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Caw

Minister of Fire
May 26, 2020
1,631
Massachusetts
My gut tells me it was a waste of time processing it lol. It's like balsa wood light and it's soaking wet. But it was there so I did it and it'll be a few shoulder season BTUs in a few years.
 
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brenndatomu

Minister of Fire
Aug 21, 2013
8,109
NE Ohio
But it was there so I did it and it'll be a few shoulder season BTUs in a few years.
Wood like that will often dry in one year...and it doesn't coal up like good heavy hardwoods do, so you can crank some serious BTU's outta your stove if you need to (like polar vortex and you need to load every 4 hours just to try n keep the house temp up...tough to do with oak...reload that often that is, too many coals)
 
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Caw

Minister of Fire
May 26, 2020
1,631
Massachusetts
Wood like that will often dry in one year...and it doesn't coal up like good heavy hardwoods do, so you can crank some serious BTU's outta your stove if you need to (like polar vortex and you need to load every 4 hours just to try n keep the house temp up...tough to do with oak...reload that often that is, too many coals)
Oh yeah I remember past polar vortex coal mountain situations. It's the one time having only hardwood feelsbad. I'll put this balsa to good use.
 

Kevin Weis

Minister of Fire
Mar 3, 2018
1,163
Union Bridge, Md
Wood like that will often dry in one year...and it doesn't coal up like good heavy hardwoods do, so you can crank some serious BTU's outta your stove if you need to (like polar vortex and you need to load every 4 hours just to try n keep the house temp up...tough to do with oak...reload that often that is, too many coals)

My gut tells me it was a waste of time processing it lol. It's like balsa wood light and it's soaking wet. But it was there so I did it and it'll be a few shoulder season BTUs in a few years.
Being you mentioned the lightness of it thinking Aspen. I've cut some of that some years ago. Usually they are landscape trees in this neck of the woods.
 

bigealta

Minister of Fire
May 22, 2010
1,064
Utah & NJ

pdxdave

Burning Hunk
Aug 16, 2010
225
Kirkland, WA
Honestly looks exactly like Douglas Fir to me… except that Douglas Fir isn’t as light as you describe. It still has roughly 2X the density compared to a Poplar/Cottonwood.
 
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fbelec

Minister of Fire
Nov 23, 2005
3,592
Massachusetts
and catalpa does have a strong odor green and when it burns it smell like chit. had some here a few years ago
 

Caw

Minister of Fire
May 26, 2020
1,631
Massachusetts
Final answer: it's BTUs lol. I'll just let it rip during shoulder season in 3 years. ::-)
 

Doublebogey

Burning Hunk
Here is a mature Catalpa growing on our commercial property. Bark looks the same to me.
20230131_141435.jpg
20230131_141449.jpg
 

Max W

Burning Hunk
Feb 4, 2021
232
Maine
If it weren’t for the bark I would have guessed cedar.
 

Easy Livin’ 3000

Minister of Fire
Dec 23, 2015
3,016
SEPA
It's hemlock.

I have about a cord of it in the inventory and probably burned about 5 cords of it over time. Probably about 15 more cords standing around the house that'll all be dead in the next 5-10 years from the wooly adelgid.

It's way lighter in weight than I expected, dries fast once split. Throw in a couple of peices with your hardwood loads, it lights easy and just makes a nicer fire. For me, it's in the same category as tulip poplar, spruce, pine and sassafras. Great for shoulder season, easier starting fires, and helps prevent excessive coal build up when running hard.
 
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EatenByLimestone

Moderator
Staff member
Just because nobody has said it…


Red Oak!


There, it’s now in the thread. I don’t see any attributes why I’d think it’s red oak, but I think it must be an unwritten rule that it has to be called on every wood guessing thread.
 

bigealta

Minister of Fire
May 22, 2010
1,064
Utah & NJ
Just because nobody has said it…


Red Oak!


There, it’s now in the thread. I don’t see any attributes why I’d think it’s red oak, but I think it must be an unwritten rule that it has to be called on every wood guessing thread.
Red Oak that's "incredibly light". I would love some of that!