The county's tree crew came to cut down a silver maple across the street from my house. Can't pass up the opportunity for some free firewood, especially when its dropped on your lawn!
Almost cheating. Great score! A good wood, dries fast burns great. A big one, looks like most of it it will split easy .
Every Hoarder's stack deserves some silver maple. Dries quickly, easy to split and puts out quick heat. Nice score, don't get much easier than that....right at your doorstep!!
This will be my first time burning silver maple, it smells amazing. And as for splitting easy the only trouble I've had is just getting the rounds into halves. I've only had to sledge and wedge the rounds once per round, other than that it's like splitting aspen, no problems at all. I couldn't see putting wood like this on a splitter, good thing I split by hand!
So far it's filled up all of my racks. Gave a couple branches that showed some EAB presence and knotty rounds to my buddy who was here splitting with me. Other than a few rotted out rounds from the trunk and the branches this tree wasn't in bad shape for a dead silver maple
Most of it is split. There is still a good dozen rounds left. Had to make room on the porch since I'm out of rack space. I've read it takes anywhere from 6 months to a year depending on climate but I don't plan to burn any of it until next winter. Should give it plenty of time.
That's the poplar I split and stacked this past spring, it was originally in two rows but I was able to squeeze it into one now that it's settled. And yep! No space around here gets wasted when it comes to firewood!
No kidding! It was funny how it happened, I told the supervisor I wanted a few rounds if possible. I came out after they were done and had a whole tree sitting in my yard. I guess their definition of "rounds" is a little different from mine lol
I get a lot of silver maple from the tree crews. I have two cords of it slated for this winter. I try to burn a couple cords of soft maple ever season since it's easier to come by than the top end hardwoods.
There's nothing wrong with that. From what I hear silver maple isn't a bad firewood at all. I know some people prefer it for shoulder season rather than the dead of winter but we don't have an insert yet and are still using the fireplace in the living room. So I think it will do just fine.
Love me some soft maple. We burned it every year when I was a kid, because that's what the farmer down the road had for sale. One of my favorite smells. Soft maple will probably always be on my stoves menu, because it dominates my woods. It's going to be my main heat this year. I split a few cords of it this spring/early summer, and its all ready to go.
My tree service contact dropped off a big dump load of Silver in my backyard in mid February.Not quite 4 pickup loads.No brush either (my preference),random sized rounds from 12" to 26" diameter from 3 to 8 feet long. Other than setting aside & milling a dozen or so blocks/slabs of the best pieces for future woodworking/woodturning projects,I had it all split stacked within 5 days.Most will be ready to go by mid November if needed....
That's a great score! I know it's not the highest end wood but it's probably my favorite to work with. Split and stacked about a cord over Labor Day and am looking forward to getting more.
@Drvn4wood i agree with you. yeah its not an osage orange or BL but maple isn't a bad wood. and I'll take its easiness to split and fast drying time over a couple less BTU's
I've burnt tons of it over the years, and it's a great wood! This winters' menu will consist mainly of some red maple, some beech and cherry, LOTS of ash and walnut, and in the dead of winter some Norway maple and white oak......next year I'll have some silver and red maple in the mix. Looking forward to the coming burning season!!
