Firewood from Hell!

[fire_man]

I ordered a grapple load of firewood and ended up with this ENORMOUS cottonwood tree. It stank like a sewer when cut, and nearly every piece required the full stroke of the hydraulic splitter because it was so stringy. I had to tear the pieces apart by hand even after splitting. Some of the bark fell off and revealed giant thorny spikes growing out of the wood waiting to pierce skin! Fortunately I took Dennis' advice (Backwoods Savage) and let it dry a while so the giant rounds were easier to move to the splitter. Dennis knows everything about firewood imaginable (except for the proper way to run a splitter - everyone knows horizontal is better where possible :snake: ). I can't wait to heave this stuff into the Fireview.

 

[ANeat]

How much did you end up with, you should go thru it pretty quick


In my mind firewood from hell would have a pretty low moisture content :lol:

 

[fire_man]

I ended up with over 2 cord from one tree. From what I hear styrofoam has more BTU's!

 

[burntime]

The cottonwood I tried was bad to split and dried to nothing. It would burn way too fast! Basically start it and choke the stove down or it was litterally gone in 30 minutes...

 

[Danno77]

my cottonwood was never stringy. maybe what I always thought was cottonwood actually wasn't.....

 

[Duetech]

color seems off for cottonwood and smell is more like piss elm and thorns don't belong anywhere on a cottonwood. Sounds like some intresting wood anyway.

 

[fire_man]

Now you guys have me wondering, what the devil is this stuff? Its got really thick bark. The thorns are sharp protrusions under the bark about 3/8 inch long in spots.It was really heavy when freshly cut and dried lighter than any wood I ever had.

 

[Danno77]

Now you guys have me wondering, what the devil is this stuff? Its got really thick bark. The thorns are sharp protrusions under the bark about 3/8 inch long in spots.It was really heavy when freshly cut and dried lighter than any wood I ever had.

Could it be locust?

 

[Smokey Bear]

Locust would have the thick bark and thorns, but i don't think it gets real light when dry.

 

[burntime]

Its not dry yet so he does not know yet...locust is my guess as well. That stuff does burn well...

 

[Todd]

Could be Black Locust, need more pictures.

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Stinky AND stringy- the rare Thong Elm. I've never seen it, much less any hardwood, but I am reading the books.

 

[fire_man]

I thought locust too when it was delivered. I think its too light when dried and it stinks bad. Does locust smell like septic when the wood is fresh? I promise some better closeup pictures tomorrow.

 

[Smokey Bear]

You will definitely know if it's locust when you burn it! It will be noticably hotter and longer.

 

[ANeat]

Now you guys have me wondering, what the devil is this stuff? Its got really thick bark. The thorns are sharp protrusions under the bark about 3/8 inch long in spots.It was really heavy when freshly cut and dried lighter than any wood I ever had.

Sounds like cottonwood to me. Thick bark and "dried lighter than any wood I ever had" = cottonwood

 

[Tony H]

Looking at the picture it does not look at all like locust and the smell is not right either. The picture looks a whole lot like some ELM to me and the smell is also an elm deal plus it some stringy stuff.
If it is elm it a pita to process but it burns ok not great. If my tree guy brought me elm and charged me for it he deserves a nice clonk in the head with a stinky stringy chunk of it.

 

[doubledip]

The bark looks like cottonwood from here but I could be wrong. The cottonwood has a soft, silky filler under the bark, when half way dry and the bark starts to fall off that filler will just fall apart in your hands… if that’s the case then I would use those rounds as cup holders or something else. I use a couple rounds that I’ve got as stands to buck limbs.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I ordered a grapple load of firewood and ended up with this ENORMOUS cottonwood tree. It stank like a sewer when cut, and nearly every piece required the full stroke of the hydraulic splitter because it was so stringy. I had to tear the pieces apart by hand even after splitting. Some of the bark fell off and revealed giant thorny spikes growing out of the wood waiting to pierce skin! Fortunately I took Dennis' advice (Backwoods Savage) and let it dry a while so the giant rounds were easier to move to the splitter. Dennis knows everything about firewood imaginable (except for the proper way to run a splitter - everyone knows horizontal is better where possible :snake: ). I can't wait to heave this stuff into the Fireview.

Wait! Wait a minute here. >:-( Some things are better horizontal but splitting wood is not.


Difficult to tell (as always) from pictures but what is pictured does look like cottonwood along with that sweet odor you got. :cheese:

 

[firefighterjake]

I ordered a grapple load of firewood and ended up with this ENORMOUS cottonwood tree. It stank like a sewer when cut, and nearly every piece required the full stroke of the hydraulic splitter because it was so stringy. I had to tear the pieces apart by hand even after splitting. Some of the bark fell off and revealed giant thorny spikes growing out of the wood waiting to pierce skin! Fortunately I took Dennis' advice (Backwoods Savage) and let it dry a while so the giant rounds were easier to move to the splitter. Dennis knows everything about firewood imaginable (except for the proper way to run a splitter - everyone knows horizontal is better where possible :snake: ). I can't wait to heave this stuff into the Fireview.

Wait! Wait a minute here. >:-( Some things are better horizontal but splitting wood is not.


Difficult to tell (as always) from pictures but what is pictured does look like cottonwood along with that sweet odor you got. :cheese:

HehHeh . . . I missed FireMan's dig the first time through.

But do tell Dennis . . . what things are better horizontal?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Jake, some things are best left unsaid. ;-)

 

[firefighterjake]

Jake, some things are best left unsaid. ;-)

Oh that's right . . . you ride one of those recumbent bikes and you're almost horizontal on that . . . that must be what we're talking about, right?

 

[Jags]

Get a pic of these "thorns". I think I know what your talking about, and they are not true thorns (in the protection of the plant sense), they are more of a pointy growth under the bark, only to be seen when the bark falls off. This true??

If so, you got cotton wood. "Drying to the lightest wood" does not = locust. Sorry for the bad news.

 

[Danno77]

yeah, Jags, I reread the post and the "thorns" he is saying sound like you are describing and are too small (and aren't external, necessarily) to be Locust. Stringy sounds like elm, very light sounds like cottonwood, smell sounds like elm, too. I dunno.

 

[blades]

how about sl;ippery elm, stringy as hell, stinks, slimy under the bark when green, new branch shoots can look/feel like thorns, holds a lot water so heavy when green, dries out light.

 

[fire_man]

The bark looks like cottonwood from here but I could be wrong. The cottonwood has a soft, silky filler under the bark, when half way dry and the bark starts to fall off that filler will just fall apart in your hands… if that’s the case then I would use those rounds as cup holders or something else. I use a couple rounds that I’ve got as stands to buck limbs.

Yup, that fits the description exactly. silky filler under the bark. It falls apart in my hands. I've got over 2 cord of this junk so too much for cup holders. Here is a picture of both sides of the bark and some splits...