Can anyone tell me whether eastern beech (Maine) will dry in the round. Specifically 3"-4" diameter x 16" long pieces? I have a bunch of it and would rather not waste time splitting it if it will dry on it's own. The bark seems like it is more porous than some hardwoods. I never split small rounds of maple, or often even larger pieces, as they will dry just fine and i never leave any birch in the round, I think it might rot even under cover. But i have never had much beech for firewood, and probably would not have bothered taking such small pieces but a friend had some trimming done and I offered to haul it away. I assume it is probably similar to oak in BTU's and I can't resist anything free if I can use it. Thanks, LP
drying eastern beech
- Thread starter larrypac
- Start date
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It dries the same as sugar maple in my neck of the woods.
Tim in NY
ArboristSite Member
Depends on how you have it stored and for how long. I store my wood for 2 years in the woodshed and still when I put beech rounds of decent size (4-6") in the stove I see some sizzle and moisture boil out the end. Split pieces are nice and gone dry
When I put beech away for drying I find it best to break the bark even on small diameter rounds, beech will dry much better with the bark broken off even just one side of a round. I have much beech go punky if left in an unbroken round, white birch is similar in that it just don`t seem to want to dry completely out unless the bark is broken ,we run the chainsaw along one or more sides to break the bark through to the wood, dries well then.
