The Situation

[Investment Camper]

I ran out. Well, sort of. We burned so much every night that I’m all out of oak for my Defiant Encore, so I’m cursing myself from 3 years ago! 😎 the good news is I have Plenty for next year and beyond. But going from oak to maple makes me just a little sad. From now on I’ll have oak drying!!

 

[peakbagger]

Bummer, of course I dont have ready access to oak up in northern NH so I have to live with maple birch and beech.

 

[bigealta]

Well now you know right, and the best lessons are hard taught. You won't let that happen again and you will discover fast seasoning wood for shoulder season and imperfect planning.

 

[stoveliker]

Nothing wrong with maple? Burns hot. More ashes but less coaling?

Though I prefer oak as well- though not to the degree that I best myself up about it if I run out in a year.

 

[Caw]

Oak is King around here but I personally love maple, too. It's good on it's own but is really oak's best friend. It lights quicker, coals less, seasons faster, and does wonders to get that big box of oak started. Load the box up with oak and put 1 or 2 maple splits on the coals for the perfect reload. Cherry is also really good at this.

 

[peakbagger]

Note there are different types of maple, sugar maple (AKA Rock Maple) from older trees is the best, red maple is probably next but they can be somewhat of a weed tree so finding wood from older trees is tough, silver and norway maple are neck and neck for last, they both tend to be fast growing and less dense, still good firewood but worth learning the difference..

 

[Caw]

Note there are different types of maple, sugar maple (AKA Rock Maple) from older trees is the best, red maple is probably next but they can be somewhat of a weed tree so finding wood from older trees is tough, silver and norway maple are neck and neck for last, they both tend to be fast growing and less dense, still good firewood but worth learning the difference..

It's interesting how even "small" geographical changes affect firewood. I'm only a few hours south of you but looking at countless huge old red maples out my front window.

 

[Solarguy3500]

Note there are different types of maple, sugar maple (AKA Rock Maple) from older trees is the best, red maple is probably next but they can be somewhat of a weed tree so finding wood from older trees is tough, silver and norway maple are neck and neck for last, they both tend to be fast growing and less dense, still good firewood but worth learning the difference..

I totally agree, especially the part about wood from older maple trees.

My property has a line of big, probably 200+ year old sugar maples along the road. They are in varying stages of declining health and a few were dead standing when I bought the property in 2019. Those ones were dropped in late 2019 and processed in early 2020 and the wood has been stacked and in a woodshed ever since. When you knock two splits together they ring like a David Ortiz Homer.

That wood is my prime stash for this year and up until this past week when it finally got cold, I was hoarding it and burning mostly ash and cherry. With the cold weather I dipped into it and man, that stuff is like rocket fuel! Raging seconday inferno. A bit hard to control actually, with my 25' tall straight chimney and no pipe damper. I've actually been mixing some ash and cherry into the loads to tame the maple a bit and that combo has been working really well.

 

[peakbagger]

Some trivia on sugar maple is it rarely will regenerate on land that has been farmed due to the presence of earthworms. Worms were extinct after the glacial period that covered most of New England. Any worms here now were spread by farming. Worms eat the organic leaf litter and convert it into casings that turn into soil. Therefore the "duff", the layer of dead leaves and other organic matter is thinner in areas with worms than in areas that have never been farmed. It is very obvious when I am tramping through areas in the woods that were never farmed that the duff is far deeper than in areas that were farmed. Sugar Maple seeds need deep duff to take root and start growing so they typically only regenerate in areas that have never been farmed. If they are planted like along a road or a property line they still will grow quite well but they rarely will spread. The other maples seem to be far more tolerant to thin duff with the Norway Maple probably the most prolific to spread to the point where it is regarded as an invasive, they seem to take seed in any hard soil. Sugar Maples also like dry soil while Red Maples seem to tolerate wetter soil although they seem to grow in clumps the wetter it gets.

The other maples are more tolerant of soil PH, sugar maples like "sweeter" soil than the others and acid rain really did a number on sugar maple regeneration. In many cases after the ice storm of 1998 red maples moved into areas that had previously been sugar maples.

 

[Caw]

Some trivia on sugar maple is it rarely will regenerate on land that has been farmed due to the presence of earthworms. Worms were extinct after the glacial period that covered most of New England. Any worms here now were spread by farming. Worms eat the organic leaf litter and convert it into casings that turn into soil. Therefore the "duff", the layer of dead leaves and other organic matter is thinner in areas with worms than in areas that have never been farmed. It is very obvious when I am tramping through areas in the woods that were never farmed that the duff is far deeper than in areas that were farmed. Sugar Maple seeds need deep duff to take root and start growing so they typically only regenerate in areas that have never been farmed. If they are planted like along a road or a property line they still will grow quite well but they rarely will spread. The other maples seem to be far more tolerant to thin duff with the Norway Maple probably the most prolific to spread to the point where it is regarded as an invasive, they seem to take seed in any hard soil. Sugar Maples also like dry soil while Red Maples seem to tolerate wetter soil although they seem to grow in clumps the wetter it gets.

The other maples are more tolerant of soil PH, sugar maples like "sweeter" soil than the others and acid rain really did a number on sugar maple regeneration. In many cases after the ice storm of 1998 red maples moved into areas that had previously been sugar maples.

This tracks with the land around me. The West side of my property is a swampy brook loaded with red maples and standing dead ash. The maples are often clump formations. The single ones are quite tall and thick. Across the street is a big spring fed pond about the size of 2 hockey rinks surrounded with pine, oak, and red maple. The woods behind that are almost exclusively tall, old, thick, single trunk red maple. That's where I sugar, I have 25 trees marked.

All this land was originally an old farm then an apple orchard for 100 years until the 1980s when my street was made and houses built. You won't find a single sugar maple anywhere except in one guy's yard. He has 3 big ones he planted in 1980 but they are struggling health wise. He spends a lot of time trying to save them. The dominant yard trees are red oak, red maple, black birch, hickory, black cherry, and pines. It used to be ash trees too but they are long standing dead. I have some juveniles out back maybe 8-10" diameter but they'll eventually succumb to EAB. I also have a beautiful mature elm in my front yard but that's fairly rare too. Most are gone from Dutch Elm Disease. I'll be really sad when that tree goes, has a tire swing for the kids and just a really classic American yard look to it.

 

[peakbagger]

This tracks with the land around me. The West side of my property is a swampy brook loaded with red maples and standing dead ash. The maples are often clump formations. The single ones are quite tall and thick. Across the street is a big spring fed pond about the size of 2 hockey rinks surrounded with pine, oak, and red maple. The woods behind that are almost exclusively tall, old, thick, single trunk red maple. That's where I sugar, I have 25 trees marked.

All this land was originally an old farm then an apple orchard for 100 years until the 1980s when my street was made and houses built. You won't find a single sugar maple anywhere except in one guy's yard. He has 3 big ones he planted in 1980 but they are struggling health wise. He spends a lot of time trying to save them. The dominant yard trees are red oak, red maple, black birch, hickory, black cherry, and pines. It used to be ash trees too but they are long standing dead. I have some juveniles out back maybe 8-10" diameter but they'll eventually succumb to EAB. I also have a beautiful mature elm in my front yard but that's fairly rare too. Most are gone from Dutch Elm Disease. I'll be really sad when that tree goes, has a tire swing for the kids and just a really classic American yard look to it.

There are treatments for ornamental Elm trees, its a fungicide injected into the trunk every couple of years byt need to be started while its still healthy. Not something that would work in a forest but if you have one you want to save its possible. Same with EAB, individual trees may be saved by injecting the right insecticide into the trunk.

A quick websearch reveals this product https://chemjettreeinjector.com/dutch-elm-disease-treatment/

I have heard that Sugar Maples do not do well as yard trees as the soil is typically compacted.

 

[Caw]

There are treatments for ornamental Elm trees, its a fungicide injected into the trunk every couple of years byt need to be started while its still healthy. Not something that would work in a forest but if you have one you want to save its possible. Same with EAB, individual trees may be saved by injecting the right insecticide into the trunk.

A quick websearch reveals this product https://chemjettreeinjector.com/dutch-elm-disease-treatment/

I have heard that Sugar Maples do not do well as yard trees as the soil is typically compacted.

That's an interesting product. I'm not sure my elm is still healthy though. The leaves are definitely starting to wilt earlier in the season. Bark seems fine for now but there's definitely something going on with it. I'll share this with my wife and see what she thinks. Maybe have the arborist come take a look.

I also have two giant female eastern poplars on my property that were planted in 1985 so they are almost 40 years old. They have a fungal infection and are slowly dying. Those trees typically only live 40-50 years anyways so I'm just letting nature take its course. The are major shade trees for us so I'm hesitant to remove them until they start to be come dangerous. We're getting to that point though. It still has leaves and makes cotton but the dead branches are getting bigger and bigger. I'll have lots of mediocre shoulder season wood when I remove them but it'll be sad to lose that shade.

 

[Dieselhead]

Here I thought this thread was going to be about MTV’s Jersey Shore TV show...

 

[Sawset]

Here in Wisconsin prairie fires had an impact on native vegetation patterns. Older groves of sugar maples and cedars congregate on the east sides of rivers and lakes where fires traveling along prevailing south and west winds were less able cross.

 

[MongoMongoson]

What am I seeing in this picture? It looks like it is galvanized.

 

[Caw]

Id certainly consider just moving the stove 2 feet to make it a straight run. Or at least go with two 45s. Why two different pipes?

 

[johneh]

Id certainly consider just moving the stove 2 feet to make it a straight run. Or at least go with two 45s. Why two different pipes?

Think I'd go with the two 45s for a neater cleaner installation

 

[Dieselhead]

The stove off center would bother my ocd but that stove pipe would bother me morer 😉

 

[Wildflush]

Two 45’s and double wall black pipe all the way up would look great!