popular is it worth the effort

[ashy larry]

Man id love it if we had pecan here for smoking

 

[Rudedog]

....better than that sweet gum I got....

Lol. I got burned one time when someone told me they had a dozen 32" rounds of White Oak to drop in my driveway. Only it wasn't oak, that Sweet Gum was terrible to split.

 

[Eric English]

I have a saying that has served me well for many years "If its for free its for me" this definitely applies to firewood. I have an OWB and will burn anything that can be set on fire. The only time I ever get upset about poplar is when I pay $$ for a triaxle load of firewood logs and discover the logger has hidden poplar in the middle of the pile.

 

[c5rulz]

In a word NO.

It takes just as much work to process crap as it does to put up good hardwood.

 

[haveawoody]

Poplar is just fine to burn.
Keep the splits on the chunky side and you will be burning it well into the coldest months.
It's not going to last like a high btu hardwood will, but keeping the poplar splits quite large and it's quite shocking how long they will burn.

 

[john taliaferro]

.

makes you tough ,next time someone calls you gotta have samples taken and analyzed before saying yes .

 

[jrider]

If it's easy access I say go for it. Easy on the chains cutting it and splits like butter. Keep the splits on the large side and you will pile it up pretty quickly.

 

[DrewUth]

I have about two cords of poplar that I plan on using up before I touch my 3.5 cords of oak. Yes- it burns fast, so you load every 2-3 hours, and it will not hang in over night. However, it burns HOT and gets my cast iron girl up to temp in no time at all. Plus it snaps and crackles a lot and that's always fun haha. OH and it dries super quick- I be that you could buck and split green poplar and have it dry enough to burn in less than 3 months. The stuff I am burning now was bucked up (green) in April, has been sitting in rounds in my front yard until about a month ago. I split it up, its been sitting for 3 weeks, and my MM puts it at 12-13%.

 

[allstihl]

went and scouted the area today . there is some maple , cherry, and hickory here and there .ill start with the hardwood and then get into the poplar when I have time .since its less than 1/4 mile from the house and I have plenty of storage space ill cut poplar unless something better comes along .

 

[Fred Wright]

Like the folks say, tulip poplar burns hot and quickly. It's a lightweight wood, seasons within a year of being S&S. Keep it top covered or in a shed; poplar will go punky soon if left exposed to the elements.

I agree ~ if it's free, take it. For my part that's more poplar than we'd burn in 20 years... but you can certainly unload a lot of it as campfire or fire pit wood.

 

[sledge&wedge]

First? Don't wanna save it for the cold weather?

Yeah but, $0 plus $0 = wait for it...$0!

I see where you got your question from, but I am pretty sure he meant if you are lucky enough to have access to hardwood, you should use the poplar first and save the hardwood.

 

[svk]

I see where you got your question from, but I am pretty sure he meant if you are lucky enough to have access to hardwood, you should use the poplar first and save the hardwood.

My bad, it is written poorly.

What I meant was scrounge and process all of the quality wood you can get first. Then if you still have time and capacity, do as much of the poplar (aspen) as you can. As it is an easy to split and somewhat fast drying species, there is always a use for it. I only burn aspen and balsam in my firepit unless I need good coals for cooking....no sense using good long lasting wood out there.

 

[allstihl]

had some time this afternoon , found a honey hole of shagbark hickory , things are looking up .

 

[brenndatomu]

had some time this afternoon , found a honey hole of shagbark hickory , things are looking up .

Gotta love a good honey hole!

 

[Yoopermike]

Usually any type of burnable hardwood that is free gets the ok in my wood stove. I've been burning a bamagillia (balsam poplar) for the past 2 years. I had a huge blowdown by my house that reaped about 8 face cord. Cut nice, split nice and burns nice, a bit fast but nothing terrible. My only beef with it is it really doesn't leave a lot of coals but isn't a deal breaker, especially for "free wood".

 

[msmith]

It's not my favorite, but I won't shove it out of the way to get to other hardwoods. I don't go out of my way to get it, but if I have it, I certainly don't waste it. I use it during shoulder weather, and will throw some on the coals of my OWB with oak, hickory, etc. on top in colder weather.

 

[Wood Doctor]

I recently mixed two cottonwood logs with three locust logs and produced one of the hottest fires that I have ever burned in my stove. Then again, cottonwood and poplar are not the same, and some say that Eastern cottonwood has it beat. Regardless, I may have to try this again. I say that cottonwood and poplar both have their place, are plentiful, and get a bad rap.

 

[svk]

My understanding is aspen is supposed to burn slightly hotter/longer but you never know what to believe.

 

[Wood Doctor]

My understanding is aspen is supposed to burn slightly hotter/longer but you never know what to believe.

Thing is, cottonwood and poplar are two different species. I've also noticed that cottonwood quality varies from tree to tree and from within the same tree. It's a mixed bag.

 

[woodfarmer]

I would lay claim to it, if its large diameter sell it for lumber. if its small try to sell it to a pulp company. keep all the maple etc for your own firewood.