How does Cherry compare to Sweetgum

[Bspring]

The charts that I have looked at say that cherry is not much better that Sweetgum, Poplar, and Pine. In my experience it is a lot better. It is not near as good as oak but I was surprised to see it closer to what I consider junk wood. Am I missing something here?

 

[Wood Duck]

Cherry is good firewood, and so are Tulip Poplar and Pine. Sweetgum is supposed to be OK too, but a real pain to split and it tends to rot. I think Cherry is better than the yellow pines, and a lot better than White Pine, but in the same ballpark in my opinion.

I guess your thoughts about the comparison depend on your opinion of pine and poplar. Don't confuse Tulip Poplar with the 'true' poplars such as aspen and cottonwood. Tulip Poplar, also called Yellow Poplar, is a lot better than Cottonwood and Aspen. I think pine and Tulip Poplar are OK, so I think the comparison is a favorable comparison.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

The charts that I have looked at say that cherry is not much better that Sweetgum, Poplar, and Pine. In my experience it is a lot better. It is not near as good as oak but I was surprised to see it closer to what I consider junk wood. Am I missing something here?

Don't believe all the charts. For sure there is no comparison between cherry and poplar or pine. Can't speak about the sweetgum though as we don't have any here. I'll take the cherry any day over the poplar and pine.

 

[paul bunion]

Cherry smells better when you burn it.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Cherry = good for cooking....
Sweet gum = bad for splitting.....
That's all I know.....

 

[bigbarf48]

I would take cherry over all of he above any day. Sweet gum really doesnt burn bad, it gets HOT, its just a pain to split. And it sparks/pops a lot

As Wood Duck mentioned, it has a tendency to rot faster than other woods if left in the elements. After less than a year w/o top cover, my sweetgum stacks were in rough shape. I moved them into my little shed and they dried up and burned fine. Just something to consider

PS- By a pain to split, I mean its like trying to split a zipper thats been superglued together

 

[wahoowad]

I just split some wet cherry today and it was surprisingly stringy and annoying to split. This surprised me since I've split cherry before and recall it as being pleasant to process ???

 

[bigbarf48]

I just split some wet cherry today and it was surprisingly stringy and annoying to split. This surprised me since I've split cherry before and recall it as being pleasant to process ???

Ive found that the bigger rounds were harder to split then smaller ones, but that could have been an isolated observation. I dont have much experience with cherry, small or large

 

[Applesister]

I cant decide if I simply love trees or I have some sort of latent pyromaniac tendencies manifested by surrounding myself with wood. If I have woodstoves because I have so many trees...or if my firebug nature has unconsciously led me to this place.
I just woke up one day in this one spot, surrounded by cherry trees. I cut away all the wild growth from the hedgerows and let the cherries live. I looked them up, did research...thought I had identified them as choke cherry. But 25 years later they are the tallest trees on the property.
When one blew over during Hurricane Irene it almost hit the house.
I cut it up covetously and burned it.
Like an Indian chiefs burial.
Like the pyromaniac that I am.
I never consider BTUs or effort, like my father, the Time Is Money theory means nothing to someone besotted.
When I stacked that tree in my woodstacks I was laying to rest an old friend.
A sentinel from the borders of my lot.

 

[bigbarf48]

I cant decide if I simply love trees or I have some sort of latent pyromaniac tendencies manifested by surrounding myself with wood. If I have woodstoves because I have so many trees...or if my firebug nature has unconsciously led me to this place.
I just woke up one day in this one spot, surrounded by cherry trees. I cut away all the wild growth from the hedgerows and let the cherries live. I looked them up, did research...thought I had identified them as choke cherry. But 25 years later they are the tallest trees on the property.
When one blew over during Hurricane Irene it almost hit the house.
I cut it up covetously and burned it.
Like an Indian chiefs burial.
Like the pyromaniac that I am.
I never consider BTUs or effort, like my father, the Time Is Money theory means nothing to someone besotted.
When I stacked that tree in my woodstacks I was laying to rest an old friend.
A sentinel from the borders of my lot.

An outsider may find such a post strange, but we understand!

Nice story

 

[JASFARMER]

I cant decide if I simply love trees or I have some sort of latent pyromaniac tendencies manifested by surrounding myself with wood. If I have woodstoves because I have so many trees...or if my firebug nature has unconsciously led me to this place.
I just woke up one day in this one spot, surrounded by cherry trees. I cut away all the wild growth from the hedgerows and let the cherries live. I looked them up, did research...thought I had identified them as choke cherry. But 25 years later they are the tallest trees on the property.
When one blew over during Hurricane Irene it almost hit the house.
I cut it up covetously and burned it.
Like an Indian chiefs burial.
Like the pyromaniac that I am.
I never consider BTUs or effort, like my father, the Time Is Money theory means nothing to someone besotted.
When I stacked that tree in my woodstacks I was laying to rest an old friend.
A sentinel from the borders of my lot.

I have the same feeling with oak trees. I absolutely despise cutting beautiful living oak trees for no reason. Sometimes it is unavoidable. But when I do it almost brings a tear. To me an oak tree is nostalgic. Moral of the story is I know where your coming from

 

[Woody Stover]

Don't believe all the charts. For sure there is no comparison between cherry and poplar or pine. Can't speak about the sweetgum though as we don't have any here. I'll take the cherry any day over the poplar and pine.

Big difference between Pine at 15 and Black Cherry at 20, according to the charts I look at. Yep, I too will take Cherry any day over the others mentioned.

 

[Defiant]

I cut down all my cherry cause the birds would eat the cherries and turd it all over. They hit the patio, cars, outdoor furniture, etc. etc. I have been burning it all winter and love it. Puts out plenty of heat

 

[HackBerry]

I cant decide if I simply love trees or I have some sort of latent pyromaniac tendencies manifested by surrounding myself with wood. If I have woodstoves because I have so many trees...or if my firebug nature has unconsciously led me to this place.
I just woke up one day in this one spot, surrounded by cherry trees. I cut away all the wild growth from the hedgerows and let the cherries live. I looked them up, did research...thought I had identified them as choke cherry. But 25 years later they are the tallest trees on the property.
When one blew over during Hurricane Irene it almost hit the house.
I cut it up covetously and burned it.
Like an Indian chiefs burial.
Like the pyromaniac that I am.
I never consider BTUs or effort, like my father, the Time Is Money theory means nothing to someone besotted.
When I stacked that tree in my woodstacks I was laying to rest an old friend.
A sentinel from the borders of my lot.

Last night I put a beautiful piece of Walnut on the fire. As it burned I contemplated how big that tree might have been 30 years ago when I was a kid. It sat out there and grew near the farms creek bank while I went off and started my own life. I cut it for firewood last year because half the tree was dead and full of carpenter ants. The rest would surly die in due time so it was a perfect candidate for firewood. That tree lived and died on property that has been in my family for generations. It might have been a seedling when my great grandpa was a teenager. Last night it kept my feet warm while I read Carl Sagan's Cosmos.

Yeah, there's a lot more to this firewood business than just cutting and splitting.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Wow, you guys are really starting to get philisophical and deep here.....some serious thinking going on

 

[Fred Wright]

If given a choice I'd take cherry over sweet gum. Along with its other disadvantages, gum leaves a lot of ash.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

I just split some wet cherry today and it was surprisingly stringy and annoying to split. This surprised me since I've split cherry before and recall it as being pleasant to process ???

It can turn out either way. Sometimes we cut cherry that isn't bad for splitting and the next one will be a bit tougher.

 

[Defiant]

It can turn out either way. Sometimes we cut cherry that isn't bad for splitting and the next one will be a bit tougher.

You should have been a philosopher!!

 

[NH_Wood]

I'll definitely take cherry over pine, but, I'll take both! Cheers!

 

[Paulywalnut]

Deep, very philosophic. Well we're all not just good looking people in Flannel.

 

[Bostontom]

I had some cherry a few weeks ago and it sucked to burn it was like burnin 2x4's. I'd be fine without ever burnin it again

 

[Paulywalnut]

I had some cherry a few weeks ago and it sucked to burn it was like burnin 2x4's. I'd be fine without ever burnin it again

Too dry you mean?

 

[Bostontom]

I didn't have a moisture meter and I left my pile uncovered this year. It was cut last year and wasn't kiln dried I personally didn't think it was too dry but the stuff sucked. I'll stick to ash maple and oak. Just an opinion.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Cherry is one of the three types I try to buy, hickory and oak being the other two. It seasons relatively quickly, makes decent kindling, burns hot and clean. Doesn't have the BTUS of oak or hickory, but the combination of hickory and cherry give visually the best fire -- dancing flames with some blue. It's a piece of cake to split. It doesn't really remind me of sweet gum in any way. I have tulip poplar and sweet gum in my yard. I will cut up dead branches from those. Sweet gum is fine, seems to burn pretty clean and long. But when paying money I'd go for other woods. Sweet gum does look like it'd be hard to split, but I'm just using branches two or three inches in diameter.

 

[bigbarf48]

Cherry is one of the three types I try to buy, hickory and oak being the other two. It seasons relatively quickly, makes decent kindling, burns hot and clean. Doesn't have the BTUS of oak or hickory, but the combination of hickory and cherry give visually the best fire -- dancing flames with some blue. It's a piece of cake to split. It doesn't really remind me of sweet gum in any way. I have tulip poplar and sweet gum in my yard. I will cut up dead branches from those. Sweet gum is fine, seems to burn pretty clean and long. But when paying money I'd go for other woods. Sweet gum does look like it'd be hard to split, but I'm just using branches two or three inches in diameter.

It's incredibly hard to split. I seem to stumble into some every so often, and I always regret it after whacking the first round with the maul for 10 minutes without the slightest crack