manitoba maple (box elder)

[bartman23]

Anybody familiar with manitoba maple? How long to you usually season for and what are your experiences with processing and burning. My property is loaded with It.

 

[mauldinoutdoor]

Dries pretty fast but rots very fast also. Most people here don't include it in marketable saleable wood. BTU's are below all other maple if I recall correctly

 

[tla100]

If it is the same as boxelder down here, red and light wood, really wet, a bis-natch to split, takes a while to dry, dries really light. Ehh, I am not a fan, it does burn and produce heat, but I will pass on it....

 

[92utownxh]

If it's box elder, I have some down in creek bottom. They're like weeds. I don't go out of my way to get them, but if one falls I'll cut it up if it's easy. It does rot fast. It burns ok, but I have to mix it with other stuff. Lots of ash and no coals.

 

[bartman23]

This is the tree I am referring too

 

[unclemoustache]

I was given some recently. I was told it was ash but it was box elder. I'm just going to throw it away, but I can afford to be a wood snob around here.

 

[WoodTick007]

Place it at the curb for the pickers. It is total and absolute garbage. . . one minute it is garbage wood and the next minute it is even worse than garbage wood lol It has ZERO coaling properties what so ever.

 

[svk]

On the plus side BE dries quickly, burns decent, and is very prevalent wherever it is present.

On the minus side it usually has a million little shoots off the main trunk, isn't the easiest to hand split, and absolutely stinks if burned before it's completely dry.

 

[mauldinoutdoor]

Makes great chipper food. We cut up to 20" diameter into 18" lengths and roll them into the chipper and fill the chip box fast

 

[lefturnfreek]

On your property and got loads of it, cut, split stack and burn it

 

[bartman23]

Thanks for the replies i will be mixing it with mostly poplar and some ash and splitting it with a log splitter

 

[WoodTick007]

I wouldn't mix it with anything. Boxelder is horrible wood. More than one season of storage and it turns into a paperweight that just pretty much dissolves in the wood stove. I had a friend who would swear buy box elder because no one else would take it... LOL terrible stuff and I am not a wood bigot like many.

 

[lindnova]

I have burned a lot of it in the outdoor furnace and it makes heat, but not ideal wood. Mix with some elm for coals so my fire doesn't go out. I use all box elder on really cold days when I am home and can feed it often, then I get rid of it faster. I only use it if I am clearing them out of somewhere anyway. Otherwise will tip and leave if too hard to get to.

Dries fast, but as others have said it will rot fast. I usually let dry 6 months split and use the same winter. If the bark gets black mold under it stinks. Good for shoulder season wood in the stove - lights easy and burns fast.