Black walnut vs box elder

[Chargerman]

Our farm has a lot of walnut tops from logging that I have been burning for several years that are fairly easy pickings. Not as good as oak but it kept the house warm.

The farm also has a lot of box elder on it because of a stream running through it. Last fall a rather large boxelder fell across one of my paths so I cut out the section in my way and left the rest lay there because everyone considers it junk wood around my area. Is this thing worth cutting up for firewood? I have never burned the stuff so I was wondering how it compares to walnut. It is still solid yet as most is up in the air and super easy pickings. I don't know if I should leave it to rot or get after it. I did cut a 8" test round off the other day and it split easily and it didn't stink too bad. I am guessing there will be at least 1.5-2 cords or more there. This would be used for 2011/12 season BTW so drying time wouldn't be an issue.

It would save the walnut some so that I can burn more years without having to "waste" it during the shoulder season.

Has anyone burned both to give a comparison of burn time or heat? I know neither are "high" on the scale. My stove does have a large firebox and is a Cat so burn times are pretty good with walnut going 10+ hours easy.

 

[Danno77]

Our farm has a lot of walnut tops from logging that I have been burning for several years that are fairly easy pickings. Not as good as oak but it kept the house warm.

The farm also has a lot of box elder on it because of a stream running through it. Last fall a rather large boxelder fell across one of my paths so I cut out the section in my way and left the rest lay there because everyone considers it junk wood around my area. Is this thing worth cutting up for firewood? I have never burned the stuff so I was wondering how it compares to walnut. It is still solid yet as most is up in the air and super easy pickings. I don't know if I should leave it to rot or get after it. I did cut a 8" test round off the other day and it split easily and it didn't stink too bad. I am guessing there will be at least 1.5-2 cords or more there. This would be used for 2011/12 season BTW so drying time wouldn't be an issue.

It would save the walnut some so that I can burn more years without having to "waste" it during the shoulder season.

Has anyone burned both to give a comparison of burn time or heat? I know neither are "high" on the scale. My stove does have a large firebox and is a Cat so burn times are pretty good with walnut going 10+ hours easy.

On most charts that I've seen Boxelder is closely rated to Pine, but that's not been my experience with it. I get longer burns from it (with similar heat output) than pine. This may be a factor of seasoning, but I don't think so. Black walnut is supposed to be somewhere in the middle of the pine and something like White oak, but I think my black walnut rates a little closer to the oak than middle. Again, could be something with seasoning (like my oak may not be getting to the appropriate MC so I wouldn't know what GOOD oak burns like).

I think it's definitely worth burning and I find that it seasons fairly quickly in comparison to many other trees.

 

[3fordasho]

Our farm has a lot of walnut tops from logging that I have been burning for several years that are fairly easy pickings. Not as good as oak but it kept the house warm.

The farm also has a lot of box elder on it because of a stream running through it. Last fall a rather large boxelder fell across one of my paths so I cut out the section in my way and left the rest lay there because everyone considers it junk wood around my area. Is this thing worth cutting up for firewood? I have never burned the stuff so I was wondering how it compares to walnut. It is still solid yet as most is up in the air and super easy pickings. I don't know if I should leave it to rot or get after it. I did cut a 8" test round off the other day and it split easily and it didn't stink too bad. I am guessing there will be at least 1.5-2 cords or more there. This would be used for 2011/12 season BTW so drying time wouldn't be an issue.

It would save the walnut some so that I can burn more years without having to "waste" it during the shoulder season.

Has anyone burned both to give a comparison of burn time or heat? I know neither are "high" on the scale. My stove does have a large firebox and is a Cat so burn times are pretty good with walnut going 10+ hours easy.

Have lots of both here. The black walnut ranks a bit higher on the BTU//cord scale, from memory Black walnut is aound 20Mbtu/cord vs 18Mbtu/cord for box elder. From a processing standpoint I like the walnut better. Box elder is almost always rotten in the trunk center and filled with ants. On the plus side I think box elder may season quicker, like silver maple which it is closely related to. If you find boxelder with lots of striking red streaks in it, you might save those pieces for wood carvers.

 

[Chargerman]

Have lots of both here. The black walnut ranks a bit higher on the BTU//cord scale, from memory Black walnut is aound 20Mbtu/cord vs 18Mbtu/cord for box elder. From a processing standpoint I like the walnut better. Box elder is almost always rotten in the trunk center and filled with ants. On the plus side I think box elder may season quicker, like silver maple which it is closely related to. If you find boxelder with lots of striking red streaks in it, you might save those pieces for wood carvers.

I don't think this one is to bad for rot. At least the larger trunk I cut last fall was still solid throughout. The small round I tested split clean in half. Is that usual or is it often a twisted mess on the big rounds?

 

[3fordasho]

Have lots of both here. The black walnut ranks a bit higher on the BTU//cord scale, from memory Black walnut is aound 20Mbtu/cord vs 18Mbtu/cord for box elder. From a processing standpoint I like the walnut better. Box elder is almost always rotten in the trunk center and filled with ants. On the plus side I think box elder may season quicker, like silver maple which it is closely related to. If you find boxelder with lots of striking red streaks in it, you might save those pieces for wood carvers.

I don't think this one is to bad for rot. At least the larger trunk I cut last fall was still solid throughout. The small round I tested split clean in half. Is that usual or is it often a twisted mess on the big rounds?

For some reason around here the trunks are always rotten and hollow in the center. The limb wood and anything 8' and higher will be solid. I had a big trunk that was all twisted/burled and had to noodle it to get it small enough to season. That trunk wood would never burn well and seemed to soak up rain water like a sponge. Limb wood splits easy and seasons fast. They are a fragile tree subject to storm damage, and well just falling over on their own. Perhaps yours have better growing conditions and not subject to these faults.

That said, I have about a face cord of it with two years of seasoning, it's what I'll start off the heating season with.

 

[jeff_t]

I'd take it if it's easy to get to.But of course, I take anything easy to get to.
It usually splits decent, and you've got a big splitter.
Burns a lot like soft maple, cause that's what it is. Pretty close to black walnut.

 

[Chargerman]

Another concern depending on how much I end up with. Once split and stacked will it rot or last for several years as long as it is up on pallets?

The guys I cut with just shake their heads when I mention this stuff. Most will only burn oak but they have old school wood furnaces also. I go out and cut on my own often so easy pickings that are all mine are nice too have also.

I just talked to my dad today and he is having a big arbor vitae taken down in his yard.....more so so stuff to think about. LOL

 

[Danno77]

Another concern depending on how much I end up with. Once split and stacked will it rot or last for several years as long as it is up on pallets?

The guys I cut with just shake their heads when I mention this stuff. Most will only burn oak but they have old school wood furnaces also. I go out and cut on my own often so easy pickings that are all mine are nice too have also.

I just talked to my dad today and he is having a big arbor vitae taken down in his yard.....more so so stuff to think about. LOL

keep it off the ground and split it up and it should last for several years without problems.

 

[Chargerman]

Another concern depending on how much I end up with. Once split and stacked will it rot or last for several years as long as it is up on pallets?

The guys I cut with just shake their heads when I mention this stuff. Most will only burn oak but they have old school wood furnaces also. I go out and cut on my own often so easy pickings that are all mine are nice too have also.

I just talked to my dad today and he is having a big arbor vitae taken down in his yard.....more so so stuff to think about. LOL

keep it off the ground and split it up and it should last for several years without problems.

Thanks for the help. Looks like it is time to load up the old Dodge again.

 

[ramonbow]

I wood take walnut over boxelder but i've burned a lot more boxelder because it is all over in the way and falling over. You do need to cut and split it fairly quickly because it tends to rot. Splits seem to keep just fine.

 

[homebrewz]

Walnut is 23 million BTU per cord, Box Elder is 11 (Cornell Cooperative Extension of New York).

I have only burned walnut branches, but it seemed like nice stuff. I have burned a lot of box elder as half of a tree came down last year so I cut it up.
It is very wet when fresh, and rots quickly if not cut, split, and stacked off the ground. If its easy to get to, I'd so go for it. It seasons quickly and is
good shoulder season wood.

 

[Danno77]

Walnut is 23 million BTU per cord, Box Elder is 11 (Cornell Cooperative Extension of New York).

I have only burned walnut branches, but it seemed like nice stuff. I have burned a lot of box elder as half of a tree came down last year so I cut it up.
It is very wet when fresh, and rots quickly if not cut, split, and stacked off the ground. If its easy to get to, I'd so go for it. It seasons quickly and is
good shoulder season wood.

I might believe the Walnut, but no way is the Box elder 11. That's too low. Where do they have cottonwood listed in that lineup. Box elder is better than Cottonwood for sure.

 

[blades]

Box elder, its ok for shoulder season, pain to split as it does get all twisted like willow. Need to strip the bark or it never will dry with out rotting plus that gets rid of a lot of the bugs. The red streaks will disappear as it gets dry. Burns quickly. It is still heat though just a poor ratio of effort to btu's. Not a sappy wood like pine when dry closer to silver Maple.

 

[ansehnlich1]

My neighbor just asked me if I wanted some of that 'elderwood' and I turned him down. He pushed two trees over and they're easy to get to but I said no thanks. I cleared my woodlot of all the boxelder. I bucked and split about 2 cord of it 2 years ago and burned it. Since then, it goes on the burn pile. I ain't interested in workin' it no more. Yep, I'm a wood snob.

Now, if I didn't have a bunch of oak, hickory, cherry, walnut, ash, and elm layin' around it might be a different story.

 

[homebrewz]

I might believe the Walnut, but no way is the Box elder 11. That's too low. Where do they have cottonwood listed in that lineup. Box elder is better than Cottonwood for sure.

Box Elder is listed as 11 million BTU per cord (air dry) and Cottonwood is listed as 15. I would say that there is room for interpretation with most wood btu values. This comes from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Greene County, NY.

Box Elder is a species of Maple, btw. I don't have any experience with Cottonwood, but a plant biologist I know once told me that they are enormous "water wasters" as in they process a lot of water through their tissue.

 

[Danno77]

I might believe the Walnut, but no way is the Box elder 11. That's too low. Where do they have cottonwood listed in that lineup. Box elder is better than Cottonwood for sure.

Box Elder is listed as 11 million BTU per cord (air dry) and Cottonwood is listed as 15. I would say that there is room for interpretation with most wood btu values. This comes from Cornell Cooperative Extension of Greene County, NY.

thanks for checking. Let me check my bookmarks or google, cause that just seems off per my experience (room for interpretation, like you said!)

 

[Danno77]

(broken link removed to http://www.chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm)
shows Black walnut at 20.2, Boxelder at 17.9, and Cottonwood at 13.5

http://thelograck.com/firewood_rating_chart.html
black walnut=20.3 , boxelder=18.3, and cottonwood=12.2

(broken link removed to http://www.ianrpubs.unl.edu/epublic/live/g1554/build/g1554.pdf)
black walnut=22.2, boxelder=18.3, cottonwood=15.8

that last one is one i've never seen before, but seems to fit a little better with my experience. I don't know where the first two links get their data, I didn't see a source.

 

[homebrewz]

Fair enough. I bet these values vary by region too.

 

[Danno77]

Fair enough. I bet these values vary by region too.

I wondered about that region thing, too. You'll notice that I seemed to agree more with the Nebraska link, which would make sense if there is a regional difference in woods...

 

[oldspark]

Mine goes in the burn pile, all depends on what you have available.

 

[Chargerman]

Mine goes in the burn pile, all depends on what you have available.

Availability of other wood is not an issue. We have a 160 acre farm with about half of that loaded with oak, cherry, walnut, and elm. It is more a case of using it instead of letting it rot.....that and it is right in the open.

 

[northwinds]

I burned a bunch of fresh-cut box elder (small branches and leaves) in the burn ring today. It was extremely wet, stunk
and made lots of smoke. I'll split up the bigger pieces and use it for shoulder wood next year. Took down 3 trees, and they
were thick full of box elder insects--so thick it looked like like the bark was moving. The trees were twisted and growing
horizontally, so I can't imagine it'll be easy splitting. The trees needed to go so that I can take down some bigger oak
that succumbed rapidly to wilt this summer.

 

[oldspark]

Mine goes in the burn pile, all depends on what you have available.

Availability of other wood is not an issue. We have a 160 acre farm with about half of that loaded with oak, cherry, walnut, and elm. It is more a case of using it instead of letting it rot.....that and it is right in the open.

If it was me I would not mess with it, I have boxelder on my place and I haul it to the burn pile.