I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

Steve

"SteveW" wrote in message

I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?


The faster the tree grown, the less dense it is and the less quality the
firewood. Most trees would take 20 to 40 years to be worthwhile. Plant now
for your grandchildren.

How about trying rec.firewood


"SteveW" wrote in message
. com...
I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

Steve

How about taking up woodworking as a hobby. In the beginning you will make
plenty of firewood.

Joe in Denver
my woodworking website:
http://www.the-wildings.com/shop/

"SteveW" wrote in message
. com...
I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

Steve

SteveW asks:

I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

Poplar is lousy firewood, whether hybrid, tulip or popple types. The only fast
growing hardwood I know of that MIGHT make semi-decent firewood in a few years
is pin oak. I've got a couple pin oaks that have grown at an incredible pace
for the past 15 years. Another year or two, and they'd make decent firewood. If
you expect trees to produce anything in much less time than that, you're
looking at cordwood and pulpwood.

Charlie Self
"I think we agree, the past is over." George W. Bush

"SteveW" wrote in message
. com...
I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks


Hybrid poplars, ash, and tamarack are all used for that purpose. Depending
on the type of stove, they'll give you usable wood in 10 years. Note,
however, that a pound of wood is equal in BTU to a pound of wood. Aspen .40
sg, beech .68.

Hickory Maple, Ash. They grow relatively quickly for hardwood.


SteveW wrote:
I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

Steve



--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek

"SteveW" wrote in message
. com...
I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?


Well normally I would not say that was possible but I had a Chinese Tallow
removed and asked the guy taking it down to cut it into pieces 18 to 20
inches long and put them in my fire wood rack. He asked if I was going to
burn it and indicated that it did not burn well in a fire place. I told him
that I wanted to turn the wood. Well 8 months later winter is here and I
burned it. I was pleasantly surprised that 8 to 10 inch diameter non split
logs were dried enough to burn and would burn for about 2 hours each and put
out quite a bit of heat. This tree is a very fast grower.

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?...109&meth od=2

I have a pin oak that I cut down to make room for a pool. It doesn't
burn well at all. On the other hand, my walnut cut offs burn
beautifully.... the most fantastic no hassle burn... But it is too nice
a wood to burn.... use the wood, burn the discards.

Charlie Self wrote:
SteveW asks:


I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?


Poplar is lousy firewood, whether hybrid, tulip or popple types. The only fast
growing hardwood I know of that MIGHT make semi-decent firewood in a few years
is pin oak. I've got a couple pin oaks that have grown at an incredible pace
for the past 15 years. Another year or two, and they'd make decent firewood. If
you expect trees to produce anything in much less time than that, you're
looking at cordwood and pulpwood.

Charlie Self
"I think we agree, the past is over." George W. Bush

In article , "SteveW" wrote:
I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

Principal recommendation: abandon the idea, on two grounds.

First, the best firewood comes from slow-growing trees such as oaks,
hickories, and sugar maples. The wood of fast-growing trees is inherently less
dense, and hence does not make as good firewood, as the wood of slow-growing
trees. Poplar specifically is not good firewood; it burns rapidly, and has
little fuel value.

Second, and more important, you will not get a reasonable *quantity* of
firewood "in a short amount of time" from *any* tree that you plant. That just
doesn't happen. Not by _human_ standards, anyway. Thirty years *is* "a short
amount of time" _to_a_tree_.

Secondary recommendation: there are ways of getting cheap firewood, as long
as you're willing to work for it. If your city or state government removes a
tree, you may be able to get the wood just by asking for it (as long as you're
able to haul it away). If you have a chainsaw, you could offer to cut up
fallen trees (or limbs) for your neighbors after a storm, in exchange for the
wood. In some states, you can get firewood *very* cheaply in state-owned
forests. Here in Indiana, for example, the state sells logging rights to
commercial timber harvesters. The commercial guys are usually interested only
in the first 30-40' of trunk, and they leave the rest on the ground. After
they're done, Joe Citizen can come in and take whatever he wants for three
bucks a pickup truck load.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

"SteveW" wrote in message
. com...


I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

What zone do you live in?
In my current neck'o'the woods - among the fastest growers are Aspen and
Maple.

On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 17:55:58 GMT, "SteveW"
wrote:

I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

Steve

HEAT CONTENT (million BTU/cord), 20% moistu

Hickories 30.8-32.1
Oak: willow, swamp white 29.6-30.8
post, scarlet, swamp chestnut 28.7
chestnut, southern red, white 28.3
northern red, overcup, water 27.0
black 26.1
Locust, black 28.3
Beech 27.4
Maple, sugar 27.0
Elm, rock 27.0
Ash, white 25.7
Walnut, black 23.6
Maple, red 23.2
Sweetgum 22.3
Hackberry 22.1
Pine, yellow 21.8
Cherry, black 21.4
Elm, American 21.4
Sycamore 21.0
Yellow-poplar 18.0
Sassafras 17.5
Cottonwood 17.1
Hemlock 17.1
Willow 16.7
Pine, white 15.0

http://www.state.tn.us/agriculture/forestry/




FAST GROWERS (not in order)

1.)eastern cottonwood
Cottonwood is a fast growing tree when it has adequate moisture and
often grows as much as 8 feet per year.

2.)silver maple
It is a tall, fast-growing tree found on the bottomlands reaching a
mature height of 70 to 80 feet and a crown spread of 50 to 60 feet.

3.)green ash
Average annual height growth of 12 to 18 inches can be expected under
good management.

4.)black walnut
This tree grows about 2 to 3 feet per year

5.) Oak, Red (Quercus rubra)
A native tree with a height of 60-80+’ and width of 40-50’. Leaves
develop excellent fall colors from orange to red. Growth rate is rapid
(fastest of all oaks).

6.) Basswood and
7.) Poplar

8.) "Quick Shade" The Imperial Carolina
Imperial Carolina Poplar hybrid. On average and under normal
conditions, this tree will grow six feet per year

9.) Weeping willow
The willows and poplars typically grow the fastest, up to 8 feet a
year, and some of the others grow anywhere from four to ten feet a
year

10.)The "Red Baron" Willow Hybrid Tree
Under average and normal conditions, the Red baron will grow six feet
per year

11.) Willow Hybrid
on average and under normal conditions, will grow six feet per year

12.)Sweetgum

13.)Sycamore

14.) Honeylocust
Gleditsia triacanthos or thornless honeylocust is fast growing as a
young tree and will grow 2' or more a year over a 10 year period

15.)Willow Oak

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=198432



With a little effort you could graph these out and find the sweet
spot.





tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet (real email)
http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1 (webpage)

On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 21:44:47 GMT, patrick conroy wrote:

"SteveW" wrote in message
. com...


I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

What zone do you live in?
In my current neck'o'the woods - among the fastest growers are Aspen and
Maple.

Yabbut, time to grow is inversely proportional to value as firewood. It's
all about how much material (not water) goes into the burnable parts.
Faster growth=less weight=less BTU when burned.

In article , wrote:
Hickory Maple, Ash. They grow relatively quickly for hardwood.

Never heard of a "hickory maple". Presumably there was supposed to be a comma
in there? :-)

Anyway... hickory is *not* a particularly fast-growing tree; neither are most
maple species, and the ones that *do* grow fast make poor firewood; and the
same is true of ash -- it's "fast growing" only when compared to oaks.

Bottom line: the OP is not thinking realistically. *No* tree that he plants is
going to grow to firewood size in a short time like he wants.


--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 22:01:23 GMT, Doug Miller wrote:
In article , wrote:
Hickory Maple, Ash. They grow relatively quickly for hardwood.

Never heard of a "hickory maple". Presumably there was supposed to be a comma
in there? :-)

I dunno, but I bet it's pretty but a bitch to work with.

Anyway... hickory is *not* a particularly fast-growing tree; neither are most
maple species, and the ones that *do* grow fast make poor firewood; and the
same is true of ash -- it's "fast growing" only when compared to oaks.

Right. I've got several thousand Ash trees that are now 8 or so years
old (I'd have to check). Nice & straight, but they're only 1-2 inches
in diameter. My kid, or grandkids, will be able to harvest them.

Bottom line: the OP is not thinking realistically. *No* tree that he plants is
going to grow to firewood size in a short time like he wants.

Right. For me, the best way to get firewood has been to drive around
with a truck, trailer, friend, and chainsaws, after ice storms. knock-knock
"Hi, I see you have a tree down in your yard/across your driveway/on your
car/etc. Would you like me to remove it, pile the brush by the road/in a
pile, and haul away the firewood in exchange?" Works about half the places
you ask.

I burned wood from a 1993 ice storm for about 6 years, without touching
a single tree of my own. Also, if you let locals know you'll take down
(easy) trees in exchange for the wood, you can cut all day, every day
if you want.

Dave Hinz

The other responses are pretty much right on, you're not going to get
any usefull firewood in less than 20-30 years. If you are considering
poplar, just save your newspapers and burn them, about the same thing.
I live in the south and trees grow fast but I wouldn't even consider
trying to grow my own firewood. Most National Forest sell firewood
permits, 2 cords for $20, but of course you have to cut and haul. The
only species I can think of that might come close are Green Ash and Red
Maple. Chinese Tallow is considered an invasive species.

Fred

"Dave Hinz" wrote in message
...
Snip



Right. I've got several thousand Ash trees that are now 8 or so years
old (I'd have to check). Nice & straight, but they're only 1-2 inches
in diameter. My kid, or grandkids, will be able to harvest them.


Maybe if you water the trees they will grow faster. I watched all the Ash
trees in my neighborhood being planted when the subdivision was brand new.
Those trees had 1" diameter trunks and had trunks 12" in diameter 10 year
later. I have a 10 year old Live Oak with a 10" diameter trunk.

"Dave Hinz" wrote in message
...


I burned wood from a 1993 ice storm for about 6 years, without touching
a single tree of my own. Also, if you let locals know you'll take down
(easy) trees in exchange for the wood, you can cut all day, every day
if you want.


Holy Cow Dave! 6 years on a wood pile? Where the hell did you stack this
wood to protect it well enough to last 6 years? That's some longevity for a
pile of firewood.

I do agree with what I snipped from your post though. There's a ton of wood
out there to be had for free. Storm damage, deadfall (10 acres of woods
will provide enough deadfall to provide most homes with casual use firewood
every year), and best of all - follow the loggers around. Most aren't
bothering with firewood much anymore because the market isn't big enough
anymore to warrant the effort. Landowners don't like the tops just left out
in the woods the way loggers like to do and they'll often gladly let you
clean up the mess. Free firewood - don't get much better than that unless
you can actually get someone else to put it up for you.
--

-Mike-

"Leon" wrote in message
. com...

"Dave Hinz" wrote in message
...
Snip



Right. I've got several thousand Ash trees that are now 8 or so years
old (I'd have to check). Nice & straight, but they're only 1-2 inches
in diameter. My kid, or grandkids, will be able to harvest them.


Maybe if you water the trees they will grow faster. I watched all the Ash
trees in my neighborhood being planted when the subdivision was brand new.
Those trees had 1" diameter trunks and had trunks 12" in diameter 10 year
later. I have a 10 year old Live Oak with a 10" diameter trunk.



Yeahbut in his woods, even with a well thinned woods, the trees are still
competing for nutrients and for sunlight. Lawn trees don't face this trial.
Trees in the woods tend to grow taller as they search for the sun.
--

-Mike-

In article , Doug Miller
wrote:

Bottom line: the OP is not thinking realistically. *No* tree that he plants
is
going to grow to firewood size in a short time like he wants.

Some of these might work, but I have no idea how they burn...

http://www.jmbamboo.com/giants.htm

djb

--
"The thing about saying the wrong words is that A, I don't notice it, and B,
sometimes orange water gibbon bucket and plastic." -- Mr. Burrows

"Mike Marlow" wrote in message
...

Yeahbut in his woods, even with a well thinned woods, the trees are still
competing for nutrients and for sunlight.

Exactly, that too. I was under the impression that the OP would possibly
grow trees for firewood and would probably put some effort into planting
correctly. Using a setting like Dave mentioned was not a good example of
how fast an Ash tree would grow for this purpose.

Lawn trees don't face this trial.
Trees in the woods tend to grow taller as they search for the sun.

I have a 5 year old Live Oak in my back yard with a trunk that is 5" in
diameter. The tree came up naturally in a crowded spot. Crowded by a
fence, shrubs, and 12' tall bushes on the other side of the fence. Plus
the Live Oak is coming up under an old Mulberry tree. Since it came up from
a seed 5 years ago it grew straight up. Last fall I took the Mulberry tree
out so that the Live oak can begin spreading out. The lowest limb is about
10' from the ground and the tree stands about 20 tall.

"Mike Marlow" wrote in message
...

"Dave Hinz" wrote in message
...


I burned wood from a 1993 ice storm for about 6 years, without touching
a single tree of my own. Also, if you let locals know you'll take down
(easy) trees in exchange for the wood, you can cut all day, every day
if you want.


Holy Cow Dave! 6 years on a wood pile? Where the hell did you stack this
wood to protect it well enough to last 6 years? That's some longevity for
a
pile of firewood.


No kidding. He musta had it all pressure treated. LOL

Hybrid popular is fast growing, but as others have mentioned, its a
lousy firewood. Its a little hard to get started, and burns quickly when
it does, and does not leave any decent coals.

I've still got most of 2 populars in my woodpile that were planted by my
dad. They were 25 years old or so when they were cut down (they were
starting to drop limbs and look like crap). They were mature much
earlier than that though.

John

Left out a comma. TOIEG (There's one in every group.) However, if you do
find a hybrid -- post a picture of the wood..

I thought he said he wanted fast growing hardwood. For Hard wood those
trees DO grow fast. :-) Couple hundred years and you have great trees --
now take western red cedar - that takes a while to reach maturity -- few
hundred years or so (a couple of millenia or so and it's reasonably
large). Now that is slowooooowwww.


Doug Miller wrote:
In article , wrote:

Hickory, Maple, Ash. They grow relatively quickly for hardwood.


Never heard of a "hickory maple". Presumably there was supposed to be a comma
in there? :-)

Anyway... hickory is *not* a particularly fast-growing tree; neither are most
maple species, and the ones that *do* grow fast make poor firewood; and the
same is true of ash -- it's "fast growing" only when compared to oaks.

Bottom line: the OP is not thinking realistically. *No* tree that he plants is
going to grow to firewood size in a short time like he wants.


--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

--
Will
Occasional Techno-geek

On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 17:36:57 -0600, Dave Balderstone
wrote:

In article , Doug Miller
wrote:

Bottom line: the OP is not thinking realistically. *No* tree that he plants
is
going to grow to firewood size in a short time like he wants.

Some of these might work, but I have no idea how they burn...

http://www.jmbamboo.com/giants.htm

djb

They burn terribly. Those stems are hollow and the quality of the wood
makes them very poor firewood. They are, however, fast growing under
the right conditions, very strong and you you need posts or beams for
a construction project . . .

--RC (who currently grows three species in his back yard.)


Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit;
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad

-- Suzie B

Mon, Feb 7, 2005, 5:55pm (EST+5) (SteveW)
claims:
I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

What's your definition of "good quality", and, "short amount of
time"? Depending how you define "short time", you could grow a redwood,
then probably only one would be needed. Or, maybe not.

I've read that where mesquite grows, one acre will provide all the
firewood you need.

But, if you really want to know. Check nurseries. There's lots of
fast growing trees. There's even one type with "berries" that can be
gathered for fuel. And/or check with a local college forestry program.
That's what I'd do. Then i'd ask my mother. Then I'd ask here.



JOAT
Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong.
- David Fasold

In article , wrote:
Left out a comma. TOIEG (There's one in every group.) However, if you do
find a hybrid -- post a picture of the wood..

Sorry about that, just couldn't resist. :-)

I thought he said he wanted fast growing hardwood.

Actually, he said he wanted good quality firewood "in a short amount of time".
The only way that's gonna happen is to cut down a tree that's already been
growing for a long amount of time. By human standards, anyway -- as I pointed
out to the OP, thirty years is a short time, to a tree.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?

Leon wrote:
"SteveW" wrote in message
. com...

I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?



Well normally I would not say that was possible but I had a Chinese Tallow
removed and asked the guy taking it down to cut it into pieces 18 to 20
inches long and put them in my fire wood rack. He asked if I was going to
burn it and indicated that it did not burn well in a fire place. I told him
that I wanted to turn the wood. Well 8 months later winter is here and I
burned it. I was pleasantly surprised that 8 to 10 inch diameter non split
logs were dried enough to burn and would burn for about 2 hours each and put
out quite a bit of heat. This tree is a very fast grower.

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?...109&meth od=2


I know nothing about Chinese Tallow, but what you found is
that talking about wood and wood stoves is about the same as
the arguments you get when talking about Ford, Chevy, GMC,
and Dodge. Much of what people tell you is highly biased
and may be based on one rather exceptional experience.

The only thing that is important is that the wood be dry and
some take a long time to dry.

Will wrote:
Left out a comma. TOIEG (There's one in every group.) However, if you do
find a hybrid -- post a picture of the wood..

I thought he said he wanted fast growing hardwood. For Hard wood those
trees DO grow fast. :-) Couple hundred years and you have great trees --
now take western red cedar - that takes a while to reach maturity -- few
hundred years or so (a couple of millenia or so and it's reasonably
large). Now that is slowooooowwww.


Whoa. Let's not exaggerate too much. I lived where there
were western red cedar. They are relatively fast growing and
require lots of moisture. Don't believe I ever saw a 200
year old one except in a reserve. A 2-foot diameter cedar
on our place was usually at most 80 years old and likely
much younger and would have a lot of rot. Since the place
was logged in the 30's, most of the large trees I saw had to
be no more than 60 years old. Damn few trees (individuals)
of any kind (and certainly not Western Red Cedar) live a
couple of millenia.

J T wrote:
Mon, Feb 7, 2005, 5:55pm (EST+5) (SteveW)
claims:
I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

What's your definition of "good quality", and, "short amount of
time"? Depending how you define "short time", you could grow a redwood,
then probably only one would be needed. Or, maybe not.

I've read that where mesquite grows, one acre will provide all the
firewood you need.

But, if you really want to know. Check nurseries. There's lots of
fast growing trees. There's even one type with "berries" that can be
gathered for fuel. And/or check with a local college forestry program.
That's what I'd do. Then i'd ask my mother. Then I'd ask here.



JOAT
Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong.
- David Fasold

He should also check with city/county forestry/tree
department. Might find out that they periodically have
surplus for sale.

"SteveW" wrote in message
. com...
I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

Depends on where you live. Around here (Pacific Northwest) Alder
and Bigleaf Maple grow relatively quickly. Birch is wonderful for
firewood and Poplar is the nastiest wood I've ever split.
Brian, in Cedar

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?...109&meth od=2
I know nothing about Chinese Tallow, but what you found is that talking
about wood and wood stoves is about the same as the arguments you get when
talking about Ford, Chevy, GMC, and Dodge. Much of what people tell you
is highly biased and may be based on one rather exceptional experience.

The only thing that is important is that the wood be dry and some take a
long time to dry.

I was sorta under the impression that the wood would not be very good for
burning also. This tree is consider a nuisance. It is pretty in the fall
as it's leaves turn brilliant colors. This tree came up naturally and was
30" across at the base, about 35 feet tall and was about 10 years old.

"J T" wrote in message
...
Mon, Feb 7, 2005, 5:55pm (EST+5) (SteveW)
claims:
I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

What's your definition of "good quality", and, "short amount of
time"? Depending how you define "short time", you could grow a redwood,
then probably only one would be needed. Or, maybe not.

I've read that where mesquite grows, one acre will provide all the
firewood you need.

Mesquite grows wild in Southern and central Texas. It grows very slooooooow
and is a desert tree. Quite scraggy and usually looks like a bush when
relative young. It is best used for cooking. You can find pieces of it big
enough to build with but it is pretty expensive. I doubt you would want to
use it in a fire place. It does burn well and is considered the hardest
domestic wood in the US.

On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 05:14:49 GMT, "Leon"
wrote:


"J T" wrote in message
...
Mon, Feb 7, 2005, 5:55pm (EST+5) (SteveW)
claims:
I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

What's your definition of "good quality", and, "short amount of
time"? Depending how you define "short time", you could grow a redwood,
then probably only one would be needed. Or, maybe not.

I've read that where mesquite grows, one acre will provide all the
firewood you need.

Mesquite grows wild in Southern and central Texas. It grows very slooooooow
and is a desert tree. Quite scraggy and usually looks like a bush when
relative young. It is best used for cooking. You can find pieces of it big
enough to build with but it is pretty expensive. I doubt you would want to
use it in a fire place. It does burn well and is considered the hardest
domestic wood in the US.

And one acre might provide all the firewood you need once -- it won't
do so continiously. Mesquite is slow growing and has a very large root
syste, so the trees (bushes) usually don't grow thickly.

Darned good thing as that stuff has thorns!

--RC

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit;
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad

-- Suzie B

On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 17:55:58 GMT, "SteveW" wrote:

I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me. Does
anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

Steve


Some ideas, probably not the best firewood, but it does burn and the trees
grow fast:

Fast growing: Chinese elm if it will survive the beetles (there are some
beetle-resistant trees out there). Quality of firewood is in the eye of the
beholder -- seems to burn reasonably well.

Cottonwood: grows fast, burns pretty fast, doesn't split, so much as
"slabs off" when breaking down larger trunks.


+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

The absence of accidents does not mean the presence of safety

Army General Richard Cody

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

On Mon, 07 Feb 2005 16:44:49 -0500, Tom Watson wrote:

HEAT CONTENT (million BTU/cord), 20% moistu

.... snip

http://www.state.tn.us/agriculture/forestry/




FAST GROWERS (not in order)

.... snip





Tom,

That post was a wealth of information, it just got split and filed
in my reference catalog.

Thanks.




+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

The absence of accidents does not mean the presence of safety

Army General Richard Cody

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

George E. Cawthon responds:

but what you found is
that talking about wood and wood stoves is about the same as
the arguments you get when talking about Ford, Chevy, GMC,
and Dodge. Much of what people tell you is highly biased
and may be based on one rather exceptional experience.

The only thing that is important is that the wood be dry and
some take a long time to dry.

Not really. Dry poplar is still lousy firewood. It burns too fast to be
satisfactory in most situations. Most lighter weight, faster growing hardwoods
are like that. Softwoods...well, I don't know of any that make a satisfactory
firewood, at least none that grow in the U.S. south, or as far north as upstate
NY. Pines are too resinous, creating chimney creosote problems even when dry.
And, like poplar, they burn too fast.

At the other end, sycamore is difficult to dry in log form, but also burns too
fast.

The old faithfuls are around for a reason: they burn readily when dry, they
produce little (comparatively) ash, and they burn at a reasonable speed,
allowing a fire to be banked for the night, or for one load of wood during a
cold day to provide heat for four to six hours.

Most of the oaks work very well, as do hickory and pecan, beech, birch, black
gum, sweet gum (cross grain), elm (if you like splitting crossgrained woods),
locust, the ashes, maple (preferably hard), Kentucky coffee tree, hackberry,
persimmon, sassafras and walnut and cherry (trimmings only, please).

My experience is only a bit biased. I heated entirely with wood for nearly 20,
from south Central Virginia to upstate NY and back and I wrote two books on the
subject back then. I didn't try everything, of course, because 20+ years ago,
there were western woods--mesquite for one--that hadn't made it east in large
enough quantities to have scraps of burning size. But I've burned those listed
above, and I can't think of a one of them that offers fast growing and good
burning. Pin oak comes closest, but, as someone else noted, it is not great
firewood. I've found it satisfactory, but I find others much better.

Charlie Self
"I think we agree, the past is over." George W. Bush

On Tue, 08 Feb 2005 09:03:48 +0000, Charlie Self wrote:

Most of the oaks work very well, as do hickory and pecan, beech, birch,
black gum, sweet gum (cross grain), elm (if you like splitting
crossgrained woods), locust, the ashes, maple (preferably hard),
Kentucky coffee tree, hackberry, persimmon, sassafras and walnut and
cherry (trimmings only, please).

Those of us who have nothing but spruce, pine and poplars to burn find it
absolutely disgusting and/or heartbreaking that you would even consider
burning any of those.

--
Luigi
Replace "nonet" with "yukonomics" for real email
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/humour.html
www.yukonomics.ca/wooddorking/antifaq.html

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...

I know nothing about Chinese Tallow, but what you found is
that talking about wood and wood stoves is about the same as
the arguments you get when talking about Ford, Chevy, GMC,
and Dodge. Much of what people tell you is highly biased
and may be based on one rather exceptional experience.

The only thing that is important is that the wood be dry and
some take a long time to dry.

Those of us that either have burned woodstoves in the past or still do,
might take exception with that comment George. Unlike the Ford and Chevy
debate, wood does indeed have certain very identifiable properties when it
comes to it use as firewood. Some burns fast with low heat output, some the
opposite, and this is characteristic of the tree, not an individual
experience. No one is going to get the BTU's and the longevity and the
coals out of a nice chunk of pine that can be gotten out of a piece of
maple. It's just not a subjective thing. While you last statement is true
for most woods (ash being just one example of the exception), there is
indeed more to the matter than whether the wood is dry. At least if you're
interested in really getting heat from the stuff..
--

-Mike-

"George E. Cawthon" wrote in message
...
Leon wrote:
"SteveW" wrote in message
. com...

I need to find a type of tree to plant that will give me good quality
firewood in a short amount of time. Someone mentioned Poplar to me.
Does
anyone have any recommendations?



Well normally I would not say that was possible but I had a Chinese
Tallow
removed and asked the guy taking it down to cut it into pieces 18 to 20
inches long and put them in my fire wood rack. He asked if I was going
to
burn it and indicated that it did not burn well in a fire place. I told
him
that I wanted to turn the wood. Well 8 months later winter is here and
I
burned it. I was pleasantly surprised that 8 to 10 inch diameter non
split
logs were dried enough to burn and would burn for about 2 hours each and
put
out quite a bit of heat. This tree is a very fast grower.


http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery?...109&meth od=2


I know nothing about Chinese Tallow, but what you found is
that talking about wood and wood stoves is about the same as
the arguments you get when talking about Ford, Chevy, GMC,
and Dodge. Much of what people tell you is highly biased
and may be based on one rather exceptional experience.

The only thing that is important is that the wood be dry and
some take a long time to dry.

George - please ignore my other reply to you. I do believe I completely
missed you point. I knew I heard this buzzing sound over my head...

--

-Mike-