I know it's not the greatest wood but was just curious to hear some opinions of those that have burned it. The big rounds were a pain to get split at first but the splits felt super light to me. The pile he dropped split to about 1.5 cords and there were a few cherry logs mixed in. Not bad for a 50$ tip. It stacked out to what is to the left of the stake in the last picture plus a little more that I haven't dragged back there yet. Any opinions on it? I hear it starts fast, burns fast, makes good kindling, but is go for wood.. And pictures of the mess I created with it..lol..
It all adds up! I burn a little Poplar in the fall when only a light fire is needed. It has a high moisture content, but dries pretty fast when split. Easy to cut too
I feel its great stuff. Ive burned it during SS, and during the cold plenty. Its a hardwood, just low on the btu scale. I plan on splitting some of what I have for kindlin next year and use up the rest for SS. Enjoy!
I have about 1/2 cord of aspen poplar I plan to wind down the season with. It's good for when its in the 40's-50's and the harder stuff gets the house too hot. I wouldn't want to have to use it as a main fuel though, especially for a month like we just had.
Waterlogged and heavy when green but splits easily and dries fast. Pops some when burning but doesn't matter in a closed stove. Lights easily. Fairly light when dry. Been burning it with my pine the last few weeks. Been as low as 5 degrees out and high 70s in. Have to load the stove more than super wood but three or 4 times a day just isnt that hard. I'd be happy to have a bunch of it.
I've got lots of it and use lots of it. I'm burning it up just to use it up. Made a deal to cut down the poplar in order to get the ash I want. I decided to cut the poplar 1st before the ash so that I would make myself cut it. Good thing I did because I sure hate cutting it now, it adds up in a hurry but it also turns to ash in a hurry. Same amount of work for a lot less btus. Still have lots to cut and am thinking that next year I might just leave it piled up in 12' logs in the bush to save some of the weight to be hauling home. I used to burn it in the basement before I got the owb and it was handy because the stair exercise was doing me good. I still have 100 logs piled up to cut and split yet but with the same amount of ash piled up I prefer to do the ash. I just stacked 2 cord of poplar yesterday to "use" up in the owb during the day and low heat demands.
I agree with cantoo. Different parts of the country call different trees poplar, but they are all go for wood. I hAve tulip poplar like shown in the first pic. I will process it if its in the way. I like it for firepits outside. burns with a nice flame and doesnt hold coals at the end of the night when you turn in. Its not worth the space in a firebox however.
My mom had one one come down at her place about 7 years ago. I brought a bunch of it home, split and stacked it. It was good spring and fall wood a couple years later.
Cord and a half for $50.00 is a great deal! It's good that you get to try a few different species out for yourself too... It should dry out pretty quick for you to use next year or the year after as you build your 3 year plan. Nice wood for shoulder season or mixing in when your want a little quick heat in the morning.
I asked about it a while back. Tulip poplar is also called yellow poplar charts put it around 16million btus per cord. While not great it should be better than cottonwood, basswood or aspen. I won't go out of my way for it but I got some from a friend this past year so I'll give it a shot.
Don't confuse Tulip Poplar with the 'true' poplars like aspen. Tulip Poplar is completely unrelated to aspen and the wood of Tulip Poplar is heavier than aspen and better firewood. Tulip isn't one of the super dense hardwoods, but it is decent in my experience.
I've yet to understand the bashing of Tulip Poplar for it's low btu's. It has a place in the wood stacks. It dries fast, easy on chains, splits by hand with ease, no pitch(like conifers similar in btus) and lights off real easy The only thing I can knock it for is the amount of ash produced - fine powdery ash
Also, I think it smells unpleasant. Had to cut one that seeded in my garden. It dried and burned fine, but (a) smells when cut and (b) keeps resprouting. .
I would have to agree. The stuff burns fine, especially when you get into warmer temps. It burns hot, but fast. Not something you want to use for an overnight burn. It won't leave a lot of coals after 7 or 8 hours. From my experience, the saw goes through it like butter, and you look like a champion lumberjack while splitting. It's by far the easiest wood to split in my area. Yes, the ash is incredibly light. Stick your shovel in the stove and the ash easily becomes airborne. A lot more so than other wood varieties. I think the issue here is a lot of people are wood snobs. They would rather put the effort into oak, than to "waste" it on tulip poplar. That's fine if you have unlimited access to quality wood. But if not, take what you can get.
My first experience with tulip popular was this season I always avoided it but I was cutting a bunch of ash and maple that we had excavated. I had the excavator and loader there which made for easy picking. Anyways I wasn't going to leave it for the burn pile and cut it up and brought home. I spilt it up and to my surprise it lost moisture pretty fast. Being low in seasoned wood this year I used the popular as a mix in wood it burnt faster than the other wood it was mixed with I still have some I used it for the first row on my stacks as a buffer. The stacks are on concrete. I'm sure by the time I get around to burning it it will be pretty dry and burn even faster Beats a snowball though
Yup, my experience with tulip poplar is that it dries very fast. If brought inside, a few weeks it's ready to go if split small. And believe me, I am very sensative to my wood being dry.
When I have it, I'll burn it anytime during the winter, not the best for overnight burns though. In the past few years I've planted a lot of Tulip trees on our property. It's a very fast growing and nice looking tree.
