Is poplar worth the time?

[zmender]

Lol. Poor guy.

I agree about not taking the wood back. He’s getting punished for it, might as well let the rest of his family stay warm.

What’s the Canadian government gonna do with a bunch of fresh cut poplar anyways? Probably let it rot somewhere.

Reminds me of an old joke.

A camper was caught burning out-of-state firewood by the park ranger. As the ranger was confiscating the firewood, camper asked: "officer, what do you plan to do with these confiscated wood?" The ranger responds: "Well, of course to burn them."

 

[shortys7777]

I burn it at my lake house in Maine. There is so much when it comes down I cut split and stack it. It's free and its there. Can't let it sit to long though or it gets soft pretty quick.

 

[Simonkenton]

"got out of his truck to investigate what his 19 years of experience told him was a case of illegal firewood theft from Crown land."

Theft of The King's firewood! The judge ruled "Defendant shall be taken to the town square at noon on the morrow. Defendant shall be securely fastened to the post . His shirt being removed, defendant shall receive twelve lashes across the bare back, well laid on."

 

[DonTee]

Those Canadians are hardcore

 

[stoveliker]

Those Canadians are hardcore

yeah, except for their firewood itself (poplar, soft...)

 

[kennyp2339]

depends on what your time is worth to you, for me, I like burning poplar in the shoulder seasons, I just split really thick splits, let it dry for a year or two then burn away, saving the better stuff for when its colder out. But cutting, splitting and stacking to me is a hobby that I enjoy, so I gain a benefit from both, you may not be like me so you could have a different spin on things or look at it as if it was a chore.
I find poplar when dry burns quicker and makes more wood ash, but its nice for those 40deg rainy days when you just want to take the edge of the cold dampness out of the house, or add ambiance.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Here in Indiana, "poplar" means tulip poplar (Liriondendron tulipifera). Yes, it's worth the time, though nothing to write home about.

When I lived in northern Michigan we ignored balsam poplar, but used trembling aspen, a type of poplar.

 

[DonTee]

Cutting firewood is a sort of fun hobby for me too. My wife thinks I’m crazy.
I used to think having 20 face cords stashed away was excessive, but now after joining this site I see there are people with 20 full cords or more stashed. It makes me want to cut some more wood!

 

[DonTee]

Can anyone tell from the pics what type of poplar I have? It’s hard to find a pic of trees that look just like them online.

Edit: Looking at pics of balsam poplar online just now, that could be it.

 

[snojetter]

Another option is big tooth aspen. Where I'm from, balsam poplar does not get large like what is shown in your photos, but that doesn't mean it won't in your area. Big tooth aspen and quaking (trembling) aspen are very similar, but the big tooth variety appears to me to have a more coarse bark (overall) when mature. I would think there should be a large supply of aspen leaves at the base of your trees. Post photos of the leaves and see what sort of responses we can make up.

Personally, I love poplar. Like others have said, I enjoy the process of cutting, splitting, and stacking wood. Poplar is very easy to do all three. As you've discovered, a saw will go through it like butter and it's very satisfying watching those large white chips collect at your feet! It generally splits just by looking at it and since the trees typically grow straight, it makes for easy stacking (excellent for cribbing).

I just got permission from a neighbor to salvage the poplars (quaking aspen in this case) that were taken down by the power company two summers ago. I got to them in time as they have not yet gone punky. I estimate 3/4 of a cord all told, and this will likely be ready come fall; since my rotation has me into piles of ash and oak, this poplar will save those woods for the colder months as I suspect this poplar will get me close to - if not into - December.

 

[kennyp2339]

Can anyone tell from the pics what type of poplar I have? It’s hard to find a pic of trees that look just like them online.

Edit: Looking at pics of balsam poplar online just now, that could be it.

Tulip poplar, the outside bark can mimic ash but the darker center which will lighten up as the wood dries is a give away.

 

[DonTee]

I’ll take some pics of the leaves on the ground.
Right now those trees have a bunch of white blossoms on them.

 

[Ashful]

Is it worth cutting and splitting?

Only if it's the last tree on earth. Somewhere back in the bowels of this forum, there's a 10 year old post about me burning a full cord of poplar in 8 days. It has all the BTU content of newspaper.

 

[DonTee]

I did cut up what was down. I’m splitting a bunch of wood, and putting the poplar in a separate stack

My dads neighbor will burn whatever wood he can get, even poplar. If it turns out to be really bad when I start to burn it I’ll just give the rest to him.
He’s also one of those guys that only seasons for 6 months max. Even red oak or hard maple. So maybe a fast drying wood like poplar is good for someone like that.

 

[Simonkenton]

I am with you ashful. I cut down a 95 foot poplar, it was in the way of my new carport, and it fell 10 feet from my woodshed. I cut it into 4 foot lengths, and tossed it into the woods. I have several big wood piles, but why waste space with poplar when I can get oak and locust.

ps I did notice that the poplar rotted pretty quick. Mother Nature turned it into some Grade A mulch.

 

[FTG-05]

Five reasons why all serious wood burners should process and store Poplar firewood:

- It's cheap and easy; usually most don't want it, so it's easy pickings

- Easy to process, easy to split, easy to lift. 18" rounds aren't really a problem to lift and split, unlike Hickory or Oak at the same size

- Dries quickly, 6-9 months depending on weather and storing method. If I lost all my firewood right now today (God forbid), the first thing I'd do is order a bunch of Poplar so I'm set up for next year (or likely cut several of the many Poplar tress on my property).

- Easy to light and burns fast; as most have already said, it's excellent for shoulder season; most of the time my Poplar splits light before the kindling does! Also it is very miserly with the amount of ash it leaves.

- Perfect wood (almost) to have to give to a fellow but novice wood stove user caught short or is trying to burn wet wood. Give him some Poplar, with the limitations noted, and he'll be in good shape; plus there is the added bonus of him experience the benefits of burning dry well seasoned firewood.

If you have the room and the time, I'd have a cord or two on hand.

I won't process any more because of this:

That's Woodshed #2, Bay #1; it's filled with Poplar. That bay was filled no later than March 2017, so it's well dried by now. I just started on it this year and it's going to take a while to go through it. As others have stated, Poplar burns too fast and doesn't give off a lot of heat, so it will need to be mixed in with better hardwoods during real cold weather, like the Ash, Hackberry and Black Walnut next to it in Bay #2. Each bay holds ~3 cords.

 

[j7art2]

Tulip poplar is a pretty darn good burning wood imo. I got a few face of it and I'll parrot what was already said. Good shoulder season wood. Tulip poplar has quite a shell of bark on it like certain oaks do (I always get red and white oak mixed up, one has a shell of bark that peels off, the other doesn't IIRC)

I noticed it was fairly ashy without many coals, but longer burning with a slower fire curve than pine. I've heated with it during the dead of winter too, but not my first choice. Almost any wood is good wood if it's free and easily accessible. Cypress/cedar might be an exception; apparently it has toxic smoke.

 

[Bobbob]

I burn some poplar. I hate throwing any wood away. Tulip dries wquickly, burns easily and is a great shoulder season burn. I have lots of poplar that has fallen. After a season I cut it, peal the bark when I split it and within 6 months its dry and ready to burn.

 

[TrippRick]

Five reasons why all serious wood burners should process and store Poplar firewood:

- It's cheap and easy; usually most don't want it, so it's easy pickings

- Easy to process, easy to split, easy to lift. 18" rounds aren't really a problem to lift and split, unlike Hickory or Oak at the same size

- Dries quickly, 6-9 months depending on weather and storing method. If I lost all my firewood right now today (God forbid), the first thing I'd do is order a bunch of Poplar so I'm set up for next year (or likely cut several of the many Poplar tress on my property).

- Easy to light and burns fast; as most have already said, it's excellent for shoulder season; most of the time my Poplar splits light before the kindling does! Also it is very miserly with the amount of ash it leaves.

- Perfect wood (almost) to have to give to a fellow but novice wood stove user caught short or is trying to burn wet wood. Give him some Poplar, with the limitations noted, and he'll be in good shape; plus there is the added bonus of him experience the benefits of burning dry well seasoned firewood.

If you have the room and the time, I'd have a cord or two on hand.

I won't process any more because of this:

That's Woodshed #2, Bay #1; it's filled with Poplar. That bay was filled no later than March 2017, so it's well dried by now. I just started on it this year and it's going to take a while to go through it. As others have stated, Poplar burns too fast and doesn't give off a lot of heat, so it will need to be mixed in with better hardwoods during real cold weather, like the Ash, Hackberry and Black Walnut next to it in Bay #2. Each bay holds ~3 cords.

Does Tulip Poplar smell a little like pee when freshly cut? I cut down a damaged tree that I thought was TP (not sure tho) and it had a very distinctive smell. It's pretty dry now after almost 1 year split and stacked but if it gets damp from sideways rain it'll have that same odor...only fainter.

 

[EbS-P]

Does Tulip Poplar smell a little like pee when freshly cut? I cut down a damaged tree that I thought was TP (not sure tho) and it had a very distinctive smell. It's pretty dry now after almost 1 year split and stacked but if it gets damp from sideways rain it'll have that same odor...only fainter.

I don’t think so.

 

[Simonkenton]

It smells like pee, and it burns like s*it.

 

[FTG-05]

Does Tulip Poplar smell a little like pee when freshly cut? I cut down a damaged tree that I thought was TP (not sure tho) and it had a very distinctive smell. It's pretty dry now after almost 1 year split and stacked but if it gets damp from sideways rain it'll have that same odor...only fainter.

You're asking the wrong person: I can't smell skunks. Seriously.

 

[qwee]

I just hauled about 1/2 cord of poplar big chunks to the campground - I asked the host if they wanted it and he said okay. Let the campers swing away on it. I was having trouble splitting it with a kinetic splitter. I split some ash and oak, no problem. So this particular poplar is a low btu firewood that doesn't split very well - a lose lose situation.

In the past, I have obtained some dead standing western cottonwood and it was easy to chainsaw up and split, but this recent poplar was terrible.

 

[brenndatomu]

Some a y'all wood snobs!

 

[DonTee]

Lol. I tell my dad he’s a firewood snob. He doesn’t even want ash because he says it doesn’t burn as well as maple, oak, or cherry.
One of his neighbors gave him some free firewood (cut it, split it, and stacked it in his pile) and my dad complained because some of it was poplar. Lol.