Sycamore?

[crazy_dan]

well actually the real question is has anybody burned Sycamore? How is it to work with split burn heat etc?
The county just put a bridge in over the creek that used to run over our road. They knocked down about 30-40 trees to get equipment in to build the bridge.
The guy who owns the property told me I could cut the trees up for fire wood. It is a mixed bag some oak, hickory, ash, hedge and a few sycamores. I am going to cut them all up and burn them all. I was just wondering because nobody I know around here has burned it.

I do have a special stack for hedge as it burns hot dam hot. You need to be very careful to not get too much in the stove at one time. I mix it with some junk wood like ash as to not over-fire learned this the hard way. I had an older cast iron Franklin that I had cherry red along with the stove pipe to the damper. The house was about 102 F with a few windows open and it was about 5 F outside. I also mix stuff like cedar and ash pretty evenly in the stack so I do not get too much of that in the house at one time for the opposite reason.

Thanks in advance

 

[ansehnlich1]

I have a bunch of sycamore I'll burn next season, and I just cut a downed sycamore which was still half rooted, so it was green, and it has a high water content. The one that's split up already and drying was a bear to split by hand cuz it was twisted and stuff, the one I just hauled in splits easy as it's straight as an arrow.

Don't know how it burns yet, but I burn anything so I don't care. My guess by looking at it is that it's better than pine but not as good as walnut, and certainly it ain't no hickory or oak.

 

[crazy_dan]

I also will burn any flavor of seasoned wood.

 

[crazy_dan]

changed the header so I might get some answers. To burn or not to burn just wasn't doing it

 

[MALogger]

Sycamore is a member of the maple family it has a similar mbtu/cord rating to silver maple 19.5
Check out this site (broken link removed to http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/g1554/build/g1554.pdf)

Craig

 

[Corey]

Look up the woods from the link in my sig. Any free wood is good wood, but I'd go for the hedge, hickory and oak in that order - treat yourself! Leave the sycamore there to rot - unless you like moving 1/3 more wood than you have to. I burn almost exclusively hedge - never really known it to burn hotter than any other wood - longer yes, hotter, not too much. I think the hottest fire I've ever had would be a tossup between a pile of 2x4's and a pine wood post that was hollow in the middle.

 

[jghall]

My Grandparents who live in the Appilachian Mountains of western North Carolina burn alot of Sycamore and have for many years... It is a very good burning wood...

 

[stoveguy2esw]

sycamore is a very light loose grained wood, it when green contains a bunch of water , actually usually grows close to springs and other watery areas. is a fast burning wood, relatively low btu content , i wouldnt waste any time harvesting it unless used for short fires during the shoulder seasons , its not a serious burners choice for major heat. i'd burn it if it was given to me , stacked and split. but only if i had nothing else to burn.

 

[crazy_dan]

Thanks for your replies
I will be cutting up and burning it probably only in the spring and fall when I just need to take the morning chill off (don't like using oak and hickory for that).
The question never was should I cut the sycamore, as the guy who owns the property also owns a lot more property around me and by taking it all it might open some other opportunities.
I just had never burned it and I didn't want to over guesstimate it I knew it was not equivalent to oak but needed to know how far down the scale it was and yes I did check BTU charts but charts are not always right.

 

[JBinKC]

I get some on a rare occasion in round form only. Its definitely not a firewood I seek out as it can be difficult [more time consuming ] to split by hand but I would definitely take it if you have a mechanical splitter. It does seem to leave a higher volume of ash when fully consumed.

The way I look at it- It is always nice to have a variety of woods for different weather conditions and of course you don't want to ruin the gravy train.