Cutting Black Walnut

[muncybob]

According to my charts black walnut is about the same as cherry in btu rating so I was surpised at how easy it was to cut compared to cherry. Answered a CraigsList ad last night, guy had a fairly good sized tree down in his yard and wanted it cut/removed ASAP as people were coming soon to install a pool for them. Even he commented on how much I got done in the 1.5 hours that I was there....pics to follow.

 

[thewoodlands]

muncybob, mother nature puts down just over three cord of cherry per year (since I've been cutting,some are leaners) on our property. I think you'll like the black walnut,nice score.


Zap

 

[Jags]

BW is a nice even burning wood. Doesn't coal much and does seem to produce more ash than other types, but that ain't no big thang. Good stuff to have in your stack.

 

[3fordasho]

Easy to split, bark comes off pretty easy when splitting, makes for some nice clean splits.
Unique smell when cutting, splitting and burning. Medium seasoning time, not as quick as ash or cherry, but not red oak.

BW is a nice even burning wood. Doesn't coal much and does seem to produce more ash than other types, but that ain't no big thang. Good stuff to have in your stack.

 

[smokinj]

Once walnut drys out some it gets very hard.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Nice find Bob. Bet the guy likes it that you are cleaning up for him and you get good wood too.

 

[jwoair23]

I got some black walnut last year, I liked it, it split well and burned well. The only thing I didn't like was the smell for the first 2-3 weeks after being split, doesn't smell great during that time, but it goes away and then is great firewood!

 

[bogydave]

Great score even without pictures.
The pictures will just make me envy the score more.

 

[chvymn99]

I love the smell of Walnut, plus it burns pretty good especially for the shoulder season and warmer winter days.

 

[Locust Post]

I like walnut and usually have some in my stacks but I don't think it is as good as cherry no matter what the BTU charts tell you. Not saying that you shouldn't have taken it though Bob not at all. I would have cleaned that up in a New York minute.

 

[muncybob]

I split the 1st truck load last night. Pics will be uploaded tonight or tomorrow. A lot of what I was able to get was very large stuff as I was not the 1st person to show up so a lot of the larger branches/tops and such were already removed. The property owner used his BX24 to load the truck and several of the large pieces were split "Dennis style"....vertical. These buggers had some nasty crotches and it took awhile to get through them. Left me with several uglies too...but hey, they all burn! Went back for the XL pieces last night. These will need to be pulled out of the truck using my tractor and noodled to more workable sizes. Gonna be a lot of work but next winter it will be a distant memory.

This is the first time I'm cutting/splitting in several months and even though the temps are high along with high humidity, I must admit I'm getting the itch to go cut some more.

 

[Ashful]

Most of my property is black walnut, and it's one of my favorite woods to process. Cuts and splits so easy for a good medium BTU wood. I also have quite a bit of cherry, and I hate that stuff with a passion. Nothing but crotches and branches in the cherry that grows around here, unless you count 2 - 3 feet of "trunk". I also like the smell of walnut, but jwoair's comment has me thinking I might be alone on that.

 

[jwoair23]

but jwoair's comment has me thinking I might be alone on that.

I can see how not everyone would hate it, but I will say this. My next door neighbor actually complained about the smell after I split a truck load of it and stacked it next to the house. It was noticeable from a house over, its just a very unique smell out of all the woods for sure.

 

[TimJ]

I knew you would have to worry about your neighbors
Better go straighten up those stacks

 

[Ashful]

My next door neighbor actually complained about the smell after I split a truck load of it and stacked it next to the house.

I have a solution for neighbors like that. Start complaining about the fumes coming out of his oil-fired boiler's chimney this December, and keep it up all winter long. He'll likely not say anything about the fragrence from your wood stacks again.

 

[jeffoc]

Most of the trees we have are black walnut, they do split nice and I'm hoping it burns as well as people say. But between the smell and the (*&^%*) walnuts and husks it will drive me crazy. One day I'm going to take out a window while mowing the lawn.

 

[Danno77]

I <3 Black Walnut. The smell, the burn, the lumber, the splitting, the cutting...Just my favorite wood. I'm sure most of the allure is sentimental at this point, but whatever.

 

[ScotO]

I have a stack of huge boards from that monster walnut we cut in the spring stacked in the garage drying right now. Garage smells like a fine furniture workshop. I kinda like the smell of it when it's drying, I also like the smell of it when it's burning. I got lots of it in my stacks, it's a great wood to have.

 

[TimJ]

Scotty, what happened to your head

 

[ScotO]

Scotty, what happened to your head

I got to feelin' a little squirrely, Tim!!

 

[Locust Post]

Smokin ain't good for your health Squirrely Overkill

 

[TimJ]

He's acting a bit nutty if you ask me

 

[Freeheat]

I got to feelin' a little squirrely, Tim!!

Scotty went nucking Futs

 

[ScotO]

Scotty went nucking Futs

Actually I've been nucking futs most of my life!

 

[muncybob]

Here's what I was able to bring home. Gonna need the tractor to pull off those trunk pieces. Wife thinks I'm nucking futs for messing with this stuff!