Fir vs maple

[Nealm66]

I have a friend that sells firewood and he says most of his customers prefer maple over doug fir. I’m here in western Washington and I have to make the decision on what to get ready for next year and I have access to a lot of choices but storage space is limited to 10’ x 20’

 

[vwmike]

I have a friend that sells firewood and he says most of his customers prefer maple over doug fir. I’m here in western Washington and I have to make the decision on what to get ready for next year and I have access to a lot of choices but storage space is limited to 10’ x 20’

I consider them fairly equal, and Fir drys faster in my experience. The only time I find Doug fir to be inferior is when they are small second growth trees under 12” diameter.

 

[begreen]

I've burned both and prefer doug fir. Big leaf maple has a lower BTU content and produces a lot more ash when burned. Fir makes very little comparatively. Fir also dries much quicker. If you build a shed on the 10 x 20 space you can put up a couple of winter's worth of fuel.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

so your answer depends on one thing. What maple are we talking about. So fir has roughly the same BTUs as say cherry roughly 20 mil per cord. Silver maple has a little less than that at like 19 mil BTUs per cord While other maples will have more like sugar maple is like 23 mil BTUs per cord.. If I were to be offered this I would figure out what maple were talking about. This would be the same for say oak.. not all oak species have the same BTUs.. there close and given a choice I'll go with the higher BTU stuff

 

[Nealm66]

Big leaf maple is what I have access to, I hate the mess it makes vs fir when I’m taking them down so I’d prefer to burn fir but if I’m filling a wood shed might as well pick what’s best

 

[bunfoolio]

Are you buying one over the other? If yes go with the cheaper assuming they are similar in btu's. If you are getting off your property then get what is closet for processing so both?

 

[begreen]

I suggest you get a cord of each and try them out. After years of burning all of them I have settled on doug fir.

 

[Nealm66]

I will try mostly doug fir and maybe put a cord or two of maple as a mix. Weird that only a few of his customers want fir. He burns fir himself but it’s an old style stove. Thanks for all the feedback

 

[qwee]

Getting some of each is a good idea. My bro is in Longview, WA, and he burns 4-5 cords a season. Naturally, I examined his wood pile - Big Leaf Maple, Alder, and Doug Fir - all from his property. He seemed to like the Alder the best - go figure.

 

[Nealm66]

I’ve burned just about everything in the old stove, sometimes I’d have a weekend just burning thick fir bark just to get rid of it. That was an opening window event. Burned lots of alder ,ash, madrona ( too hot ) hemlock, spruce, hell, you name it. Even burned stinky old cotton wood. I’m just trying to prepare for a new stove that sounds like it matters what I throw into it, how dry it is etc. I started reading this site when I was first contemplating a stove. Pellet or wood , installer tips. Very helpful folks on here to a lot of people like myself. Thank you all !

 

[fbelec]

which one burns longer?

 

[qwee]

And what stove are you upgrading to?

 

[Nealm66]

I’m putting a cape cod in a new construction. It’s actually funny I’m having to learn how to use a wood stove since I’ve been using them my whole life. Definitely didn’t follow any of the rules with the old style. I’m not alone though. I was bs’ing with a buddy and was telling him how I have to only burn dry wood and he was like “really?”ha ha.

 

[Highbeam]

I’ve burned these woods exclusively one at a time. Also add red cedar to cottonwood as a common species that will work fine but not desirable if you have other choices.

If I could, I would burn 100% maple. Big leaf is what we have here in western Washington. The next best is red alder. Then finally, what I have now, Doug fir. Most log loads on the road and forest operations involve fir so it is just common.

It’s not just about btu per cord. I have found that in my cat stove the hardwoods burn cleaner, very thin bark makes less smoke and no slivers, less chimney accumulation, less smoke, and are easier to split.

What I like about the hardwoods is why some people prefer Doug fir. Hardwoods make way more ash. I want a slow, controlled, long burn and that ash slows the burn and holds coals better.

I want big diameter stuff. A log load of 12” red alder or solid maple would make me happy.

Really, all three, fir maple and alder are pretty good in the pnw. No need to be picky. Just avoid the stupid 4” tops or dog hair trees. I just worked up a load of tops and it’s a total pita. Give me 12” or bigger please!

 

[Nealm66]

I’m probably not too far from you. I noticed a lot more ash with maple as well and usually burned fir when it got cold. This will be interesting to me to figure this new stove/wood out