We have a pretty sizable dirt job happening in the spring right behind the shop I work at. All these trees have to come out. Cedars and cottonwoods. Probably 3-4 cottonwoods are standing dead with no bark. I’m sure a bunch of it is pretty punky, but I’ll save what I can in the 3-10 inches range for the fire pits at my RV lot. The question is, should I bother saving any of the green/live cottonwood? I could probably cut it into logs and find a place out of the way to stash it until I get time to buck and split it. If it doesn’t rot before I get to it! Is it worth the effort??
I would say if you are one of those guys that has lots of space, time, and likes to have shoulder season wood vs winter wood, then go for it. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I have never cut any and havent heard great things about it on here other than SS wood. I see what you have to go through to scrounge firewood Sandhillbilly so im gonna say yes. Plus its close to home (well work anyhow) which helps. I personally would cut the green stuff as all the "meat" is good. What about brush clean up? If you can buck and take with no other work, id go for it.
Depends on how easy it is for you to get better wood, how much you currently have and how much storage space you’ve got. I’d take some for shoulder season wood and insurance wood but I wouldn’t take up a lot of my space that could be better occupied with higher BTU wood, especially if it’s quite easy to get better stuff.
If you have room in the yard after you stage it(meaning if something better comes along you won't have to turn it down because of space) then grab it.
Cottonwood bark is prized, and paid well for, by woodcarvers in certain styles. Western Can. Cottonwood Bark
I have a few Black Cottonwoods, and one that'll go 50" on the stump, so I studied up about it. What surprised me is just how much water is in it green. More than half it's own weight is water - and why it was called waterwood in earlier times. Depending on the sub-specie, it can be 46 to 58 pounds per cubic foot wet, and 24 to 28 pounds dry. But here's the good news: pound for pound it has about the same BTU's as any other wood. Cord for cord, it's half the BTU's of a quality hardwood, but pound for pound - about the same, and that surprised me too. And here's a quote from Woodweb.com: "Cottonwood makes excellent framing lumber also and is usually overlooked due to its poor reputation regarding durability in moist conditions. As long as you keep it dry, cottonwood makes excellent framing and interior paneling." But are we talking about my Cottonwood or yours? That may be the deciding factor. Eastern Cottonwood (Populus Deltoides) Black Cottonwood (Populus Nigra) Fremont's Cottonwood (Populus Fremontii) Lanceleaf Cottonwood. Narrowleaf Cottonwood. Necklace Cottonwood. Swamp Cottonwood.
A little back story...a few years ago I had to have my leg reassembled after an unplanned dismount from my motorcycle. Spent nearly a year with no wood cutting and no reserves. I wont pass up wood that I can bank on if injury or illness rears its ugly head again.
Have more space than time. Plenty of room to pile logs or rounds out of the way until I get back to them. How long will it keep as logs or rounds before it goes bad. If I keep some, I’m not gonna put any effort into neat stacking before splitting. Just pile it up with a loader and what I loose to ground rot won’t bother me
That's some interesting stuff but it's hard to quantify those numbers. Doing the math, that would mean somewhere around 3.5 - 4 gallons of water, in a single cubic foot of wood... The "pound for pound" thing is an interesting mind bender. BTU wise virtually all woods are the same, pound for pound, within small tolerance where some woods have quantities of volatile oils, like birch & such. It's just that given weight of one wood may be one truckload, while another wood may be three truckloads.
