[AT] firewood

[John Wilkens]

Out West in Oregon my favorite firewood by far is Tamarack (Western 
Larch) which is not a hardwood but is deciduous (kinda 
unique).  Western Larch gets big--like Douglas-fir and Ponderosa Pine 
but it is more dense and burns long and hot.  It is usually straight 
grained and splits nicely.  We have the smaller lodgepole pine too 
but it burns a little too fast.  Sometime I'd sure like to try some 
oak or other hardwoods like you easterners have.  I burn 5 to 6 cords 
per year to heat the house and shop--with a little help from my 
backup propane furnace.     Stay warm!    John



At 04:58 PM 11/25/2006, you wrote:
>I'd like to see your part of the continent some time. I'm a bit of a tree
>nut and I like studying the woods. Our woods here in Ohio and Pennsylvania
>are very different from what you have up there. We have lots of what is
>generically called Poplar here but it is the Yellow Poplar variety
>(Liriodendron tulipifera) and not a true Poplar but a member of the Magnolia
>family of trees. We do have some Black Poplar and Cottonwood here but
>neither is fit to use as firewood. By the time Cottonwood dries enough to
>burn there is almost nothing left of it. It weighs almost nothing dry and
>burns like paper (instantly). Black Poplar here (also called Lombardy
>Poplar) is a fast growing, short lived tree which has loads of small
>diameter short upright brittle branches that form a narrow column-like
>crown. The trunk is the only part that ever gets big enough to use as
>firewood and with all the limbs the tree produces it is miserable to split.
>The limbs are usually 2" diameter or less before they break off in the wind.
>It was often densely planted in rows to create windbreaks and shelterbelts.
>Black Poplar (Populus nigra) is a true Poplar (part of the Willow family)
>and is not native to North America but was introduced here from its native
>Western Asia and part of Europe.
>Mark
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Ralph Goff" <alfg at sasktel.net>
>To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
>Sent: Friday, November 24, 2006 3:23 PM
>Subject: Re: [AT] firewood
>
>
> > Its all poplar wood here Mark. That in the picture was all dead fall wood
> > pretty well and his farm has many acres of it still. As a person ages
>those
> > logs just get heavier and heavier. I can recall years ago when he had some
> > huge logs in that woodpile that took at least three of us to pick up and
>get
> > on the saw. We do grow some big poplar here if they are left long enough
> > without drought or fire. I have some pictures of a tree I helped remove
>from
> > a local churchyard. A huge black poplar or maybe cottonwood that must have
> > been over 4 foot diameter. The tree must have been 80 years old at that
> > time. Not the greatest firewood though.
> >
> > Ralph in Sask.
> > http://lgoff.sasktelwebsite.net/
>
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                    In the wide-open spaces of NE Oregon