cottonwood hardwood or softwood

[LEES WOODC]

Classified as a hard wood because it is a deciduous tree, but soft density, making a poor choice as firewood.

Ligs right with the exception of Larch. Larch looses its needles in the fall.
Any tree that bears a leaf is a hardwood.
Any tree a needle softwood.

 

[Farley9n]

This May Seem Like A Dumb Question But.....

How does it compare to other woods for cutting cookies? I have about 6 acres of woods and too much of it is Cottonwood. I know that it burns ok in an open pit and that once down it dosen't last long. But with a bunch of saws and not that much firewood I'm getting tired of trying to heat with cookies!!!.......Bob

 

[ray benson]

It's one of the softer hardwoods. About as hard as walnut.
http://www.countyfloors.com/species_cottonwood.html

 

[willsaw4beer]

I don't burn it or cut it. Cottonwood is notorious for dropping limbs when felling and besides it smells like cat piss. Its not a hardwood intermediate at that and is usually shaky. We saw a couple mbf a year and the good lumber goes to casket companys and the rest(most) goes to 3B/cants.

Lol I remember trying to burn it one year, and it smelled so bad the dog must have thought he :censored: by the stove or something, he acted like he did something wrong when it was just the smell from the nasty wood. Poplar, cottonwood, aspen, all worthless wood imo. It's only use is for a bonfire as long as you're not planning on cooking food over it.

 

[B_Turner]

How does it compare to other woods for cutting cookies? I have about 6 acres of woods and too much of it is Cottonwood. I know that it burns ok in an open pit and that once down it dosen't last long. But with a bunch of saws and not that much firewood I'm getting tired of trying to heat with cookies!!!.......Bob

It is great for cutting cookies in the 40inch plus size if the log hasn't been skidded. A bit soft, but a little stringy so it's a good test.

I had a big pair (135ft+) of cottonwoods go down in the back and I cut all the lower sections into cookies while doing side by side comparisons for time between my 3120s and 880. I was sad when I used it up.

I generally don't want to waste wood of that size.

I've seen turned bowls from cottonwood from other places like Utah, and it looks to be a nicer wood than the junk tree we have here. Here even when the branches fall off in a windstorm they can sprout into another tree. (They often stick endwise into the soft ground when they fall.)

 

[SteveH]

Cottonwood is more or less trash, I think. People around here tend to plant it 'cuz it grows so fast. Bad idea, as it then starts breaking apart in a couple decades and looks like...trash. However, now and then someone asks me to take one down and I bring home the larger pc to burn. It burns fast and leaves more ash than one could imagine, almost seems there's more volume of ash than the wood it used to be. Only reason I burn it at all is it's free though 95% of what I burn is not cottonwood.

 

[alderman]

Cottonwood

At the paper mill we mix Cottonwood chips with the Alder chips as they are both short fiber woods. We call the Alder mix hard wood and use a Fir/Hemlock mix for soft wood.

 

[mowoodchopper]

cottonwood

If you in some parts of the country where the main wood is cotton wood such as southwest NE , there are more people who burn cotton wood than anything else. Its not trash by a long ways it actually make good fire wood and you can cut it super fast, I would say if you need a load of wood fast its your best bet in this part of the country. If you know what your looking for and know which cottonwood is the good hard stuff , not dead to long and not green, it will burn about 75% as long as ash or elm and put out about 75% as much heat! Out of all the people I cut wood for more than half want cotton wood because I cut it cheaper because I can cut it in about half the time of ash or elm. Also when the creek bottoms are drifted in with snow for 3 months like last yr its about the only wood you can get to, it has heated my house many a cold night.

 

[mowoodchopper]

I burn tons of it. I would be mighty cold if it were not for the ol cottonwoods!
Believe it or not, it is one of the better woods in our parts.

I am glad someone else burns cottonwood . If you live where thats about all there is it makes good fire wood! And if you know what your looking for and get good cottonwood its makes real good fire wood. I burn a ton of it and cut a ton of it for others and no one has froze yet that i know of. So here's to good old cotton wood! If you cant get ash or elm or locust thats what we have left!

 

[Metals406]

Cottonwood isn't a red oak, or white oak... But I've come across some pretty hard, dead and dry, cottonwood. It's used a lot for trailer decking too... Supposed to be tough but flexible for that application.

 

[Troy G]

Beggars cannot be chosers. Up here in Saskatchewan, cottonwood is a major staple. It is certainly not a hardwood.

 

[Blazin]

Technically hardwood yes, on the btu scale no. I burn alot of cottonwood and poplar in the fall or spring to get rid of the chill.........

 

[Mkarlson]

With alot of river bottoms and creek bottoms in my area we have lots of huge cottonwoods around. Looking at the sheer size of those trees makes me want to drop one. I would just about consider them the red woods of my area. Not much cept maybe a giant sycamore can compare around these parts. No one I know ever burns them for firewood, I have always been told they wont burn :jawdrop: . But listening to some of you talk I might have to try one out. How do they smell while burning in say, a campfire?

 

[HuskerDolmar]

my uncle said.....christ come up with a better one than that or keep your mouth shut.. Looking at where most of you wood cutting pros:jawdrop: are from I don't know why in the hell you'd cut cottonwood, and I sure as hell doubt you have much experience burning cured cottonwood. As the mowoodchopper said, it is easy to get, burns hot, and doesn't have much ash if it's dry. It also kicks out good heat. I have burned a :censored: load of it and will GLADLY burn more. western Nebraska isn't exactly blessed with an abundance of hardwoods, so I burn what there is the most of and that's cottonwood.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Nebraska State Tree

Cottonwood is the Nebraska state tree. Here is a truckload that I delivered in September to a restaurant customer who is burning it now.

Believe me, between the two stoves installed and shown below, cottonwood heats his building, but I do not have anything heating my house that looks like this:

Do you?

 

[heimannm]

Biggest problem with cotton wood (around here anyway) is that the bark collects quite a lot of dirt and is really hard on chains. I don't seek it out and cut and burn it only if it is really easy to get.

Cotton wood stinks, is miserable to split, hold too much water when it's green, and doesn't keep very long once it dries. If it is the only thing available, why not?

I had access to a lot of elm when a local cut down two very large trees last spring and to tell the truth, these were only a small step better than cotton wood. The rounds actually kept and burn pretty well, the split pieces are very dry and burn quite quickly. It also leave a lot of ash, and is prone to form a lot of klinkers.

Mark

Mark

 

[Zero Gravity]

ok i was recently searching the internet the other day for wood btu's and i came across this table that had cottonwood classified under the hardwoods. so i was wondering what your guys opinions are on this possibly a typo or something along those lines. well all i can say i have cut some cotton wood that was hard so any info would be great.

I thought that any tree that had its reproductive seed in nut or fruit was considered a hardwood. Trees that have a free seed are the softwoods.
ZG

 

[CORNFEDMIDGET]

I don't burn it or cut it. Cottonwood is notorious for dropping limbs when felling and besides it smells like cat piss. Its not a hardwood intermediate at that and is usually shaky. We saw a couple mbf a year and the good lumber goes to casket companys and the rest(most) goes to 3B/cants.

My thoughts exactly. You put a finger on it, "cat piss".

 

[wdchuck]

Cottonwood/poplar....it burns nicely in the fireplace...but aint worth spit in the wood furnace.

It's a hardwood...can be a bugger to split...but doesn't offer much up for btus/cord

 

[mowoodchopper]

With alot of river bottoms and creek bottoms in my area we have lots of huge cottonwoods around. Looking at the sheer size of those trees makes me want to drop one. I would just about consider them the red woods of my area. Not much cept maybe a giant sycamore can compare around these parts. No one I know ever burns them for firewood, I have always been told they wont burn :jawdrop: . But listening to some of you talk I might have to try one out. How do they smell while burning in say, a campfire?

Give it a try I bet it will surprise you. Find you a big dead one that the bark is just falling off.There is nothing like the sound of a nice size, 2-3 feet diameter dead cottonwood hitting the ground, just look out cause its like an explosion, :censored: flys everywhere! And if you have a good splitter you can split it no problem!And as far as the smell for a fire pit its fine, dont let the talk about it stinking worry you. It smells like smoke it aint potpourri !
:greenchainsaw: