We had a tornado come through in May about 200 yards from my house. I still have a lot of downed trees that I am cutting up. I have several large (40" diameter) cottonwoods that are standing, but there isn't anything left of them, branch-wise. They are broken off about 40' up. Other than being ugly, as they are right near the road by the driveway, I still have lots of decent hardwoods to cut for firewood.
I did cut up some of the branches that were blown down, up to 12". When I split them, they all pretty much debarked themselves. They were green, so I haven't burned any yet.
What I am getting to is whether the larger diameter (above 16") cottonwood is decent firewood or does it burn so fast that it isn't worth cutting? Like I said before, I have plenty of decent wood to cut. I've never burned cottonwood. Mostly ash, mulberry around here. I have burned some larger pines, 18" or so, that had to be cut down at my MIL's house due to them dying from whatever disease is running rampant on them around here. It burns super fast, but very little ash remains, so that is nice.
I did cut up some of the branches that were blown down, up to 12". When I split them, they all pretty much debarked themselves. They were green, so I haven't burned any yet.
What I am getting to is whether the larger diameter (above 16") cottonwood is decent firewood or does it burn so fast that it isn't worth cutting? Like I said before, I have plenty of decent wood to cut. I've never burned cottonwood. Mostly ash, mulberry around here. I have burned some larger pines, 18" or so, that had to be cut down at my MIL's house due to them dying from whatever disease is running rampant on them around here. It burns super fast, but very little ash remains, so that is nice.
Good thread. I think I'll leave the big ones standing for now and use as needed. Looks like they will fare better upright than in the woodpile over time.
