Silver... is it worth it's weight?

[all night moe]

Maple that is ....

I could bring cords of this home. Not just a few cords but more than I could ever burn.
This season I brought home a little under 2 cords. Did a few jobs where the only product was silver so I brought some home. I know it seasons quick and burns faster than hard maples with less BTU. Still better than red maple.

I see a lot of guys on youtube processing this stuff. What do ya all think? I'm considering mixing it in with pine for camp wood sales. Possibly $150 a 1ton dump truck load. I would definitely get a production splitter before messing with this to much.

Stuff I have seasoned now I'll mix in with better wood for shoulder season, and warmer daytime temps.

 

[begreen]

Free. wood is free wood. Use it for shoulder season burning and save the harder wood for the cold weather.

 

[all night moe]

Let me clarify. Being an arborist, I could potentially bring home say ....50 cord a season. Probably more. I would have to get my dump truck in action though, and as mentioned, a commercial grade splitter. Just to make the effort worth it.

I'm working towards some fire wood sales, once I get my own 3 year stash established. I'm halfway there now. I'm wondering if the silver maple is worth the effort in volume. In my regular heating wood sales I could put some in the "mixed hardwoods" for a slightly less rate then ''premium'' woods. Also, the camp wood as mentioned above.

Ultimately, the work versus sales will tell me. I'm just looking for opinions.
I don't mind burning some, here and there, myself. It's helping me jump start my current 3yr stash.

 

[begreen]

If you have a continuous wide source of species then maybe not. It makes sense to have it for lower cost sales if a higher priced premium wood is also offered. Otherwise maybe just give away the rounds or donate them to boy scouts or other groups for them to raise some money for their cause.

 

[Woody Stover]

I haven't burned a lot of Silver but it seemed lighter in weight and lower BTU than Red when I did. I have some Red stacked but I pass on Silver.

 

[all night moe]

I haven't burned a lot of Silver but it seemed lighter in weight and lower BTU than Red when I did. I have some Red stacked but I pass on Silver.

I believe you're correct on that. Been a couple years since I've had any red.

donate them to boy scouts or other groups for them to raise some money for their cause

I like this Idea. Good friend of mine is associated with the local BS troop.

 

[ozarkoak]

Any camp grounds close? Wrap it up and sell if as campground wood.

 

[MongoMongoson]

I have burned a bunch of silver maple, because it was free. I have a few cords of it stacked outside, and we make maple syrup from the live silvers in our yard.

There is nothing wrong with it but, living in the Midwest, I would be pretty disappointed if I bought a few cords of "hardwood" for home heating and have it turn out to be silver maple. There are so many better options here... so many options I have never purchased wood. I would burn free silver maple over purchased oak.

It would make ideal campfire wood bundles. Burns fast with lots of flame, doesn't make a huge pile of coals that burn low and slow. Most people like to have lots of flame for their campfires. I think the smoke has a pleasant smell.

 

[kborndale]

I don't mind some silver maple, seasons quick and is great for shoulder season but I wouldn't want to have only silver maple.

 

[all night moe]

I don't mind some silver maple, seasons quick and is great for shoulder season but I wouldn't want to have only silver maple.

Me too, on shoulder season burning. Even then, with the big fire box of the wood furnace, I'll throw in 3-4 splits of decent hardwood. Lil boost in BTUs, and helps leave some coals for later.

 

[Sawset]

The stacks in my avatar are silver maple. That year we had a large one taken down, 7ft dia, which made over 5cord. The arborist left only the straight logs, and hauled away the rest. Splitting went fairly easy since the crotches had been disposed of. We used it all over the course of 3 years, mostly spring and fall when high BTU wood wasn't needed. It burns nice, starts easy, is reasonably heavy when dry. I wouldn't pass it up, even though we have plenty of harder woods like oak and hickory. I found that it produces a whole lot of fluffy ash. But, it's all fluff, and when the stove is loaded the next time, all that fluff compresses to nothing - repeat, over again many times.

 

[all night moe]

The more posts I read, the more I'm inclined to process more of it.

I'm thinking ; camp wood @$250 a dump truck load, delivered.
mixed hardwoods @$250 a cord.

Dump holds 2cord. Camp wood would be silver and red maples, pine, spruce, and popular.

I will also process more for my own shoulder season use.

 

[Kodiak]

In terms of personal use, I’d say it comes down to storage. If there’s space for it I’d store it and have it available. Sure it’s not premium hardwood but volume is never a bad thing to have. It’s sure nice to just burn freely and not have to think about quantities. But it sounds like you’ve got no shortage. If it’s free and you can process it and make money while keeping yourself stocked personally too I’d say go for it.

For personal use if it was me I’d do big chunky splits being a softwood.

 

[coal and wood man]

Kindling is what I use Silver Maple for. Clear straight pieces split easy. Other than that the rest is for the burn ring.