Poplar....What do you know????

[NordicSplitter]

Getting ready to sink my teeth in to about 8 good size Poplar logs. Average length 12-16' and average diameter 16-22".....First time with Poplar, what should I expect? They are all pretty straight. Tell me about splitting and seasoning time....Will it be ready for next winter (2016/17)? Thanks guys...

 

[woodhog73]

I like poplar for quick hot fires. It is technically a hardwood, but it's far less dense than a good hardwood like oak. But it's still a hard wood although doesn't look like it and burns relatively hot when dry. But it burns quick.

Good for cold starts or when your down to coals and want to get your stove heated up quick. Throw dry poplar on even medium hot older coals it lights pretty fast .

Drys quicker than other hardwoods. If you stack it now you can probably burn it next Winter if you have good sun and wind on the stack.

Fun to hand split. Easy splitting.

I would not ever turn down poplar I like it. It's also a regular on camping trips and in the outdoor fire pit. save my oak for heating, and bring poplar with me when I go camping. If family members are with me and they are not used to building fires from cold , the poplar makes it easier for everyone I'm camping with to start a campfire .

 

[Pennsyltucky Chris]

Poplar seasons in a few hours.

It's good to keep stuff like that on hand for kindling or shoulder season.

 

[English BoB]

I plan to cut several poplars this weekend for shoulder / starter wood this weekend, if I get to buck it it will be ready to burn for next season or next week.

bob

 

[heavy hammer]

I like popular easy to work with splits and cuts pretty easy. Even big rounds are pretty easy to work with, burns nice just doesn't last real long. Seasons quickly pretty much the same as the guys above me I know I wouldn't turn it away.

 

[firefighterjake]

Not my favorite wood ... a hardwood that processes and burns similar to softwood ... that said it's decent enough for spring and fall.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

Poplar seasons in a few hours.

It's good to keep stuff like that on hand for kindling or shoulder season.

I love the stuff and PennsyltuckyChris is exactly right. I felled several live poplars back in December and had them c/s/s by before the end of January. 18" length and 4-8" split size. They are already dry and ready to burn.

 

[billb3]

I didn't have much luck with fast seasoning with big tooth aspen .
Burned like wet crap after one year split and stacked. Tried again a year later and it burned much better but it isn't very good firewood if you want heat.

 

[saskwoodburner]

Poplar burns pretty nice, it's mostly what I feed the fire machine. And it seasons pretty quick too. On a hot day, you can hear it popping in the wood stacks.

 

[Wood Duck]

Is this Aspen or Tulip Tree? They are not all that similar but both are called poplar. Tulip is reasonably dense, sort of like Black Walnut or Black Cherry. Aspen is very light but seasons quick and is easy to work with.

 

[HisTreeNut]

I have some poplar drying in my stacks. Easy to split, light to carry, and a nice wood for the shoulder season.
I found a few in my stacks this winter and split it into small pieces to start the fire back up. Worked great.

 

[Woody Stover]

Is this Aspen or Tulip Tree? They are not all that similar but both are called poplar. Tulip is reasonably dense, sort of like Black Walnut or Black Cherry. Aspen is very light but seasons quick and is easy to work with.

I've never burned true Poplar but there's a lot of Tulip here. Doesn't burn quite as long as the Cherry does. I keep some of it split small for kindling.

 

[Vikestand]

It burns

 

[Fred Wright]

Tulip poplar burns quickly, I know that.

Yep, it tends to season faster than most. It can go punky soon, too if left outdoors in the round. With trees that large you have your work cut out for you. I'd get 'em worked up and stacked within a few months if possible. Top cover the stacks.

Burned a lot of poplar when I lived in Virginia. Firewood customers didn't want it so I got it dirt-cheap or free. Heated a 3 bedroom house with it, it does heat fairly well. Just have to load the stove every 20 minutes or so.

 

[zig]

Around here they call it "gopher wood" and turn their nose up. They all have a stack of it though. It's all I used until Jan. this year.

 

[MarylandGuy]

Wood snobs who get nice hardwood all the time will tell you not to bother with it. Me, I do like it in spring and fall.

It's easy on your saw, will split easily by hand and is pretty light to carry once seasoned. As somebody else suggested, be sure to split it soon after cutting so it doesn't punk out. If I don't have time to split it, I will quarter the big logs and then stack them for another day, month or year. Once quartered, they be good to split whenever you have time.