Burning Cottonwood for the first time. I have heard it gives off no heat and smells terrible. I found processing to be quit easy. I do burn White Pine which is not well regarded but it works great in my situation as it wams the house as it burns very hot. I also like the smell outside. What has been your experience with it?
Burning cotton wood
- Thread starter bunfoolio
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Native Americans burned it without issues, not something I'd depend on in northern Ohio.
Are you burning actual cottonwood, like the stuff that grows mainly in the south, or tulip poplar, which many people just call cottonwood? If you’re in Massachusetts, I wonder if it’s the latter, especially if you say processing is easy. I’ve burned tulip poplar, it’s totally fine, just kind of low btu’s. It burns fast and dries fast so I split it bigger
I am from north central Montana, and we have what we call cottonwood growing mostly up and down our river valleys. The main trunk is quite large, and the limbs tend to break off readily. Have never cut or burned it.
Hmm I wonder if it’s true cottonwood. Anyways, trees that grow near water, whose branches tend to break off, probably don’t make the best firewood
Montana cottonwood pictures
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Narrowleaf Cottonwood
https://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=PDSAL0102
Black Cottonwood
speciesDetail.aspx
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Narrowleaf Cottonwood
https://fieldguide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=PDSAL0102
Black Cottonwood
speciesDetail.aspx
I use to get "Evil Knievel" Cottonwood along the Snake River canyon here in Idaho. It is where he attempted to jump the canyon. The big dirt ramp is still there. He didn't make it - it was a long ways. Most of the Cottonwood trees around there are dead, large, and dry. They are usually already down but some are still standing. The land owner gave me the okay. The humidity is low so the wood is still good.
Access was easy. So in 4 or 5 hours I would leave with 2 cords of rounds. Cottonwood makes your small saw feel powerful. Splitting Cottonwood isn't as easy as it should be for such a light wood because it grows so fast the wood grain is often going every which direction. But mostly it split okay. Unfortunately for me, the land was developed and gates went up.
Access was easy. So in 4 or 5 hours I would leave with 2 cords of rounds. Cottonwood makes your small saw feel powerful. Splitting Cottonwood isn't as easy as it should be for such a light wood because it grows so fast the wood grain is often going every which direction. But mostly it split okay. Unfortunately for me, the land was developed and gates went up.
I'll never mess with it again. Any cottonwood trees that fall over at my place now get shoved somewhere to rot.
It is not a Tulikivi. It is just a basic masonry heater - firebrick core and a granite exterior. I scrouged the fire brick from different places and got the granite from a rock quarry. The granite was discard. It was still good for a masonry heater - not so good for a fence or house in Califorrnia. Some of the fire brick was slanted but it still worked.
I’ve burned many cords of it. Black cottonwood I believe. There are areas that burn nothing but cottonwood and they stay plenty warm. It’s ashy and burn times are less than better fuels but it burns just fine in a modern stove. Almost any other fuel is better but cottonwood will keep you warm.
