How is poplar for burning?

A good portion of the slab wood I buy is poplar. I don't have problems with it.

Don't know why they call Tulip Poplar a Poplar cuz it's not related to any of the other Poplars. Around here, most of the Poplar is made into paper and OSB. Some gets milled into lumber too. Not much of it is used as firewood.

we have some hybrid's poplar for fast growing they are junk, but the tulip are good milling and ok firewood.

Yep, it usually goes to the paper mills by me too. Wisconsin has a lot of it growing up north and it routinely gets logged every 10-12 or so years.

We used to burn it at hunting camp, burns fine as long as its dry, but definitely not as hot or long as hardwood. We called it "gopher" wood .... throw one on and "GO FOR" more !! LOL

My experience has been if you burn poplar you will end up with a fast burn and plenty of ash to dispose of. It's great stuff for camp fire type settings, but not that great to burn indoors. However if you do decide to snatch it up and use it indoors, make sure it is completely dry first. It will burn hot, but it will also burn fast. Good luck

burning some right now! 40 degrees out (8 pm) low of 25 tonight here in NM.
I don't have the options most of you all have--so I take what I can get, but it
a great, fast lighting, quick burning wood for this type of weather.

last year i split a cord that i got from a craigslist score. i burnt that stuff this past burning season. i split it by hand. yes go get a splitter. i was using 3 wedges in 20 inch rounds and had to pound the @*it out of it to split it. and it was gushing water out of it so bad that i was getting wet from the splash. not even a year of sitting in the rack and it was light as a feather. it was so easy to start it burning that a few times i just put the lighter to it no kindling and had a nice short lived fire good for the fall and spring burns. the bark has a very sweet odor. nice. after that it will choke ya.

Man, its obviously not the best firewood, but it sure congers up many thoughts!

Neat! Looks like you did that photo with smoke (the wood stove burning Poplar) and mirrors? (the writing on your tee shirt is reversed). Well, I'm more sure about the smoke part, anyway. :lol:

Seriously, nice place, nice stove. I'm sure your son appreciates the heat out of that Poplar. ;-)

Glad I found this thread. I bucked up some poplar that had blown down this winter and was trying to decide whether or not I would take the time to split (by hand) and stack for next year. I have been burning some this spring that I cut and split two years ago and have been moving on and off the wood pile since. It burns HOT. Dampered down and shut down the stove can still hit 650 with two splits in there. For this time of year it is actually more palatable than burning my maple. Looks like I'll split and stack it tomorrow.

When it gushes water during hand splitting, it's easier to split by working around the edges. On a big round, I
cut four slices and then split the center. I found that much easier than using a wedge in the middle. Some
rounds are so wet, it's almost funny.

it makes you stop and think about what your doing when you see the water gush out of it when hit it. i worked it from the edge and made my way towards the middle with the wedges. first wedge at the outside where i started it with the maul and as it cracked 2nd wedge, and still subborn, third wedge. that was before i got my splitter.

How good poplar is, is a relative term. I cut a bunch of it a couple seasons ago. Easy to get to, easy / fast cutting, easy splitting, beautiful stacking, but burned like cardboard. I left the rest of it to rot. back to my true hardwoods. But one thing I've learned here is that some folks would be thrilled to have it. So it really depends on what you're burning now. If you've been burning pine you'll love it. If you've been burning oak, cherry, and black locust you're not gonna be a happy camper with the poplar. Even so, It is nice for the shoulder season.

Oh P.S. .... the bark gets all slimy and slippy as it seasons. Just for an added treat.

Will burn just fine

Few references & blurbs from them.

http://forestry.about.com/cs/firewood/f/firewood_values.htm
Five Poor Performing Species

White Pine - 15 million BTUs/cord - density 22 to 31 lbs./cu.ft.
Cottonwood/Willow - 16 million BTUs/cord - density 24 to 37 lbs./cu.ft.
Basswood - 14 million BTUs/cord - density 20 to 37 lbs./cu.ft.
Aspen - 15 million BTUs/cord - density 26 lbs./cu.ft.
Yellow Poplar - 18 mm million BTUs/cord - density 22 to 31 lbs./cu.ft.


http://www.essortment.com/all/firewoodbtucor_rech.htm
Pound for pound, (dry weight) every species of wood will produce the same amount of heat. Wood is made up of four things: woody fiber, water, resin and ash. How much of each property a species of wood contains will determine how the wood will burn. The denser the wood, the higher the fuel value is.


http://www.woodheat.org/firewood/firewood.htm
All wood, regardless of species, has about the same energy content per pound. The different species vary only in density. Traditionally, the favored trees in central North America were oak and maple because they are very dense and produce long-lasting coals. But these are valuable trees and in many areas are not plentiful enough to burn. No problem, just use softer woods like birch or poplar (aspen) or any other tree that is readily available. Keep in mind that people living in the coldest areas of North America have no hardwoods to burn and they get along just fine.
Ultimately, it is more important to have wood that is ::
****************!"cut and split to the right size and properly dried than it is to get the hardest wood available.*************THIS Last Statement IS GOLDEN INFORMATION
AND THE KEY WORDS ARE: "PROPERLY DRIED"

I sell it and when people ask what kind of wood, "It's real popular."

nice info dave. ya gutta love that tree made from splits.

Thanks

Wish I had that kind of patience & skill to stack wood so artful. But then I wouldn't be allowed to burn it
Pic has been posted here many times,

Well I have a BUNCH of poplar (tulip) maybe 4 cords split and stacked...had some huge trees taken down that were toooo close to the house, keep the trees for firewood...have burned it before goes quick kicks out some heat good mix with harder woods.

And also remember that the poplar in Ohio that CCwhite has may not be the same as your poplar, there are major regional differences. Our NW poplar/cottonwood/willow/aspen does not have slippery bark unless you leave it out in the rain to rot. Bogydave has it right, these whitewoods are actually better than pine IF you let it dry properly. If you try and burn wet poplar you will not be happy.

Here's some 'real popular' on Craig's List. Really. Makes good siding.
Lumber, popular - $150 (culpeper)

I don't know how popular his lumber is going to be, however- he's charging Home Depot prices there for rough milled boards.

Riddle me this, I recently split two cottonwoods, 1 was down ? how long, the other was a fresh 1 day down. The older piece was an absolute bear to split even with a splitter, the fresh split like butter by hand, I'd split that all day. Why the big difference?

I