That stinks, having oak wilt. In the sandier soil a bit east of here it's hit harder, not sure if the soil has anything to do with it. My woods are heavy red clay under the thin skim of top soil. Chestnut oak is part of the red oak family?
A lot of maple on that particular piece of land.. mostly processed hardwood for firewood. He classified limber differently. Oak sugar maple etc - hard woods Red maple and white birch - soft woods Conifers were lumber only
Sounds reasonable based on hard work and experience. I agree with the red maple and white birch being softwood. They may be hardwood classified but certainly are soft. Harder/heavier than a conifer. I miss the real firewood, we’re burning spruce, poplar/aspen or white birch. Depending on what area you’re in. I burn more spruce than anything else due to availability. I would burn 100% white birch if I could get enough. I got to dump trailer loads from a buddy. He wanted 40+ trees cut down, his area of the state has an amazing amount of white birch. Only problem is he’s 310 miles one way. I could cut hoard all kind of birch. When I went to the landfill to drop off the limbs (3”max limit free) they were skeptical and sent a loaded driver to check when I dumped. He called the scale office and cleared me. Got to the scale and she told me that everyone tries to dump for free. I found a pic of my OWB and told her if I was closer to home from where I cut the trees I would burn the limbs in the shoulder season.
Yes Rope gramps was scientific if you could dent it with fingernail when planed it was softwood. I am burning a lot of birch this year but it’s yellow birch and a hardwood. I burn tulip poplar as it grows like a weed. My white birch is definitely shoulder season wood here.
I burned a lot of yellow birch when I was in Maine. Hard to believe yellow and white are both birch, they sure burn different.
