General Feelings on White Birch?

I've dealt with it before, burns pretty hot and fast like pine or hemlock from what I remember, but that was last season when I was a little more desperate for firewood. I know white birch will rot before it seasons if not put up off t he ground with the bark off but if I could get a few good rounds of it if all works out the next couple of days. Just wanted to know your guys' views on it overall. I also like to collect the birch for fire starters, a lot cleaner than paper.

 

I just started cutting WB in the past 2 years. I like the looks of it in my woods, so I don't cut them down unless I have to. I've been splitting even the small rounds so they don't rot.

 

Most of the white birch that I had growing here ( long gone pioneer species from a clear cut/land removal ) very few got big enough for firewood. Those that did I found had to be big enough to split otherwise the round wood just rotted in its shell.
I find the same with grey and yellow birch and cherry. Any roundwood just rots in the stacks. I don't bother cutting anything too small not to split any more. (birch and cherry) It stays in the woods, not in a oil (pile, F-ing spellchecker) ), to decompose. I've run over long pieces/branches a year later with the tractor to bust it up into smaller pieces so it disappears even faster. Lately I'm just careful not to make piles that stay dry(er).

 

I'd take it. It's not a bad wood at all

Plus, maybe it'll help you make some purrdy stacks like bogydaves

 

Figure I should fell it and buck it in the same day, time to wear in my Husqvarna's new 18" bar.

 

Yeah I realized the chain was on backwards after I started the saw. Well went to go for the birch, but since it warmed up a bit here (is now freezing rain/snowing outside) I can't get good footing on the stream bank, so I started my little forest pruning project. 1 of 2 or 3 hemlock to come down. Started bucking that, then grabbed some of the red oak and finished off what was left of the punky cherry (found the top part of the tree). Tomorrow is another day and I'll probably finish the hemlock then, if I have time I'll drop a 15' cherry tree that caught my eye as standing dead.
First thoughts on the Husky compared to the Craftsman: The saw is aggressive, it flung chips so far out of the saw they're in my hoody and all over the snow on the oak. It's a little tough to start at first but once the engine's warm it fires every pull. The down side is it's about 3 pounds or more heavier than the craftsman so limbing with it can be quite the chore. But all in all it's a great saw, a little on the loud side but eh, the neighbors should be awake anyway.

 

Good work

Might wanna pick up some plastic felling wedges, they're real cheap. Touch that axe head once and your chain is done. My plastic wedges have some chunks taken out of the tips where the chainsaw got a little too friendly

 

I do have plastic felling wedges, I just used the axe head to push the tree the last inch it needed to fall. I made the mistake of not raising my back cut enough, it was just about parallel to my notch, ah well lesson learned.

 

I would echo that birch needs to be split pretty quick after cutting it. I left some cut up but not split that I cut about this time of the year. It got too cold so I left it to split about end of February first of March and it was starting to get punky. After that I split what I cut and did not have a problem. Bark can stay on if it is split.
The wife like how it looks in the wood crocks by the fireplace.

 

Once split, it will not deteriorate in the stacks. It's not real high on the btu rating but better than that hemlock. It's well worth cutting, smells good, lights easy and really makes a nice campfire also.
http://thelograck.com/firewood_rating_chart.html

 

Someone Say BIRCH ! ?

Alaska white birch:

Highest BTU wood here . I split even the 3" rounds.
Have cut in the fall & split in the spring. Got about a year , 2 max to get it split & stacked

I CSS'd some this October:

 

I was wondering when you'd find this thread dave

 

Got excited LOL
I expected to see some pics of birch
but did see
a nice hinge on a hemlock.

 

I'll try to get to them today, the way the bank is makes it difficult to get good footing to fell trees, a lot of ice accumulates along the edges. There's a good sized one hung up in an oak tree I hope mother nature will fall for me someday before it gets too punky. The birch here doesn't get much bigger than 12 to 14 inches at the base before they fall over or stop growing. There are some that are pretty big at the base though, these ones seem to be growing by themselves in a clearing for the most part.

 

Well at least I don't have to take the extra time to split the bark off before I stack it. With the hemlock down in the spring and fall that area my stacks are will probably get 1.5-2 hours more sun than it did last year, and at least 2 hours more during the summer.

 

LOL
Cutting trees down to give your firewood better sun to season better !
A true hoarder

 

Here, if birch trees are dead standing , they're already punky or rotten.
can cut most of them with a machete. Dangerous to push on, the tops fall out easy.

I look at the top, any dead limbs up top usually means the middle is starting to get hollow or punky