Maple vs Oak

[cantoo]

I used to get a few loads of logs ash logs and one year decided to spring for the extra few bucks and get maple. I cut it and split it and piled it off my conveyor just like the ash I had for years. The next year when it came time to haul it into my basement I realized that 20% or so of my maple was gone. The dang bark was all loss and falling off. For every bucket load of clean splits I got I also got a bucket load of just bark. And that bark ended up in my burn pile so to me it was expensive wood. Never got any heat from the bark and it was extra work cleaning it up.

 

[ashy larry]

It does shed bark quick, luckily in one big piece. But boy it seasons quick and i like that.

 

[buzz sawyer]

In addition, soft (usually silver) maple dry rots faster and becomes punkier faster than any firewood that I know of. In about two years, it will dry rot in a garage.

I'm going through some silver now - dried quickly and burns quickly.

 

[Macman125]

It is a lot of work. 30 gals of sap to one gal of syrup.

I know the struggle, my family and I make sorghum every year. 100 gallons usually ends up being about 7-8 in the end. It usually takes about 8 hours per batch to boil down.

 

[hardpan]

Thought about it but never tried, sounds like a lot of work. What if someone pees in my bucket.

Then your syrup will taste like oak smells. LOL

 

[Woody912]

Thought about it but never tried, sounds like a lot of work. What if someone pees in my bucket.

Or drops crystal meth in it? I tap some trees in the city. At the top of a ladder

 

[Saddle Mander]

Only problem with oak is that it takes forever to dry.

Don't I know it! I have a lot of oak that has been C/S/S for over two years that STILL isn't ideal.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Don't I know it! I have a lot of oak that has been C/S/S for over two years that STILL isn't ideal.

I imagine the bark is still on lots of your logs and quite a few are branches that are not split. Some say that oak branches unsplit will never thoroughly dry. The tight bark holds the moisture in place.

 

[Wildwinger]

Don't know about the rest of the country, but up here there isn't much doubt about red oak vs sugar maple. Red oak is about twice as heavy, burns hotter, and lasts longer. Red oak takes longer to dry, without a doubt, but the heat output is considerably higher than sugar maple. American beech is very similar to red oak, heavy and burns fierce. Splitting wise , red oak is much easier than beech, and sugar maple is a close second. Sugar maple will burn up to a fine ash by morning , red oak ( and beech) will have a nice bed of coals. Sugar maple, almost always, is much lighter than either of the other two. When you throw red oak or beech into your stove, you would be wise to turn that damper down. JMO

Strange. Everything you said about sugar maple sounds like our red maples

The sugar maple around here is super dense, hot, and produces more coals than I know what to do with

 

[Wood Doctor]

Strange. Everything you said about sugar maple sounds like our red maples. The sugar maple around here is super dense, hot, and produces more coals than I know what to do with.

Sounds like your stove's fire needs more oxygen or your wood is green. Mine burns both maple and oak to an ash powder, not any chunks of coals at all. Just MHO.

 

[Wildwinger]

Sounds like your stove's fire needs more oxygen or your wood is green. Mine burns both maple and oak to an ash powder, not any chunks of coals at all. Just MHO.

The coals burn down eventually. It's only an issue during the coldest times, when I want to reload but there's a bunch of coals still glowing.

My wood is pretty good, always c/s/s 12+months (don't have oak to burn)

 

[zogger]

I think, first guess, you have southern sugar maple, not as dense as yankee/canuckistan sugar maple. Next guess is red maple.

 

[066blaster]

The coals burn down eventually. It's only an issue during the coldest times, when I want to reload but there's a bunch of coals still glowing.

My wood is pretty good, always c/s/s 12+months (don't have oak to burn)

I'm having the same problem, but my maple seems to burn up best. But I have a stove full of red coals. Too hot to shovel out , but not really throwing heat.

 

[ashy larry]

Ill +1 on oak limbs taking forever.

 

[Deleted member 116684]

burn little maple and a bunch of oak mostly red and i occasionally burn sweet gum or hichory , Dog wood seem to burn very well too

 

[flotek]

It's not the wood , it's the hot blast furnace !
There's s big difference between rounds and in splits or slabs in the burn times on those old smoke dragons. I'm surprised you got 8 hours of solid burn time in either wood

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

maple sounds like a sweet smoke! never have smelt it, but I do get into some oak smoke. I suppose it is not too good for my lungs, but I find it very pleasant. my outdoor fireplace (36") has a short stack on it, and depending on wind shift... it can hit any compass point or out across the hearth... for me, smokier the better. I just love those cold days when I have a campfire in Brutus (my outdoor unit) and the smoke goes up, oh about 30-35'... and hits the cold zone and then out across my neighborhood. if I can fill up our section of houses' front yards... well, I do try to keep it below the nuisance level. lol.

 

[ashy larry]

It's not the wood , it's the hot blast furnace !
There's s big difference between rounds and in splits or slabs in the burn times on those old smoke dragons. I'm surprised you got 8 hours of solid burn time in either wood

I can get 10-12 hrs if the temp is above 28 or so. Mine really hasn't been a lemon at all.

I have it in a carport, not a basement, so im sure i could have better results if it was inside.

 

[olyman]

It is a lot of work. 30 gals of sap to one gal of syrup.

MINIMUM.. can be as high as 50 in a bad year.......

 

[svk]

maple sounds like a sweet smoke! never have smelt it, but I do get into some oak smoke. I suppose it is not too good for my lungs, but I find it very pleasant. my outdoor fireplace (36") has a short stack on it, and depending on wind shift... it can hit any compass point or out across the hearth... for me, smokier the better. I just love those cold days when I have a campfire in Brutus (my outdoor unit) and the smoke goes up, oh about 30-35'... and hits the cold zone and then out across my neighborhood. if I can fill up our section of houses' front yards... well, I do try to keep it below the nuisance level. lol.

I love the smell of maple smoke. Also the smell of birch right after refueling as the bark is igniting. Pine and cedar smell great too.