Firewood

[Hpoirier15]

What kind of wood works best as firewood for sugaring? Hardwood? Softwood? What should I look for when cutting trees for sugarwood?

[Big_Eddy]

Tongue in cheek answer - in order of preference - free, dry, any

If you want a serious answer tell us a more.
How many taps?
Open fire, cinder blocks, barrel evaporator, 3'x8' arch?
What's available?

[ennismaple]

It really depends on your evaporator. If you're on natural draft you want wood that burns as fast as possible - which normally means bone dry softwood split very fine. With our forced air we want big (up to 8" diameter), some moisture and as many BTU's per chord as possible. For us, maple works great but any hardwood will do. We get some softwood mixed in on occasion and after boiling on hardwood we hate seeing poplar, basswood or spruce go into the firebox.

[Michael Greer]

If you have a choice...Hardwood...it doesn't smoke...it contains more BTUs....you're already in the woods doing something. For a 2ft. wide evaporator, you want 2"x 24" wood. for a 3ft., you want 3"x36" etc. Unless you really want to do a LOT of splitting, you should save the large diameter stuff for the wood-stove in the house and send all the limb-wood to the sugarhouse.

[Michael Greer]

...And really, big Eddy is right burn whatever comes your way. This year I'll be burning a lot of 110 year old Hemlock 2x4 and 2x6.

[Daveg]

You might want some softwood kindling to get your fire started and then you'll need osage orange, hop hornbeam, persimmon, or hickory (shagbark or bitternut). These are the top 4 BTU-containing hardwoods. Over time, with experience, you'll find out what length to cut it and what size to split it. If these species aren't available, Google "BTU hardwood" for a list.

[Daveg]

Ennismaple, just curious, but why do you suggest some moisture in your wood. I thought that was a BTU thief.

[wnybassman]

I've always burned black locust and cherry. This year I acquired seven large pine trees to add to my woodpile. After working with the pine, I will always try to have some and it should be easy to get because nobody wants it. Now I burn half and half, half hardwood and half soft. The pine is great at those times when the boil just kinda peters out and you need to get it ripping again. It is also great at the end of the night when you want something to turn to ash in the firebox quickly and not leave any lingering coals. I still feed my fire with only 3 gallons left in the head tank because the pine will turn to ash in less than five minutes.

[Urban Sugarmaker]

I also like the mix of hardwood and softwood. This year I had a lot of Norway maple that came my way for free except for my time to cut it and split it. It burned great. The softwood gives a lot of flame and the maple provided a longer burn and a more stable stack temp.

[motowbrowne]

I'm on natural draft. I burn pretty much only softwood, mostly poplar, basswood and pine. It burns fast and hot and doesn't fill the arch with coals. Also, it's a good way to get rid of wood that would be useless elsewhere.

[ennismaple]

Ennismaple, just curious, but why do you suggest some moisture in your wood. I thought that was a BTU thief.

With our Force 5 if the wood is split too fine or is too dry it burns too fast. The extra heat simply goes up the stack. I've never measured the moisture content but I understand 15% is optimal. It allows you to dial the primary air up and down to control the burn rate.

When we did the demonstration boil for Lapierre (our unit was the first in Ontario) Rejean L was there to run the evaporator. We had a bunch of thinly split and bone dry poplar and basswood for the demonstration. After a short while he told us - get me some wet wood because this stuff is going up like gunpowder! We had some unsplit basswood that was laying on the ground that we put in and the boil rate went up because he could control the gasification with the blowers.

[CampHamp]

Since the arch doesn't care so much, I take out the worst tree for my forest or standing-dead. I have infected Beech (looking pimpley) that will become firewood and some of that white wool showing under a few hemlock branches to harvest. I can't access all my woods, but make small paths for my UTV where I can.

[Jolly Acres Farm]

I'm burning about 90% popular and 10% pine. Both of these were recommended by Bill Mason for my evaporator. This worked out well for me as I have a never ending source of this in my woods. Next year I will be adding American Elm as my trees along the road got hit last fall with a bug/blight and I have about 160 that need to be cut out.

[Cedar Eater]

I'm burning about 90% popular and 10% pine. Both of these were recommended by Bill Mason for my evaporator. This worked out well for me as I have a never ending source of this in my woods. Next year I will be adding American Elm as my trees along the road got hit last fall with a bug/blight and I have about 160 that need to be cut out.

Elm takes a long time to dry, even when it is standing dead. It's also a real pain to split, because the grain is twisty. But it is a good firewood when seasoned.

[Maple Man 85]

50%pine pallets+50% dead maple= HOT FIRE!!! got my best boil running 20gph on a 2x4 flat pan running 1" of sap in the pan.

[sluggish]

I'm burning a bunch of pallets that need to get used up. Most are hardwood but some lighter stuff as well. If and when that runs out, I have a bunch of standing dead beech that will get used. After that, likely a couple years from now, I have a stock pile of pine and other various logs to go through. Every time I go to the landfill, I pick up a load of wood on my way out. Anything that they cannot run through a chipper, they put out near the entrance. Free for the taking but you have to load yourself. Right after a big wind storm is the best time to go, as they have lots of arborists and tree slayers dropping off some mighty big trees. This year I need to put a winch on the trailer as hand loading alone is just too hard.

[maple flats]

I have Air under Fire (AUF) and air over fire(AOF) both on a high pressure blower. I burn any and all wood but split it to between 2-3", cut it 2 yrs ahead. It all burns great and all will make syrup well. I do prefer any hardwood, but often I have 10-30% soft mixed in, just to get rid of it.

[asknupp]

I burn all hardwood. Mostly ash split to wrist size. Problem a had at times was to thick of a bed of coals. When I increased my auf it sent to much heat up the stack. Any ideas on a remedy?