Poplar

[BroadCove]

I just spent an hour or so bucking about 2/3 of a cord of poplar (it's really aspen, but its called poplar around here). I don't really like the stuff because of its low BTU content and the smell it gives off if you store any of it inside (even when seasoned). I cut a lot of eastern white pine, which is about the same BTU-wise, but I like it much better than the poplar.

I can't pass up the poplar, though. I have several large trees that have blown down, and they're laying in such a way that makes them the easiest wood in the world to buck. The trunks are hovering a couple of feet off the ground, at perfect cutting height, and none of them have ever touched the ground, which means the cutting is quick and clean. I'm obviously careful to make sure the trunks aren't going to spring back on me, but fortunately they have relatively small root balls and thus aren't prone to that happening.

Now I just have to wait for the ground to freeze to haul them out of the swampy area they're in.

 

[Wacky1]

Hire a helicopter,,,,I saw that on an episode of AX MEN :lol: Anyway, I have poplar here too and it does have a strange "minty" type smell to it. Dont care much for the BTU's either I plan to use it for this time of year and as the temp cools I will start adding pine and then red oak. The oaks are starting to get the some disease around here that are killing them off at an alarming rate. So eventually the main tree around here is going to be poplar, and,or yellow and white pine.

 

[LLigetfa]

If I can drop a Poplar back out of sight toward the bush and then just cut it up small enough to lay and rot, that's what I do. If it wants to fall in such a way that I need to do major cleanup, it ends up as firewood.

I can overlook the lousy BTUs. I can almost tolerate the smell as long as it wasn't diseased, but I cannot tolerate the fine talcum powder-like ashes.

 

[maplewood]

I used to let the poplar rot, much to my dad's chagrin. Same reasons - low BTU's, fluffy ash with no coals, a bit on the smelly side....
I've finally cut some up for firewood - I have a cord in the basement now, ranked in the middle of my maple. I'm going to see how the new Econoburn eats it around January.
I've got some nice straight poplar on my property, and if it burns well this winter, I'll start harvesting some for the future. Scrounging off my own property!
Happy burning.

 

[firefighterjake]

I'm not a Specist . . . I don't discriminate when it comes to trees . . . I'll burn any tree species as long as it is seasoned . . . I figure just like there a time for every season, there is a tree species for every season . . . and for me, poplar is perfect for the Fall and Spring . . . or for starting up a cold fire.

 

[Gator eye]

I love poplar.....I like to have a dry pile laying around.

It starts easy, it burns fast for a easy way to get a cold stove and house warmed up fast, it also great for this 40'est degree weather. If it's dry you can choke it right down with little creosote.

 

[Mid Michigan]

Around here we have tons of it. I heated my house a whole winter on it. When I went back to oak the next year I used about 1/2 the firewood. Still can't throw it away though. Let it sit for more than a year around here and it seems to melt away.

 

[savageactor7]

I've burned tons of Poplar over the years. No... not a perfect wood but it has been good for us on cold mornings. Not the kind of wood you want to throw in stove before bedtime though.