I have boatloads of red maple on my woodlot. Then I keep finding red maple lying here and there around the countryside for scrounging. It's everywhere! Is this worth burning? Any problems or just not as hot as oak or what? I need to thin out a bunch and don't want to waste it if it's usable. Do you think people will buy it as firewood? How much a discount, if any? I sell some now and then. I even thought of keep selling red oak, white oak, hickory at my highest price and also have a "lesser quality" hardwood stack for a lower price. Maybe call it "mixed hardwood" for a lower price. (I would NOT put sweetgum in there, lol. Only stuff that does not have burn issues.)
Red maple is good middle of the road firewood. Similar BTU’s as cherry and slightly higher than white birch. I burn it all the time and it does well.
I burned lots and lots of red maple last winter. It is a little disappointing heatwise, compared to oak, but great if you start the fire with red maple and throw the oak on top! It also dries nice and quick, although you get those little piles of powder in the stacks, from the borers it always seems to have. It's good firewood, as long as you don't depend on it to keep you warm in February.
You burn what you've got. I keep pine and hemlock together in pine and hemlock stacks, it is ready in about a year. I keep red maple, cherry, grey and yellow birch together as mixed hardwoods, ready in about a year +. I keep oaks together in stacks as they take about three years here . I have had only oak to burn but usually we don't have a lot so save it for the real cold Winter weather. I don't have much poplar/aspen here but I have kept it separate and burned it. It usually gets mixed in with "mixed hardwood" firewood for sale around here.
I love Red Maple. It'll hold a fire almost as long as Oak, and coals pretty well too. I'd rather have Maple than Ash, and prefer to let it dry for at least 1.5-2 years. Splits easy.
Its very abundant here too. I use to shy away from it as the btu's are lower than oak. It does season fast. The two pics are from my recent score of red maple . The trees were felled and bucked green in February. Ill sell this late Fall as its rather dry already. Sugar/Norway maple, ash, cherry, beech, birch go one year. Oak, hickory, locust need at least two. I would process the good stuff and makes a few bucks Yawner
It's just fine for firewood. Seasons quickly, but lower BTUs than the heavy hitters. It doesn't burn as long either. But it burns well.
I’d think you could sell it as mixed hardwood. I’d rather have a cord of seasoned red maple than a mixed cord where some is not seasoned. Even seasoned red oak only has 10% more btu per volume.
Red maple (soft maple) is excellent firewood. It's only drawback is that it does not keep a fire as long as the heavy hitters like oak or even hard maple. There is a terrible misconception about this maple. People think it does not burn as hot as oak which is definitely not true. It actually burns hotter than oak. The only reason it is not rated higher in the btu is that the fires do not last as long. But it coals beautifully; it dries fast and in places it is plentiful. For the more southern folks it could be the best firewood out there! We live in MI and like papadave, also in MI, we burn a lot of soft maple and love it. The only difference between Dave and I is that I do not believe it takes as long to dry as he claims. I have cut soft maple in the spring and then split and stacked it right away then burned it the following fall and it was perfect. One more thing that makes this maple excellent is for kindling wood. Why? It dries fast and when split into say, 1" strips it is excellent because it lights super quick and easy and burns hot to start the larger pieces of wood. You might find more information on wood and wood burning here: Primer on Woodburning by Backwoods Savage
I don't have any ash, have never burned it but I thought it was supposed to be terrific firewood. Is that right? If so, your comment about maple is surprising. Now, mind you, I think we have RED maple around here. I don't know how red maple stacks up against other maples. It sure is a prolific tree! I don't have any big ones, that surprises me. A bazillion little ones and plenty 6" to 12" DBH. Often grows in clumps of 3 to 5 stems. I did find a big one at the dump yesterday. I dunno, 24 inch or so DBH as I recall. I'm gonna go back and get some and will see how big it is.
Thanks for the info. Around here, it seems it dries uber quickly. Which means, turns to rot pretty darn fast. Based on what I have seen on my own woodlot, I'm thinking you could cut it and burn it same year here. I am pleased to know it will burn well because I have so much of it! It's a funny thing, I do not remember maple as a kid who loved the woods. Got within a whisker of Eagle scout. I knew trees pretty well. Maybe I just forgot I knew it, lol.
For sure it will go punky fast if left touching the ground. I had some one year that I had forgotten about. I had cut some during a hard winter to give the deer some good food. The following winter I found them again but did not need them. Finally toward spring I gave them to a good friend of ours who was actually cutting for someone else (he is a pastor). They were showing signs of beginning to turn to punk but was still good. They would not have lasted another year though without getting stacked off the ground.
All maple, even sugar or hard maple will punk quickly if left on the ground. Stack it up and it's fine though.
I'd agree, I guess...but I'm not all ga-ga over Ash the way some are. I would say Ash burns longer, Maple hotter.
I actually just prefer to let Red dry longer than 1 year. It'll burn fine in less than that. It's nice being far enough ahead to not always need it in only a year (uh, 3 year plan, anyone?). As Dennis mentioned, it's great as kindling/small fire wood. I have a small amount I split into 1-2" and those will be used as such. Yawner , I'm glad you brought up this tree....seems as though there's a bit of bad info out there about it. If I had more on my property, I'd never need any other firewood, unless I chose to use others. I have just about 1/3 cord of it I processed this spring that I might dig into this winter, but I don't need to. Also have some Birch and even less Cherry that I've never burned. They might get a turn this winter too. I said the same about Ash a few years ago, and now I have about 2-3 years worth that could all be burned right now.....if it was needed. Red Maple.....the other hardwood.
You guys are right about leaving it on the ground. That is what happened, I didn't take some of it out of the woods, other I stacked. The stuff on the ground turned punky pretty fast. Let me ask this. I am considering thinning quite a bit and I have a ton of small maples less than 6" DBH, so, they would really only require cutting/bucking and really no need to split. Will this burn about as good as split red maple?
