Is Beech the Best Firewood?

[@scottcampbell8482]

Thank you for confirming my take on beech. I have 50 acres of woods and my forester has marked most of it for cutting. I love it for firewood for all the reasons you listed. I have a good mix of ash (of course), lots of beech, ironwood, with some maple and cherry. I only take cherry that is problematic as I'm managing it for timber. I do have a hydraulic splitter but even so beech shreds. However, I use all of that for kindling. I have two small issues with beech. When cured the bark often separates and makes another mess to clean. The other is when limbing a beech it usually takes way too long since the branches go all over the place and have multiple Y's making clearing the area time consuming. I've been spraying all the stumps with glyphosate to prevent rhizomes, but recently thought about letting some go to reproduce for firewood. Regardless I love the way it burns and appreciate your great articles.

[@ForestHogOutdoors]

Great info, I won't be pulling any Beech stumps on my property anymore. Thanks!

[@pauldentler7127]

I have beech, red oak, white oak, hard maple, ash & cherry on my 10 acres. Of all of them beech is my goto firewood because it seasons so much faster except for ash which I don't have much of anyway. I burn mostly beech & oak. By the end of May every year I'm seasoning beech for the coming heating season in a different stack apart from oak, this because beech seasons in my open field stacks within 4 months, oak requires a full year or it sizzles inside the woodstove creating creosote. But yeah, a hydraulic splitter for beech is almost a must unless you don't mind being a glutton for punishment, particulrly for beech that has the bark disease cankers. When I put beech in the woodstove it ignites quicker than oak that still has bark on it, this because there's always moisture under the oak bark if it's had less than a full year of seasoning in my open sun drenched stacks. It's always nice seeing the new beech suckers come in but boy it's slow growing stuff. Even at ten years old a beech is only 3-4" in diameter, but so much of it already has the bark disease that I take it down anyway & just let the clear bark stuff grow. Before I bought this property it has never been timbered. I have half a dozen white oak that is older than the country here in western NYS.

[@mikeratkowski3506]

Very nice job you should have more views

[@MrFarmboy151]

I have some of these in the corner of my place and couldn’t figure out what these ugly things were! Thanks!

[@JesseLJohnson]

I cut a bit of it but nothing like ash. The ash borer has basically taken all of it. On my property its made up of mostly maple, cherry, ash, beech, and hophornbeam/ironwood whatever. There is some other species but that is most of what I have here so its basically what I am cutting. I usually only take down dead trees usually leave them alone if they are good and healthy unless they are getting to big or close to the house or buildings. I did just have a couple huge hard maples taken out but I paid a tree service for it. One was up in the lines from the telephone poles I wasn't gonna touch it and the other was right next to my body shop but could have also hit the garage attached to my house or my house. That one they picked with a crane the other one they went up in a bucket truck. Those 2 produced a lot of firewood and they needed to go. The one by the telephone poles had about a 12 inch diameter hollow section at the but end starting at the ground going up 5-6 foot. Couldn't see that till it was cut into but it was constantly dropping branches, large sections already had the bark drop off. They were both pretty damn big though I had to noodle them up to 6-8 pieces or there was no way I would be able to move it around and get it up on my splitter.

[@yellowhammergenetics]

Ash borer has wiped out all the ash on place as well.

[@DriftWander770]

Yo C/O! What are your thoughts on yellow birch

[@thetimberlandinvestor]

I love yellow birch. Its fast growing for a hardwood, relatively high value, and has a beautiful cherry-colored heartwood. The only problem is that it becomes very branchy very quick, so it has to be grown in tight densities.

[@ajp368]

i have 5 acres in upstate ny , 3 acres of which are poplar, box elder, and black locust on the property ,would it be feasible to plant beech or would the disease get to the tree before i can use it for firewood in the future

[@aaronlohr8477]

Buy resistant trees

[@shawnmullinsoutdoors]

Does the disease turn the bark brown? Ever beech I’ve seen is grey.

[@thetimberlandinvestor]

These beech are grey too, but when beech bark gets wet, it looks more brown.

[@joshuawray5917]

i log and we send beech to mills all the time. they do use it for some things. pallet lumber for sure

[@thetimberlandinvestor]

Yeah, in areas where beech bark disease is less ubiquitous, beech can still produce usable (though lower value) lumber. In the northeast, though, virtually 100% of beech is pulpwood quality.

[@aaronlohr8477]

It warps too much for anything that needs to look good

[@annaaron3510]

Beech here in Maine never grows more than 8"-12" DBH because of disease. Great firewood BUTT you use what grows in the woodlot. High BTU species ( beech, hard maple, locust, etc...) do n't grow or do well in coastal woodlands. Coastal Maine has mostly softwoods, and low BTU hardwoods ( Red Maple, Paper Birch ). No Beech.

[@annaaron3510]

Forgot to mention the beech disease is "beech bark disease" with no known cure. Sad.

[@brianroche3635]

Beech splits very easy...not difficult

[@gwp1ohio]

but to split beech by hand.... Noooooo just miserable! lol I have some massive Beech on my SE Ohio property. I enjoy looking at them too much to ever cut one...

[@shawnmullinsoutdoors]

I’ve split it by hand and if it’s straight grain it just pops apart but if the are any twist in it then it can be stubborn.