Man, I gotta get some of this stuff!!! Guess I better get to studying some leaves and bark so I can ID the stuff. Hope you get it dialed in mike bayerl" does sound like you're having fun figuring it out
Once yu find the right stuff you will be craving a root beer after cutting or splitting. Might i suggest the 'not your fathers' variety.
I've got some "coming", just not ready to harvest yet. I do like the Yellow Birch but iirc the black is even better in the btu dept.
Actually, it's very easy to ID black birch. Once you've experienced it, you'll be so attracted to it, you'll be able to spot it at some distance. For one thing, its growth habit is very like that of the other birches, which I find distinctive. Then the relatively smooth BLACK bark with partial circumferential rings of lenticels is a total give away. Then if you're really lucky, you can take it home. (Working on a small load for tomorrow, BTW.) I've noticed that when you buck a stack of black birch in mid-late summer, you'd better stand clear for a bit, like a couple weeks. Yellow jackets really home in on the sap. They and I don't get along all that well.
