I had a small serviceberry tree come down last year. I cut it up into lengths and it's been seasoning for about a year now. The logs are rather small: less than 6 inches in diameter. I had planned to split them in halves or quarters, but when I tried to split them using my maul I discovered how difficult it is to split serviceberry. I switched to a wedge and used the sledge side of the maul, and it's still really challenging. My question is if it is worth the trouble to split the larger pieces? How well does it burn? Any thoughts about serviceberry as firewood or in general would be welcome (I hear the berries are delicious, but it seems the birds and four-legged critters gets to them before I can).
The berries are delicious. It has spring flowers and good fall color. If it grew bigger I might call it the perfect landscape tree.
I have burnt Serviceberry, usually for campfires as it id never bigger than 5-6". Never had problem splitting it while green. Pretty dense, and it does burn nice.
I guess should have split it when it was green; but I didn't have time then. Good to know for the future though.
Welcome and yes, a lot of species are easier to split green. In my own experience, hickory and apple come to mind.
Welcome to the forum Nick. That small I would just burn without splitting. Also, most trees that give fruit will burn good. If they give nuts, you've hit the jackpot.
Welcome Nick. I too never heard of serviceberry! If it's too much of a bear to split, how about noodling it with the saw? Like this: (internet pic, not mine)
Hi Nick, put me on the never heard of serviceberry list too. You could always noodle as suggested but being that size i would leave as is and burn in the round. Most wood is easier to split when fresh cut IME. Used to hand split exclusively myself until i went hydro a couple years ago. I still hand split sometimes.
I'm always interested in these smaller "interesting" trees like serviceberry. Don't see them very often, but we have them around here.
Serviceberry is also known as Juneberry, might make small tree status but usually a large bush. They're the first fruit tree to bloom up here, ripe fruits look much like a purple/blue blueberry and about the same size, ripens early July usually. They are delicious and make the best crisp when mixed with apples.
Someone else was posting about serviceberry so I looked it up. Up here in Canada, they are called Saskatoon berries and they were my father's favourite berry. You don't see them out here on the coast. I think they like a drier climate.
