Cotton Wood tree

[JoeKan]

Hello,
We have a huge cotton wood in our yard that we're afraid could fall onto our house. We are going to have it cut down. My question I was wondering about is would this make for good firewood? If not, I'll keep it and use it myself, but if it will burn good, I think I'll sell it.
Thanks for the help,
Joe

[Red Dog Farms]

Was in a similar situation as you are, had a large cottonwood that the top part was dead and the trunk was near our pole barn and outddoor wood burner.

We had it taken down professionally, and advertised the trunk on Craigslist, the trunk was over 5 feet in diameter and part of it was burled. No responses on anyone wanting the trunk, if when we offered it for free. In meantime I have been cutting chunks off when I can and we use it in the woodburner. Do get some smell when burning, but then in the middle of winter I dont have the windows open. Seems to burn fine down to fine ash, wood has now aged two years. If I filled my outdoor burner with it in the morning, I would need to add some more in the evening, but heated the house just fine. Since I wasnt looking at length of burn, but more of a means of using up the wood for benefit to me it worked just fine.

Just my experience with cottonwood.
Have a great weekend.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Only about half the BTU of oak or hard wood.

Scroll down at this link for chart:
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclo...value_BTU.html

[Cabin Fever]

As Alice said, it has a low BTU content. My experience is cottonwood is very difficult to split due to its gnarly wood grain. Easy to split wood has straight grain.

[Jeff54321]

Cottonwood MUST be thoroughly dry if you are to get any heat out of it. Once it has seasoned over at least two years it burns quite fast and not all that hot. Good for Spring and Fall fires but rather disappointing in the middle of Winter.

A friend milled some into 1x6's and used it for paneling. It was quite attractive in this application.

[wwubben]

Cottonwood can be used for fuel,but it burns dirty -------sparks a lot.I have burned a lot of it.It can be used for lumber but it can not get wet.It will last for decades if protected from the weather.My grandfather built a corncrib that was framed with cottonwood in 1948 and it was still in perfect condition when we tore it down in 1982.

[Windy in Kansas]

Originally Posted by Jeff54321

A friend milled some into 1x6's and used it for paneling. It was quite attractive in this application.

A line of travel trailers used to use cottonwood for the cabinets and indeed ti was attractive.

[Marcia in MT]

A guy around here turns it into bowls and it's very attractive that way, too.

[rider]

we burn alot of cottonwood we cut the standing dead that the bark has all fallen off of and tree is white we get very good hot steady fires infact here a good white piece of cotton wood for the fire is called a hog log as they will burn all night maybe we have different cotton wood ours is hard when dead and dry but it does take along time to dry and you dont want to burn cotton wood that has laid on the ground and dryed i mean that the tree has laid on the ground and dried it is soft and nasty but the standing dead makes great wood for us

[Wayne02]

I'm sure it varies by region, but my experience with cottonwood has been:

- difficult to split
- very low btu - burns up almost instantly, requiring frequent stove refills.
- nobody wants it - except for the export people who export it to China (or somewhere) to have pallets built out of it. And they pay pennies for it.
- oftentimes have to pay someone to take it off your hands - if you can find that someone.

[brreitsma]

My experiance is that it puts out VERY LITTLE heat value.

[hunter63]

All of the above.
1 st year, won't burn, just sorta melts down/shrinks, spits alot of juice out the ends.
2nd year burns O.K. not a lot of BTU's, but does burn.
3 year burns fast, keep feeding the stove.
We use it as a "make a lot of light and don't really care if we get much heat" wood.
We save the haed wood for when it's really cold.
Split in the winter when is froze, because it just sorta butter flies open, other wise.
Good luck.

[Natural Beauty Farm]

Wish you were closer to us. I do wood carvings and love it when I find a piece. At the carving shops I pay 5 bucks a sq foot.

[ronbre]

people that have said things about softwood not being used for firewood haven't really tried to burn it in all manners..softwood is not good for an open fireplace or for an inside free standing stove..as they burn to hot and fast..but if you have an airtight outside wood boiler they are great..even aspen which is really crappy firewood can susatin a fire in an airtight wood boiler !! wouldn't use it when it is 40 below..but great for spring and fall use.

[arachyd]

Advertise pieces on sites like arachnoboards.com which cater to invertebrate hobbyists (tarantulas, scorpions, etc.). Clean wood and bark with nooks and crannies is great for creepy crawlies. Usually we use cork wood but it is very expensive. You can also contact suppliers like blackjungle.com who cater to hobbyists for exotic amphibians and reptiles. Maybe they would make a bulk purchase. Cottonwood with the bark is very good for making attractive and functional display enclosures for small animals. You can sell it in sections cut to requested sizes or you can cut it into varying lengths, take pics showing measurements and advertise it that way. Dry the pieces thoroughly to keep shipping costs down or bring a load of pieces to the nearest reptile/invertebrate show (yes there are organized shows where hobbyists meet to buy, sell and swap these critters and their supplies).