Tulip poplar musings

Easy Livin’ 3000 · Oct 27, 2017

We had 6 tulip poplars down last November. 2 were massive, 2 extra large, 2 large. The massive ones, I barely was able to reach the middle with my 20" bar when coming at it from two sides. All were left in log length, and piled up. Tops were chipped.

It was the challenge to get them all cut up into 16" lengths because of the logs' weight and the way they were stacked by the tree service.

All were split by hand, but for two of them, after quartering them by hand so I could move them, I resorted to a new electric splitter. Those two were very stringy, and never released until pushing all the way through. Never came across tp like that before.

Completed the cutting by January, the splitting by March/April.

Much is stacked in a 165 foot long wall of wood, about 5.5 feet tall and a large holzhausen. We had occasional collapses, but fixed them when they occurred. Also a couple of heaps of shorts and uglies.

Started burning the shorts and uglies last week. Burns real clean already, and we can save the oak and birch for the real cold weather.

ThunderMedic · Oct 27, 2017

I've been burning the snot out of TP for three years now. I love the stuff! No problems with heavy coaling, as it all turns to white powdery ash. I laugh at the people here in Maryland that turn their noses up at TP and demand only red oak. Those folks have to wait 2-3 years for dry wood. Meanwhile I'm burning sub-20%MC tulip poplar in under a year.

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Easy Livin’ 3000 · Oct 27, 2017

ThunderMedic said:
I've been burning the snot out of TP for three years now. I love the stuff! No problems with heavy coaling, as it all turns to white powdery ash. I laugh at the people here in Maryland that turn their noses up at TP and demand only red oak. Those folks have to wait 2-3 years for dry wood. Meanwhile I'm burning sub-20%MC tulip poplar in under a year.

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You're so right. Not being scientific here, I suppose I might observe a shorter burning time, I don't know, maybe 20-30%, but even that might be in my head, sort of a result of reading too much.

Destructor · Oct 27, 2017

I scrounged around half a cord two springs ago, burned some in the middle of last winter I’ll finish this year. Easy to split, The big knotty chunks I threw in the fireplace. I liked it. that scrounge also came with some locust which I’ll burn this winter.

EJP1234 · Oct 28, 2017

Im in MD as well, and I always have a cord or so on hand. Its great for shoulder season, and it does season quickly, but also burns fairly quick as well. Its a great wood to take the chill off, and even to use when your home and dont mind reloading as often.. However it doesnt work good when it the middle of the season and packing the stove for an all night burn, it just burns to quick and doesnt coal well. Again, it has its place, and I have no complaints!

redktmrider · Oct 28, 2017

ThunderMedic said:
I laugh at the people here in Maryland that turn their noses up at TP and demand only red oak

I see it all the time here too! I love poplar when trying to manage the large coal bed left behind by hardwoods while still trying to get near max heat from the Alderlea.

Rangerbait · Oct 28, 2017

I also appreciate the majestic Tulip Poplar...it really shines in the conditions we're having right now where it's getting down to near freezing every night, but rebounding to the upper-60s in the daytime. Anything more sense than Poplar results in an 80+ degree house in the afternoon, whereas the Poplar is burned out shortly after daybreak.

Hasufel · Oct 28, 2017

I came close to swearing off tulip poplar years ago because I decided it (almost) wasn't worth the effort. The stuff I have is harder to split than oak because of how stringy it is, and when I burn it I practically have to stand there to reload because it burns so quickly. Last winter I went ahead and split some TP rounds because I wanted something fast-drying that I could mix in with oak. If oak dried in one season I'd probably never touch poplar again!

shoot-straight · Oct 28, 2017

Hasufel said:
I came close to swearing off tulip poplar years ago because I decided it (almost) wasn't worth the effort. The stuff I have is harder to split than oak because of how stringy it is, and when I burn it I practically have to stand there to reload because it burns so quickly. Last winter I went ahead and split some TP rounds because I wanted something fast-drying that I could mix in with oak. If oak dried in one season I'd probably never touch poplar again!

Guessing you mis-id ed it. I have never seen tulip poplar be stringy. Sooo easy to split.

toddnic · Oct 28, 2017

Tulip Poplar is all that I will be burning this shoulder season. As with a previous respondent, I'm saving the hardwood for winter

Hasufel · Oct 28, 2017

shoot-straight said:
Guessing you mis-id ed it. I have never seen tulip poplar be stringy. Sooo easy to split.

Nope, between the leaves and the purplish-green tinge to the wood it's a pretty clear ID. And these are forest-grown trees, too, with almost no knots. I dunno, maybe there's something about my local environment that makes them tough like that? I'm jealous when I read about others' experiences. My oak rounds, by contrast, pop open like popcorn--so the problem isn't my splitting technique. :confused:

Rangerbait · Oct 28, 2017

Hasufel said:
Nope, between the leaves and the purplish-green tinge to the wood it's a pretty clear ID. And these are forest-grown trees, too, with almost no knots. I dunno, maybe there's something about my local environment that makes them tough like that? I'm jealous when I read about others' experiences. My oak rounds, by contrast, pop open like popcorn--so the problem isn't my splitting technique.

I've had some Poplar that was a beeyotch to split, but most pops open like I'm doing it a favor.

BrotherBart · Oct 28, 2017

Back in the 90's I heated this barn a whole season with Tulip Pop. Didn't mind it at all. Got a bunch on my place but they just keep growing to the sky and never die. A tornado blew the tops out of some and they just sprouted new growth a hundred feet off the ground and kept on going. The one that concerns me is the 120 footer 70 feet in front of the house. :confused:

ThunderMedic · Oct 28, 2017

BrotherBart said:
Back in the 90's I heated this barn a whole season with Tulip Pop. Didn't mind it at all. Got a bunch on my place but they just keep growing to the sky and never die. A tornado blew the tops out of some and they just sprouted new growth a hundred feet off the ground and kept on going. The one that concerns me is the 120 footer 70 feet in front of the house.

Incredibly fast growing, too.

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BrotherBart · Oct 28, 2017

ThunderMedic said:
Incredibly fast growing, too.

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Yeah. When we had the house built in 1985 one sprouted on the side of the driveway. It was always interesting watching how fast it was growing over the years.

And then five years ago the electric company crew clearing the easement up to my house cut it down while I wasn't at home.

Easy Livin’ 3000 · Oct 29, 2017

shoot-straight said:
Guessing you mis-id ed it. I have never seen tulip poplar be stringy. Sooo easy to split.

It is amazing how much variability there is among trees of the same species. I've been splitting tulip poplar for almost 30 years, no chance of mis-ID'ing it here.

I recall some that just flew apart. The worst one had a basketball backboard bolted to it and was right next to a paved driveway. It was extremely stringy and tough. Some peices just mashed into stringy lumps.

I also think time of year and how dry it is are factors. The toughest one was cut in summer and was sopping wet. Once it was split, it did dry out quickly!

WiscWoody · Oct 30, 2017

I have a piece of Poplar in the stove right now. I’d say 20% of the wood I burn is Poplar. I never get stringy stuff up here but Elm, you bet! As many of you know I’m sure.

Easy Livin’ 3000 · Oct 31, 2017

BrotherBart said:
Yeah. When we had the house built in 1985 one sprouted on the side of the driveway. It was always interesting watching how fast it was growing over the years.

And then five years ago the electric company crew clearing the easement up to my house cut it down while I wasn't at home.

All the ones we had down last year were endangering the barn, house, and cars. One dropped a branch on the roof of my car one month after the scheduled cutting date. The service showed up two weeks later. The dents on the roof of the car are just reminders that we made a good decision to cut 'em. Now, they are heating our home.

Cluttermagnet · Nov 3, 2017

I burn a mix, sometimes including Tulip Poplar. For me, it's worth the trouble to split it
and season it. BTW I have seen splitting difficulty that ranges from drop dead easy
to some stubborn, large, straight-grained rounds that challenge even a big gas splitter.

Even Poplar burns a lot better if you give it a year to season- but it is indeed faster
seasoning than Oak.

It doesn't coal decently, but that's not a problem if you are burning, say, a TP/Oak
mix. Poplar makes a lot of light, fluffy ash. Not really a problem, but expect it.
It just takes a few seconds to compact that ash with a shovel the next time you
are building a fire over it. (I try to keep around an inch or two of ash as a bed for
my fires. That seems to work the best for me with my particular stove. YMMV...)

Clutter

StihlKicking · Nov 3, 2017

I burn tulip from time to time with no complaints, especially in the shoulder season. It usually splits extremely easy like a 2 foot round popping in half with one swing of a double bit easy. However wood toughness can vary greatly from tree to tree within a species.

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Tulip poplar musings

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