I am surprised, I scrounged a live cherry tree, it was leaning on a friend's fence and she asked me to take it. I felled it and split it and first revelation is that it is about the easiest splitting wood ever! No need to wait, just touch it and it split! Second thing is, I was just curious and measured moisture and it was 18%! Woah... shocking. I just burned some and, yes, it did burn on a hot fire. But it didn't burn very well. Anyone experienced with cherry such that you know what MC needs to be to burn readily? (Edit: Should have edited the title because it did *not* burn readily. If I only had that wood in the fire, I doubt it would burn enough to stay lit.) What other trees are low moisture content when split green? I always read that ash is that way. Red maple? Do you find that such trees split easy like this cherry? These low MC trees, do you think something like 3 months gets them ready? Six months? NOTE: I am going to try to attach a pic but I am posting this first in case something goes wrong (which has happened before) and I lose the post.
I've noticed that standing dead trees, while "dry" when cut, seem to burn better if given a week or two to dry after splitting. All depends on diameter of the tree and how long is been standing dead.
I've had fresh cherry split real easy whereas other times its been twisted and/or tough to split. I don't check MC of freshly cut trees and am really surprised that its only 18%. I would've bet against that and lost big time. Surprised it didn't burn well being fresh cut green even at 18%. Could be your location? Just a guess on my part Ash and BL have lower MC when fresh cut green. Im sure there are others, but have heard those two mentioned here before. FRed maple around here has a high MC, but does dry faster vs. other one year woods. Give the cherry three months, split a piece and check MC, same at six months. If you don't need it right away, put it in your rotation for 26-27 or later. I just cut some dead ash from my Disney source and will give the splits a short time to dry before selling.
Dad always said ash could be burned fresh cut but I never tried. Some of the chestnut oaks I fell, that were dead standing, were what I would call very wet at the base. Part way up the tree I could’ve probably burned fresh cut. But again, I never tried.
Measured mc and actual burning performance can have discrepancies. Freshly cut wood with low mc will benefit from a week or two of open air circulation to “finish” it. I have rarely cut wood below 20% and had it burn well right away. It has always done well after at least a few days of drying. Something to do with residual moisture that the meter doesn’t pick up. I’m not entirely sure.
How, exactly, did you test it? Testing on the ends, or the outside, doesn't count. Most accurate method is to test the center of a freshly exposed split face, preferably with wood at room temp, and pins parallel to the wood grain.
That is some ugly cherry it almost looks like mulberry and I would of guessed that if it wasnt for the bark. Id give it a year to season more if you can. While it will burn with less time it tends to smolder and not put out alot of heat if burnt too early. I even have some thats 2 years seasoned and still won't burn good. I like to peel the bark off it when splitting if I can it helps it dry alot faster and burn better imo. We burn alot of it so I've figured out its quirks.
I tested it as per the last sentence except not at room temp. I have not burned much cherry but when I have I have also recognized that once seasoned, it has never occurred to me what great firewood this is! I would like to figure it out since this splits so crazy easy. I have more to get at that spot. Two years seasoned and still won't burn good, that is a bummer! Especially from a wood that many say doesn't need much time at all.
Yeah all I can think of is those pieces might of been from near the stump and had alot of extra moisture in them.
Agreed...strange looking cherry...not what I would have guessed, but agree that bark looks right. I find cherry to be mediocre firewood anyways...I'd say its about 1 notch better than silver maple.
Agreed but that's gonna ruffle someone's feathers. I bought from a guy in the past that absolutely loved the stuff. He had access to a bit of dead standing cherry and that was his go to in the middle of winter to be able to c/s/deliver all in one day. It did burn ok.
Does any other species come to mind in describing a comparison? I ask because we don't have silver maple, I have no idea what that is like. Just curious how you feel it sits in the spectrum of firewood species. Do you find that it burns readily or not so? If a firewood doesn't burn well, it's a species I'll avoid. For instance, if something doesn't last long and coals but burns a good flame, I'm interested. I would put red maple in that category. I was thinking that cherry is a lot like red maple but this is making my question that assumption. Around here, as for hardwoods, cherry is not nearly as plentiful as oak, hickory, red maple. And a bazillion sweetgum. Lots of black gum, too.
I'd put it right after red maple as it lasts longer, has way better coals, and doesn't make alot of ash. Id rank elm right after cherry fwiw.
Surprised me to hear that you don't have SM there...so, according to Google, you do indeed have it there, and it sounds like it's just as plentiful as up here in Ohio...it's a weed tree really, it's likes wet areas, but seems to thrive about anywhere. A gnarly piece of SM might be equal to the average piece of solid Ash...and the average piece of SM might be about like ash that's starting to be past prime...not really punky, but starting to loose weight. (I think most of us are familiar with EAB killed Ash issues by now) Red maple is certainly better firewood than cherry. I find cherry to dry in 1-2 years, and burns well, almost too well, I think I'd have a hard time keeping the furnace fed during single digit temps like we are having now. And it does coal some, but not a ton. I won't go out of my way for it, but will certainly take some...to me it's most redeeming quality is it smells good when you get a light wiff of smoke...I know everybody likes it for smoking meats.
I rank cherry about the same as red maple around here in terms of BTU output and drying time. Id love to have many cords of both as they are perfect for bundles and the only two species I'll use alone in bundles. Silver maple ranks below red maple in terms of btu's. Dries fast and a good SS wood. I've been mixing a lot of it in bundles as of late. Not something I aggressively seek, but will take it quality and easy. Big gnarly ones are a dime a dozen around here as its a common yard tree and grows fast.
Cherry is an ok wood but not great. Red maple is much better but neither of them burn good when fresh cut. Years ago when we used to camp in the woods during deer season we would often cut cherry. It kept us warm but needed a lot of help. It got pretty cold at night due to nobody tending the fire and it was always slow going getting a fresh fire started. For burning at home I would give it a year before burning. It is a relatively low moisture but not as much as ash. Red maple I really like. It is a higher moisture but it dries really fast. In 6 months it can be ready to burn. It does coal nicely but burns quicker than sugar maple or oaks. Makes some of the best kindling you can get.
Your dad is like many others but it really is an old wives tale. Generally ash is 35-37% when cut and although you can burn it, you will likely be disappointed unless you always burn wood that hasn't been dried properly. Dead standing trees can dry in the tops but the bottoms typically are not dry. You are aware that I like dead elm and cut them while still standing. Most times the bottom third of the tree is still wet. Many times I can burn from the tops right away if I leave them standing a few years.
Well, you got me curious and I googled something like "does silver maple grow in Louisiana" and it said yes, and mentioned mostly in the wet areas. But, to my knowledge, I have never seen one. So, I'm thinking that maybe they have them in south Louisiana. This state is actually like two different countries! Run a line about midway through the state east to west and north of that is north Louisiana topography and south of that is south Louisiana topography (and culture). I am in northwest Louisiana, which I always say is east Texas, more or less. East Texas, northwest Louisiana and southwest Arkansas are pretty much the same topography. I then googled "does the native range of silver maple include east Texas" and it got more confusing. But at the link below you see a map and that map shows silver maple native range NOT existing here. I am only familiar with red maple here and there's a lot. If silver maple exists here, I am just not aware of it. Map: | Growit Buildit Why are you guys saying that the grain pic in the OP does not look like cherry? Is it normally not striated like that? Or is normally not so yellow? I will upload a pic of the ends. Does that look 'normal?' These came from the tree felled just a few days ago.
