I know a guy that is trying to get rid of a large stack of willow but I'm not sure it's worth the effort.
Thoughts?
Thanks
BDB
Thoughts?
Thanks
BDB
Is willow even worth the gas and time to go pick up for free?
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Pass. You'd be doing a favor for this guy you know, not for yourself. Go forth and cut hedge.
Willow - If it fell in my yard I would burn it. I wouldn't walk across the road to bring any home.
I figured, thank you!
I have one hedge "project" that I think I can start this weekend, BUT..... the job is removing some HUGE limbs that are about chest/head high. I have yet to determine a safe way to do it. Obviously I will NOT undertake the job unless I know 100% I can do it safely!
I have one hedge "project" that I think I can start this weekend, BUT..... the job is removing some HUGE limbs that are about chest/head high. I have yet to determine a safe way to do it. Obviously I will NOT undertake the job unless I know 100% I can do it safely!
Cutting above your head is about as dangerous as it gets with your feet still planted on terra firma. You got a cutting buddy who you can go out with to give some hands-on training?
Yup, I wouldn't do it alone and I would NEVER do it unless I had a SAFE way to do it
Just not worth it! Thanks!
I had that happen. It was a 53 inch truck. Still wasn't worth it but I broke my 460 in with it. Theres a camp ground close to me and most went there. I put a sign up free wood.
I think it would have to fall into my stove. Otherwise it is getting dumped.
paul bunion
Minister of Fire
You can use a bow saw to get around the safety issues with running a saw at head level. A big bow saw with a new blade cuts pretty well. It does not change the issue of how that branch is going to fall once it is free if, you are still going to need to plan for that.
The stuff smells real bad is annoying to split. I mixed it with other stuff and can't wait to get rid of it. Biggest mistake ever and like others said I wouldn't go very far and being I split by hand I wouldn't even take it if they dropped it in my yard!
No, it's not. That's unless you like constantly reloading and the smell of burning pi$$.........'cause that is what it smells like when it's burning.
I had the opportunity to cut and burn a lot of willow when a large weeping one fell down at my ex's place and it had to be removed. I burned it in the OWB. Hard on chainsaw chains (lots of sparks), it rots fast, it has low heat, and it smells like cottonwood does here when burned (that lovely aroma of cat pee).
Not worth it.
Not worth it.
Well that sucks... I have a little that I was gonna cut up and burn in a firepit but if it's hard on my chain....screw that!
Yah, there has been a lot of talk about willow being hard on chains on some of the tree butcher forums. Low return on high investment. Also the smell makes it not great for firepit burning (unless you want to get rid of your inlaws or dislike your neighbors). Were I to do it again, I would have bucked and burned it as slash.
Locust Post
Minister of Fire
Paulywalnut
Minister of Fire
The only thing I've ever seen worth using from a willow is making whips
when we were kids.
when we were kids.
Well, willows are good trees in certain situations, like for water control and along stream banks to prevent erosion, etc. I planted a few here in places where the property gets boggy and they are growing fast and working well for drying them up. The bark is also a source of acetylsalicylic acid, a natural aspirin. But for burning as firewood?... 
Poplar and willow are classified as hardwoods though. Whereas larch and Doug fir are classified as softwoods. Its a contradiction for sure, at least when it comes to heat value.
USMC80
Minister of Fire
Yup. If the leaf drops in the fall, it is a hardwood.
There is a good reason why you find lots of willow and cottonwood and popple along the creeks and around low spots.
Ah grasshopper.. not quite. There are several types of conifers/softwoods that drop their leaves in fall; the most common one here is the larch (aka: tamarack), another is dawn redwood, thought to be extinct but found in a small grove in China (I have one of them) and then there is the European larch. Then there are the ginko trees. They are a unique and very ancient species. The wood is soft like pine though, and it is typically classified as a softwood. I avoid ginko because it has the same irritating substance as poison oak/ivy in the bark and fruit (urushiols).
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