Is this an aspen? Tree ID Vermont

[m2salmon]

Is the tree shown in pics aspen? Looks similar to birch at top but bark much different at base. Very tall and shading out some maples.

How do they burn?

In house wood stove? Evaporator? Outdoor fire pit only?

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[Ed R]

It looks like aspen to me not sure which species the pics are a little blurry. I'm burning cottonwood in my evaporator right now, which is a related species, and I like it very much. I would not use it in the house except the fall and late spring because you need to load often. Needs to be put inside a woodshed, not stacked outside.

[buckeye gold]

It'll need a lot of drying and then burns up fast. If you need wood badly then go for it, but I wouldn't waste time or fuel on it.

[m2salmon]

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Tried to load larger file size photos. Not sure these are any better resolution.

[ecolbeck]

I believe that’s a big tooth aspen which is a common early successional species in old fields.

[m2salmon]

I don’t really need the wood but wondering what to do with them after I cut them down. They are shading out some of the better maples.

[Ed R]

Not sure what the pulp market is like in your area or how much property you own , but I did pretty well on a thinning cut on my UP property several yrs ago. Lots of aspen like that and some bigger which were sold as logs. If it's a big enough job, I would talk to a forester. Also don't know if you have tubing up already.

[TapTapTap]

I'm over the hill into Williston. It looks like aspen (locally called poplar and frequently pronounced "popal"). We've been trying to manage them over here. It grows faster and takes over the forest, and then they blow over and take down more valuable species. I've used it for firewood in my outdoor boiler, burned it in the evaporator, and sold it as wood chips (larger scale). They are a royal pain to take out since they're often smack in the middle of other trees and a lot taller.

I've also sawed some and used it for interior wall boards in my sugarhouse. It's a fairly light-weight board but pretty hard. Now that I've done a couple of rough cut buildings, I decided that they make good perlins and girts when sawed in 1" boards of 4 or 5" width. They are much tougher than pine or hemlock so it makes you feel a lot more confident when walking on them as roof perlins.

[m2salmon]

Ken,
I’m right over the hill from you, on Wortheim Ln & boiling around the corner form you at my brothers on Butternut rd. Thanks for the info, we’re talking about the same thing. Agree they are going to be tough to get out without damaging a bunch of surrounding trees. I’ve made some bookshelves out of poplar is aspen poplar or just what people around here call it? I’m planning a pole barn this summer and it sounds like it may save me some on lumber to have someone come in and saw some boards. Would like to see your setup anc say hello when the open house weekend gets back to normal. Marty

[TapTapTap]

I use Leo Boutin as a sawyer. He's done millions of board feet on his portable saw mill and has a great eye for sizing up a log. I've used him 3 times now and I'm going to get him back in the spring.

We'd love to have visitors and we're good for 2 visitors at a time according to the Vermont restrictions. So it's okay by us as long as we practice proper covid protocol. If your brother is on the east end of Butternut then you'd probably see us making steam.

Ken

[bigschuss]

I don’t really need the wood but wondering what to do with them after I cut them down. They are shading out some of the better maples.

My land is heavy with old aspen and I deal them in a few different ways.

For trees that I absolutely must take down and aren't too much of a pain, I use them in the evaporator and I keep one cord stacked and split for the house. It's not great firewood, but we burn it in the early fall and late spring just to take the chill off.

Other trees that are shading my maples or my wild apples I just girdle. Two cuts...and they're dead in a year. They then break apart and come down slowly over the next decade or so. Great snags for wildlife.

Other poplars I will clear everything around a mature tree within a 20 yard radius...then drop the tree and let it lay to stimulate a brand new aspen stand. The dead tree becomes a ruffed grouse drumming log and I get lots of new early successional habitat for deer, grouse, rabbits, etc.

[ADK_XJ]

As someone else mentioned, the pictures are coming in small and blurry - not sure why. Based on what I can see, though, it's consistent with what we call "quaking aspen" here in Upstate NY.

It's junk firewood but I've cut and split quite a bit of it for the campfire. Seems to grow tall and straight and I always have lots of dead and falling over. Again, as someone else mentioned, makes great habitat for wildlife when it's on its way out.

[TapTapTap]

Again, as someone else mentioned, makes great habitat for wildlife when it's on its way out.

I wouldn't have a problem with them if they formed snags when they die (naturally). Unfortunately, there's no "on its way out" with this tree (unless you girdle them). It lives strong and full until one day the wind takes it down. I've studied lots of them on my property and I've seen no significant cavities on these trees. I think the woodpeckers prefer to peck at maple! The top might make a good rabbit habitat when they fall to the ground, but that frequently doesn't happen since they get hung up on other trees - and what a pain that is.

[m2salmon]

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Another attempt at better resolution photos from a desktop. I'm seeing similar issues to Ken in our 2 or so acres of tappable woods. Aspens have outgrown maples, oaks, and ash and are shading them out. Then they blow over and often get hung up, see the fallen tree in the base photo.

I have a 34hp Kubota w/ 7k lb Farmi logging winch. Has anyone tried winching a hung-up tree of this size? It doesn't seem dangerous, from a distance with a tractor winch, but my fear would be that it would tangle too badly to be freed up and I'd be left with a very large tree suspended. Thoughts/experience?

On another note we got our first drips in the buckets yesterday. Sap collectors are happy.

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[maple flats]

We call them poplar. They do OK in the evaporator, but don't make a bed of long lasting coals. I sawed some to build a shooting house for hunters. If kept dry it lasts a real long time, if it gets wet very often it rots fast. I never used any to heat the house. As said above, it's an early successional species. In the spring they will send thousands of white clouds of seeds in a mild breeze. Something like dandelion seeds, but far more numerous.
I think your problem with the pictures is the distance you are from the tree. If you get one shot showing the entire tree and then one from much closer, just showing a section of the trunk others would more easily identify that tree.

[Bgreisch]

Yes those are a type of aspen tree. Often in Wisconsin they are called Poplar or Popple trees, they grow very fast, if an area is clear cut they have a tendency to take over and form a very thick forest. Life expectancy is only like 75 years and they will start to die. I will use it in the evaporator as it burns fast, easy to split.

Bryan