Interesting about them topping and falling. During sandy i lost five big oak trees, over 30" DBH. Not one tulip poplar. And i have the 120' ones. Perhaps most of the leaves had fallen but not on the oaks? I cant quite remember. The dribbling from them is actually nectar. They are substantial source for honeybees. The pretty yellow blooms arent really visable as they are high up and come after the tree has leafed out. The front part of my poperty is steep and full of TP. I let them be. The rest of the property is easier to process so i remover all the TP to make room for new growth of others, mostly birch and beech. The growth the following year on TP stumps is incredible!
In my experience with Tulip poplar, they have not been any more prone to breaking or falling than most other species. I dont claim myself as a Tulip expert however and may be not completely correct on this, it's just been my experience. They grow fast and are one of the tallest trees in the Forrest. I have many that are 110 feet and higher. I find them to have excellent shape and lose their lower branches as they mature leaving a long straight trunk. I have two that are quite old and I would guess them to be well over 40" in diameter which is quite large for a tulip. I would consider them to be a healthy tree with few diseases. They are straight trunk trees and are nicely shaped crowns. They tend to grow along cleared sunny areas, and I usually cut down the young saplings to favor my hardwoods along the driveway, trails or clearings where they tend to be one of the first species to take hold. The blooms are pretty, but as CR said they are on the very tops of the trees so you don't see them on the taller trees. As far as burning them, they are fine for shoulder season or starting fires. Straight grained and split easily and dry within a year or less. I think they stink somewhat when burning and no longer use it for my fire pit, but no problems in the stove.
