Poplar wood

[Brad W Wi]

Anyone out there use popel for firing your evaporator ? I've got a few cords of it cut to length, I just have to slit it. Just wondering I know thwBTU's won't be as high as maple but I'n just wondering if it's worth splitting it??

[3rdgen.maple]

Yes sir use it all the time. Quick hot fires just need more of it. The only thing I don't like about it is it stinks when it is still green and stacked inside.

[KenWP]

Poplar is actually classed as a hard wood around here by some. It burns better then cedar thats for sure. Where I come from out west everybody burns it as there isn't to much else. Mom cooked with it untill we got a electric stove. Can't smell any worse then some pine that I have with that sour smell.

[vtsnowedin]

I'm in full agreement with 3rdgen.maple. Middle of the road as heat goes when dry and a lot better in the shed then having them compete with you young replacement sugar maples. I can't seem to get ahead of them. As a weed tree they must be genetically linked to witch grass. Skip mowing a field for one year and they are six feet high.

[Russell Lampron]

Same here, poplar is good evaporator wood. In a wood stove it is actually good to help keep your chimney clean. If it is dry it burns clean and hot.

[stoweski]

That's all I burned this year. In my mind it's a garbage wood - I won't burn it inside - but it's good for the evaporator or outside campfires. Reminds me of pine because it snaps a lot. I still have six - eight cord of poplar that I haven't even split yet. I take 'em down whenever possible because they're so weak.

After 2 years of drying I have some that is starting to rot and some that is still wet. That stuff will not dry! Oh, and I agree, split more of it because you'll go through it faster than hardwood.

[Ahnohta]

If it aint a standing sugar maple burn it to make syrup. It will burn hot and fast esp if split

[Russell Lampron]

I burn anything and everything here. The small stuff goes into the evaporator and the big stuff goes into the outdoor wood furnace. If it has or had leaves or needles it's fuel.

[bearair]

Heat produced by each type of wood
(Million BTU per cord)

Oak 29
Sugar maple 29
Beech 28
Yellow birch 26
Ash tree 25
Elm tree 25
Red maple 24
Larch 24
White birch 23
Poplar 18
White pine 17
Lime tree 17
Spruce 16
Fir 16

[petersp22]

I don't think you'll find any poplar in Wisconsin. It's an eastern tree. What we call popple is Aspen (populus spp.) Like Ken says, poplar is a hardwood with very light and uniform color. Popple? Burn it if ya got it.

[can'twaitforabigrun]

Poplar burns fine. Make sure it isn't green. We tend to mix woods together when we're firing. A few large pieces of poplar, one or two medium pieces of pine to really get her going and a few small pieces of birch or maple to give a good sustained heat and lay down a good bed of coals. We throw in a piece of spruce now and then also.We split up old barnboards into small pieces and throw 2-4 of them in at a time when we're finishing off. Basically if it makes the sap boil and almost jump out of the pan-use it!!

[red maples]

I split it small like everything elseand put it the mix but it does burn good as long as it is seasoned and dry poplar is very porous wood and is like a sponge with water.

I have some still from over the years and I like to burn it on th corner months of winter when you need a quick warmup of the house. start it up fire it a few times and let it go out. it burns quick pretty clean and goes out fast. It doesn't produce any coals like maple that has tons so there is no residual heat from poplar. So by the time it warms up outside the house is warm too.

If you have the North amercn maple book there is list there of the btu per cord in there too. everone has there system of mixing types of wood. as long as it burn and isn't plywood, PT, or painted it goes in!!!!

[sap runner]

uesd alot of iron wood this year,very very hot fires,hard on the chainsaw and my saw rig but well worth the btu's.

[maple flats]

Yes, burn it. Quick heat. must be dry. I mix and burn everything, no dead wood is safe.

[Merklin Maples]

Make sure it is well seasoned (dry). I mix wth dry seasoned oak. Only time I had any troubles was when it was not seasoned enough.

[adam1493]

I'm in full agreement with 3rdgen.maple. Middle of the road as heat goes when dry and a lot better in the shed then having them compete with you young replacement sugar maples. I can't seem to get ahead of them. As a weed tree they must be genetically linked to witch grass. Skip mowing a field for one year and they are six feet high.

I've been told, by people I trust about trees, that poplars actually grow from the same root structure. Kinda like a mushroom fungus. Thats why they keep growing back. you have to till down about three feet to kill the primary roots in order to remove them from an area.

[peacemaker]

here is the great thing about it ..one if u are buying wood usually your local logger is almost willing to give it to u .... what i do is take a chunk and split it into slabs about 2 inches thick and heap it then put the splitter away and pick up a small liming axe and my double bit and split it into 3x2 pieces leave them in the sun for a week then stack it drys so well and so light i don't agree that u need more then say pine and here is another thing i find its the bark that splashes not so much the wood the grain is so straight that i can do this with very little effort i also find if i have a load of hardwood when i am drawing i toss a piece of that or two under the draw off side then i don't have to feed it so fast ... and a little background on pop yes will grow 6 to 8 feet a year as a cabinet maker we used it a lot for paint grade and interior blocking and such ...its also know as poor mans walnut cause it will take a stain and look just like walnut but as said if u dont split it and store it properly it will rot in a few years

[DrTimPerkins]

I've been told, by people I trust about trees, that poplars actually grow from the same root structure. Kinda like a mushroom fungus. Thats why they keep growing back. you have to till down about three feet to kill the primary roots in order to remove them from an area.

That is true. When you see a hillside of trees totally covered in poplar, it is probably one individual. All the stems you see are basically clones, oftentimes still all connected underground. Beech are similar. Maples, birches, oaks and conifers don't do this.

[heus]

In my neck of the woods I think people often confuse what a poplar tree really is. We have "hybrid" poplar, which is fast growing, has nasty root systems with a ton of shoots, and foul smelling. These have come from people planting these "miracle growth" trees in their yards, then the root systems spread out uncontrolled. Quaking Aspen grows with this type of root system, too. People often call aspens "poplar" around here. The real poplar in my mind is tulip poplar. Beautiful straight trunks with no branches for several feet. Grows to over 100 feet tall. Very good for milling into paintable interior house trim. This is what I will be burning this year in the evaporator. I plan to cull several of these per year.

[lastwoodsman]

It is interesting how common names abound by region.

Hybrid poplars are generally some type of cross with popular deltoides and or canadensis. Basically hybrid cottonwoods.. Many of which are seedless.

The genus populus or trees which go by the common name poplar have many species.

Populus Tremuloides or "Quaking Aspen" is just one of many species of poplar's. Included in this genus are cottonwoods, sawtooth aspen, populus x acuminata, populus balsamifera and many others. Most do sucker readily and is the main means of self propagation. Many are very prolific seed producers as well. Most are hardy from zones 2 through 5.

Tulip Tree a very stately tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) which many Eastern's call a poplar is not a poplar at all. It is mainly found in zones 5-9. While is is a beautiful shade tree and has nice wood for carving and turning it is not a member of the poplar family.

Woodsman

[southfork]

I burn a lot of poplar. It burns intense with little "coaling". Easy to work with too. My preferred wood for the arch.

[3rdgen.maple]

I burn it if I have to. Cannot stand the smell of the stuff when its wet or still green.

[mike z]

When it's dry it burns like paper, need to refill often, doesn't coal, does smell (especially when green). I split by hand and would rather work with hard wood, but if a tree goes down close, I burn it. Not my first choice though, closer to my last. I'm going to try Basswood this year. Its laying 10' from the evaporator. Well, I guess it will be next year, as I will let it dry some. I burn mostly Hickory, then, Red Oak, W. Ash. It's most abundant for me.

[Brad W Wi]

Mike Z, I can tell you from experence if you use bass wood mix it in with good wood. I never got the heat from it.

[mike z]

Thanks for the tip. It's a big tree, I can see where it would have given me the impression of having "all the wood I need" for the season. Are you from Winter? I'm just south of there 20 minutes or so, north of Tony.

[Brad W Wi]

Ya, I'm south of town about 3 miles on co."W" on the south side of the road. A sign out on the road says "Brad & Linda's Sugarbush." Stop in if your in the area.

[mike z]

Brad, sounds good, thanks. Always nice to see other's set ups. Go Packers!

[Brad W Wi]

Mike, If you wany to come send me an E-mail. I don't want to miss you.

[mike z]

Brad, yes I will send E-mail before coming. I would like to visit when you're boiling, but I'll likely be boiling too, so we'll just see how it goes. Thanks - MZ