature just take its course in tree regeneration in the woodlot I try to increase the odds by collecting 5 gal buckets of hickory nuts in the fall and plant them with a garden trowel. My kids used to help me and we had a lot of fun doing it.
In addition, I collect acorns and plant them. Some years it is hard to stay ahead of the squirrels.

In recent years deer have taken their toll on the young trees but my theory is to plant a multitude with the expectations that many will survive.
jackpine

I really like my hickories here in Ohio. I have noticed that while shagbark hickory that I have burned in previous years throws off lots of sparks, the bitternut that I have been burning this year has not. I found that intriguing.

I'm stumped as to why black locust is a favorite. I have some seasoned for two years and it only puts out moderate heat. Not to mention, I have to have both air intakes wide open. Maybe it's my stove?? Coals last forever. I also have some hickory, apple and cherry. They all seem about the same. I actually think douglas fir is right up there with any of these woods. It puts out way more heat and though it may not coal like the hardwoods it lasts almost as long. I have a small stove too so the hardwoods fill up real fast with coals.

Love the smell of hickory, apple and the cherry. Doug fir isn't bad either. Too hell with the locust! That'll kill ya.

I love to burn Bitternut Hickory. The ones I harvest tend to be reasonable in size, maybe 15 or 16 inches diameter, tops, but mostly 8 to 12 inchers. They are very straight, few forks/knots to make them challenging, and are really nice to split with a hydraulic splitter. Rarely do I have to full cycle the ram - they usually pop apart after running the wedge only 1/3 to 1/2 the length of the log. I don't know about the Hickory sparking as it burns, however, as I burn in a Garn boiler (no glass door to admire the fire). While I like to burn the Oak and Maple equally well, I like the Hickory the most as it is easiest of the better burning woods to process, in my experience. I've also got some city friends who like to get ahold of the Hickory heartwood for smoking meats.

OK, see if you know these trees?

Rob H said:

HardWoodW,

Guess that explains the bats in the summer. Never knew that. They come out like clockwork at night.

Click to expand...

Indiana bats (which we also have further east) are tiny and they roost under the bark of the shagbark hickory. I learned this because some neighbors of mine have a great deal of it, and their property has been, with their cooperation, declared a "bat refuge." They've occasionally given me some for the stove, and it's about the best thing going for heat and long-burns-- except for those darn sparks!

Gyrfalcon,

Never knew the "under the bark" habitat either. I know for certain that there was at least one in my detached garage LAST YEAR but he did not return to that location. But I still see the bats. The kids throw nuts in the air to watch 'em dive. LOL.

Rob H said:

Gyrfalcon,

Never knew the "under the bark" habitat either. I know for certain that there was at least one in my detached garage LAST YEAR but he did not return to that location. But I still see the bats. The kids throw nuts in the air to watch 'em dive. LOL.

Click to expand...

Pretty cool, huh? But there's a lots and lots of different bat species, all of them with different habits and indistinguishable to us non-specialists. I couldn't tell an "Indiana bat" from a "Little brown bat" to save my life. I only learned because of my neighbors that they're so tiny, they roost under the shagbark hickory bark.

Here in the NE, we've got this horrible, devastating "white nose" syndrome that's killing off the bats by the hundreds of thousands. When I first moved to this house, the air was thick with them at dusk. Last year, only a few. This year, none at all. Gone. All dead. I think not coincidentally, I had mosquito problems this summer for the first time.

I used to have them up in the rafters of my house, which was OK by me as long as they couldn't come down in, but I'm sure they' re all gone now.

My cats went absolutely ballistic chasing and leaping for those fluttery bats outdoors, so I had to learn to bring them in before the bats came out or I'd never get them in. No more. No bats.

RAMSAY said:

OK, see if you know these trees?

Click to expand...

Did you mean to include the name of the tree in the name of each picture? Kind of makes the guessing a little easier. I'll 'guess' Beech and Ironwood.

Who removed my reply? If you have a problem with what someone said you should stick around and defend your thoughts! Not run and hide!

They are very straight, few forks/knots to make them challenging, and are really nice to split with a hydraulic splitter. Rarely do I have to full cycle the ram - they usually pop apart after running the wedge only 1/3 to 1/2 the length of the log.

Click to expand...

I'll second that - I'll put a big hickory round on the base and just pop, pop, pop split it into 6 or 8 pieces in no time at all. Towards the late fall, I just split the last two cords of what my father-in-law and I cut manually since it was so easy. I just had to save the hydraulic splitter for the crotch pieces or very knotty pieces (of which there were not many).

I’ve also got some city friends who like to get ahold of the Hickory heartwood for smoking meats.

Click to expand...

I've already had some invites to barbeques from downstate friends who know I have hickory - I have to bring the hickory, of course.