Cottonwood

[sumpnz]

Is there anything cottonwood is marketable for?  I know it sucks as firewood, and aside from pallets there is not much lumber potential.

I have half a dozen fairly large ones that we just had to cut down.  I'd like to find something other than hoping someone responds to a Craigslist add for free logs.

[230RN]

Whatcha going to replace them with?  After living in the Appalachian hardwood forest (NY), where trees grew like weeds, when I came out to Colorado I started to regard trees as precious and valuable things.

Funny, I was going to write something about the cottonwood fluffballs flying around a week or so ago making me think it was snowing for a second.

I noticed cottonwoods are smart enough to not start budding out until after the wet branch-breaking snows of early spring.  Imported trees start budding too early and get punished for it.

[MillCreek]

Now that the local PNW paper mills are all pretty much out of business, I cannot really think of a local commercial use for cottonwood.  Crown Zellerbach had some cottonwood groves here in Snohomish county to feed the paper mill in Everett. 

[just Warren]

http://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=35542.0

Toilet paper, framing, scaffolding, indoor beams, flooring...

[charby]

You use it like you would pine logs.

[Brad Johnson]

Is there anything cottonwood is marketable for? 

Continued success and business welfare of the antihistamine industry?

Brad

[Scout26]

http://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=35542.0

Toilet paper, framing, scaffolding, indoor beams, flooring...

Ship 'em to fIstful, he could use them as basement jacks...

[230RN]

I remember it stinks when you cut it.  Don't know if it stinks after curing.

[Mannlicher]

I have a couple of bit cottonwood trees.  I burn any debris in my fire pit.  Makes a nice winter fire.

[Larry Ashcraft]

I remember it stinks when you cut it.  Don't know if it stinks after curing.

Never noticed that, but elm stinks when you cut it.  That's probably what you're thinking of.

I cut a lot of cottonwood for firewood, because we have 40 acres of southern Colorado river bottom and lots of dead trees from the drought.  I use cottonwood because: A) That's what we have.  Hardwoods aren't exactly in abundance in Colorado, and B)  It actually burns cleanly and quite well.  A couple of splits will last an hour or so in the wood stove.  The rare hardwoods we get are Siberian elm (not so good) and Mulberry, Ash, or Black Locust (very good, but rare).  The hardwoods are for "overnighters" here.

My theory is that the cottonwoods here grow slowly and more dense because of the elevation.  I have trees at least 120 years old on the place.  And, I recently found out, you can actually use cottonwood for meat smoking.  The taste is pretty good.

[sumpnz]

I'll be posting the logs on Craigslist for free.  Hopefully someone takes them.

[charby]

Never noticed that, but elm stinks when you cut it.  That's probably what you're thinking of.

I cut a lot of cottonwood for firewood, because we have 40 acres of southern Colorado river bottom and lots of dead trees from the drought.  I use cottonwood because: A) That's what we have.  Hardwoods aren't exactly in abundance in Colorado, and B)  It actually burns cleanly and quite well.  A couple of splits will last an hour or so in the wood stove.  The rare hardwoods we get are Siberian elm (not so good) and Mulberry, Ash, or Black Locust (very good, but rare).  The hardwoods are for "overnighters" here.

My theory is that the cottonwoods here grow slowly and more dense because of the elevation.  I have trees at least 120 years old on the place.  And, I recently found out, you can actually use cottonwood for meat smoking.  The taste is pretty good.

FYI, cottonwood is a hardwood. Hardwood is defined as a deciduous tree. Softwood is defined as conifer trees.

[zxcvbob]

I got some free cottonwood firewood (unsplit) a few years ago.  I think I got more heat from the exercise splitting it than from burning it.  It was very difficult to split (very soft and stringy, and the axe would embed and get stuck), and when I burned it it seemed to have negative BTU's -- it soaked up all the heat from the good wood I had to mix with it to keep it going, and sent all that heat up the stovepipe.

[sumpnz]

I got some free cottonwood firewood (unsplit) a few years ago.  I think I got more heat from the exercise splitting it than from burning it.  It was very difficult to split (very soft and stringy, and the axe would embed and get stuck), and when I burned it it seemed to have negative BTU's -- it soaked up all the heat from the good wood I had to mix with it to keep it going, and sent all that heat up the stovepipe.

Cottonwood absorbs moisture from the air.  So if it's at all humid, or it gets rained on, it'll probably quickly go from bone dry to sopping wet throughout in a hurry.  That's what makes it such a crappy firewood.  If you can get it actually dry it's not so bad, but short of a kiln that's difficult.  I've heard of people stacking it in a weather tight she'd with a fanto circulate air that did OK burning it.

[Larry Ashcraft]

FYI, cottonwood is a hardwood. Hardwood is defined as a deciduous tree. Softwood is defined as conifer trees.

Classified as a hardwood, yes, but pine has more BTUs per cord.  Cottonwood is of the poplar family.  Another member of the poplar family is Aspen, which we have a lot of.  Aspen's only saving grace is, it will burn when green.

It was very difficult to split (very soft and stringy, and the axe would embed and get stuck),

It actually splits nicely when dry.  Our average rainfall here is around 12", and our humidity is usually around 15%, so it dries out easily here.

[Jim147]

I have thousands of cottonwoods. You want standing dead it is usually dry. It make a nice fire but does not put out the heat of oak or osage orange.