# Buckeye Trees and lots of them!!!!



## certified106 (Oct 24, 2010)

So I had someone from the Ohio forestry department come and walk my property with me for advice on forestry management of my woods. To make a long story short I have a bunch of Buckeye trees that I was told to get rid of. His advice was to just girdle them and let em die since in his opinion they are completely worthless for firewood. I looked up the Btu content and they were comparable to pine but it also said they burn clean with no sap like pine. I hate to just junk a tree and was thinking they might make a good shoulder wood. Has anyone had any experience burning this wood?? If so was it worth the effort to cut and split it?


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## golfandwoodnut (Oct 25, 2010)

Gees, Ohio is the Buckeye state and the Ohio forestry says they are worthless.  Kind of bazarre.  I have a few buckeye trees myself.  I am still trying to figure out if they are chestnut trees or buckeyes since to nuts look so much the same.  Do you have some picture of the bark so I can tell what a Buckeye tree looks  like?  Sorry I can not help with the wood quality.

What are they trying to do change slogan for Ohio?


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## certified106 (Oct 25, 2010)

I don't have any pictures of the bark yet but I will snap a few and post them this week when I head back out to keep cutting. I've got a couple of trees that are so big the ODNR guys couldn't believe it. I asked them what the Buckeye was good for and they just chuckled and said nothing. The one guy said he tried cutting it on his saw mill and it stunk so bad they just threw it out. He said it cuts easy with a chainsaw and will burn fine so i guess I'll have to give it a try sometime.


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## krex1010 (Oct 25, 2010)

GolfandWoodNut said:
			
		

> Gees, Ohio is the Buckeye state and the Ohio forestry says they are worthless.  Kind of bazarre.  I have a few buckeye trees myself.  I am still trying to figure out if they are chestnut trees or buckeyes since to nuts look so much the same.  Do you have some picture of the bark so I can tell what a Buckeye tree looks  like?  Sorry I can not help with the wood quality.
> 
> What are they trying to do change slogan for Ohio?



Remember the nuts from a chestnut are delicious, the nuts froma buckeye are mildly poisonous, just be sure you I'd that tree before you decide roast any nutsover an open fire lol


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## firefighterjake (Oct 25, 2010)

No experience with buckeyes . . . but plenty of experience with so-called "junk" wood that is "no good" or "dangerous" for burning in a woodstove (such as the much aligned evil pine) . . . as you have surmised just about any wood has value . . . maybe this wood wouldn't be good for burning in the dead of winter, but it sounds as though it would be perfect for burning in the shoulder season or when you're kicking around the house in the evening or on a weekend . . . at least that's when I tend to burn most of my pine and poplar.  For every season, there is a species . . . burn, burn, burn . . .


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## Backwoods Savage (Oct 25, 2010)

As of late, most of Michigan's experience with buckeyes is not too good. 


Cut it, let it dry, burn it.


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## Backwoods Savage (Oct 25, 2010)

GolfandWoodNut said:
			
		

> Gees, Ohio is the Buckeye state and the Ohio forestry says they are worthless.  Kind of bazarre.  I have a few buckeye trees myself.  I am still trying to figure out if they are chestnut trees or buckeyes since to nuts look so much the same.  Do you have some picture of the bark so I can tell what a Buckeye tree looks  like?  Sorry I can not help with the wood quality.
> 
> What are they trying to do change slogan for Ohio?



Hey Golfer, Google buckeye tree and then click on Images and you'll have all sorts of pictures.


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## golfandwoodnut (Oct 25, 2010)

Yes, I think I have a few buckeye trees.  I won't be roasting them.  I know most the chestnut trees have died from disease.  I was kind of hoping for the best.  Buckeyes are certainly an interesting nut.  We collected some and put them on display in a dish.


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## certified106 (Oct 28, 2010)

GolfandWoodNut said:
			
		

> Yes, I think I have a few buckeye trees.  I won't be roasting them.  I know most the chestnut trees have died from disease.  I was kind of hoping for the best.  Buckeyes are certainly an interesting nut.  We collected some and put them on display in a dish.



It has been raining and I have been working crazy hours so I haven't gotten back out to take photos of my Buckeye trees. 
Here is a link to a website which shows what the bark on my trees looks like as well as the the common 5 leaf buckeye. Hope this helps.

http://www.cas.vanderbilt.edu/bioimages/species/aepa.htm


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## Wood Duck (Oct 28, 2010)

GolfandWoodNut said:
			
		

> Yes, I think I have a few buckeye trees.  I won't be roasting them.  I know most the chestnut trees have died from disease.  I was kind of hoping for the best.  Buckeyes are certainly an interesting nut.  We collected some and put them on display in a dish.



You can tell a Buckeye from a Chestnut from the husk around the nuts. even after the nuts are gone, usually there are old husks on the ground. Chestnut have husks covered in thorns like a porcupine. There are a few American Chestnuts around that produce nuts, but only a few. I don't think European or Chinese Chestnuts commonly spread to the wild, but they are c ommonly planted. Sweet Buckeye has a smooth husk. Ohio Buckeye has a few weak thorns or warts on the husk. Both are native to Ohio and the surrounding region. Horse Chestnut is non-native,but used to be planted a lot, and you can find some big old ones along older streets, cemetaries, ec. It has husks that have strong thorns - not a ton of porcupine-like spikes as chestnuts have, but numerous strong thorns. There is also Red Buckeye that is more a shrub than a tree - I can't recall what the nut husks are like on Red Buckeye.


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## Deron (Oct 29, 2010)

I would burn the tree of the worthless nut.


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## certified106 (Oct 29, 2010)

Deron said:
			
		

> I would burn the tree of the worthless nut.



I definitely plan on doing just that. I already cut some down so maybe next year it will be dry or I will but a few pieces behind the stove and let them bake for a month in December and then give it a shot. Either way I'll let everyone know how it burned.


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## chinkapin_oak (Oct 29, 2010)

My woods is being overrun by buckeye trees, so I'm doing the same thing.  Buckeye is a slow growing tree and has practically no timber value.  You'd be better off growing pin oak than that junk.  So I'm cutting down the small ones, and girdling the bigger ones.  I consider buckeye wood to be worthless for firewood, so I leave it to rot in the woods.  I'd rather be burning pine than that junk.


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## certified106 (Oct 30, 2010)

chinkapin_oak said:
			
		

> My woods is being overrun by buckeye trees, so I'm doing the same thing.  Buckeye is a slow growing tree and has practically no timber value.  You'd be better off growing pin oak than that junk.  So I'm cutting down the small ones, and girdling the bigger ones.  I consider buckeye wood to be worthless for firewood, so I leave it to rot in the woods.  I'd rather be burning pine than that junk.



Just out of curiosity have you ever burnt it, if so why did or didn't you like it? I looked up the btu content and it was about the same as pine. Thanks


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## chinkapin_oak (Oct 30, 2010)

certified106 said:
			
		

> chinkapin_oak said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Actually, I've never burnt it.  I put some on my woodpile once intending to burn it, but after just a couple months it was moldy and dryrotten, and light as a feather.  So I just threw it out.  I've got a 3-year supply of firewood, and the buckeye wouldn't have lasted that long.  I'll burn boxelder, poplar, and even pine, but I'll never touch buckeye or basswood unless I'm really desperate for wood.

I just leave it lie in the woods and let the nutrients return to the soil.  I will be replanting the open areas left from the buckeye removal with Burr oak, shumard oak, honeylocust, and hickory (bottomland woods).  They are fairly valuable(except for the locust), and all make great firewood.

However, if you need the wood, go for it.  It'll burn.


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## andybaker (Oct 31, 2010)

Here's a funny story about the Buckeye tree and Global Warming.  I heard this on the radio a while back.  Because the temperatures have been warming some the Buckeye tree has been moving north, in fact, the largest Buckeye tree known is in Lenawee County Michigan now.  The state legislature in Michigan is concidering reclassifying the Buckeye tree from a tree to a weed.


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## mtneer (Nov 7, 2011)

I'm gonna give it a try. I have a lot of buckeye on my land that are shading out oaks and beech. It's easy on the saw chain and should be good for our long shoulder season. 

As for its smell, it's sort of a bland green wood smell. Ain't got nothing on ailanthus.


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## Duetech (Nov 8, 2011)

The buckeye that I have seen do not have the same thorns as a true chestnut. But deer like them.


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## fishinpa (Nov 8, 2011)

If its no good in the woodstove, there is always the outside firepit pile option. Well on my propery there is...


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## cptoneleg (Nov 8, 2011)

Allways heard of buckeye state (OHIO) I will have to look into why they call it that, especially since its such a worthless weed tree.


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## certified106 (Nov 8, 2011)

mtneer said:
			
		

> I'm gonna give it a try. I have a lot of buckeye on my land that are shading out oaks and beech. It's easy on the saw chain and should be good for our long shoulder season.
> 
> As for its smell, it's sort of a bland green wood smell. Ain't got nothing on ailanthus.


I started clearing a bunch of them out this summer and girdled a bunch of big ones to kill them off. I will say this about the buckeye, it seems to dry pretty quick but get it top covered fast as it starts to rot really quick.


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