why "no cottonwood"?

[jklingel]

A long-time wood stove operator just told me that it is hard to give away cottonwood. I realize that its btu's/cord is about 65% of birch and just a tad shy of spruce, but it does have some heat in it. Why don't people like to burn it? Does it have deficiencies other than a fairly low btu content? I have about 30-40 on my new property that are going into a gasifier boiler (2-3 yrs) and am wondering about them. They are mostly in the way, but my wife hates them anyway, so I will drop as many as I can and hope birches re-grow, or I'll transplant birches.

 

[North of 60]

It has a higher moisture content, one of the lower btu ratings , will take longer to season and less time to burn. Nothing wrong with it unless your a wood snob. If its there on your property you are already paying for it. Cut it, split it, keep it dry and let it season properly. Looks like a storage area is not a problem for ya.
I heat with spruce poplar and pine. I even ended up with a truck load of that black cotton wood from Skaguay. It burnt just fine. Looks like we have the same demographic for seasons. One good cold dry winter and a good 22hrs a day of that summer sun and you should be burnin. Just make sure your woods @ least split into 1/4s minimum. Good luck and enjoy the heat from your estate.

 

[jklingel]

North/60: Thanks for the info on cottonwood. Seems a shame that people refuse it, but I guess that leaves more for me. I see you think it will season in a year; all this is new to me and I am curious about a lot of it. I am hoping to not have to split anything; that is what the gasifiers claim to be happy with, and it would sure simplify things. Shall see. I think I am going to have to make some kind of wood storage "building" (maybe the Alaska Blue Garage??) before I even start building a house. Priorities... later. j

 

[North of 60]

Leaving that bark on full radius will be the death of the wood. It will start to rot. Pine for me is ok in rounds if it was already dead standing. Sounds like that cotton wood is still livin. She splits easy when fresh. But she will squirt on ya. lots of water content. At least split it once to let it breath. Stack it between your trees, cover the tops and give her two years. Thats my final offer. ;-P
Ya gotta give that wood a fair chance.

 

[Lignums]

Nothing wrong with it, just season it out right, with as little bark on it as you can manage. It's a perfect daytime burning wood, when having the coals last a long time is not an issue. It's a perfect wood for the early fall/early spring when temps are not so cold. It will burn fast so your house will not feel like an oven. Plus...faster burning means your chimney will be getting to temp faster, and remain hotter meaning less creosote buildup.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

When I worked in the sawmill we quickly learned that cottonwood, once you can get it to burn, will produce a very hot fire....but a very short fire too. Cottonwood can also make lumber but the problem is keeping it from warping. If you can do that, you can have some decent 1 x 6 or something like that. I also remember cutting a bunch of railroad ties out of cottonwood. I'm not sure that they were used for the ties but do remember a huge order we got. But boy oh boy did it ever stink around the mill while cutting.

I'd say to burn cottonwood right it might very well need 2 years of seasoning....outdoors; not in a shed.

Good luck to you. How's the weather looking up there now?

 

[johnsopi]

I won't take Cottenwood even free and delivered. I have friend who was going to give some, he ended up taking it to the dump.The worst wood too spilt. Makes Gum look easy. I like tulip poplar, pine, gum but I will pass on Cottenwood.

 

[Highbeam]

I split up 5 cords of cottonwood this spring. It was easy to split, lots of water, and heavy. The wood has dried all summer and is cracked nicely, dropping bark, bleeched out, and very light weight now which is to be expected since the water content when green is so high. We'll be burning it this year if I consume the first five cords of red cedar/alder/fir that's in the shed now.

Cottonwood is very similar to Poplar which is frequently discussed here. Cottonwood is often refused by those folks who only want to burn the best, the same people refuse pine.

 

[johnsopi]

The cottenwood I had was the worst wood I have ever spilt. It was still growing green shoots after beingcut into rounds. YMMV

 

[jklingel]

Thanks for all the comments, varied as they are. I guess I'll have to cut it into shorter lengths than planned and get a splitting maul. Maybe I can take my 416 and split it w/ 400 grains when it is 40 below. May not get to -40 this year; we have not even been near zero yet. Very strange.

 

[Lignums]

The on and only time I split a bunch of Cottonwood I didn't have much luck with the Maul. It seems that the wood grain is so, 'mushy', for lack of better term. The Maul would get stuck, just like an ax. The only way I got that stuff split was with the hydraulic splitter. After a few hours trying to split it with my maul, I reckoned myself to be like Sisyphus, and got a cold glass of Lemonade and and fired up the splitter.

 

[MrGriz]

I would definitely be more of a wood snob if I was paying for it (and the cost was equal). Since I scrounge for wood I prefer the following types:

Free, close to home and easily accessible
Free and close to home
Free

The bottom line is it all burns and makes heat.....Now, if I pull up and there's oak and box elder for the taking, I'll come back for the box elder :lol:

 

[BigV]

I’m not real picky when it comes to free wood so I have split and burned my share of cottonwood. Using a 22 ton splitter you can actually see the water pour out the split ends. As stated earlier, the wood is very heavy and full of moisture when green and very light when seasoned. It burns great and works very well for early and late in the season when you want to get the chill out of the air quickly. It burns very fast and leaves little ash. I wouldn’t recommend it for long burns or overnight, but if your sitting at home just watching the fire, burn all you can.

 

[carpniels]

I second everything that BigV said.

Free is good and the low BTU splits are excellent for shoulder seasons.

Carpniels