I hope everyone had relaxing and productive summer. This year will be our second wood burning year. I was able to stack about 3 cords of wood in ours and good neighbors’ limited backyard space in NYC. I just found out that a neighbor across the street is having two trees chopped down. Tree service guys told me that they are both maple but different kinds. I intend to take some , split them small to burn -hopefully - next March, April. Can you please let me identify the types of Maple ( if they indeed are Maple) Here are the second tree :
Leaves on first look like red maple, but bark seems off. Second looks to be a Norway maple. Leaves and bark both seem right. $.02 Edit: I think first tree may be box elder, but it does lack the red interior.
Second one is Norwegian maple, somewhere between red and sugar on the charts. I think the first one is Silver maple, but not sure about that. If it is, it is lighter on the BTU’s, but still burns fine and dries quicker.
I think the first one is sycamore maple as you suggested. The bark looks very similar: Acer pseudoplatanus, Sycamore maple, trunk with rough bark Image #8475663 Anyone have any idea about btu of sycamore maple? I couldnt find anything on the web. I have limited space. Should I go with Norway maple or sycamore. I’ld like to burn them coming March- April.
You will definitely not like that first one! Second one is fine. Never heard it called sycamore maple. It's just sycamore.
There is Platanus occidentalis , known as Sycamore, and Acer pseudoplatanus , know as Sycamore maple, which has naturalized here supposedly. I’m not sure what that first one is, but if it is really hard to split, then likely plain old sycamore, right?
The tree people just told me that Norway Maple is mostly rotten and I saw that too. And they already threw away small branches . There are only a few Norway pieces that I can take . May be 4 with 6-8 inches diameter. Sycamore Maple looks healthy. If it is Sycamore it shows on Btu chart 19.1 ( without maple type , just sycamore). Should I take Sycamore ( Maple) or just take 4 pieces of Norway Maple. Thanks
See if you can split the sycamore; if you can, then go for it. Also, I wouldn’t be afraid of a little rot. Hollow trunk can still yield some nice splits. If it real mushy, then I understand, but it will probably have been down for a couple years at least.
Just beware that sycamore is one of the hardest to split and I think most times it is to highly rated for btu.
I used my electric splitter now and split 12 inch diameter one after 3 attempts.it looks fine to split. I was also able to split one small size with wedger and hammer too. I usully go with high btu wood like oak or black locust. But this is literally across my house. I have two pallets that i can squeeze in my backyard. Do you recommend it.? Here is the split:
I say go for it.. that looks to be a branching piece, so the straight sections will go easier. Look for more solid sections of the Norway maple though. With a trunk that big, there has to be usable wood there.
I got about 0.4 cords almost equal amount of sycamore maple and Norway maple.My father in law squeezed them in on a pallet in our next door lady’s backyard that we already placed more than 1.5 cords. As soon as there is space open in regulars racks , I will transfer them on single row racks. I am hoping to use them by March- April this season.
Nice work! Looks like free heat to me, and well stacked. I’m lookin forward to using some Norwegian maple for late this coming season and the next. Let us know how light the sycamore maple dries to. I’m still curious if it is Sycamore or Sycamore Maple.
I would think so, but I’m new to seasoning my own wood as of this year. I’ll probably get a moisture meter just to be safe. I’m not quite sure if Norwegian maple would be closer to red maple for drying time (1 yr), or closer to sugar maple(2 yr). I also have a bunch of Norwegian rounds stacked up for splitting this winter.
