Silver maple

So what’s everyone’s thoughts on silver maple? Cut and split my first today. Very easy cutting and extremely easy splitting. How well does it burn? What would you compare it to?

 

If I cut mine in the early spring before the sap starts running it will be dry by October. It does coal up nice but not super long burn times. It makes good shoulder season wood.

 

I’ve burned a pretty big trees worth before. It seasoned in about 8 months in my stacks. It got light quick so keep you eye on it. I wouldn’t call it premium by any stretch. More a shoulder wood imo.

 

Great shoulder wood for sure, easy to work, dries fast & makes good heat, albeit for shorter time. I take all I can.

 

Dries quick - I get a lot of it around here. Recently 50/50 split between this and Ash. I’d rather have Ash but whatcha gonna do?

 

Well worth taking, burns clean and hot. You can split it bigger and it'll still dry pretty quickly.

 

One of the better woods for the shoulder season, but not a great wood for longer warmer burns. Mostly I use for campfire wood. It dries quicker than most hardwoods

 

I like it and take all I can, dries fast and splits really easy. Doesnt burn the longest or really coal that well though.

 

Dries fast and good for shoulder season. Had some i cut December 2019 and it was ready last Fall.
I personally wont take unless it real easy to grab.

 

I let the bigger rounds(12" diameter) sit for about 2 years then throw them in for long all night burns..Usually from 7pm til 4am when I get up for work....

 

The only thing I don’t like about silver maple is how big the main trunk gets

 

I'd take up to 50% of my stash in SM if I could get it...

 

Especially when it get dumped in your wood yard. They do get huge! How often you get one?

 

On average, I probably get 6-8 cords of Silver Maple per year but only a small amount of that is really big. They are especially frustrating to deal with where the trunk splits off into spars. Found a hand spade inside of an old crotch 2 or 3 summers ago. That was a lost chain!

 

Been there! Some liked to fill holes w/ concrete.

 

Silver maple is one species I don't get a lot of. It is plentiful around the area but mostly yard trees. I did cut and haul a load in last fall.

 

BTU charts vary however most rate silver maple not far below white birch and hemlock. With that being said, I always have silver maple in my stacks as there is just so much of it around here. Now that I finally got on the three year (plus) program, I don't kill myself dragging silver maple out of the woods, however I also don't pass it up. Splits easy but can go punky quick (with dead and down). I burn it all season long. Great to start the stove with, a decent wood to keep the stove going during the day, just not great for the overnight burns.