# Norway maple...firewood?



## Kosmonauts (Mar 30, 2016)

Have a Norway maple on my property I just noticed and I'm wondering if this is a hard maple and also if anyone has any experience using them for heat.  Thanks!


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 30, 2016)

Here's a photo


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## Clyde S. Dale (Mar 30, 2016)

Not seeing a photo but if it is Norway maple, it's great firewood.


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 30, 2016)

Clyde S. Dale said:


> Not seeing a photo but if it is Norway maple, it's great firewood.


Damn it's not uploading for some reason.  I'm about 99% sure it's a Norway, thanks a bunch!  I'll cut her down and stack it.  Thanks man!


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## iamlucky13 (Mar 30, 2016)

Norway maple is non-native and somewhat invasive. It's not banned in most states, but it is highly discouraged from planting it.

So if it is Norway maple, it would probably be better in the long run to get rid of it and pull up or mow any seedlings it may leave behind. If you're going to be cutting firewood on your property anyways, definitely target any Norway maple before the native maples like sugar, silver, or red.


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## claydogg84 (Mar 30, 2016)

Norway Maple is not considered a hard maple. That doesn't mean it's not good firewood though.


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## baseroom (Mar 30, 2016)

It's more like silver maple. It does split and burn well though


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## Diabel (Mar 30, 2016)

It is better/harder than silver. Not as good, softer than sugar maple.


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## billb3 (Mar 30, 2016)

Norway maple has yellow Fall leaves.
Also, while the leaves are green, if you pull one off and the sap oozes out milky white it is Norway.


Some say it burns hotter than soft maple . I haven't burned a lot of it, just the few trees that I've removed along property lines/fences and it is certainly no worse.


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## blades (Mar 30, 2016)

heck i would target the silver for removal - its more like a giant weed- Norway on the other hand has a much more pleasant foliage shape- close to twice the density of silver ( just judging apx equal size splits) Silver are are harder wood version of willows to me in as much as the root system will foul anything.


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 30, 2016)

Diabel said:


> It is better/harder than silver. Not as good, softer than sugar maple.


Thanks man that really gave me a good idea of its quality


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## Kosmonauts (Mar 30, 2016)

Thank you all so much!  I have a huge one that is VERY old and it's not far from it so it probably came from there....


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## Diabel (Mar 30, 2016)

All the Norways I have come across were rather small. 15" at the base at most. If it is huge, perhaps it is a silver maple (they grow fast like a weed).


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## iamlucky13 (Mar 30, 2016)

Supposedly Norway maples can get 4-5' in diameter if given long enough. I presume most of those in the US are simply relatively young.


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## billb3 (Mar 30, 2016)

Norway maples were planted along streets here in the late fifties and sixties as part of greening America, Arbor dy campaigns. They were fast  growing and certainly did provide relief from heat with their shade real quick. Unfortunately as they matured, their dense canopy kept light from lawn under them and their intensive root system  ( other maples are just as bad sometimes) sucked away water. Lawns quickly became dry deserts under their canopy. Seeds blew into the woods and norway maples started pushing out and overtaking native species. Some of them that got a foothold in gardens along fences have become huge and start doing damage dropping  limbs and whole sections of trees in wind storms. 
I once made the mistake of having a compost pile ( mostly Norway maple leaves and lawn clippings, LOL ) under one. The whole pile had become a massive maple tree root ball by the time I went to turn it over.. and I had to chop the "compost pile" off of the lawn with an axe .
I_ like _taking a saw to them !


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## Wood Duck (Mar 30, 2016)

There are plenty of really large Norway Maples around. Some are probably five feet in diameter at the base. They are commonly planted along streets or in parks, and in many places have taken over woodlands too. Norway Maple is quite invasive, spreading to natural woods and outcompeting native plants. The worst thing about them is nothing grows beneath them, so they not only take space that native trees would use, but they crowd out all the native shrubs and wildflowers too. If you have one burn it. I find Norway Maple wood to be somewhere in between Red Maple and Sugar Maple in terms of firewood quality.


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## heavy hammer (Mar 30, 2016)

Cut it split it stack it, then burn it.  Still good firewood if hard and dry.


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## billb3 (Mar 30, 2016)

The stumps rot pretty darn quick too.
Mine have anyway.


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## mwhitnee (Apr 4, 2016)

I had one cut down this summer and to be honest I have been burning it as I needed the wood.  It's been coaling a bit (not 100% seasoned) but it's pretty good firewood if you ask me.


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## TheAardvark (Apr 4, 2016)

I have a full cord plus a little bit seasoning for next year. I will be cutting down a few more Norways this weekend.  Those things have taken over a section of forest at my grandmas farm. Im poisoning every stump after I cut them too. They choke out every other native plant and tree. The little bit of deadfall I found that was dry enough to burn this winter was really good firewood.


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## lml999 (May 18, 2016)

billb3 said:


> Norway maples were planted along streets here in the late fifties and sixties as part of greening America, Arbor dy campaigns. They were fast  growing and certainly did provide relief from heat with their shade real quick. Unfortunately as they matured, their dense canopy kept light from lawn under them and their intensive root system  ( other maples are just as bad sometimes) sucked away water. Lawns quickly became dry deserts under their canopy. Seeds blew into the woods and norway maples started pushing out and overtaking native species. Some of them that got a foothold in gardens along fences have become huge and start doing damage dropping  limbs and whole sections of trees in wind storms.
> I once made the mistake of having a compost pile ( mostly Norway maple leaves and lawn clippings, LOL ) under one. The whole pile had become a massive maple tree root ball by the time I went to turn it over.. and I had to chop the "compost pile" off of the lawn with an axe .
> I_ like _taking a saw to them !



You just described my front yard. Huge Norway maple, great canopy in the summer time that keeps much of our house shaded. Water hog that kills grass. Kept us from putting solar panels on the roof. 

We're selling our house to a builder; I assume that tree will go, along with some very tall pine trees in our backyard that appear too tall for their own good at this point. Our new house has a fabulous south/west facing roof; a white pine and some oak trees will come down to give the roof a clear view of the sun. We signed a contract for 37 panels this morning.  The pine is big and knarly; that's going away. The oak trees will be cut to stove length by my tree guy and left for me to eventually feed into the stove.


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## HItz (May 18, 2016)

Norway maple seems to be all I get to burn and it does just fine. They are all over the place in SE CT.


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