Lots of Poplar; Keep it or pass...

[Stump_Branch]

I tend to think of it as change. Oak ash locust maple etc, as paper money. Meaning easier to pay, carry and store the paper stuff and worth more. However, who doesnt have a change jar? Money is money, do is wood. It will be good to have around for the less than ideal situations or time of season. Maybe you have a firepit or chimena thing, why burn good wood in there? Save it for those things.

 

[mecreature]

I have about 2 cord of cotton wood. I have a mix of small mulberry rounds to throw in with it.
I will burn it till its gone then move on to the better stuff.

As for grabbing more.. I guess I would. But I am not years ahead yet.

 

[steeltowninwv]

how is poplar on creosote?,,,nothing like pine is it?

 

[NH_Wood]

how is poplar on creosote?,,,nothing like pine is it?

One thing I've learned here is that well-seasoned pine does not lead to any more creosote than any other well-seasoned wood - it is an old wives' tale. Cheers!

 

[711mhw]

It seems that tree names change regionally. What I knew as Tulip Poplar made nice boards, it's very stable and is also used as "core" wood for furniture that got a veneer top layer. This was down below the Mason Dixon line and some of the poplar had beautiful blond, light green, to light purple colors. It was widely used as barn siding (vertical only) and was fine as long as it got air to both sides. If you got a use for some lumber, it would be better than cutting it up as it's only marginal firewood.

 

[Swedishchef]

Poplar is a great wood for the shoulder season (like everyone has mentioned). It wont burn long but will burn OK. Just ensure it dries well: mushrooms tend to grow on the ends (at least around here it does on our poplars...)

Andrew

 

[Backwoods Savage]

how is poplar on creosote?,,,nothing like pine is it?

Popple dries relatively fast and as long as you do let it dry first there should be no problem with creosote. No, nothing like pine, but pine is fine anyway. It burns probably even better than the popple.

 

[firefighterjake]

how is poplar on creosote?,,,nothing like pine is it?

Burning pine will automatically create loads of creosote in your chimney . . . baldness in men with a history of baldness in the family . . . splinters in fingers if you do not wear gloves. . . and warm homes.

One of the above statements is incorrect . . .

 

[thewoodlands]

So, I find out that my Dad is having some very large Poplar trees being taken down on his property; along with some maples. Growing up there, I know that these things are your typical Poplar tree - monsters. My Dad tells the tree service that he is keeping all the wood for me since we burn. Tree guy says that he should take the poplar since its junk. My question is, should he take it away? I know poplar isn't the best, but what's the opinion of others? I already have some poplar from his place due to storm damage and it seems that it starts to turn bad even when cut in rounds and stacked.

Cut and split some last year(about 2 cord) then stacked it, we will top cover it this weekend so we can use it for the shoulder season.




zap

 

[Swedishchef]

That will work just fine! BTUs are BTUs, just depends on how long you want the burn to last.

Andrew

 

[JoeCt]

I've been burning yellow poplar in the shoulder season for a few years now. I had it so I burned it. It isn't the best for btu's, but a btu is a btu. I also mix it in during the cold season.

 

[Hass]

got about 2 full cords of it in my backyard.
I'll get back to you on it! =)

from what I heard it's not bad.
the trunks of the trees rot out pretty good. So you may not get as much as you think

I've also got about 4 cords of pine to burn this year... man, my chimney is going to get plugged with creosote daily I think from all the stuff people say
also a little over a face cord of catalpa. Never burned it that I can recall, anywhere... camping or else.

 

[kbrown]

Well, the trees came down this past weekend. What an incredible thing to watch; the service was about the best I have seen. They did everything with a 100' boom truck and cherry picker. Very organized operation. I got there on day 2 and they already had the stack shown below done. They did haul away the monster size pieces that he said would be nothing but a nightmare for me to work with. I agreed since the diameter of the biggest poplar was just under 6 foot. Some of the maples were around 66" diameter, but they left logs 3' in diameter. My mobile phone battery ended up dying out and couldn't get a pic of the other pile, but it's just a big.

So, how many cords do you think is in this pic? My yard is full for the coming year; can only hold 5 cord. I don't plan to start bucking this until we start burning this winter. Should I be concerned about any of this going bad in the next year? Never had this much available to me all at once, this will certainly be a ton of fun!

 

[Beetle-Kill]

Tough call, as to how much wood is there. Not much to scale it off to make a comparison. Guess is 2 3/8-to-2 1/2 cords. (8 cord if you list it for sale on CL) ;-)

 

[firefighterjake]

Well, the trees came down this past weekend. What an incredible thing to watch; the service was about the best I have seen. They did everything with a 100' boom truck and cherry picker. Very organized operation. I got there on day 2 and they already had the stack shown below done. They did haul away the monster size pieces that he said would be nothing but a nightmare for me to work with. I agreed since the diameter of the biggest poplar was just under 6 foot. Some of the maples were around 66" diameter, but they left logs 3' in diameter. My mobile phone battery ended up dying out and couldn't get a pic of the other pile, but it's just a big.

So, how many cords do you think is in this pic? As mentioned it's hard to tell since we don't have any measurements or any way to really scale this. You can go to this website and type in the length, width and height (average it out) and voila -- you will know roughly how much wood you have . . . when you buck it up and split it you should end up with a bit more. My yard is full for the coming year; can only hold 5 cord. I don't plan to start bucking this until we start burning this winter. Should I be concerned about any of this going bad in the next year? I would not worry too much . . . especially if it is sitting on the concrete or tar . . . or once bucke, stacked off the ground. Never had this much available to me all at once, this will certainly be a ton of fun!

 

[kbrown]

Thanks! I was getting concerned because a neighbor that cuts wood said that maple will go bad in a year if not split/stacked. In reality it be about that time before I get through all this. I will post more pics once I get back over there, along with some measurements.

 

[fabsroman]

I wouldn't want to deal with that big of a round for poplar, but if you need the wood.... The tree service must sell the lumber for pallets or something or they probably
wouldn't be trying to talk you into taking it.

Exactly. The question is, does it cost extra to have the tree service haul it away. I know most tree services charge extra to haul away around here. If that was the case, I would be burning the wood. Not only do you save money by not having to pay the tree service to haul it away, but you save money on the heating bill.

Me, I am a sort of waste not, want not sort of guy. Just took a 1/2 truckload of poplar last week. If I have room to store it, I will take it. Worst case scenario, you burn it as soon as it is seasoned so you can get rid of it and open up more space for other wood. Me, I am thinking about creating a "poplar only" rack so that I know exactly what it is.

Ultimately, I agree with others though. If you have enough of the good stuff, pass on the poplar. Heck, I just passed on a 30" white oak because I have nowhere to put it. I have 4 locus tree with my name on them too, but have nowhere to put it right now. Something tells me I will be back to cutting, splitting, and stacking in December.

 

[fabsroman]

Well, the trees came down this past weekend. What an incredible thing to watch; the service was about the best I have seen. They did everything with a 100' boom truck and cherry picker. Very organized operation. I got there on day 2 and they already had the stack shown below done. They did haul away the monster size pieces that he said would be nothing but a nightmare for me to work with. I agreed since the diameter of the biggest poplar was just under 6 foot. Some of the maples were around 66" diameter, but they left logs 3' in diameter. My mobile phone battery ended up dying out and couldn't get a pic of the other pile, but it's just a big.

So, how many cords do you think is in this pic? My yard is full for the coming year; can only hold 5 cord. I don't plan to start bucking this until we start burning this winter. Should I be concerned about any of this going bad in the next year? Never had this much available to me all at once, this will certainly be a ton of fun!

That is the best way to have to deal with wood. Wish somebody would come over here and stack it up nice and neat like that. It would make bucking and splitting it a lot easier versus having to fell it, clean it, and move it all around in the field.

Yeah 6 foot wide and 66" wide would be a nightmare. Now, if it was oak I would live with the nightmare and cut the pieces in half with the saw before moving them to the splitter. Maybe even quarter them.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Well, the trees came down this past weekend. What an incredible thing to watch; the service was about the best I have seen. They did everything with a 100' boom truck and cherry picker. Very organized operation. I got there on day 2 and they already had the stack shown below done. They did haul away the monster size pieces that he said would be nothing but a nightmare for me to work with. I agreed since the diameter of the biggest poplar was just under 6 foot. Some of the maples were around 66" diameter, but they left logs 3' in diameter. My mobile phone battery ended up dying out and couldn't get a pic of the other pile, but it's just a big.

So, how many cords do you think is in this pic? My yard is full for the coming year; can only hold 5 cord. I don't plan to start bucking this until we start burning this winter. Should I be concerned about any of this going bad in the next year? Never had this much available to me all at once, this will certainly be a ton of fun!

Holy catfish! I've never in my life seen any popple even close to that size! Are you sure that it was not cottonwood? Sometimes it is easy to mix these 2 up and in MI it is rare to see a popple even half that size. On our place they usually get to about 18" maximum before they die.

 

[gpcollen1]

how is poplar on creosote?,,,nothing like pine is it?

Popple dries relatively fast and as long as you do let it dry first there should be no problem with creosote. No, nothing like pine, but pine is fine anyway. It burns probably even better than the popple.

What on earth is Popple? It is not in any tree book i have ever seen

 

[firefighterjake]

how is poplar on creosote?,,,nothing like pine is it?

Popple dries relatively fast and as long as you do let it dry first there should be no problem with creosote. No, nothing like pine, but pine is fine anyway. It burns probably even better than the popple.

What on earth is Popple? It is not in any tree book i have ever seen

Popple = name commonly given to poplar or aspen . . . oftentimes quaking aspen around here in Maine.

 

[kbrown]

Well, I said I would post more pics of the final stuff and here they are. Stopped by the other day and took a pic of my daughter standing next to the largest stuff. She's about 4' tall and those logs measured about 32" across, 77" long. With both large piles, I am hoping to get about two years worth (6 cord +/-).
What does the group say; more or less?

BackWoods - I questioned the tree guys about the cottonwood/poplar and he said it was 100% poplar. He has over 25 years experience so I wasn't going to argue! LOL. The stump in the foreground is the monster along with a 24" one next to it. The stump further away is one of the maples that came down. They were all close to that size.

 

[billb3]

Wow, I've never seen a poplar that size either.
Mine all have competition from other (faster growing ) tress around them though. (can't seem to compete with the pine growth and heights)
Maybe that had the advantage of being out in the open ?

I've never heard of maple rotting. I have a half of a cord sitting out in the woods in a valley for two years I still haven't figured out how I'm going to get to it yet (besides carrying it by armfulls up a fairly steep hill). Just red/swamp and norway maple here. No sugar or silver that I know of.

I save my oak for Jan /Feb
Can't see burning the good stuff with the windows open.

 

[Nonprophet]

Around here the old-timers called Poplar/Cottonwood the "maternity wood" because if that was the only firewood you had to burn all winter you were going to have to find other ways to stay warm.........!


NP

 

[berlin]

Populus deltoides is popLAR is eastern cottonwood. It is the tree most commonly known as poplar, and commonly mispronounced as "popple"

In moravia, NY (right in town) there is a cottonwood tree well over 100 years old and over 12' in diameter, and I'm sure there are larger ones elswhere.