Does anyone know whether an older tree has significantly more BTUs than a younger tree of the same species? I have access to some really massive pine trees for free at my town's maintenance lot and am wondering if there is much difference in BTUs with, say, a 40" diameter vs a 20" eastern white pine and if so how big of a difference
Should be the same with identical health. Some trees can succumb to heartwood rot. The oak rot I've encountered started as stump rot . It (heartwood) slowly gets soft and ants can get in and chamber the softened heartwood too readily making huge colonies over the years. I've seen white pine heartwood get soft ( never saw bugs though) but don't know if it is a fungus or what. In early stages the softness or rot isn't all that obvious but the wood burns rather fast.
Should all be the same regardless of age. I like bigger trees because it's more wood per saw cut and percentage of bark decreases. My back likes smaller diameter wood.
