How many people burn hard maple and soft maple, in their wood burning stove for heating, how do you like it ?
Maple firewood
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stoveliker
Minister of Fire
Hard maple. I don't like it. Too much ash.
For me oak is better.
But, maple is good when nothing else is available and it's free.
For me oak is better.
But, maple is good when nothing else is available and it's free.
Yeah wouldn't be my first choice but definitely worth the effort to process it
I burn a good bit of red maple ( soft maple ) for me and in my opinion its really an underrated type of wood because it dries out pretty quick and burns pretty hot a descent shoulder season wood and when it comes to hard maple i really like it and think it puts alot of heat out and would burn more of it if i had it
Red and hard maple are some of my primary woods. Easy to process, good BTU content. My wood lot has a lot of diseased beech so that is what I am trying to switch to with some white and occasional yellow birch in the mix. I find the beech more difficult to process due to the randomness of the branch structure and somewhat harder to spit. The white birch splits easy, the grain is straight so its easy to make flat splits which are good for ends of stacks, the trade off is the lower BTU content. I do not have easy access to oak as it doesn't grow locally. When I had a wood stove, I tended to burn hot and burn out and relight, so the advantages of oak for long steady burns was not of value to me. With a wood boiler and storage, I just want a good hot fire until the storage is maxed out with minimal coals and maple and beech does it for me.
Red maple tends to grow faster as they are far more tolerant of soil conditions and seed a lot easier. Hard maple is very picky about soils and do not reproduce quickly so it tends to come from older stands or the last cut of the woods before being turned into a housing development, therefore a lot of the hard maple on the market tends to be quite dense wood from large rounds. Red maples tend to grow quick in clumps of multiple stems and develop a stand of good sized trees, the clumps need to be pruned down to one tree early yielding lots of small diameter firewood that many folks do not like to process or stack. If the stand is not pruned early enough and the clumps get large, pruning has an increased risk of the remaining tree developing a defect at the base where the removed trees from the clump create a rot point and the root system may not be as well established on the remaining tree. Ultimately it can develop into dense wood if pruned early and left to grow but it tends to be rotational wood.
Be aware that Norway maple is borderline invasive and was planted extensively in urban areas to replace elms. It is a fast growing tree that branches out in quickly into a crown. Some folks call it soft maple even though its not but is inferior to hard maple with a lower density (lower BTU content). Silver maple (AKA soft maple)is also fast growing and less dense (lower BTU content). In areas near rivers with floodplains buyers will run into a lot of silver maple. It is also inferior to hard maple due to lower density. It was also a popular urban planting long ago and there are many large ones that get removed by arborists as when they get big, they tend to shed a lot of large limbs in wind storm. Someone getting free wood from arborist in an urban area may get a lot of Norway and Silver.
If in doubt with maple look at the ring density, tight rings are going to have a higher BTU content regardless of what variety it is.
Red maple tends to grow faster as they are far more tolerant of soil conditions and seed a lot easier. Hard maple is very picky about soils and do not reproduce quickly so it tends to come from older stands or the last cut of the woods before being turned into a housing development, therefore a lot of the hard maple on the market tends to be quite dense wood from large rounds. Red maples tend to grow quick in clumps of multiple stems and develop a stand of good sized trees, the clumps need to be pruned down to one tree early yielding lots of small diameter firewood that many folks do not like to process or stack. If the stand is not pruned early enough and the clumps get large, pruning has an increased risk of the remaining tree developing a defect at the base where the removed trees from the clump create a rot point and the root system may not be as well established on the remaining tree. Ultimately it can develop into dense wood if pruned early and left to grow but it tends to be rotational wood.
Be aware that Norway maple is borderline invasive and was planted extensively in urban areas to replace elms. It is a fast growing tree that branches out in quickly into a crown. Some folks call it soft maple even though its not but is inferior to hard maple with a lower density (lower BTU content). Silver maple (AKA soft maple)is also fast growing and less dense (lower BTU content). In areas near rivers with floodplains buyers will run into a lot of silver maple. It is also inferior to hard maple due to lower density. It was also a popular urban planting long ago and there are many large ones that get removed by arborists as when they get big, they tend to shed a lot of large limbs in wind storm. Someone getting free wood from arborist in an urban area may get a lot of Norway and Silver.
If in doubt with maple look at the ring density, tight rings are going to have a higher BTU content regardless of what variety it is.
I burn whatever comes my way. Why be picky? It burns, and burns well. It’ll dry quickly.
Agreed. Give me all your maple any day. I have a ton of red oak and like it but it takes forever to dry.
johneh
Minister of Fire
All we burn is Red Oak and Sugar Maple. Have from the time we bought here some 45 years ago.
There is an abundance of Maple and Oak and my 200-acre wood lot is mostly that. We also burn
the dead Elm from the fence lines because we won't waste hardwood. The soft wood we never burn.
They burn too fast and I have better things to do than sit and feed the stove.
Just my nickles worth (Don't have pennies any more in Canada)
There is an abundance of Maple and Oak and my 200-acre wood lot is mostly that. We also burn
the dead Elm from the fence lines because we won't waste hardwood. The soft wood we never burn.
They burn too fast and I have better things to do than sit and feed the stove.
Just my nickles worth (Don't have pennies any more in Canada)
I like having it as an option, even though most I find are the softer varieties. I use it more in my smoker than in my wood stove.
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
johneh
Minister of Fire
No idea what kind of maple you got maybe a yard tree
The Sugar Maple we use is straight-grained and splits with a touch of the splitting axe
I have a Sugar Maple in my front yard that was planted the year the house was finished 1857
I would not try to split the trunk with an axe I am sure that a hydro splitter would have a time with it.
It shades the whole front of the house and helps keep it cool in the summer
We got a lot of sugar, silver, red and Norway’s here. Not picky. I’ll burn what comes my way. If I could have only one type of wood it would be white ash.
JamesGuido
Feeling the Heat
sugar maple is excellent for smoking.
a wonderful more subtle smoky mild flavour... ideal for bacon and bird.
try it if you haven't.... toss a little on the hot coals of your kettle.
the aroma is amazing!
a wonderful more subtle smoky mild flavour... ideal for bacon and bird.
try it if you haven't.... toss a little on the hot coals of your kettle.
the aroma is amazing!
Ctwoodtick
Minister of Fire
I've got a sivler maple I'm getting ready to cut down. It does decent for fall fires and late winter fires, but I don't want to be stuck in the middle of winter using it.
The positive to it is that it dries really quickly. I'm cutting it up today and most of it will be ready to burn come November, with some of the bigger pieces needing more time.
The positive to it is that it dries really quickly. I'm cutting it up today and most of it will be ready to burn come November, with some of the bigger pieces needing more time.
stoveliker
Minister of Fire
That depends on how much air you give the stove... The point is that in mid winter when you do need a lot of heat, the fuel will be gone more quickly than e.g. oak.
it's reasonable heat, although it's in the bottom 1/3 of wood I have locally.
It seems to burn hot but quickly, and leaves very little coals but heavy ashes compared to others from my experience
It seems to burn hot but quickly, and leaves very little coals but heavy ashes compared to others from my experience
But it doesn’t coal the same as oak either, which is very useful when you want to burn quick and hot because the house needs lots of heat now!
There is no perfect wood. Everything is a compromise in some way as far as btus, dry time, speed of growth, coaling and splitting ease.
There is no perfect wood. Everything is a compromise in some way as far as btus, dry time, speed of growth, coaling and splitting ease.
Simonkenton
Minister of Fire
"No idea what kind of maple you got maybe a yard tree"
Yes a yard tree in Asheville NC. 18 inch diameter. I split it with the Monster Maul but I took an ass whipping.
No more maple for me.
Yes a yard tree in Asheville NC. 18 inch diameter. I split it with the Monster Maul but I took an ass whipping.
No more maple for me.
