Over the last several weeks these two trees fell down. Unfortunately, they are both cottonwoods. Ugh. They are on my property, however and so not too much work to CSS. It will burn next October for shoulder season.
Sometimes those less desirable woods will surprise you. Brother has an outdoor boiler and doesn't find a significant difference in burn times between cottonwood/soft maple and oak, elm and hickory, etc. I can hardly believe it but evidence bears it out. Sent from my SM-G930VL using Tapatalk
I spoke to my friend tonight and she said someone was telling her the cottonwood is different at high elevation vs low elevation. Not sure if it’s true, but our stuff here in the valley is terrible. Burns fast and smells bad. I got rounds for free and they were not worth it.
I think elevation and local climate can make a difference, I also believe that the bottom of the BTU chart woods do better in a boiler than a woodstove. Lots of cottonwood here where I live, it's not really in demand but folks do utilize it when it can be had close to home.
I've burned lots of cottonwood in a stove and owb. can confirm the smoke stinks. and it does not burn as long as hard woods. but in a boiler you just throw in more pieces and it makes up for it. also it leaves no coals what so ever.
I have burned it before as full size splits and once completely dry it starts pretty fast. It would probably make good kindling.
Yes, it can make good kindling. Might have to split it a bit larger than normal but when it is dry, it works great. btw, you are the first one that I remember who asked this about cottonwood.
We had a huge cottonwood that had to come down when running power to my place. PoCo took it down and left me the cordwood. It’s a very wet wood when cut. Will split much easier if seasoned. If splitting green use a splitter. The moisture content will take the energy right out of the maul on large rounds. The dull thud is demoralizing. I burned nearly 6 cords of the stuff. It’s a beautiful fire if you have glass on the stove. Burns bright and fast and leaves nearly no coals. In a masonry heater I burn by weight (up to 70# every 8 hours) so the low BTU value isn’t as big of a problem. It definitely doesn’t charge the limestone nearly as well as hardwood. Bottom line, if the easiest way to make it go away is in your stove, go for it. If another one comes down at my place I’ll put it in the shed. I would not travel to get the stuff myself as there is plenty of better wood available near me.
There is definitely a difference in Cottonwood when you compare the hybrid cotton less variety to say a Frémont. The size and age being night and day by comparison. The btu's however seem to be pretty close from my experience. The difference in weight from fresh cut and green to dry are almost unbelievable. Wet it seems as heavy as anything and dry it's light as a feather, very high moisture content.
I burn a fair amount of cottonwood. It burns nice and clean. Mix it in with a little bit of hardwood or Douglass fir here and there and you’ll still heat yourself out of the house. I don’t waste much of anything. Cottonwood heat will still save you on your gas and electric bills.
Here’s some moisture coming out of a cottonwood. I dropped this tree about 40 minutes or so before before the picture was taken. I think the temperature was in the mid 20’s
Yep, cottonwood is extremely wet wood. It takes 2 or more years to season. I've cut into a cottonwood branch and seen it start dripping before I was even all the way through
Yes it is very wet but I’ve had it comfortably season within a year. I have some stacked out back. Decided on splitting it in slightly larger splits so the fire lasts a bit longer but because the wood isn’t very dense, it’s more of a fibrous straw and Don’t believe it will really last as long as I hope. Above it is said it splits beautifully when dry and I would compare that ability like western red cedar. You can split it when it’s nice and dry hitting the ground sounds like your mother’s pan hit the deck. Very nice PING!
I absolutely hate the stuff . As others have said , so dang heavy when green . On another note , cottonwood imo is the nastiest tree as well. Always dropping something . Around mid June till after the 4th of July you get those “ stickies “ that fall . DO NOT park your wife’s car under one during this time ! That stuff is a bear to remove . When that’s finally done , we get the “ snow “ falling . Plugs up house air conditioners terribly . I’ve seen it so bad on a golf course it looks like inch of snow . By the time that’s all done , the cottonwood decides to drop its leaves . Did I mention I hate the stuff ? I do have it growing around the pond in the back , if I get time before sugaring season it will be cut and I’ll use the grapple on the tractor and just make a huge fire pile !
