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[hondaracer2oo4]

I was wondering about others experience's burning Silver Maple. The graple load of firewood I got last fall (October 2012) Had about 1/2 Silver maple, 1/4 american beech and 1/4 white birch. I have always like burning Beech, it seems to dry reasonably quick and burns hot. The white birch also seems to dry out fairly quick and burns hot but doesn't last real long. The Silver Maple I just seem to HATE. It appears to not dry out well in round form(not split under 10 inches) and even after it seems to have dried out it doesn't last very long at all, almost the same amount of time as the white birch! I have been burning mostly Silver Maple since starting this year on October 28th and have been through about 3.5 cords. I can't wait to to move on to my grapple I got spring 2013 that has a lot of beech, oak and ash.

[Wood Nutt]

Two kinds of trees I generally avoid cutting into firewood are Cottonwood and Maple, for the reasons you state.  My same experience with both of them.

[racnruss]

I own a small tree service and I just give away the wood from tree removal. 

Some people may not want Maple but people with boilers usually aren't picky when its free and dumped at their house.  Cottonwood I can't even give away, That just ends up on a big burn pile.

[BoilerHouse]

My load of logs usually contain 80% sugar (hard) maple and is is great to burn, throws off lots of heat and has a nice bed of coals when burnt.  Silver maple is a different species and my experience is that it burns like soft "hardwoods' like willow or poplar, quick heat but no lasting BTU's..  I would burn it if a tree fell on my property but I would be real upset if I paid for half a load of this stuff.

[Wood Nutt]

Boilerhouse, Agree, hard maple is a different story.  We don't have that around here, but I have worked with it in the wood shop.  I think that is what they make bowling alley lanes out of, so if it can take that abuse, you know its hard and would make good firewood. 

The only good I remember about silver maple was a kid the neighbor had a huge one in their yard and the helicopter seeds were fun to play with!  But my parents hated that tree because it broadcast those little helicopters everywhere.

[doow14]

yea hate to pay for soft maple or box elder{same family}but I never pass it up when I can go get it,does fine in the milder times,keep all the primo wood for dead winter.I buy some wood when I have to,they always say its a real good mixed hardwood,usually end up with a bout 80% silver or poplar.When you can get it yourself its nice too know what your getttin.I look at like if the softer wood is all I can get for now just get more of it,less quality wood s better than none at all.Stay warm Dwight

[dukethebeagle]

cut it and stack it standing up without splitting it.water will run out of it.a neighbor would do this with green poplar and it would dry out remarkably quick

[hondaracer2oo4]

Duke, thats quite the interesting concept!

[slimjim]

And it works!

[d conover]

I would be upset if I found I had paid for silver maple. A few years ago a friend gave me a large silver maple to cut up out of his yard. and free was too much!!!

I found it would burn faster than I could split it.  I ended up loading it back on my trailer and dumping the rounds in a big gully.

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[doow14]

grandpappy told when he was young they always set rounds on the ends for a while then flip them over and hand split said it would split a lot easier.