Is Birch good firewood?

I found a nice standing dead birch in the woods two days ago. Felled it, blocked it, split it and stacked it. Then was telling someone about it and they told me birch isn't a good firewood. That it won't last when stacked. Is this true?

 

look at bogydave. He has cords of it.

 

I bet bogydave would differ with your naysayer.

 

Birch is a good wood but it has misconceptions, first you have to split it or it will rot. Think about it Native Americans used birch bark canoes for hundreds of years.. It is water proof so if you don't split it.. it will rot.. but split it's a good wood!

 

Your friend might have had a bad experience with it, because he didn't split the wood. Left in the round, birch does rot pretty quickly, because the bark is water-tight, and it won't let the wood dry out. On the other hand, nearly every standing dead birch I come across is already rotten for this same reason.

If the wood still seems ok, and you've split it, it will make great firewood.

 

Shawn words things better than I do.

 

Thanks all. The wood looks very good IMO. Very solid and clean. No rot at all except for a little at the base, which I left in the woods. I'm excited to try it out when dry. Which brings me to another question; Once split, what is your experience in drying times for Birch?

 

Where the heck is bogydave ?
Lots experience with Birch.

 

CSS and reap the benefits, tell your friend to bring all of his "junk wood"over to your place and when he comes over make him sweat because it's so hot in your house this winter!

 

Ohh, and I am assuming this is white birch the lowest btu, birch which according to the charts is about 20 million BTU, per cord. So BTU,
wise it is close to Cherry or Elm and not much less than soft maple. With a big advantage of it splits easy and dries fast once split..
in short :stacke:

 

If it's wood, and you can dry it, it'll burn and keep you warm.
Done.

 

That's my motto, from birch to bamboo to pine to willow, if it's easy to deal with close and or free, it's worth your time. Lucky for me the wood dump out of town is all 3! Easy close and free!!!

 

We had a good amount of white birch in some stacks that had been sitting there for three or four years uncovered when we moved into our home, due to the owner having been sick for a long time before he passed. The birch was in good shape. So no worries about it not lasting.

 

Good wood in my book. The bark makes lighting the fire a breeze too.

 

I got a nice load of birch a few months ago, while splitting it with my splitter it was oozing alot of water out of it ( Lady I got it from said roots were in her water and sewer pipes). hit it with my moisture meter and it went to OL, my meter goes up to 60 before it hits OL so it was above 60%. I checked it out of curiosity last weekend and it was in the high 20's low 30's, so I would say it seasons pretty fast,not going to burn it for at least 2 more years though, and I will keep it top covered during the wet season

 

Everything burns

 

I process lots of black birch and i preffer it over oak. About same btus. It doesnt hold coals but it dries in half the time if oak. Need one of these after cutting/splitting!

 

Is it white birch? Around here we have white, yellow and black, black has the highest btu's of the birches. Yellow seems most plentiful though they seem to grow in groves. I got lucky and got two cords of black I just cut but I like all of them.