Firewood Wood Harvesting - Zone 7, 9 - Nor Cal - Eucalyptus trees?

[ColdNorCal]

HI, I live on 5 1/2 acres and would like to plant some trees as a renewable firewood source. This would be for zone 7 and 9 in Nor Cal. Eucalyptus trees seem to be the tree that comes up in the searches. Their are many varieties with some conflicting information on size and growth rate.

Also, some love Eucalyptus for firewood as it burns hot. Some do not.

Experiences, suggestions and recommendations are much appreciated.

 

[bob95065]

Eucalyptus is my first choice in firewood. The variety I like best is the blue gum with smooth bark. They are tall and straight so they are easy to split because they don't have a lot of knots. The splits stack nice and tight. You better split it fast because the rounds will season fast - and when it is dry you will work hard to split it.

If an oak is on the ground two winters it will start to rot. Not Eucalyptus. I harvested eucalyptus logs that were in the ground for years with no rot.

It seasons very fast. Once I left a round in the sun for a week. It split down the length because the water left the round so quickly. I really like it for firewood.

There are downsides with eucalyptus. The first is the oil. If you burn it green the oil can burn really hot and damage your flue and even cause a chimney fire. The other downside is when it is dry you will get splinters in your hand when handling it very easily.

I got into some red gum with thick bark once. The sap looked like blood in color and consistency. When it dried it looked like clotted blood. There was lots of it in that tree. I hosed my truck out and my driveway looked like a crime scene. It did burn hot though.

There are people that will discourage you from burning it. Let them talk. Eucalyptus is the good stuff.

 

[bob95065]

BTW where in Nor Cal are you?

 

[ColdNorCal]

BTW where in Nor Cal are you?

95658, Newcastle, near Auburn.

 

[bob95065]

I was just down in Watsonville cutting eucalyptus at a friend's ranch. His place had thousands of trees before it caught fire in 2008. Now there are tens of thousands. The problem with eucalyptus trees is they grow like weeds. If you are able to keep up with them they are a very good source of firewood. If they are not kept in check they will take over your land.

That being said in 10 years the trees down there grew fast and tall. Some were over 12" in diameter. We also dropped some older trees. It was a good day. Like I said it is my first choice in firewood.