# Tree of Heaven firewood



## Maul Man (Oct 18, 2010)

How good is Tree of Heaven for firewood?
I have a lot of it. Just haven't bothered to cut it down split and burn it since I have a predominance of Sugar Maple and Shagbark Hickory.


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## Rudedog (Oct 18, 2010)

Sucks. Does season quick though and splits easy as heck.


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## Jredsjeep (Oct 18, 2010)

been wondering that myself since i got a bunch to, i was just burning it in the burnpile till thay banned that:censored:


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## PA. Woodsman (Oct 18, 2010)

It's like this-you have Sugar Maple and Shagbark Hickory-that's steak and lobster.

The Tree of Heaven is like almost spoiled bologna....yum! :greenchainsaw:


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## tomtrees58 (Oct 18, 2010)

PA. Woodsman said:


> It's like this-you have Sugar Maple and Shagbark Hickory-that's steak and lobster.
> 
> The Tree of Heaven is like almost spoiled bologna....yum! :greenchainsaw:


:agree2:


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## bobt (Oct 18, 2010)

PA. Woodsman said:


> It's like this-you have Sugar Maple and Shagbark Hickory-that's steak and lobster.
> 
> The Tree of Heaven is like almost spoiled bologna....yum! :greenchainsaw:



Gotta love your analogy.

But I am gonna prove how stupid I am,,,,,,,um,,,what in heaven's name is "tree of heaven"? I've never heard of it.

Bob


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## ray benson (Oct 18, 2010)

Tree of Heaven topic came up yesterday in the arborist 101 forum.
http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=151291


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## ponyexpress976 (Oct 18, 2010)

spoiled bologna is what it smells like...when you burn it, it will vanish like a fart in the breeze. If you have it, play with the saws a bit, practice felling/limbing, wait for an act of God to take them out. Just dont expect a lot of BTU's. i dont want to sound like a firewood snob, I'd only put effort into one if I wanted to or had no other choice.


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## PA. Woodsman (Oct 18, 2010)

ponyexpress976 said:


> Just dont expect a lot of BTU's. i dont want to sound like a firewood snob, I'd only put effort into one if I wanted to or had no other choice.




Very true....keep looking in that refrigirator for something other than bologna! Hot dogs is a step up, probably even Spam!! Tree of Heaven it ain't....:greenchainsaw:


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## deeker (Oct 18, 2010)

We call them the "tree of hell" here. Makes my eyes swell and nose run. I hate the stuff. We just burn it or chip it....worthless as 38DD's on a Nun.


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## PA. Woodsman (Oct 18, 2010)

bobt said:


> Gotta love your analogy.
> 
> But I am gonna prove how stupid I am,,,,,,,um,,,what in heaven's name is "tree of heaven"? I've never heard of it.
> 
> Bob




Ailanthus...a.k.a. light as a feather balsa wood when dry...


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## audible fart (Oct 18, 2010)

I just call the "weed trees.". Grow like weeds. Just cut a large one down in my yard. I refuse to call it "tree of heaven." That name is pathetic.


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## Hlakegollum (Oct 18, 2010)

audible fart said:


> I just call the "weed trees.". Grow like weeds. Just cut a large one down in my yard. I refuse to call it "tree of heaven." That name is pathetic.



In certain parts of the United States, the species has been nicknamed the "ghetto palm" because of its propensity for growing in the inhospitable conditions.


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## CTYank (Oct 18, 2010)

*.*

And ... the things are almost impossible to kill. Some forest agencies recommend that once you cut one down, you apply herbicide like "Roundup" to the stump. May need more than one application.

In some parts of the NE US, verges of Interstates are largely Ailanthus. Maybe this is part of O'Donnell's "chinese plot to take over the US"? (They're native to China.)


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## mtfallsmikey (Oct 19, 2010)

Hlakegollum said:


> In certain parts of the United States, the species has been nicknamed the "ghetto palm" because of its propensity for growing in the inhospitable conditions.



A few years ago, I had some of that given to me, was milled into lumber, boards were 6-8" wide...must have been a doozy. The fella I got it from who is across the mt. from me in W. Va. said that years ago, they were planted there to potentially supplement pine as a source of framing lumber, but it wasn't strong enough. I made some wall shwelves out of it, really stunk when I planed/routed it, but it has a nice cathedral-type grain to it. Fuggetaboutit for firewood...


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## Maul Man (Oct 19, 2010)

*Tree of Heaven*

It's actually described in a tree book as having the smell of burnt peanut butter. I had already cut down a few and made kindling out of it.
Ehhh...its okay that way. But, as already said not worth much for long term burning. I too despise it. It has a bad habit of falling over when it get a certain height and falling across the drive-way. So, I usually just cut and toss to get it out of the way.


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## BlueRidgeMark (Oct 19, 2010)

The wood is brittle, too. Makes a very UNsafe tree to have around!


I had one decide to lay itself down in my back yard when I lived in California. Light breeze, nice day. Good thing we were all inside. Heard a crackling, snapping, then a crash. Stupid thing laid all 60 feet of itself down across my back yard, fence to fence. Greenstick fracture about 5 feet up.

Did I mention there was only a light breeze? 



Yes, after that, I took all the rest of them down!


I don't think it's much different than poplar for burning, though.


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## Maul Man (Oct 19, 2010)

BlueRidgeMark said:


> The wood is brittle, too. Makes a very UNsafe tree to have around!
> 
> 
> I had one decide to lay itself down in my back yard when I lived in California. Light breeze, nice day. Good thing we were all inside. Heard a crackling, snapping, then a crash. Stupid thing laid all 60 feet of itself down across my back yard, fence to fence. Greenstick fracture about 5 feet up.
> ...



BlueRidgeMark
My introduction to these tall weeds came after an Ice storm that was bad enough to knock our power out for 10 days. It took me about 4 hours to chainsaw my way to the paved road thanks to all the Tree of Heaven that decided to fall down. That took care of most of them but there are a few of their relatives still around.


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## JBinKC (Oct 29, 2010)

Maul Man said:


> It's actually described in a tree book as having the smell of burnt peanut butter. I had already cut down a few and made kindling out of it.
> Ehhh...its okay that way. But, as already said not worth much for long term burning. I too despise it. It has a bad habit of falling over when it get a certain height and falling across the drive-way. So, I usually just cut and toss to get it out of the way.



The smell can be as bad as burning rubber especially with pieces past their prime.

As for heating value it is worth keeping if you can source it very close to your property and preferably burn it during times when people are confined indoors and not let it go punky.

I am burning some ghetto palm as I post here. The stove temp got up to 520F with a fan blowing over it. (My stove temps usually only get to 450 F with oak) I can get close a little more than 2 hours of flame with a stove full of 1 year seasoned rounds in my EPA wood stove which is about the same burn times as poplar.

The wood is certainly acceptable for igniter pieces and the autumn/spring burning season.


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## Maul Man (Oct 29, 2010)

JBinKC said:


> The smell can be as bad as burning rubber especially with pieces past their prime.
> 
> As for heating value it is worth keeping if you can source it very close to your property and preferably burn it during times when people are confined indoors and not let it go punky.
> 
> ...



JB, I think the ghetto palm is going to work fine for me as kindling. I'm fortunate in that I have about 50 acres or so in Sugar Maple, Hickory so it doesn't have to be a primary wood for me to burn. Its just if I cut it down whatever it is I hate to waste it. But it does seem to burn like poplar particularly after I kindling-ize it.


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## 1harlowr (Oct 29, 2010)

I've got dozens of them to get rid of. Cuts, splits, and dries easily. I burn on weekends. Might be close to poplar. I'd rather burn my oak, hickory, or locust but hate to just let this weed tree rot.


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## Junkrunner (Oct 30, 2010)

I try to cut the stuff after the sap drops in the fall. It doesn't seem to smell as bad, even when burning. Better than no wood at all....

I think it burns as well, if not better than silver maple and poplar.


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