# River birch and sycamore for firewood



## Axlerod74 (Jan 5, 2012)

These two are abundant in my area and no problem getting lots to cut for firewood. I realize that oak, hickory, beech.........ect is preferred however I have easy access to these right now (for next season) and I have to be patient to get a downed oak. Seems like most people around here are more than glad for you to come and cut river birch and sycamore just to get them out of their way. It is an abundant resource that is hard to pass up. What are your opinions (based on actual burning experience only please) as fuel for the wood stove.


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## branchbuzzer (Jan 5, 2012)

The sycamore will be tough to split, especially the big stuff. It burns like mid-grade wood (red maple). If you can leave anything un-split , I'd do so. Takes a while to dry out ( high green water content ). If I were you, I'd try some small stuff first and see how it goes. Then if you're not syc of it yet, go bigger. 

Here <--- is a post I just made about splitting up a big sycamore.

I've never had any river birch, so cant comment.


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## bigshow (Jan 5, 2012)

My neighbor took down a large(3 1/2' Dia.) sycamore a few years ago. I let it lay in his yard one winter,cut and split it up the next spring and put it in the woodshed till fall.I burned nearly all sycamore that winter with no problems.I've been heating my house and garage with wood for 30 yrs.I have found that just about any kind of wood will work as long as it is DRY !!
Larry S.


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## buzz sawyer (Jan 5, 2012)

I've had good results with sycamore. I found it splits easier tangentally than radially.


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## ScoutmasterRick (Jan 6, 2012)

I don't have a lot to add regarding the Sycamore (wet, stringy, but burns okay), except that some that I've cut smells like a barnyard while it's still wet.

We have River Birch literally growing like weeds on our property, so I cut a lot of it. River Birch is one of the wettest woods I've worked with. I cut some early this week and a lot of sap/water was dripping out of the cuts. It dries to a very light, porous wood, and naturally burns very quickly when dry. I don't recall having split any, so I don't know how well it splits. River Birch decays quicker than almost any other wood I've worked with. You'll need to keep it up off the ground or it stands a good chance of rotting before it dries out enough to burn.


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## thepheniox (Jan 6, 2012)

If your cutting sycamore be careful with the saw dust. It can be a killer on the lungs and throat. I wear a mask when working with the stuff.


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## meadowsuper (Jan 6, 2012)

I have a fair amount of River Birch here but it does not get very big in diameter. So i either split it and use it for kindling, or leave them in rounds up to 5 or 6" around and burn them. They give off some great heat but burn away fast when split so leaving them in rounds gives them a little longevity. I would certainly use it if you can get a bunch of it.


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## Axlerod74 (Jan 6, 2012)

ScoutmasterRick said:


> I don't have a lot to add regarding the Sycamore (wet, stringy, but burns okay), except that some that I've cut smells like a barnyard while it's still wet.
> 
> We have River Birch literally growing like weeds on our property, so I cut a lot of it. River Birch is one of the wettest woods I've worked with. I cut some early this week and a lot of sap/water was dripping out of the cuts. It dries to a very light, porous wood, and naturally burns very quickly when dry. I don't recall having split any, so I don't know how well it splits. River Birch decays quicker than almost any other wood I've worked with. You'll need to keep it up off the ground or it stands a good chance of rotting before it dries out enough to burn.



This helps a bunch...........thanks for the info. I can remember that my Dad used to burn sycamore when I was growing up and he had no complaints about the heat.............just that the big rounds were hard to split. I have split 10"-12" rounds with no difficulty. I have never burned river birch and need all the input I can get here.


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## Axlerod74 (Jan 6, 2012)

meadowsuper said:


> I have a fair amount of River Birch here but it does not get very big in diameter. So i either split it and use it for kindling, or leave them in rounds up to 5 or 6" around and burn them. They give off some great heat but burn away fast when split so leaving them in rounds gives them a little longevity. I would certainly use it if you can get a bunch of it.



These trees get up to about 12"-15" diameter at the trunk base. I only plan to use the med. to big stuff and will need to at least quarter. The bark on the lower trunks seem thick and likely to hold moisture but the grain looks a lot like cherry or beech. Glad to hear they give of high heat.


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## logbutcher (Jan 6, 2012)

Unlike the Paper/White Birch here and northern areas, River/Black Birch is a high BTU ( 26.6 MBTU ) firewood up there with Yellow Birch. Surprised me. 

Use some care in the storage of butts and rounds though-- because of the "waterproof" bark the wood tends to rot quickly. When felling we score the bark along the trunk before skidding or bucking so that that wood can 'breathe' ; then the bark will unwrap after a few months if not split. It's done for sawlogs and firewood.

Sycamore, Cherry, Elms, Beech, Apple are all heliotropes. Growth will follow the sun, unlike more straight grained wood like the Ashes and Oaks. Right to split tangentially as the man said.


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## loadthestove (Jan 7, 2012)

I've burnt a fair amount of the sycamore as they are plentiful in my area.I am pleased with the results.as for the river birch I cant help you there.


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## buzz sawyer (Jan 8, 2012)

Lest we think of sycamore only as firewood, keep in mind that it has really nice rays when quarter sawn and was used in Victorian home interiors. Works about like cherry.


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## Axlerod74 (Jan 10, 2012)

Cut a load of birch this weekend. Cuts well and handles well. Looks a lot like beech on the inside.


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## Lovin Locust (Feb 24, 2015)

I was wondering if Cottonwood is worth cutting stacking and storing. I have access to quite a bit of this stuff, but I always assumed it was garbage wood. Any input would help me..

Thanks 

LL


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## unclemoustache (Feb 24, 2015)

Wow - I'm in the minority here. I detest sycamore. Burns too fast and leaves more ash than there was firewood to begin with. I had to clean out my stove every day burning that junk. I would't burn it now if you gave it to me free, split and stacked, except maybe in my outdoor fire pit.


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## gary s (Feb 24, 2015)

I never heard of "river" birch around here but if it's the same as black birch it's great. I also hear it called sweet birch and cherry birch. If cut now up here where it's freezing the moisture content is relatively low but it goes up quick in the spring. I plan on dropping several in the next week.


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## Brushwacker (Feb 24, 2015)

River Birch is good wood and has a higher BTU value then Cherry and other species many consider good wood. 
If you do not split it or remove a good amount of the bark , the middle will decay faster then it dries and it will not make very good wood. I try to partially debark or split even 3" rounds. It doesnt hold a fire as long as oak but bigger split pieces that are seasoned and dry hold out pretty good.


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## windthrown (Feb 25, 2015)

unclemoustache said:


> Wow - I'm in the minority here. I detest sycamore. Burns too fast and leaves more ash than there was firewood to begin with. I had to clean out my stove every day burning that junk. I would't burn it now if you gave it to me free, split and stacked, except maybe in my outdoor fire pit.



I hate burning sycamore for the same reasons you list. I had a big sycamore tree in CA and it was always sick, leaves and bark peels always littered the yard, someone pollarded it so it grew funny, no matter how I pruned it, and the firewood left gobs of ashes. Its on my avoid list with cottonwood/poplar, Tree of Heaven (tree of hell, of you ask me) and willow. Birch is a pain because it has to be split pretty fast or it will rot here. The bark is waterproof and so it just traps the moisture. I have a lot of paper/white birch on my property so I have to split, stack and burn it as I drop them. I would not go out of my way to get it though.


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## GVS (Feb 25, 2015)

Lovin Locust said:


> I was wondering if Cottonwood is worth cutting stacking and storing. I have access to quite a bit of this stuff, but I always assumed it was garbage wood. Any input would help me..
> 
> Thanks
> 
> LL


If all you have is cottonwood ,use it.I'm not a "wood snob"


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