Plum Wood?

[Tom Wallace]

I'm having 2 cords of plum wood delivered today. It's not split, and I believe was cut down within the last few weeks. I'm having a hard time finding info regarding BTU content of plum wood, as well as how long it takes to season. I'm planning to burn it next winter, which may make it not quite seasoned yet. I also have 2 cords of douglas fir split and stacked already for next year, though.

The seller says that plum is similar to apple in terms of heat produced and burn time. They also say it rates higher in BTUs than most maple. I've read online that others say plum is similar to cherry in regards to BTUs.

I've attached a photo of the wood. As you can see, much of it is in branch form, so won't need to do as much splitting as my last load, which was 2 cords of douglas fir rounds, most of them around 30" diameter.

 

[Oregon Bigfoot]

I cut some plum wood two years ago. I haven't burned it yet. It actually was a real pain to split, but thankfully not much of it needed splitting.

(broken link removed to http://tonysfirewoodinc.com/info.htm)

This website has a btu chart, and lists plum a bit higher than madrone!

 

[Tom Wallace]

That's good news on the BTUs. What made yours hard to split? Twisted pieces? Knots? It looks like a lot of the wood I'm getting will be from branches, and may not require much splitting. The seller mentioned that they haven't picked up the trunk pieces yet, which are not part of my delivery.

 

[Paulywalnut]

That looks like Plum. I have burned some of it. My own two trees that died. It is like apple or pear. Tough to split
because of the knots. The trunk portion split ok and was great to burn.

 

[CenterTree]

That's a lot of plum there. Were they diseased? Why were they cut down?

Maybe they were removed because they were too hard to PRUNE.


We always had trouble with our plum trees living very long due to fungus/disease/cankers/etc.

 

[bigbarf48]

Interesting wood. I'd split everything I could if you want to try to use it next season. unsplit pieces, even small branches, will dry much slower than splits

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I burned some Plum a few years ago and it burns very nice; all fruitwoods are great fuelwoods....

 

[SeattleRider]

Tom,
Look good, from what I have read pretty much any fruit tree wood is good hence the higher pricing.

 

[Wood Duck]

Plums are related to Cherries, so I'd guess the wood should be similar to cherry.

 

[Studdlygoof]

That's a lot of plum there. Were they diseased? Why were they cut down?

Maybe they were removed because they were too hard to PRUNE.


We always had trouble with our plum trees living very long due to fungus/disease/cankers/etc.

Have had similar problems with mine. Sent a branch to university of Delaware horticulture dept for a test. Said it was called black spot I think but it is highly contagious to other plums and that it should be cut and burned immediately. Haven't had a problem since

 

[Oregon Bigfoot]

That's good news on the BTUs. What made yours hard to split? Twisted pieces? Knots? It looks like a lot of the wood I'm getting will be from branches, and may not require much splitting. The seller mentioned that they haven't picked up the trunk pieces yet, which are not part of my delivery.

Yes, it had a very bad twisted trunk, not straight grained, and knots. I would whack, whack, whack with the maul. It was as if there were rubber bands holding it together. When I would whack, the split would start to separate, then bounce back together, even grabbing the maul. I would really have to work at getting the maul freed. I'm sure this is not true of all plum, but this one was a bear. I don't have much of it. I cut it April 2012, but will probably not burn in until 2015-2016 winter.

 

[Tom Wallace]

Yes, it had a very bad twisted trunk, not straight grained, and knots. I would whack, whack, whack with the maul. It was as if there were rubber bands holding it together. When I would whack, the split would start to separate, then bounce back together, even grabbing the maul. I would really have to work at getting the maul freed. I'm sure this is not true of all plum, but this one was a bear. I don't have much of it. I cut it April 2012, but will probably not burn in until 2015-2016 winter.

I had it delivered yesterday. Looks like a lot of the pieces are very bent, which I'm sure will make it difficult to split. I'm going to have to a used tire for splitting to keep these things together.

Also, the seller did not cut them down to appropriate stove length as they said they would. Many pieces are over 20" long. I'm going to have to invest in a chainsaw. I don't see myself cutting these down to size with my reciprocating saw in a reasonable amount of time.

 

[bigbarf48]

Yep, never trust a tree crew to cut wood to size. You end up with some 10 inch pieces and some 27 inch pieces.

I always prefer to cut my own wood

 

[Applesister]

That is a great load of fruitwood. That volumn is not easy to come by. They do look all bent but thats how the tree grows.
fruit trees have alot of lignin in the wood instead of cellulose. This wood will not burn well in one drying season. Its great burning wood but it takes a long time to season. Longer than oak.
Get a compound miter saw to cut the ends off. The blade has a thin kerf. Less waste.
You are gonna work for this heat.
But at least you werent cleaning up the orchard. Its good the firewood dealer found this.
Plum trees get Black Knot ...Tar Spot is a leaf infection Norway maples get.
Black Knot is spread from wild cherry trees and wild plum.

 

[Tom Wallace]

Thanks for the tips Applesister. I'll look into a compound miter saw. That seems a lot safer than using a chainsaw on these. Probably faster, too, and like you said less waste due to the thinner blade.