Got a big score of silver maple today, about a cord and a half by my eye. Split two thirds of it, have access to at least another 3 cords of it, would still have to pick it up. I've burned it before but have never really had a stock of it. I hear it rots easily and gets light very quickly. Would storing it in a very dry garage after it is seasoned prevent any of that or do I just have to use it up quick once it's dry? Anyone with any experience? Also this is my first post here, cheers!
You want to split it and get it top covered as soon as possible. If it stays in the round it starts to decompose quickly. Once dry if covered it will last a long time. It will get lite but you can't control that. Glad to hear from you, welcome aboard !!
Once its split and stacked your fine, it seasons quickly. Its one of my favorite woods. I've had stacks of it that went 3 years uncovered and I didn't notice any rot at all.
I probably have 7 rounds left then I got about 5 logs to buck up. Gonna do that tomorrow then go through the whole pile and split it up more to size. The day after, I'll start sorting and stacking. Probably gonna hold off on picking up more until the weekend, Sunday most like, I'll be absolutely beat tomorrow. Thanks for the reply and the warm welcome! I imagine it will dry very quickly, yeah. Pretty light wood. Burns quick too but that doesn't bother me! I also think it smells amazing fresh and when burning, nice and sweet and subtle. Thanks for the advice!
Welcome!! I burn my fair share of silver maple. Like others have mentioned, it dries quick. Its great for shoulder season.
I get primarily silver maple from tree services. It makes nice bundle camp fire wood. Dries fast which is a plus. Good luck!
Welcome to the FHC MaladaptiveMonkey Great to have you join us! Silver maple seasons fast. Ive used it 8 months after being CSS (cut/split/stacked) Usually a Summer will dry it enough. It does get light when dry, the nature of the beast. In your case once dry in a garage it would keep for a long time without issue. I dont seek it out, but will take it when the wood is good quality (straight grain, no rot or gnarly trunk chunks)
May I add that they're called silver maple because of the silver look to the undersides of the leaves
Thanks! Good to know, for sure. Red maple is called that due the color of the leaves in Autumn. That's my understanding, anyways.
Maple, like elm or willow does tend to suck up moisture so I keep it off the ground. In fact I have gotten into the habit of stacking all of my wood on skids and covering the top to keep moisture off. Takes a little extra time but keeps the wood from absorbing water and helps it to dry faster. Maple is a good shoulder wood and my stove has told me it does not care about pedigrees, it will burn anything.
Nice to have you aboard MaladaptiveMonkey. I find that silver maple really off gasses nicely for great secondaries. What kind of wood burning appliance do you heat with?
Silver seasons very quickly for me. 6-8 months. Best keep it up off the ground and covered. IME it'll get light pretty quick, so I use it up right away.
Welcome to the forum! Silver maple, like red maple does dry quickly and is excellent for spring and fall burning or even mid winter except then you would not want to try burning it at night as it would not hold a long fire. Yoy might find this helpful: Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage | Firewood Hoarders Club
Welcome to FHC MaladaptiveMonkey. The Silver Maple is good firewood it dries relatively quick so, ,, with the off the ground and top covered. Happy Hoarding!
Welcome Maladaptive! Awesome site hear. Guys...I swear that this is the only exclusively firewood forum, at least in North America! Check out this red maple: Port Sydney, Muskoka, Ontario, Canada. Muskoka is Ontario's premiere cottage country. A very large region but only a fraction of the the province's cottage country. Many celebrities have a cottage here, including Kurt Russell and wife Goldie Hawn
