What’s everyone’s opinion on sycamore? I’ve never cut any but have Plenty around to cut. Is it worth fooling with or should I pass?
I burn a fair amount and like it. Good shoulder wood, medium BTU"s. Very hard to split by hand, especially when they're bigger trees.
There are so many better woods out there to spend your time on. You'll spend the same amount of time on that sycamore that you'd spend on a good wood that'll give you twice the BTU's. But, if it's really easy to get to and haul out, then go for it. Just don't go out of your way for it...unless you're helping a friend/neighbor out, then it's a little different. It ranks up with pine, fir and silver maple. Dries in 12 months. So if you're in need, go for it.
Gives off some kind of pollen when you cut it. Irritates you nose and eyes. I burnquitea bit of it. I'd say slit while wet. When itdriesitkinda chunks apart.
What TurboDiesel said. You will spend a lot of time splitting for the worth. Alot more stringy than sweet gum, about like really twisted elm. Leaves alot of Ash like gum, very little coals, I'd much rather burn tulip poplar for shoulder wood.
I just got a PU load from Craigslist. I never had any before but from btu charts it looks about middle of the road. I split it using a hydraulic splitter and I could tell it it would have been a bear if I had been using an ax. It was very stringy. It was very green and when freshly split the wood had a reddish almost blood like look to it. But after I had it split and stacked and looked at it 24 hours later it had changed to a golden brown color —kind of like french fries. I’ll have to let it season to find out how it burns.
It sure is! Saved my shoulders from getting all tore up. It was only the third time I used my new splitter and I was lovin it! Great tool to have for stringy, senewy green wood. I never would have been able to do it without the splitter. Made short work of it. Even the knots.
It's my least favorite wood I've ever gotten. Also my first wood scrounge so I didnt know much better. I cringe now when I see all the huge sycamores around town. Burns ok, dries to be super light. Kind of just a funky wood that's miserable to split by hand.
I snagged a few pieces of sycamore a couple years ago. With my splitter they popped apart with minimal grief. After a year and a half it had dried out to the point where they felt pretty light, so I burned them this past winter. It lit easily, and burned fast. Pretty much what I expected. Not something I’ll ever aggressively seek out, but I’d take it again in small amounts if convenient.
We cut a monster sycamore down back in spring, it made both of us feel like crap for several days. The pollen was out and it makes you have sore throat snd itchy eyes....as does the sawdust. It's decent wood but as others have already stated not at the top of the charts. That being said, it's good to have slightly lesser woods for shoulder seasons or milder times, you don't need black locust, white oak or hickory heat on a 40 degree day IMO. Save the good BTUS for the real cold and use up sycamore, soft maple and other "lesser" woods for shoulder wood.
With a catalyst stove, you will ring every btu out of those lesser woods. Poplar and cucumber are probably my favorites as far as shoulder wood. It's usually very straight, tall, little to no lower branches, straight grained, easy to split, and dries in 9 months. I've burned at least 12 cords in 13 years. Those lesser woods are great for midday (3rd fire of the day) fires when it's in the teens and windy, and you need a bit more heat to get through the day. (I usually only fire the stove morning and evening)
The only wood that if a friend called and said ‘ hey I got a dump trailer full of free Sycamore “, I’d pay him NOT to bring it !!
