In Wisconsin I'd expect popple to be on the list and although it will burn it is not worth much. Cottonwood is in the same family and you'd probably have a goodly amount of that over there. I'd also stay away from pine and spruce.
I would agree with others, some of the softwoods consume as much time as maple for only half if the heat. With that being said, if it works for you do it! Tree company wood has its good and bad aspects. Free loads of premium Wood is amazing. Some of it will be the perfect length, some will be 4 inches long and some 4 ft. It all burns but it is hard to stack a cord or two of 6 inch long rounds. I make it work though. Seems like a case if beer or two opened up the floodgates for me last summer. Good luck and enjoy!
I've had some decent experiences with chip drop. I put everything under the btu's of fir on my no take list. Once I got some fir that was so chewed up bu beatles it looked like swiss cheese with tiny holes . Light as a feather but burned right after chopping.
Pine, Fir, Spruce.......what are the differences? I know what ponderosa pine looks like, oh, and Colorado Blue Spruce. Some Cedars and junipers, too. But a lot of the time those generic looking evergreens throw me off, and I have know idea.
Mostly, I am now staying away from box elder, willow and poplar. I will take cottonwood if I'm hurting for wood. We don't have any oak in my area, so ashes, maples and elms are the good stuff.
Just having fun. On my small slice of heaven we have Ponderosa Pine, Lodgepole Pine, Grand Fir, Douglas Fir, Spruce, Tamarack, Maple (non-native), Cottonwood, Aspen, and Apple. To many people, the conifers (first 6 on my list) all look the same, but they really are quite distinguishable. Tamarack has great BTUs, but (fortunately) they are pretty hardy, so don't make it to my stove. The Pine Beetles are wiping out the Lodgepoles, root rot is giving me Douglas Fir, and the Aspens keep blowing over in the wind. So those three are my major firewood.
