I am working on a big ol cottonwood, This tree is about 8' dbh and about 75' tall, I guess that is would actually be 75' LONG now as it is on the ground. We took out 2 cords just cleaning up around the area so that we can work on it. I would guess that there is around 11-12 cords in this tree!! What a job, but man is it fun!!
Giant Cottonwood 10+ cords 1 tree!!
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Sounds like a job for ye olde blasting wedge! Seriously, though, that is how we split old dead lightning downed cottonwood logs about 6 ft in diameter. Sawed them into trailer lengths, then split from the end with a blasting wedge, then sawed the pieces and did some "finer" splitting with an axe. Long ago and far away, of course.
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/black-powder-blasting-wedge-logging-55539862
http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/black-powder-blasting-wedge-logging-55539862
Cottonwood is just about the only wood I won't bother cutting. Unless my folks want it, which they usually do.
mayhem said:
It's wood that burns like cotton and weighs about the same as cotton once it's dry. Oh ya it's seeds float around and look attached to a small piece of cotton.
I have a bunch of it right now and two splits in the stove also. I hope the neighbors don't mind because when I went out to put the boy on the bus this morning it smelled like poo, coming from my house!! OPPS! I won't take that much of it anymore unless I'm really needy, last year I took too much.
I have several poplars that may be cottonwoods ( based on the bark and fluttering and leaf shape leaves) . Most of the smaller ones are dead and seem to be rotting fairly fast standing.
The ones That either outpaced the pines in growth or didn't have to compete with any are huge.
The ones That either outpaced the pines in growth or didn't have to compete with any are huge.
Cottonwood is one of the nastiest trees around. In the spring it drops the aforementioned cottony seed clumps that come down like a snowstorm. For 3-4 weeks. If you run the mower through it it purees it and my eyes go red, watery and the sneezing kicks in. I hate em.mayhem said:
Grows like a weed around here too.
Wood is tough to dry. I've found it often goes punky before it's really dry enough to burn.
Wood is tough to dry. I've found it often goes punky before it's really dry enough to burn.
mayhem said:
Y'know mayhem, I don't think I could tell you where to find a Cottonwood around my area (central PA), and maybe they are just as hard to find where you live. Cottonwood is pretty rare in parts of the east, but much more common as you go west. I know they grow all over the eastern US and Canada, but just a few here and there, but over large areas of the west they are the largest and most common trees along rivers and irrigation ditches. We aren't missing whole lot, as far as firewood goes. Where I live it is a whole lot easier to find one of the aspens like Quaking Aspen or Bigtooth Aspen than cottonwood. They are very similar, but Aspens don't get huge like Cottonwoods can.
There aren't many cottonwoods around this area either. I'm only familiar with the Eastern Cottonwood. They are in the Cobleskill area about an hour west of us. I'd explain them as a massive tree with bark not unlike an old willow (Salix alba) but it runs straight up the trunk instead of crossing over in a rope like pattern as the willow does. Instead of willow leaves it has large delta shaped ones like a catalpa. It has insanely large buds too.
Matt
Matt
Fellas, bear in mind the OP is from the wonderful state of Wyoming. They are not blessed with some of the wood most folks have. Cottonwood out there is good for them. So stihltheone, I believe you that it is fun and hope you enjoy the whole thing. I also agree it can certainly be fun bucking up those big trees.
Wood Duck said:
Up in NW PA on the lake here, you can have all the Cottonwood you want. Spring summer when the fuzzies come out, it's like winter and the ground is white from them.
Backwoods Savage said:
+1
What makes this interesting is how ridiculously large the tree is. The type of wood irregardless. Although as mentioned earlier... there better be some pictures soon.
I've been burning nothing but cottonwood so far this season. All of the comments are right on - it burns quick and seems to leave a lot of ashes but if you expect this going in, it's no problem. It heats the house. I was able to season it in a year and a half. When I split it green in the summer of 2009, liquid squirted out when the wedge from my splitter pushed into the rounds. It's dry as a bone now.
I think cottonwoods like to grow in swamps. These things can get huge and in a hurry.
I think I heard that they are technically a hardwood tree, too.
I think cottonwoods like to grow in swamps. These things can get huge and in a hurry.
I think I heard that they are technically a hardwood tree, too.
Grif, technically any tree that loses its leaves in the fall is a hardwood. So yes, cottonwood and popple are actually hardwoods.
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