# Beech? Really had no idea.



## Byrond (Oct 23, 2014)

So after reading it has been brought to my attention that beech is a sought after wood. Had no clue. Have about 40 on my property and never really thought of using them for fuel, until now.


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## Pennsyltucky Chris (Oct 23, 2014)

I wish I had 40 in my yard. Of course, I'd have 40 laying in my yard, but you get the drift.


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## BigCountryNY (Oct 23, 2014)

On my property American Beech is thick as thieves. All of it is still in good shape though, so I'm going after the down and standing dead first. Thinking of replanting Black Locust though to replace any I cut down.


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## Poindexter (Oct 24, 2014)

Not very much fun to split I remember.  25.8M BTU per chimney sweep dot com is pretty darn good.


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## weatherguy (Oct 24, 2014)

If I could I'd burn only beech, great btu's and it's nice and clean with smooth bark. I have none in my yard and never can find any, got about 20 pieces in a load once.


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## Soundchasm (Oct 24, 2014)

I got several sections from a scrounge a while back and had to pre-cut all of them to get them to split in the 5-ton electric.  The grain was amazingly wavy.  Don't know if they're all like that.  Keep us posted.


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## blades (Oct 24, 2014)

Depend where it grew, not all of it is twisted up. be a little careful when splitting likes to pop apart with considerable force if somewhat dry.


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## Paulywalnut (Oct 24, 2014)

I have about two cords seasoning. One will be ready next year. Correct about it popping apart when splitting. Great firewood though.  Some say it rots if not used in a year. Not true, but it will deteriorate quickly laying in the woods.


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## Knots (Oct 24, 2014)

It's mostly what I burn now.  It doesn't have a lot of commercial value compared to other species on my lot, so I might as well get some heat out of it.


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## peakbagger (Oct 24, 2014)

A large potion of the beech population has beech blight. They grow to a certain size and then start getting scarring on the bark which eventually turns into pockets of rock. It definitely is best split with a splitter. I dislike processing a tree as the crown branches are rarely straight so its take longer to trim up the branches. It also takes about twice as long as maple, ash and birch to dry. Once dry its doesn't burn hot but does burn long.

Overall its not my favorite but if offered I will grab it. Its regarded as a undesirable species by many woodland owners so they may not mind someone cutting them down compared to other woods.


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## Pennsyltucky Chris (Oct 24, 2014)

Oddly, I've never had any problems splitting with an 8lb maul. I hear it's tough to split, but can't confirm. 

It seasons rather quickly and is right up there with white oak in BTUs. 

There's a ton of it in the woods around my house, but I've only managed maybe a small cord over the past 3 years. State game lands frown on you cutting down their trees.


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## Cburke (Oct 24, 2014)

I have about two cords that have been CSS since January, most pieces showing up on the mm at 18-20% plus or minus. Burned a handful of it so far this season, and I burns hot and long! I love it, and compared to the drying time of oak beech is much faster and in my opinion burns almost as hot, just not as long. Fantastic firewood. Scoop it up any time you get the chance. Thankfully my property is littered with beech!


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## Byrond (Oct 24, 2014)

Deff going to fell one next week. Just to get ahead. I usually wait until January to do any cutting because from now until then any free time is spent hanging in a tree waiting for deer


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## paul bunion (Oct 24, 2014)

Yes beech comes in different personalities.   Ones that has been blighted is very difficult to split and is almost always has pockets of rot.   I own quite a bit of garbage beech in VT.   The cank has decimated it there.   At least it still provides mast, the beech nut is good food.  I still go at it for firewood but often whole rounds end up in the firepit.    Where it isn't blighted (yet) and grows straight and clear it makes good firewood.  Drys quick and high BTU.   Beech lacks a dominate leader so out in the open it quickly becomes a bush with lateral branches everywhere.   At that point it can be a knotty mess to contend with when splitting.   Yard grown beech isn't fun to split.   It also regenerates really well from its roots and off stumps.  You shouldn't find the need to replant after cutting one and it probably can outcompete just about anything that you try to plant unless you aggressively control it.


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## Rebelduckman (Oct 24, 2014)

Cburke said:


> I have about two cords that have been CSS since January, most pieces showing up on the mm at 18-20% plus or minus. Burned a handful of it so far this season, and I burns hot and long! I love it, and compared to the drying time of oak beech is much faster and in my opinion burns almost as hot, just not as long. Fantastic firewood. Scoop it up any time you get the chance. Thankfully my property is littered with beech!



Don't want to hijack the thread but here's how my shelves turned out.


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## Applesister (Oct 24, 2014)

I never thought of Beech not having a central leader. I will have to go look. They are dominant trees where they take. They tower over my white pines and that's a feat.
I find few teenagers, lol, but some. Blight is here but not too bad. The big grandpa trees get left standing. Not so much that they lack a central trunk but that their crown is massive. An old treecutter guy I know told me they get hung up almost every time. You take one beech and bring down 5 others is not a good day. So the monsters stay standing.
Baby beechlets are all over woods and their pale yellow leaves rustle long into the winter. They survive shade well and are companions to witch hazel and sugar maples.
The wood is brittle and hard and fine grained. It does pop suddenly in the splitter. Those heavy splits are trying for your shins and your toes.
Remember the poem..
Beechwood fires are bright and clear
If the logs are kept a year.


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## Applesister (Oct 24, 2014)

If you like to deer hunt keep your beech trees. The deer love beechnuts.


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## Cburke (Oct 24, 2014)

Rebelduckman said:


> Don't want to hijack the thread but here's how my shelves turned out.
> View attachment 142188
> 
> View attachment 142189


Looks great brother!!


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## MJFlores (Oct 24, 2014)

I burn a lot of beech from my property, but I keep it too for the deer.  They have a habit of dying from the top down, so when I see that going on in the summer or fall I take it that winter or spring.  They're really good (a little too good) at reseeding themselves, so beech areas you clear will need to be thinned within a few years otherwise it'll grow so thick none of them will grow too big due to crowding.  I find it to split pretty easy, and it seems to dry fast in the sun despite being a very dense wood.  Deer that have foraged on beech nuts have a wonderful flavor to their meat...bears and turkeys like the nuts too.  This season was one of those that happens every 5 or 6 years though...not a beech nut on my property but the red oak more than made up for it.


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## Knots (Oct 24, 2014)

paul bunion said:


> Beech lacks a dominate leader so out in the open it quickly becomes a bush with lateral branches everywhere.   At that point it can be a knotty mess to contend with when splitting.   Yard grown beech isn't fun to split.   It also regenerates really well from its roots and off stumps.  You shouldn't find the need to replant after cutting one and it probably can outcompete just about anything that you try to plant unless you aggressively control it.



The Maine State Forester told me this same thing when he walked my lot with me.


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## Randy Acton (Oct 24, 2014)

I had a huge beech come down in a windstorm last spring. Probably 60' tall with a trunk diameter close to 36" and branches 16" in dia. Four of the branches cut and stacked and 2 facecord.

Problem is the main trunk is near useless as about 20' up it was rotted out leaving just a ring of sapwood about 4" thick.

After doing some reading I found out that Beech are very susceptible to damage from the teenage years. Outwardly the tree may appear fine but damage from thirty years prior will cause the rot.


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## Rebelduckman (Oct 24, 2014)

Cburke said:


> Looks great brother!!



Thanks for the input and the pics. I decided to go for the floating shelf.
little more to it but I like how it turned out.


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## JP11 (Oct 26, 2014)

Got some monster beech in my piles.   HEAVY 8 foot logs.  Just moved the whole pile over to the splitting area, getting the yard cleaned up before we have to start thinking about plowing snow.

It's all '16-'17 wood I'm splitting now.  Should be good stuff by then.  MUCH more fun running the boiler on 16% stuff than past years.

JP


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## golfandwoodnut (Oct 27, 2014)

I have tons of it, not that much dead, but I really like to burn it.  Never had much problem splitting it and  mine do have a main trunk, big ones.  My only complaint is they hold the leaves a very long time and it makes it difficult to hunt deer, but that is another story.


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## firefighterjake (Oct 27, 2014)

Love the beech . . . and beach too for that matter.


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## tomc585 (Oct 27, 2014)

I have a copper beech tree which is coming down soon to make way for a driveway. Never considered it for fuel since it's trunk has soooooo many branches. Its a shame to cut it down, I used to climb it over 40 years ago and look out over the tree lines.


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## Applesister (Oct 27, 2014)

After studying beech as a utility wood I couldnt understand why it never caught on as a valuable timber tree. Even reading what I read about its harvesting background. What its traditionally used for...etc...
I was discussing it with my mailman one day. I caught him stealing pears out of my front orchard. And he told me that Beech is used in the Budweiser beer processing but neither of us could figure out how. I don't think they could make barrels out of it. Unless they use beechnuts for flavoring?
Anyway, the foresters I've talked to say firewood is all its good for.
A neighbor of mine built a garage door out of Beech, or so he says. It didnt look like Beech to me. Beech has these little ray flecks, kinda like sycamore. And supposedly it rots really quickly.
So why build a garage door out of a wood that rots really quickly??
There is also only one tree in this class, or Genus. American Beech. Not like a maple...or an Oak.


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## firefighterjake (Oct 27, 2014)

From wikipedia ... 

Beech wood is an excellent firewood, easily split and burning for many hours with bright but calm flames. Chips of beech wood are used in the brewing of Budweiser beer as a fining agent. Beech logs are burned to dry the malts used in some German smoked beers, giving the beers their typical flavour. Beech is also used to smoke Westphalian ham,[20] various sausages,[21] and some cheeses.

Some drums are made from beech, which has a tone between those of maple and birch, the two most popular drum woods.


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## Knots (Oct 29, 2014)

Good synopsis here.  Scroll down to page 104:

http://www.maine.gov/dacf/mfs/publications/handbooks_guides/forest_trees/pdf/Birches.pdf


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## homebrewz (Oct 29, 2014)

There are several types of beech trees spread across the world. Here, we are accustomed to seeing the American Beech (_Fagus grandifolia_) whereas the European variety (_Fagus sylvatica_) are probably what are used in making German rauchbiers (smoked beer). In brewing books they refer to German beechwood, which I would imagine is the European variety. 

My own experience with local beech is that it makes a nice firewood. It splits easily when straight, and seasons fairly quick. Though, I've noticed they have a tendency to rot from the inside out. I took one down at the beginning of the year that had dropped some branches. Perhaps it will be ready this season.


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## paul bunion (Oct 29, 2014)

Applesister said:


> And he told me that Beech is used in the Budweiser beer processing but neither of us could figure out how.



The label on the bud can reads .....beechwood aged....     Beech chips are put into the beer after it ferments to help clear it up.   There is a molecular attraction between the fermentation by products (yeast cells and what not) that cloud beer and the beech chips.   The beech chip adds no flavor.   It accelerates the natural processes that would have cleared the beer, had they let it settle out on its own accord, hence the label should read;  our industrial brewing process includes the use of beech chips that accelerate the finishing of the beer and saves us several days or even weeks as we have shortened the time it takes for the beer to clear up.    It is also said at they rinse off the beech chips and are able to use them several times.


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## midfielder (Oct 29, 2014)

It turns punky real fast if it stands (or worse, lies) dead - something about the bark. Cut it live and get it dry, it's great stuff. Excellent for hand plane bodies and soles - stable and fine grained.


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## Applesister (Oct 29, 2014)

paul bunion said:


> The label on the bud can reads .....beechwood aged....     Beech chips are put into the beer after it ferments to help clear it up.   There is a molecular attraction between the fermentation by products (yeast cells and what not) that cloud beer and the beech chips.   The beech chip adds no flavor.   It accelerates the natural processes that would have cleared the beer, had they let it settle out on its own accord, hence the label should read;  our industrial brewing process includes the use of beech chips that accelerate the finishing of the beer and saves us several days or even weeks as we have shortened the time it takes for the beer to clear up.    It is also said at they rinse off the beech chips and are able to use them several times.


Thanks Paul
Thats some fine bits of Beech trivia...and some interesting inside information on beer processing. It seems every tree species lends itself to some utilitarian use, either currently or historically.
Would you refer to that as folklore?
I'll have to pass that on to my brother, a huge Budweiser fan and my mailman, if I see him again.
Thanks again.


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## captjack (Oct 29, 2014)

I have them everywhere some are huge all are in the woods so most are straight and perfect for firewood - its seasons quick and burns great !


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## BrotherBart (Oct 29, 2014)

I love Beech for firewood. I could burn it exclusively. But they don't die or blow over like the Oaks on my place do. I have one of the huge ones next to a semi huge one that I have always called Beech and Son of Beech.


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## Applesister (Oct 29, 2014)

Beech tree pics


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## Woodfarmer1 (Nov 1, 2014)

a couple from last winter


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