Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[John_Mc]

I've attached another handy thing I ran across years ago was this list of tree species ranked by "excess moisture content". (I've posted it here on TBN before - possibly even somewhere in this thread.) I'm glad I saved the info, since the link no longer works.

Their definition: "Excess moisture is that percentage above the desirable 20% seasoned moisture content."
We can debate about whether 20% is really the desired content (personally, I consider that more of a maximum for firewood), but the idea of showing the relative moisture content of green wood was an interesting one to me.

Not surprisingly, Ash topped their list.

Beech and Black Locust are tied for a close second. Of the two, I like Beech better for two reasons: Despite similar starting moisture content, Beech seems to dry more quickly. Also, Black Locust is incredibly rot resistant - I usually have some project or another where the rot resistance is worth more to me than the BTU content.

 

[arrow]

I've attached another handy thing I ran across years ago was this list of tree species ranked by "excess moisture content". (I've posted it here on TBN before - possibly even somewhere in this thread.) I'm glad I saved the info, since the link no longer works.

Their definition: "Excess moisture is that percentage above the desirable 20% seasoned moisture content."
We can debate about whether 20% is really the desired content (personally, I consider that more of a maximum for firewood), but the idea of showing the relative moisture content of green wood was an interesting one to me.

Not surprisingly, Ash topped their list.

Beech and Black Locust are tied for a close second. Of the two, I like Beech better for two reasons: Despite similar starting moisture content, Beech seems to dry more quickly. Also, Black Locust is incredibly rot resistant - I usually have some project or another where the rot resistance is worth more to me than the BTU content.

I once found a fence post in the middle of my former woods. It was rather charred but still standing. This was about in the early 1980’s.
The land l was on was once partly dairy farm.
The wooded part suffered a forest fire.
The fire was in 1888 but there was this black locust fence post still in the ground as if put there a week ago.

 

[Gordon Gould]

There’s a lot of wood species BTU charts out there on the net and in books. The majority that I have seen, rate beech at the same, or slightly higher BTU content than sugar maple.

I cut a lot in the winter, and have red and swamp maple in addition to sugar. Without the leaves I don’t differentiate. But I do have a lot of beech. The beech is my preferred wood that I have

A lot of the charts use short or local names like Beech. Are they talking Blue Beech which has slightly more BTU's than Sugar Maple or American Beech which has slightly less BTU's than sugar maple. Causes confusion.

I like to burn Beech also. Mine have Beech Bark Disease and instead of having smooth bark are loaded with cankers like this one.

BBD starts when Beech Scale insects attack the tree. They probe through the bark to get nutrients and deposit a white waxy substance on the surface. They do not directly harm the tree. This is one of mine that I thought was resistant to BBD because it reached 14" w/o developing any cankers.

But the pores through the bark made by the Beech Scale allow a fungus call Nectria to enter. The Netria fungus has orange or red flowers which appear after the Beech Scale. Same tree one year later.

The trees defense against the fungus is to wall it off and isolate it which is what the the cankers are. Eventually with enough cankers the tree is basically girdled and dies because the vertical flow of nutrients, leaf to roots, is totally or significantly blocked.

I don't cut them until I actually see decline in the tops. Some trees are resistant and are able to thrive. These are the genes I want to keep. This is the biggest Beech we have and seems to be one of the very few that is resistant.

gg

 

[John_Mc]

The Blue Beech(A.K.A. "musclewood" or American Hornbeam - not to be confused with Hophornbeam) that is on my property is generally too small for me to mess with for firewood. Though it does seem dense enough that it would burn well if I ever did cut some up.

 

[DarkBlack]

A lot of the charts use short or local names like Beech. Are they talking Blue Beech which has slightly more BTU's than Sugar Maple or American Beech which has slightly less BTU's than sugar maple. Causes confusion.

I like to burn Beech also. Mine have Beech Bark Disease and instead of having smooth bark are loaded with cankers like this one.


View attachment 876576


BBD starts when Beech Scale insects attack the tree. They probe through the bark to get nutrients and deposit a white waxy substance on the surface. They do not directly harm the tree. This is one of mine that I thought was resistant to BBD because it reached 14" w/o developing any cankers.

View attachment 876577


But the pores through the bark made by the Beech Scale allow a fungus call Nectria to enter. The Netria fungus has orange or red flowers which appear after the Beech Scale. Same tree one year later.


View attachment 876578


The trees defense against the fungus is to wall it off and isolate it which is what the the cankers are. Eventually with enough cankers the tree is basically girdled and dies because the vertical flow of nutrients, leaf to roots, is totally or significantly blocked.

I don't cut them until I actually see decline in the tops. Some trees are resistant and are able to thrive. These are the genes I want to keep. This is the biggest Beech we have and seems to be one of the very few that is resistant.


View attachment 876579


View attachment 876580


View attachment 876581


gg

Interesting.
The beech on my property seems quite healthy compared to white pine, maple, and of course ash.
Most of the BTU charts I’ve referenced, don’t specify exactly which species of beech.
I’m next to you, being in New Hampshire, so I’m a bit surprised our situation isn’t similar. There’s a lot of maples here breaking trunks/ major limbs in the last 10 years or so. They become automatic firewood candidates.
Often they are decaying in the middle.
My beech trees are healthy.
As you know, green, a beech is dryer than a maple.
We have awful humidity here in the NE, as you know. Last year rained every 4 days. That said, I believe any BTU advantage a maple might have in comparison to a beech is more than offset by the beech being a dryer wood , come fall in a rainy summer
Lots of BTU’s are wasted evaporating water from burning wood

 

[Gordon Gould]

Interesting.
The beech on my property seems quite healthy compared to white pine, maple, and of course ash.
Most of the BTU charts I’ve referenced, don’t specify exactly which species of beech.
I’m next to you, being in New Hampshire, so I’m a bit surprised our situation isn’t similar. There’s a lot of maples here breaking trunks/ major limbs in the last 10 years or so. They become automatic firewood candidates.
Often they are decaying in the middle.
My beech trees are healthy.
As you know, green, a beech is dryer than a maple.
We have awful humidity here in the NE, as you know. Last year rained every 4 days. That said, I believe any BTU advantage a maple might have in comparison to a beech is more than offset by the beech being a dryer wood , come fall in a rainy summer
Lots of BTU’s are wasted evaporating water from burning wood

I am just across the river from and north of Littleton, NH - in Waterford. It is hard to find good beech in our entire area. BBD is wide spread. But there are pockets of very nice beech. They seem to be in well proportioned Northern Hardwood Forests but, only here and there. I know of one area about 30 miles away. I don't know what the controlling factors are. Mine are typical and look like this before they reach 6".

They are hard to manage and control because they root sprout like crazy if you cut them and are very shade tolerant right from the start.

gg

 

[BackRoad]

What's affecting the Maples, and is it affecting all variants?

 

[Jstpssng]

They are hard to manage and control because they root sprout like crazy if you cut them and are very shade tolerant right from the start

That's an oft-repeated discussion.

 

[John_Mc]

As you know, green, a beech is dryer than a maple.
We have awful humidity here in the NE, as you know. Last year rained every 4 days. That said, I believe any BTU advantage a maple might have in comparison to a beech is more than offset by the beech being a dryer wood , come fall in a rainy summer
Lots of BTU’s are wasted evaporating water from burning wood

True. not only are lot of BTUs wasted, but the wood burns dirtier as well.

However, if you dry your wood properly, the starting moisture content when green is not a factor.

 

[DieselnHooters]

blue beech is a misnomer , it is actually in the birch family. I guess the name comes from its smooth greyish bark similar to a beech tree but with very distinctive ridges . it is a very potent firewood but judging from the ones on my land it never excedes 6-8 inches diameter (15-20 cm)