Plum tree for firewood....any good?

[muncybob]

We live near a fruit tree orchard and for some reason that have bulldozed all their plum trees. I can go in and take whatever I want. Found btu rating to be somewhat equal to cherry? Owner said branches tend to be thorny though but if it's a decent firewood I might go get some...anybody ever burn it?

 

[Clyde S. Dale]

Never burned plum but fruit trees are usually decent to burn as firewood. If it is equal to cherry, easily accessible, and you are in need of wood I would go get it.

 

[Applesister]

Um everyone seems to have different opinions about how long some woods take to dry. We had a plum orchard and the grafted tops all died and the wild rootstock is what took over. Wild plum has thorns that are worse than Honeylocust thorns. I cut out the whole entire orchard of wild plums.
It took all of 2 years for the wood to dry and will probably go closer to 3. I made firewood because I had to do something with the trees. But what a PITA. No sweat equity. Just alot of sweat.
If you have top handle saws and are quick at limbing...go for it.
Its a good learning project for the ladies....;-)
Wear heavy boots, the thorns go right thru the bottoms of rubber soles.

 

[Tom Wallace]

I got 2 cords of plumwood in February. Huge pain to split. I haven't burned it yet since it's not seasoned, but I've read that it's very good. Where I live we don't have many hard woods available, so I don't know how it compares to the more common hardwoods in your area. I'd say grab several pieces and see how much you enjoy splitting it before you commit to a huge amount of it. Mine had many crotch pieces that I couldn't dent with my axe or maul. I had to use a chainsaw to carve a notch in them, then pound a wedge into the notch to split them apart. The wood is also very bendy, which makes splitting difficult as well. The guy who cut my wood obviously didn't have splitting in mind, as the pieces often had the ends cut at very odd angles so you couldn't stand the piece up and have a flat surface available to hit with an axe. I had to cut the ends off of many pieces with a mitre saw to make splitting easier.

I doubt I'll order more fruit wood as a result. There are easier woods to deal with.

 

[BobUrban]

Hydro's is the only way to go splitting fruit farm trees because they have been pruned to develop crotches and there are no straight pieces but if it is readily available and free - TAKE IT!!

 

[midwestcoast]

If the trees are small enough maybe no splitting required?
Never burned Plum, but from what I've seen, fruit trees are usually twisted & tough to split, but excellent firewood otherwise.

Thorns Worse than Honey Locust?!?!!
That'd make me think twice. At least twice.

 

[muncybob]

Yea, the owner warned me about the thorns. I think I'll have a looksee later today.

 

[Applesister]

I cant imagine having the energy to pick at someone elses orchard but I spend a great deal of time working small stuff.
Actually the thorns arent that bad.
If you have never burned fruitwood you should try it. But to get 2 facecords of wood is alot of saw work vs splitter time. Lots of small rounds.
I have 2 "wild plums" I left standing because they put on quite a show in about 2-3 days. Im gonna try and see if I can post a few pics.
This is a good thread for a bloom display. I'd be curious to see what the other guy bulldozed.

 

[yooperdave]

If you don't get any for burning, at least get a little for smoking on the grill. Fruit wood should be good for smoking, no?
Given the closeness, I jump on the deal for firewood, though.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I've burned a little bit of Plum and it does burn nice; all fruitwoods are good stuff!

 

[muncybob]

I have no shortage of smoking wood. Several apple trees on our property and some sort of plum type tree(no thorns though). I'll try to get a pic of the trees dozed. The trees were never allowed to get very big so there would be minimal amount of splitting.

 

[Richie]

Ain't nothing like a little bit of prune wood!

 

[Applesister]

I dont mean to be discouraging. Im sorry to throw negative experience into the fray here. Just Im looking at it from the farmers perspective.
A failed crop. Alot of work to clean up.
If I was you I would investigate the situation. Maybe the farmer owns wooded areas. Maybe you will end up with a nice place to go cut.

 

[Ralphie Boy]

Don't know about burning it but I made a great looking set of grips for a 29 S&W checkered 24 lines per inch. Also made a set for a for a 1911 Colt checkered the same.

 

[muncybob]

Don't know about burning it but I made a great looking set of grips for a 29 S&W checkered 24 lines per inch. Also made a set for a for a 1911 Colt checkered the same.

...love to see pics!

 

[muncybob]

Here are the trees in question...did not see any thorns and bark looks like apple to me?

 

[midwestcoast]

Time to gas up the saw.
Even if the trunks are un-splittable theres plenty of limbs there that'll make nice sized rounds

 

[Ehouse]

If you look close you'll see the reason they were dozed. Looks like Black Knot disease.

 

[Applesister]

Interesting. Im such a snoop.
You could just take the trunks out and chunks of the bigger limbs. That would actually be beneficial to both him and you. I cut everything I could right down to twigs. Then rented a Morbark chipper and chipped the brush.
You can split plum, its not like locust, besides its interesting to see how fruitwood grows. Its educational to disect.
Show us some trunk wood.