my buddy always told me poplar isnt stove wood, its more for firepits. Iv cut plenty of them but never brought it home, he says it stinky wood. I got a few at the quarry, decent size . Should i bother with it??
I bothered! But I'm a scrounger. If I were you, I wouldn't bother, you have access to lots of better wood. It is stinky when wet, but splits easily. Tends to get mouldy in the stacks without decent air circulation. Use it like you would white pine. In your situation I don't think it's worth your time, but take some of you're curious. You can always get more, people give it away.
I think the main reasons not to get it would be if you are running out of space, or if you are paying for the wood by volume (i.e. cord). I think not so stinky when nice and dry, but i’ll report back in a couple months.
I burned a ton of it last year. Well, maybe two or three tons. I came away with this thought. I can make more heat burning poplar than oak. Of course your gonna be stuffing it in there constantly. No coaling stage to deal with. Just burn, fire and stuff more in. Ok so I’m not recommending anyone use poplar exclusively unless you like getting up all night but it’s a good wood to have on hand. Let it sit in the rounds until the bark starts popping off. The bark is a water sponge best left outside somewhere.
Wow that was quick, thanks for the feedback. Im thinking ill stack it on the property for now and see what happens. I talked to the owner of the quarry yesterday and they are really impressed with what iv done and there will be plenty more trees for me to take in the next phase of there clearing. Thanks
I burn tons of it cause I have a lot. Trying to cut and burn as much as I can so I can save the good stuff and I'll improve my wood lot.
Some around here call it go-fer (gopher) wood, because they have to go-fer it constantly. One guy in particular has a sugar shack and prefers hardwood for that. I guess they learned a long time ago how Poplar burns. Personally, I burn it when it comes down, and I've even taken some down on purpose. Dries pretty fast, but I prefer a year. Leaves a light fluffy ash. There's some in the woodshed, some still in the drying stacks, and some still in the log pile.
Anyone that says it's stinky isn't letting it dry enough. If split, I've had it dry in about 3 months sometimes, depending on a lot of factors. Give it a year, after split and stacked and it will absolutely be dry. Get as much bark as you can off of it because that stuff is like a sponge.
Cottonwood is definitely good for the shoulder season, but don’t hesitate to burn it if you need to burn down the coals from oak, locust and hickory to name a few, I got a nice big stack of it! If you do collect some of it, it’s good to burn in a firepit, couple reasons is you don’t get a long fire out of it but it’ll give you some good flaming heat! I know there’s lots of it around here so it’s usually free. Some people don’t like it so much since it’s quick to burn but honestly that’s a caveat you can work around on: enjoy a quick fire with this without having to burn your good stuff. Worst you can do with it is let it sit and rot away which it does pretty easily. Split it large and blocky and then stack and leave it alone a good while. Having top covered mine awhile back, this will be ready to go end of next summer, but the pro of waiting is it’s so heavy when you first get it but it’s wait a year or so on it, it’s nothing like the former. Almost as if you picked up balsa wood.
Sound advice there Tom! I believe that is the error of my former ways when I had burned it aways back but since being here, it isn’t a surprise that collecting wood also induces an addiction for being more aware of how to properly do it and scrounge for the cool frugal bits to ensure it gets dry instead of in heaps under tarps that mold and mushroom with almost joyous abandon. I remember how some of it will smell like pee fresh cut, but after a solid summer, it’s way better.
First, one has to determine what type of poplar it is!!!!! It is sad when folks post about poplar because we don't know which tree they are referring to. Most of the wood out east they speak of is yellow poplar (tulip popular) but yet around here and in many places folks are referring to types of aspen. We call it popple. There is a world of difference between those two types of poplar.
I guess I lump poplars and cottonwood into two because from a heat standpoint, they are aesthetically the same. Just how apples and cherries are named the same but mostly they burn the same way as most other apple trees or cherries. The name doesn’t necessarily matter too much from a BTUs standpoint as they have the similar characteristics. Like Comparing Wayland Cedar and Western Cedar to be same, but the latter splits better than the former but outputs are virtually the same.
Your in New Hampshire, so it's tulip poplar which I just call Poplar. I actually like it especially and shoulder seasons. I don't know what you're burning it in so that might make a difference. But my Woodstock IS .. Pine & poplar, is awesome when it's fall and spring wet and damp. For daytime burns. Here cut in April burn in October.. Full sun and wind it dries quick.
