I know a lot of people turn their nose up on this, but I cannot say enough how under rated red maple is. I can easily get 10-12 hr loads keeping the house 70-85 degrees with plenty of coals to light off in the evening after work. Fast to season and plentiful around my area, what’s not to love about it !
Soft Maple(Red)
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Caw
Minister of Fire
Yeah red is quality wood...I'd say bout 50% of my wood is red maple. The rest is red oak, ash, and cherry.
Red maple was one of my primary woods, it dried quick and burned well. Since I have a lot of diseased Beech, it is my new wood although when I see a red maple with a defect that should be cut It gets cut. I used to do a lot more white birch but not many on my new woodlot.
fvhowler
Feeling the Heat
Cut and split some red maple today. Not my favorite but when its available, I don't turn it down. I like to mix maple and sweetgum with my oak.
hickoryhoarder
Minister of Fire
Red maple is good, I agree. And seasons in about a year.
Like Tedy, I see a big difference with silver maple (a very similar species). Not worth the time.
Like Tedy, I see a big difference with silver maple (a very similar species). Not worth the time.
I've had good luck with red maple . . . then again I've always been of the mindset that pretty much any wood short of petrified wood has its place -- just depends on the time of year and how much heat you need in terms of burn time.
red maple has become one of my favorites for the past yr or 2 seasons pretty quick and throws out pretty descent heat
TheAardvark
Burning Hunk
Yeah, red maple gets a bad rap as just a "shoulder season" wood, but it's good stuff. Dries faster than oak. Only thing I don't like about it is that it's tough to split by hand if it isn't straight and knot free.
I like red maple because it seasons quickly and also throws a nice flame, is a bit of a flamey wood. Nice for ambience. And also because I have a ton of it on my woodlot that needs thinning. I think I have read that it is the most common tree in the eastern USA.
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