Black Walnut... I get no respect, I tell ya!

[tripledog]

There has been a lot of logging being done in our town, primarily Black Walnut trees. I was cutting some tops at a friends house today, and I had three other folks approach me to tell me that they have a bunch that I would be welcome to as well. I thought they were going to gripe about the noise of my chainsaw... I was so wrong! They just want the stuff gone. Some of these people have family members that heat with wood, but they have no interest in Walnut. I have already cut and split about 30 face cord, and have had about 3 times that amount offered to me. Is this stuff not safe to burn, or are people just lazy? Pretty good for me, as all of my harvest has been within 2 miles of my home. Good to know that this 53 year old guy can still get wood. (DOH!)

[hublake]

I don't know the condition of the trees, but if there is anything that can be used as saw logs, walnut is to valuable to be used as firewood.

[DohcBikes]

Valuable. So you mean its worth more pieces of paper than the warmth it provides. Some people find value in things other than printed money. The question is whether it is safe to burn.

Yes. Tons of people burn black walnut. It grows like weeds in some areas.

[hublake]

I have seen whole walnut trees sold for thousands of dollars if there are logs that can be used for veneer. Walnut is one of the finest furniture woods there is

[atc007]

No veneer in tops :) I would keep piling it up Tripledog! And yes,,people are lazy!!

[tripledog]

The butt logs (yeah it sounds funny, but that is what the valuable section of the tree is called) have been taken. Some local Amish guys have been logging people's yards in town, and they actually skid the logs with horses. They usually won't pay more than $500 per tree, while other logger's are paying up to 10 times that amount. However, most loggers won't futz with yard trees, due the the common occurrence of hardware imbedded in the tree. I have been burning this stuff for years, and have had no problem with it as long as it is dry. I have a lot of friends that want firewood, but they want it cut, split, and delivered for free. I am not in the firewood business. I don't cut cut firewood because I enjoy doing so. I cut firewood because I enjoy staying warm. I have a propane fired baseboard hot water heating system that I last used in 1999. Back then propane was 99 cents a gallon, and it cost me over $400 to heat my 1830's farm tenant house to 65 degrees for a mere 10 days! Sure will be nice to get my log splitter fixed, as I have split all of this the year's wood so far the old fashioned way, with a splitting maul.