4 years ago a big cherry tree fell into this sugar. Fungus started growing on the limbs it took out and this past spring it started to grow leaves, when they were about half the normal sized they turned brown so time to make some firewood. I was sure it wasn’t doing well cause it barely made any sap last spring
With sugar maple I found out the hard way that once they get damaged, it’s best to firewood them sooner than later. Nice harvest
Same here! I had a decent sized one die a few years ago. It stood dead 2 years and there wasn’t any part of that tree good. I won’t let that happen again! I’m not sure how something so hard can go soft so fast.
As a rule of thumb I’d say so. Typically a short shelf life once they start to go. Although, buZZsaw BRAD has cut some standing dead sugar maples that lost their bark and somehow were still solid.
Yes, in my woods. Bark fell off and it stood upright. Wasnt that big but mostly baseball bat solid. Matter of fact there's another one i noticed out there. Have some other dead stuff the get too.
Yeah as Eric mentioned the shelf life is limited on these and most maple IME. Last Spring the wind snapped off one just into my woods that had some interior rot. Hung up and too dangerous for me. Well mother nature took it down in November. I processed it soon thereafter and the bark fell off but wood was solid. Primo firewood for next Winter.
I think every Maple I've processed has been a Silver Maple. Not far enough North for the Sugar Maple's I see some of you guys getting into. Charts show it hits harder than what I'm accustomed to burning. Does it split pretty easy? That's one of the traits I enjoy about most of them I've gotten into around here. I do notice that they go "punky" pretty fast. Case in point, I had one die soon after we moved into our house. Cut it down about a year later and it was already getting soft on the inside in places. I haven't seen any rot in the stacks, but it would seem once they bite the dust it's best to get them down quickly.
Straight grained sugar maple splits pretty easy. I was sectioning up the rounds at my score earlier this week rather easily with the Isocore. Im sure the cold temps helped. Common here to see them on the gnarly side as yard trees.
