Poplar - only when nothing else is available

[fabsroman]

Started burning my poplar about 10 days ago and I will say this, I will never put it in the racks again as long as better wood is available. Even with it seasoning quick, I will take oak over it.

I started burning the poplar about 10 days ago. It has not really been cold over those 10 days and I have almost gone through an entire 24" wide tree of the stuff. About the only thing it has been good for is to get the furnace hot fast. Otherwise, it burns way too quick. Been stuffing the furnace with it at night, which is the only time I am burning right now, and I am lucky if I find a couple hot coals in the furnace in the morning. Good thing it really doesn't matter too much right now.

Took the poplar in 2011 when I was just starting my wood piles. Beggars cannot be choosers I guess. Now, it is a different story.

 

[Rich L]

Is aliantus the same as Poplar ?If so I was happy with the burn times and heat and it was free.

 

[nate379]

We have some here as well, along with cottonwood.. Populus trichocarpa and Populus balsamifera

It's not great wood.. for anything.. haha.

I had a few trees fall or about to fall in the yard so I turned it into firewood (may as well right?). I've been burning a 50/50 mix of birch and cottonwood this year and it hasn't been too bad. I still can get 10-12hr fires in the stove which works fine for me.

I won't go out of my way to get it, but if it's in the yard may as well. At least it splits nice and clean and easy.

 

[Rich L]

We have some here as well, along with cottonwood.. Populus trichocarpa and Populus balsamifera

It's not great wood.. for anything.. haha.

I had a few trees fall or about to fall in the yard so I turned it into firewood (may as well right?). I've been burning a 50/50 mix of birch and cottonwood this year and it hasn't been too bad. I still can get 10-12hr fires in the stove which works fine for me.

That's great in my book.

 

[red oak]

When I burned poplar I don't know whether I burned more calories splitting it, or running downstairs every 15 minutes to put more in the stove!

Poplar to me is like an ex-girlfriend: used to have it around a lot, now I've moved on to something better, it can just sit out in the cold.

 

[nate379]

I was actually quite surprised. When I starting digging into the stack for this year, I did a when I realized it was at least 1/2 cottonwood. I knew I had a BIT in there, but the middle of 3 rows was almost all cottonwood and the back and front had some in it too.

The only major "issue" I have found is that it makes a ton of really light ash that floats around the house if I'm not careful when opening the stove door and stirring the ash around.

That's great in my book.

 

[firefighterjake]

I don't mind poplar . . . but only for the shoulder season and camping. It's nothing I burn during this time of year . . . and I certainly do not go looking for it . . . but will burn it without hesitation.

 

[westkywood]

I'm going against the grain here and saying I love having Poplar around. I understand for the time spent cutn, splitn and stackin it, I get very little fire out of it, but it has its place. It's great to get a good hot fire going quick and it's great for starting fires. I find it difficult to manage an entire season without some kind of softwood.

 

[fabsroman]

I'm going against the grain here and saying I love having Poplar around. I understand for the time spent cutn, splitn and stackin it, I get very little fire out of it, but it has its place. It's great to get a good hot fire going quick and it's great for starting fires. I find it difficult to manage an entire season without some kind of softwood.

Yeah, it makes great kindling, but I am willing to bet that very dry oak will too if split small enough. I've been using soft maple and poplar for kindling. If I have any poplar left after this heating season, I am going to split it into kindling for next year.

 

[westkywood]

Yeah, it makes great kindling, but I am willing to bet that very dry oak will too if split small enough. I've been using soft maple and poplar for kindling. If I have any poplar left after this heating season, I am going to split it into kindling for next year.

Thats one thing I like about it. I dont have to split it small to make good kindling. I hate that tedious task of splitting hard wood into kindling.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Poplar has its place for burning but certainly not at this time of the year.

 

[Ralphie Boy]

I burned almost a cord of it between early October to just before Thanksgiving. It burned fast and left a good bit of ash but it did its job. I would not have cut the stuff but an old lady we know ask me to if I would take down the dangerous tree near her fence. I couldn't tell the old girl no. Sometimes you just have to do what's right, not what you want to do.

 

[Wood Duck]

I'm going against the grain here and saying I love having Poplar around. I understand for the time spent cutn, splitn and stackin it, I get very little fire out of it, but it has its place. It's great to get a good hot fire going quick and it's great for starting fires. I find it difficult to manage an entire season without some kind of softwood.

In Kentucky you might be burning Tulip Poplar rather than a tree from the aspen/cottonwood family that is called poplar in the north. I agree that Tulip Poplar is pretty decent firewood. Tulip Poplar is not related to the 'true' poplars.

 

[Ralphie Boy]

In Kentucky you might be burning Tulip Poplar rather than a tree from the aspen/cottonwood family that is called poplar in the north.

Yep. Tulip Poplar, that's what I've burned in the past. Didn't know about the rest of your statement; Hearth.com...live and learn!

 

[Jack Straw]

Poplar is great.......for woodworking!

 

[westkywood]

In Kentucky you might be burning Tulip Poplar rather than a tree from the aspen/cottonwood family that is called poplar in the north. I agree that Tulip Poplar is pretty decent firewood. Tulip Poplar is not related to the 'true' poplars.[/qu

I think this is Tulip Poplar. An old man up the street brought it to me already bucked.

 

[BobUrban]

I like to put my portable treestands in big poplar/cottonwood when I have the chance. Shot a few nice deer from those trees but never burned any in the stove

 

[nate379]

I wouldn't rely just on it in the middle of winter when it's -20, but now that it's getting pretty warm it works just fine... at least for me. Been highs in the 30s around here for the most part... other than this weekend when it was in the 40s!

Poplar has its place for burning but certainly not at this time of the year.

 

[Jags]

I will purposely seek some of the lesser woods (popular, silver maple, etc.) for the shoulder seasons. I prefer it, for the shoulder seasons for many reasons. Hot, fast, done. Not for this time of the year burning.

I believe it was last year that I started a thread complaining about being 100% white oak. No shoulder wood....and I wasn't joking.