Sycamore - as a Firewood?

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qwee

qwee

Feeling the Heat
Jan 17, 2013
421
Idaho
I saw a hardwood at the recycle center so I grabbed a log or 2 of it. I didn't know what it was. It was yellowish bright insect green under the flaky bark. When bucked, the wood had a pinkish blotching (like diffused blood). It was weird looking. I've never seen anything like this before. What was it? I finally figured it out. It was Sycamore. I was so sure it was a good firewood.

The verdict? It is a bad firewood. When green it splits as bad or worse than elm. It looks dense but only because it holds a lot of water. So it is only a medium quality firewood once you figure out how to split it. I haven't split it yet. This guy in the video says it is best to leave it in the round for a year or two and then split it. Now I know - I'll pass next time.

73 hits on a medium round, wow!
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That’s a shame. I have a couple in the back yard that are looming over the building that I want to take down before they fall. The tops are dying and dropping out.
 
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I got a bunch of it a couple of years ago, helping a friend clean up his yard after it was taken down.

It was then that I learned about how irritating sycamore can be to the respiratory system. After doing some googling about it, I found it is a known thing with sycamore. After that, I wore a mask when cutting it and moving branches. It was not a big problem when splitting or stacking. It seems to be the biggest problem when doing the initial cutting and handling.

It seasons very quickly. It was CSSed in May and was ready to burn in the fall. Some of the splits that were left larger were not quite seasoned after one summer, but nearly all of it was good to go. Splitting was a PITA. Stacking was also a pain because this tree was about the most twisted tree I have ever worked with. Splits ended weird and none the branches were straight.

It burns like boxelder... hot and fast. It lights easily. We will be burning more of that tree this coming spring.

I am not fussy when it comes to free firewood, but sycamore is now about my least favorite based on the one tree I processed.
 
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qwee said:
I saw a hardwood at the recycle center so I grabbed a log or 2 of it. I didn't know what it was. It was yellowish bright insect green under the flaky bark. When bucked, the wood had a pinkish blotching (like diffused blood). It was weird looking. I've never seen anything like this before. What was it? I finally figured it out. It was Sycamore. I was so sure it was a good firewood.

The verdict? It is a bad firewood. When green it splits as bad or worse than elm. It looks dense but only because it holds a lot of water. So it is only a medium quality firewood once you figure out how to split it. I haven't split it yet. This guy in the video says it is best to leave it in the round for a year or two and then split it. Now I know - I'll pass next time.

73 hits on a medium round, wow!
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Click to expand...

My brain hurt watching that guy slam his nice fiskars into the ground over and over.
 
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So my 2 cents are this for what its worth. Sycamore is a medium is in the BTU category at 19.5 million BTUs per cord. Its roughly around black cherry.

Its a not super dense wood so seasoning will be relatively quick. The one drawback is it is a little difficult to split if your splitting with a gas splitter this shouldn't be terrible.

For the people that are short on wood, this is a good wood to take and put in your stacks. Sycamore and other species like poplar are worth taking. Seasoning quickly is a great advantage to them. Are these species good for the dead of winter in a cold climate.. not really.. but early winter and late winter is where this kind of wood is good allowing the user to save the highest BTU wood they have for the coldest periods.

Im replying this way because people who are in need of wood to get their supply up my skip it needlessly. Burning Sycamore is better than buying biobricks and beggers cant be choosers.. For many people like myself who are sitting on 14 cords CSS and are atl least 3yrs ahead. Its a no go for sure..
 
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I've burned it before and it was okay. Not the worst and not the best. And it split okay with the hydraulic spliter and dried fast. I'd give it a solid 'C'.
 
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Toasty-Yote said:
I like collecting and burning unique looking wood even if the BTU isn't the greatest. I guess I am extra nerdy like that.
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Here, have some elm spaghetti!

[Hearth.com] Sycamore - as a Firewood?
 
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I have some spotted lantern fly larvae wood if you want to buy some.
 
Will be cutting a bunch of Sycamore this week or next. Was a blow down from a storm this past summer. All the Lantern Fly's around here are feasting on Altisima (Tree of Heaven). Plenty of that around here. Don't think they will ever migrate to something else there's so much of it here.
 
I've burned quite a bit of sycamore over the years and even though it isn't the best, I have quite a bit on my place and if I see one starting to die I'll cut it down and split it. I don't think I'd go out of my way very much to get some of it unless I'm low on wood. Oh yeah, if I didn't have a gas splitter you couldn't give it to me for free even if you delivered it.
 
I've burned it before. It is tough to split cleanly. I once had a sawmill owner tell me he was sawing it for a guy to make stalls for his mules. Seems that when the mules kick the stalls sycamore lumber just bounces back and doesn't shatter.
 
SwedeFP said:
I've burned it before. It is tough to split cleanly. I once had a sawmill owner tell me he was sawing it for a guy to make stalls for his mules. Seems that when the mules kick the stalls sycamore lumber just bounces back and doesn't shatter.
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Guess there’s not much difference between a mule kicking sycamore or an axe, they both just bounce back.
 
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