Is Silver Maple a hard or soft maple?

[karl]

I've been looking for the BTU content of Sivler Maple and cant' find it. Does is go by a different name?

I found 18.7 million BTUs for soft maple and 24 million BTUs for hard maple.

What am I going to get with Silver Maple?

Thanks.

 

[Metal]

By counting the number of branches they drop I would assume very soft. Here is a site that says it has 21,700.

http://www.burnerboys.com/WoodStoves/WoodTypeBTURatings.htm

 

[gpcollen1]

Hard Maple is essentially Sugar maple [and maybe Black Maple if my dendrology memory works]. All others are really soft maple - except norway which appears to be somewhere in between.

 

[glacialhills]

hope this help....Silver maple (Acer saccharinum) is a medium-sized tree of short bole and quickly branching crown common in the Eastern United States where it is also called soft maple, river maple, silverleaf maple, swamp maple, water maple, and white maple. It is found on stream banks, flood plains, and lake edges where it grows best on better-drained, moist alluvial soils. Growth is rapid in both pure and mixed stands and the tree may live 130 years or more. Silver maple is cut and sold with red maple (A. rubrum) as soft maple lumber. The winged seeds are the largest of any of the native maple. They are produced in great abundance annually, providing many birds and small mammals with food. An attractive tree with delicate and graceful foliage, silver maple is often planted as an ornamental.

 

[derecskey]

While the lacelike silvery green leaves are kinda cool to look at, the trees are JUNK for yards. They produce much refuse, drop lots of branches in snow/ice storms, and are NOTORIOUS above all other maples for cracking/heaving sidewalks and driveways.

I personally am one of those death-to-the-silver-maple people.

 

[begreen]

Sounds like you need an English Elm growing in your yard to experience a real PITA. Sucker city.

 

[Jags]

It is a soft maple. A little better than pine and a long ways away from oak. Burns fine, just fast. It makes a good shoulder season wood, because it will coal up a little, providing a low heat output for awhile.

Not sure why silver maple is hated. I have 3 very large, 100+ year old specimens in my yard. They don't drop anymore branches than my pines and trust me when I say "I get wind".

They are a fast growing tree and are pretty good as shade trees because of their large canopy.

The stuff seasons fast and will be very light and splits pretty well.

Burn 'em if ya got 'em.

 

[jabush]

I like burning Silver maple. Burns hot and clean...seasons fast, and it's just behind Red maple in btu output.
The biggest trees on my lot are (40+dbh) Silvers. Love em...lots o shade, and never a lack of branches for the fire pit!!
It's 95 degrees in Baltimore right now. 87 degrees at my place(20 minutes west). Love them Silvers (and others)

 

[RedRanger]

Lordy,I love it when I get the chance to stir when it ain`t in the ash can :cheese: If you really,really do your research, there is no such thing as a soft maple-period!! All maples are hardwoods, just some denser than others, some more higher btu content than others. But just like alder it is classified as a "hardwood". Don`t believe me? Google it and see for yourself.

You have to purchase your wood supply according to what you want it to do. eg-I paid an extra 20$ per cord this spring for maple cause I wanted the longer burn time, even though the douglas fir has a higher btu content. Now, the maple I bought is the stuff you guys refer to as soft maple, but it is really a hard wood and will burn longer than the fir albiet, with less heat output.

In my case, I don`t need the heat with only 7 and a half foot ceiling height where my insert is located, but really treasure the longer burn. Really, that room cooks in no time when the Kodiak Bear is only cruising. So small fires, till bedtime, then stack it up with maple and it will last most of the nite. And keeps the place toasty and the wife is content. ;-)

 

[gpcollen1]

O sonny - but there is the designation of soft maple and hard maple. It is definitely noted like that by folks that work with wood [if they ever work with red maples/soft maples] and us firewood folk. The Soft maples are decidedly different than the hard/sugar. Pretend they are not if you want but not me...I think most of us understand they are still hardwood...

 

[Hogwildz]

I burn the soft maple, but don't care for it much. Burns much faster than oak, and leaves alot of white ash.
Give me red or white oak & I am happpy.

 

[RedRanger]

I burn the soft maple, but don't care for it much. Burns much faster than oak, and leaves alot of white ash.
Give me red or white oak & I am happpy.

Way to go Hog? Thanks for your support? You know damn well that neither BG or I have anything resembling Oak out here on the Left Coast. Well, maybe some stuff that you would pay an arm and a leg for. :cheese: but mostly softwood, hence, we know what burns longer,, not you guys that are spoiled with your oak and stuff. Again, no such thing as soft maple, no, no, all classified as hardwood., just like our alder that grows like a weed.

If you challenge me on this crap--then I will post the link--and then you will have to swallow it. :-/ No doubt you will accept the challenge, why wouldn`t you, after all, you have to breathe that Nuke stuff everday.

Can`t wait till this next winter is over, bet my Kodiak Bear gives your summit a run for the money.

Take care on that Bike hey. :coolsmile:

 

[Hogwildz]

Oh Sonny, you know me, I ALWAYS avoid conflict .
I spoke of soft maple. There is a hard maple and yes it is considered hardwood, and I also believe not too far down the BTU chart for fire wood species from oak.
I spoke of my experience of the "soft" maple. Its burns, burns good, but does burn faster than the hard maples, and even more so than oak.
Now, if your a good feller, I'll send ya a couple splits of white oak for x-mas, and then you'll see what a long burn is really like

Heres Tom's chart from his site , Thanks Tom.
Notice the silver maple not far from white oak and same as red oak ( I even have a hard time swallowing that one), yet the red maple is nearly but a lil more than 1/2 the BTU's as white oak.
I just love white oak, its hard, dense coals great, burns long, and I love the smell of fresh split oak, yummy.
http://chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm

 

[RedRanger]

Oh Sonny, you know me, I ALWAYS avoid conflict .
I spoke of soft maple. There is a hard maple and yes it is considered hardwood, and I also believe not too far down the BTU chart for fire wood species from oak.
I spoke of my experience of the "soft" maple. Its burns, burns good, but does burn faster than the hard maples, and even more so than oak.
Now, if your a good feller, I'll send ya a couple splits of white oak for x-mas, and then you'll see what a long burn is really like

Heres Tom's chart from his site , Thanks Tom.
Notice the silver maple not far from white oak and same as red oak ( I even have a hard time swallowing that one), yet the red maple is nearly but a lil more than 1/2 the BTU's as white oak.
I just love white oak, its hard, dense coals great, burns long, and I love the smell of fresh split oak, yummy.
http://chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm

Please don`t send the Oak--I can`t afford the freight %-P

 

[Todd]

Sonny,
I think your a little mixed up on this? Nobody is saying Silver Maple is in the "soft wood" catagory, it's just considered a soft Maple or just not as hard as Sugar or Black Maple. It burns just fine for me, good coals and 8hr burns in my stove.

 

[woodconvert]

Well, it is a softer maple and a crappy tree to have in your yard (damn roots grow on the surface...makes it a byatch to mow around) and suseptable to storm damage...but they do make a fine shade tree...so there's that.

I would burn it for spring and fall wood in Michigan but wouldn't want to burn it in the middle of winter...too quick burn times. That said, you live in West Va...you could probably burn balsa wood just fine in the middle of winter ;-P . Take it if you can get it.

 

[karl]

Woodconvert I know it doesn't get as cold in West Virginia as it does in Michigan, but you're used to cold weather. Down here it's a real inconvenience for us.

The reason I posed the hard maple soft maple question, is that I couldn't find Silver Maple list on a BTU chart until someone post one in this thread. There are charts out there that list other maples. Some have high BTU outputs and others have low BTU outputs. I just wanted to get an idea of what I had.

Last year I had mostly junk wood. Fortunately, the largest part of it was dry. I did well heating the house. Even though there are Oaks galore around here, I burn whatever I can get a tree guy to drop in my yard for free. I even bought some slab wood this year and I'm getting another load ordered next week. I don't care what it is. If it's free, wood, and will fit in the stove, I'll burn it.

This Silver Maple has only been cut and split for a little over a month now, and judging from the cracks and grey color, it would probably burn now.

 

[gpcollen1]

Well, it is a softer maple and a crappy tree to have in your yard (damn roots grow on the surface...makes it a byatch to mow around) and suseptable to storm damage...but they do make a fine shade tree...so there's that.

JUst so some folks who don't know will in the future...

Silver maple was indeed planted all over the Northeast and probably other parts of the US but I am not well versed in those. It was planted for it's fast growing abilities where you get shade in yards and city streets in a matter of years. Issue was that it cracks very easily with snow weight and just for the fun of it. After lawsuits due to snapped branches landing on cars and power lines going down all the time, plenty of eradication programs were carried out to get rid of the rest of the city Silver Maples.

Kind of simplified it there but that's my story...quite a bit different grain and strength than sugar maple, as are the red/soft maples. The mighty sugar maple sure is pretty!

 

[sapratt]

Its funny you mention White Oak cause I've read on different sites. One will say not to burn White Oak
because it is to hard and doesn't burn good. Another say it is a great wood to burn it just needs
about 2yrs to season.

Now I am new to wood burning but wood could be to hard to burn?

 

[woodconvert]

Woodconvert I know it doesn't get as cold in West Virginia as it does in Michigan, but you're used to cold weather. Down here it's a real inconvenience for us.

Having your snow shoe laces break while on a hike is an inconvenience. Having 30F for low winter temps is a BLESSING!! ( I'm just kiddin').

The reason I posed the hard maple soft maple question, is that I couldn't find Silver Maple list on a BTU chart until someone post one in this thread. There are charts out there that list other maples. Some have high BTU outputs and others have low BTU outputs. I just wanted to get an idea of what I had.

I am serious though, burn it. Your winters typically are not so severe. It won't take the hardest wood on the BTU charts to heat with. Nothing wrong with that. Burn ANYTHING dry and you'll be fine.

This Silver Maple has only been cut and split for a little over a month now, and judging from the cracks and grey color, it would probably burn now.

That's possible but you can't just go by discoloration and checks on the end of the splits. Buy/borrow/take a split to someone with a moisture meter...cut the split and measure the moisture so you know where you are at.

 

[woodconvert]

Its funny you mention White Oak cause I've read on different sites. One will say not to burn White Oak
because it is to hard and doesn't burn good. Another say it is a great wood to burn it just needs
about 2yrs to season.

Now I am new to wood burning but wood could be to hard to burn?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. The harder the wood the longer it takes to season...that's true. But all else is false. White Oak is an excellent firewood if given enough time to season. But, keep spreadin' that rumor and you may have some people trying to unload some of that crappy white oak in your woodpile!.

 

[Hogwildz]

I'll take any white oak yall don't want. I'll suffer with it

 

[BrotherBart]

I'll take any white oak yall don't want. I'll suffer with it

Amen brother. White oak is the queen of the woodpile around this place. Red oak splits easier but that is the splitter's job description. I would dearly love for my woodpile to be nothing but white oak.

BB - Another guy in a place where it obviously doesn't get cold. I just don't happen to have any other heat in the joint and for some reason they didn't build this house for Michigan winters. Or Virginia winters for that matter.

 

[derecskey]

Karl,

I do not pity your winter inconvenience.

 

[Jags]

Properly seasoned White Oak = the wood burners gold standard.