soft maple for firewood? (Silver Maple)

[svk]

Same with Basswood

I cut up and noodled slabs from a basswood this summer for my grandpa to use as carving wood. Did not have any issues with flies.

Ironically it smells significantly worse when dry than it did when green. Not intense but if you put your nose to it, it has a smell of urine.

 

[JCMC]

Any suggestions? I have a bunch behind my house already in logs. I am going to take it all and put it under roof over the next couple of weeks. I know it is not great firewood but it is so easy for me to get I figure I better take it.

Any thoughts on burning it my CB 6048?

It will burn just fine in the CB.

 

[GrizzlyAdams86]

WoodDoctor here's that cottonwood I was talking about earlier.

 

[CaseyForrest]

I cut up and noodled slabs from a basswood this summer for my grandpa to use as carving wood. Did not have any issues with flies.

Ironically it smells significantly worse when dry than it did when green. Not intense but if you put your nose to it, it has a smell of urine.

Must be dependent on which side of the lake one is on.

 

[Wood Doctor]

WoodDoctor here's that cottonwood I was talking about earlier.

View attachment 615209

View attachment 615210

That's a dandy. Could be 80 to 90 years old. A logger could pull in about $800 from it at 21 cents to the board foot for the big stock and perhaps another $400 for the branch mulch from a commercial shredder. But, there doesn't seem to be any other big ones close to it, so that's probably why it's been ignored. Loggers usually like to work a whole line of trees before bringing in the flatbed, picker truck, skidder, etc. Going after just one big tree is not cost effective.

 

[GrizzlyAdams86]

That's a dandy. Could be 80 to 90 years old. A logger could pull in about $800 from it at 21 cents to the board foot for the big stock and perhaps another $400 for the branch mulch from a commercial shredder. But, there doesn't seem to be any other big ones close to it, so that's probably why it's been ignored. Loggers usually like to work a whole line of trees before bringing in the flatbed, picker truck, skidder, etc. Going after just one big tree is not cost effective.

The land used to be pasture up until about 25-30 yrs ago. Some is still used as crop land but the rest is all wooded. There is quite alot of Ash on this land and Elm, but dutch elm disease is getting most of them if it hasn't already. Took down a 33" elm that a friend got 3-4 months of of wood in their OWB. Other than those 2 there's lots of garbage wood (box adler, willow, buckthorn, etc) some basswood and some white oak. In the first picture I'm just about standing on the edge of the bank by the creek that flows through the property. There is a white oak that is almost as big as this cottonwood that is also close to the creek on this property, I'd like to do a bore sample on it to see how old it is (and if it's hollow). But as for the big cottonwood there's no need to cut it down now.

 

[Wood Doctor]

The land used to be pasture up until about 25-30 yrs ago. Some is still used as crop land but the rest is all wooded. There is quite a lot of Ash on this land and Elm, but dutch elm disease is getting most of them if it hasn't already. Took down a 33" elm that a friend got 3-4 months of of wood in their OWB. Other than those 2 there's lots of garbage wood (box elder, willow, buckthorn, etc) some basswood and some white oak. In the first picture I'm just about standing on the edge of the bank by the creek that flows through the property. There is a white oak that is almost as big as this cottonwood that is also close to the creek on this property, I'd like to do a bore sample on it to see how old it is (and if it's hollow). But as for the big cottonwood there's no need to cut it down now.

I suggest that you let that cottonwood keep growing. There are quite a few around here that have reached 100 years. Clear out the garbage wood -- box elder and willow for sure. Basswood isn't much better. Elm makes really good firewood, far better than soft maple or basswood. I just wait until the elm rounds check up and then when I split it, most of the bark falls off.

None of my customers has ever complained about burning dry elm after I deliver it. On the other hand, if they think that any soft maple I deliver is at all punky, they will squawk like chickens being chased by a fox.

 

[Jhenderson]

That's a dandy. Could be 80 to 90 years old. A logger could pull in about $800 from it at 21 cents to the board foot for the big stock and perhaps another $400 for the branch mulch from a commercial shredder. But, there doesn't seem to be any other big ones close to it, so that's probably why it's been ignored. Loggers usually like to work a whole line of trees before bringing in the flatbed, picker truck, skidder, etc. Going after just one big tree is not cost effective.

I'd like to see your computations. 2K bf in the stem? $400 for the pulp? How much per ton do you think pulp is worth?

 

[NSMaple1]

I'd like to see your computations. 2K bf in the stem? $400 for the pulp? How much per ton do you think pulp is worth?

Actually I think that would need to be 4k bf?

 

[Jhenderson]

You are correct. By the time I started typing I was concentrating on the supposed $400 worth of pulp. The way some people throw figures around without any actual knowledge baffles me sometimes.

 

[NSMaple1]

$400 of pulp here would be about 10 cords. Give or take. That's crappy fir though.

 

[NSMaple1]

I stand corrected. Last load was $38/ton roadside.

 

[Jhenderson]

This stuff was quoted for mulch production. Around here that pays around $25 a ton DELIVERED.

 

[GrizzlyAdams86]

I suggest that you let that cottonwood keep growing. There are quite a few around here that have reached 100 years. Clear out the garbage wood -- box elder and willow for sure. Basswood isn't much better. Elm makes really good firewood, far better than soft maple or basswood. I just wait until the elm rounds check up and then when I split it, most of the bark falls off.

None of my customers has ever complained about burning dry elm after I deliver it. On the other hand, if they think that any soft maple I deliver is at all punky, they will squawk like chickens being chased by a fox.

Some of the woods if I could get a hold of a skidloader with a Fecon head that would be the best for clearing it. Don't think the landowner is in any hurry to cut that cottonwood down either.

 

[Wood Doctor]

This stuff was quoted for mulch production. Around here that pays around $25 a ton DELIVERED.

I can usually get 13 tons of small logs on a full length flat bed that I deliver for mulch production, That brings in an average of $400. The larger logs I deliver to the sawmill for pallet production. That usually means 15 to 18 tons for about a grand or 21 cents a board foot. It's been that way for years.

 

[Jhenderson]

So you're saying that tree contains 4K board feet and 13 tons of merchantable pulp. In a pigs eye.

 

[Wood Doctor]

So you're saying that tree contains 4K board feet and 13 tons of merchantable pulp. In a pigs eye.

No. It might take two of them to fill a flat bed bunk trailer. I get about $800 for a full trailer load that can be mulched and $900 for the rest if the big stuff fills the trailer again. The weight might be the limiting factor. That was the case with this one:

The one Grizzly found might be a tad smaller, but his appears to be about 52" across at the base. The one above was more like 68".

 

[Jhenderson]

It also had only one log in it. Probably not even 16'. Even with little taper it's less than 1300 bf by any published scale. Now what's your estimate? The problem with throwing $$ figures around is people take it to heart. Then when someone tells them the truth they think they're being lied to.

 

[Wood Doctor]

It also had only one log in it. Probably not even 16'. Even with little taper it's less than 1300 bf by any published scale. Now what's your estimate? The problem with throwing $$ figures around is people take it to heart. Then when someone tells them the truth they think they're being lied to.

One log in it? My sawmill usually only wants 9' logs and uses the Doyle scale for logs. Good luck, Mr. Henderson, wherever you are.

 

[Jhenderson]

Look at the picture. Now deduct for the crotch where the 4 ( maybe 5) leaders start. For timber cruising purposes,by definition a log is 16 or 32 feet long depending on whether you use east or west coast scaling practices. If your buyer only wants 9 ft pieces you're only gonna sell him one out of that tree. Doyle, Scribner, International, or Bangor Rule won't make a difference. It won't scale over 1300 bf if your size estimate is even close, which is certainly up for debate.