Most underrated firewood: my list

[Woody Stover]

We don't have much Elm these days so I'm not too familiar with them, slippery or otherwise! So educate me. What is slippery Elm? Sadly we lost most elms in the UK during 1970s with Dutch Elm disease although there are still a few pockets of them dotted around. Shame - they were often planted as avenues in towns and have never really been replaced.

Slippery Elm, AKA Red Elm, is medium output wood, but I really like it...listed it's attributes earlier in this thread. Gorgeous muted pink hue, if you come across a dead one and split it.
They don't usually get real big here. I don't know if Dutch Elm gets 'em, or if they just get out-competed for light in the woods and die that way. Got my eye on this 24-incher, however... It's on a south-facing slope, so maybe it got enough light to get big.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I don’t think red elm gets as big as American elm, but it isn’t in my area. I’ve never seen it to the best of my knowledge.

 

[Woody Stover]

In addition to the elm like bark, Hop-hornbeam has elm like, interlocked grain. It used to be used for wheel hubs as it didn’t split, lol. I’ve never seen it more than 8” wide at the trunk, so I’m not sure how big an axle the wheel could have had, lol.

Audubon Guide has the diameter of both American Hophornbeam and Eastern Hophornbeam listed at 1'.

 

[Woody Stover]

I don’t think red elm gets as big as American elm, but it isn’t in my area. I’ve never seen it to the best of my knowledge.

The Guide shows the range of Red over most of the eastern US, but not in much of NY..??

And diameter of Red at 2-3', American at 4'.

 

[Tree scruff]

Interesting. I know of a sycamore, and a London plain tree, which are identical to my eye, but neither are a maple (Acer) genus.. both have a crazy molted brown and white bark and a leaf that looks like a big maple leaf. The Sycamore maple appears to be a completely different species! If that doesn’t make things confusing!

What we call sycamore is definitely in the maple group (acer pseudoplatanus). London plane (platanus x hispanica) is a hybrid crossed from oriantal plane and something else which I can't remember. In some parts of Scotland people call sycamores plane trees which is super confusing. London, unsurprisingly, is full of massive old London planes. The peeling bark means that they shed the pollution of the city. Its the only tree I've found I'm allergic to. I'm wondering if sycamore in USA is different to what we call sycamore. I guess it doesn't matter really - it all burns! 😉

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Audubon Guide has the diameter of both American Hophornbeam and Eastern Hophornbeam listed at 1'.

Maybe they’re the Guinness Book of records specimens! Or they’re smaller around me. It’s possible the woods just aren’t old enough around me too. I don’t know how long they live, but it could be quite long since it’s understory. The oldest woods in general around me date to around 1900 or so. Fire or farming leveled all the trees.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

The Guide shows the range of Red over most of the eastern US, but not in much of NY..??
View attachment 306971
And diameter of Red at 2-3', American at 4'.

Northeast NY, in the Adirondacks, is poor soil. Lots of new sand and granite. It’s a rough life for trees and animals.

The Hudson Valley in SE NY is pretty nice. Lots of rich, deep soils. From N to S, you have grow zones of 3-8, so I’d think it could find somewhere it likes! Heck, there are cactus native to Long Island!

 

[EatenByLimestone]

What we call sycamore is definitely in the maple group (acer pseudoplatanus). London plane (platanus x hispanica) is a hybrid crossed from oriantal plane and something else which I can't remember. In some parts of Scotland people call sycamores plane trees which is super confusing. London, unsurprisingly, is full of massive old London planes. The peeling bark means that they shed the pollution of the city. Its the only tree I've found I'm allergic to. I'm wondering if sycamore in USA is different to what we call sycamore. I guess it doesn't matter really - it all burns! 😉

The bark is easily the most distinctive thing for our sycamores.

 

[JamesGuido]

when i starting burning wood indoors, a guy i knew at the time was moving and asked if i wanted some firewood he had left in an old shed.
thinking it was all old rotted timbers, i told he, yeah, if not in the house, i could burn it in the yard pit.
he led me to it and it was approximately a half cord of 2-3" rounds cut perfectly to 18".
my eyes lit up... asked what type it was... told me IRONWOOD.
I never heard of it, but he gave me all of it.
i realized the pile of gold i got the next day, so i paid him with an old bottle of bourbon.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

That would definitely be gold!

 

[Woody Stover]

I'm wondering if sycamore in USA is different to what we call sycamore. I guess it doesn't matter really - it all burns! 😉

Platanus occidentalus L.

 

[kennyp2339]

I don’t really have a fav underdog, I pretty much burn everything, try to keep the lesser btu stuff for the front or back ends of the season and the hard stuff for the coldest of the cold. I will say, for the lesser btu stuff, split bigger, you’ll get more bang for you buck.

 

[mrc]

Audubon Guide has the diameter of both American Hophornbeam and Eastern Hophornbeam listed at 1'.

I cut an American Hophornbeam on my property last year that was over 80” in circumference. I live in Ohio and the record Hophornbeam is 90” in circumference. I probably got two cords out of it. I’ve never burned it before. I‘ll be burning it next winter.

 

[Kevin Weis]

When we had some American Elm here it was one of my favorites. The Elm bark Beetle came through here in the early- mid 80's and all is gone now. Most under rated for me would be sycamore. Once we'll seasoned burns better then one wood expect. Atleast for me.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I'm more than a bit surprised that nobody has said Eastern White Pine. They're all over the place on the east coast and season fast. They're easy to split also. You can go through a lot of volume, but it'll throw lots of heat and if you have any coaling or ash you're doing something wrong. You could probably get away with shoveling ash once per cord, lol. Since nobody wants to burn it, its often free too!

 

[Caw]

I'm more than a bit surprised that nobody has said Eastern White Pine. They're all over the place on the east coast and season fast. They're easy to split also. You can go through a lot of volume, but it'll throw lots of heat and if you have any coaling or ash you're doing something wrong. You could probably get away with shoveling ash once per cord, lol. Since nobody wants to burn it, its often free too!

One of my local tree guys will deliver 5 cords of pine logs for $100. Dirt cheap. Basically just $ for his time and fuel running the big truck over.

It's not really worth my time since we have such an abundance of local hardwoods and I'm so far ahead. However if $ was ever short or I needed wood for later that year it would be a good option.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

If it was my first year burning I'd be all over that! It'd give the other wood a chance to season right!

 

[Caw]

If it was my first year burning I'd be all over that! It'd give the other wood a chance to season right!

Yeah it would be a great deal for a new burner for sure.

 

[Woody Stover]

I cut an American Hophornbeam on my property last year that was over 80” in circumference. I live in Ohio and the record Hophornbeam is 90” in circumference.

You need to submit that as an Ohio state record; It's almost double the current champion! 😏
But the record Eastern Hophornbeam is indeed 90", so the listing in The Guide doesn't reflect that..

Native Ohio Champion Trees

For tree species that are native to Ohio, these trees are the biggest ones we have measured.

ohiodnr.gov

 

[brenndatomu]

If it was my first year burning I'd be all over that! It'd give the other wood a chance to season right!

Yeah it would be a great deal for a new burner for sure.

Or someone with a "too small" stove during a cold spell...keep in mind that you can make more BTUs with low coaling woods (like pine) than with typical "high BTU" firewoods...as long as someone is there to load more often.

 

[Woody Stover]

Oops, my mistake, the actual names are American Hornbeam and Eastern Hophornbeam...but one of the nicknames for Eastern Hophornbeam is "American Hophornbeam." Sheesh.

 

[mrc]

You need to submit that as an Ohio state record; It's almost double the current champion! 😏
But the record Eastern Hophornbeam is indeed 90", so the listing in The Guide doesn't reflect that..

Native Ohio Champion Trees

For tree species that are native to Ohio, these trees are the biggest ones we have measured.

ohiodnr.gov

Sorry. Thought that was the same tree. I’ll look into the difference between the two.

 

[mrc]

Oops, my mistake, the actual names are American Hornbeam and Eastern Hophornbeam...but one of the nicknames for Eastern Hophornbeam is "American Hophornbeam." Sheesh.

I didn’t see this post. I actually called the state forester when I recognized the tree. I thought it could possibly be a record. The circumference wasn’t as big as the record tree but they also measure height and canopy and this tree had a big canopy. Lots of 6” and 8” limbs spreading way out. Lots of firewood.

 

[Woody Stover]

I actually called the state forester when I recognized the tree. I thought it could possibly be a record.

So I got curious and looked at the IN champion trees. They have the two listed as American Hornbeam and American Hophornbeam, and the American Hornbeam is listed as having five times the circumfrence of the Hophornbeam, adding to my confusion. 😏 But it by far wouldn't be the first time this goofy state has confused me. 😆 They probably reversed the two, I'm guessing...

 

[Tree scruff]

There are still a few old American Elms surviving around here, and lots young American Elms that grow to be good firewood size before DED claims them. There are also numerous DED resistant varieties out there. I planted 1 of them at my cabin. It still maintains the classic vase shape of the elm, but is resistant.

Here is the Sycamore I know. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platanus_occidentalis

London plane tree https://www.arborday.org/trees/treeguide/TreeDetail.cfm?ItemID=904

OK. That's super interesting. I can see that what you call sycamore is one of the trees that London plane is crossed from so no wonder they look identical. Yup sycamore in the UK is a totally different tree. I've attached a pics of laburnum wood which is in my stove right now