What type of maple?
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Best I can say is it doesn't look like "soft" (red) maple to me. I'd call it hard maple (sugar), and just enjoy the heat in time!
Calling it hard maple sounds good to me... I got enough of the lower end hardwoods right now... Always liked those before as they would dry faster and i was always behind... Slowly starting to get ahead and looking for the better stuff to really see how much better they burn well seasoned.... So hope it really is hard maple and it can go in a pile with my honey locust for next winter.
No matter the wood, it's tough to beat anything that is well seasoned.
You are on the straight and narrow, keep at it and well done.
pen
You are on the straight and narrow, keep at it and well done.
pen
CincyBurner
Minister of Fire
silver maple (soft maple)
The bark looks right for silver maple. Also, check leaf in third pic, bottom right corner.
The bark looks right for silver maple. Also, check leaf in third pic, bottom right corner.
Good eye but there are alot of leafs from the silver maple i trimed before putting the wood there... Wood doesnt look like silver to me but i have been wrong before.
Also there is a standing tree right behind that pile of wood in last pic.... Thats the silver maple that was just trimed.
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CincyBurner
Minister of Fire
Pennsyltucky Chris
Minister of Fire
Looks like red maple to me. If it is, it's a decent pick up. It burns at around 20m. Same as elm and cherry, but I believe it tends to burns faster than the other 2,
I burn a ton of Silver Maple and Ash, and it's my experience that maple burns hot and fast,.
I burn a ton of Silver Maple and Ash, and it's my experience that maple burns hot and fast,.
Been burning wood for 20 years starting at my parents house and most of their wood is cherry and black locust... Little bit of everything else but it was all mixed in and burned in an huge old smoke dragon with no windows or seals left. So it all seemed to burn the same. Just now getting to pay attention to the diffrence in them... Thanks...
Fred Wright
Minister of Fire
I've been wrong before, too but I'm gonna call red maple on this one. We cut a lot of it out here.
It probably won't be dry enough to use this winter coming but next fall for sure. We like red maple for shoulder season, it catches fire quickly and puts out decent heat.
It probably won't be dry enough to use this winter coming but next fall for sure. We like red maple for shoulder season, it catches fire quickly and puts out decent heat.
Just found some info stateing look at size of growth rings and how the bark is peeling... Red peels from top or bottom... Sugar peels from the sides... Looking at it i say it looks more like sugar in both those. Thanks for all the coments ill call it sugar. Either way its heating my house at some point.
claydogg84
Minister of Fire
The easiest way for me to tell without a leaf is using my fingernail, or a knife against the end grain. Easily indented wood is obviously the softer variety, while sugar will be much harder. These pictures look to be soft maple to me, but I admit I struggle telling the difference still.
Grain looked too tight for the soft maple I see around here, colors also match what my sugar maple looks like. For me, with smaller logs, I can find it tough to tell the difference until I put the saw too it, and can feel the difference in cut on a soft versus a hard. Also for me, my soft maple tends to be very stringy, where the hard maples much less so. Additionally, there's a noticeable difference in heft of similar splits.
But, that's just my experience in my area. In all, you have the right idea by just giving it good treatment in the drying stage, burning it for what it's worth no matter what, and just making sure you have poo-tons of wood on hand..... That's the recipe!
I went from burning almost exclusively locust 2 winters ago, and going through about 4 and 1/3 cords, to burning no locust this winter, having some hard maple and beech as my hardest woods, making up about 50%, and cherry and soft maple, and birch for the other 50%,,,, and went through about 4 and 2/3 to maybe a bit more.
In all, if it's dry you'll be happy if you have enough on hand, and you have a properly sized stove for the home, good circulation in the home, expectations, etc.
keep it up.
pen
Thanks ill have to go out and test how easy or hard with my fingernail... And this year i have 2 cord sycamore 1.5 cherry 1 red maple 1/2 some type of chestnut hybrid i was tired of parking under. All over a year stacked at least by the time i burn it. Going to cut up some 5 year dead standing locust and cherry incase i really need some at the end of winter ill pull the tops off and keep seprate. Starting to get ahead for once... Kids made it hard last few years to get ahead. Last year i burned 5 close to 6 cord but it was 75% toby (catpula or however you spell it) rest was cherry.
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Getting lucky in that regard, my oldest will turn 7 in a few days, and was a BIG help this year with getting the wood done. Hoping the 2 behind him will follow suit!
It's an iffy transition, but I realized this year I could trust him with certain things, and him being around was a good help, instead of being a concern. With good guidance, he really did do an integral part this year, and him helping wasn't a sacrifice of efficiency. I've involved him for several years, as well as his younger brother and sister (for certain things), but this year was the first in doing so I could actually get things done! It happened as a bit of a surprise,,, a very pleasant surprise!
Good luck,
pen
Well my finger nail makes a mark in it but not easy as in the few toby pieces i have left but i cant even make a mark in the honey locust. so its somewhere inbetween lol... However i have figured it out.. Its firewood.
My 5 year old daughter and not quite 2 year old son are alot easier to get stuff done than last few years...
My 5 year old daughter and not quite 2 year old son are alot easier to get stuff done than last few years...
I'm gonna say sugar maple as the last pic looks like a pile of rounds from the top half of a big sugar that mother nature whacked lat year, sitting in my driveway. But without looking at the leaves I still won't bet the farm - either way it's all good.
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