Fastest growing firewod

Idly contemplating turning a patch of woodland into a firewood supply. Once the suitable stuff there has been used what might be a good tree to be planting? Not keen on waiting until the 23rd century for a nice big oak tree. I like a mix of soft and hardwood so not fussed about whats what.

Stoner to the thread, Stoner to the thread.

According to Countryfile at the weekend, willow

Willow.

Isn’t willow more suitable for special boilers etc rather than just chucking on the fire/woodburner?

Willow is a horrible firewood, takes a long time to dry and spits and pops like buggery with very little heat. It is, however, OK as a source of woodchip for boilers as mentioned on Countryfile and it does grow very fast. If you are looking for a fast growing OKish firewood then Alder would be a good choice, especially if your ground is a bit damp. Probably the fastest growing proper hardwood and will burn when still pretty green. However, I would also be planting something like chestnut which will take a few more years to get to a size ready for coppicing, but is a far superior wood. Get enough of them in that you can rotate the coppice every 15 years and you will be set for life. The Alder will be ready in 5-10 so plant a load of that to get you going in the meantime.

Doesn’t Stoner use Poplar?

Black poplar goes quick and can be pollarded very easily. It’s not bad for burning. Alder is also very quick.

Ash is a slower option but a nice wood to cut, split and burn.

In my experience, the quicker it grows, the worse it burns and the nastier the trees… Poplar and Alder have huge leaves making an impenetrable canopy that makes the ground uninhabitable for anything else – I’m in the process of clearing all the alder from my wood and replacing with ash and birch for a lighter canopy. It is paying dividends for ferns, grasses etc and the hazels grow much better…

Alder is a bloody weed so maybe in the right place it would be one option. Ground is damp but has everything growing from Oak and Chestnut to Blackthorn and Scots pine as well. Plenty of Hazel.

I burn a lot of willow. I can’t tell the difference between it and anything else.

Poplar is another fast growing option. A mix of poplar and willow is a good bet.

Our sanguiphilic northerner is quite right, I coppice poplar for my fuel.

Biomass production of willow for fuel usually revolves around some serious acreage, and mechanical harvesting and processing (into chip or pellet).

Willow varieties are used because of their fast massing. Viminalis Salix, or a Q83 hyrbid are quite commonly used. I have planted both varieties in my orchard. Originally as an exercise in fuel production, but after I bought my coppice, I now just keep the willow as habitat and for the production of hedging heathering for a hedge-laying friend, and also for producing willow whips for other friends as and when they wish to plant up some screening or in one case some basket weaving stock.

Willow whips planted up exactly 4yrs ago

And taken again this morning for you

After 4yrs of careful cultivation, it’s not what you call log fuel.

Im not quite so dismissive of Willow as a log fuel as welsh is. Before I had my coppice, I used to get wet willow from a farmer/wood fuel seller friend of mine for £20/tonne. If you have the space and the time, and a woodburner/furnace as I do, it’s a pretty good fuel as it can be burned fast and hard. All those big old willows along field ditch lines need pollarding regularly enough. No one wants the material it produces. It’s “free” fuel if you know the right people.

My coppice on the other hand used was a standard plantation of poplar.
Here it is prior to clear-felling in 1999.

Here it is 2006 as it regens

And this is 2012, my first harvest year of 1/10 of the 3.5acre plot

Poplar can be coppiced quite readily on a 7-10yr cycle. From each stump/stool it will produce 2-5 new growths which can mass to anything from 4″ to 9″ in diameter over that time.

I like it as a fuel wood because it grows straight so is easy to move and process. Splits v v easily, and can be burnt hard and fast to maintain a healthy flue gas temp, and heat a furnace tank quickly with little supervision. I use it in the wood burners too with no problem. Yes it burns through quickly, so does require a lot of refuelling, but the wood costs me nowt so it doesnt make my wallet wince when I do.

A bit of brief report there Stoner. 😆

I’m going for a Pulitzer.

I was disappointed that there was no graphs.

stoner…I’m considering killing you and stealing your life.
nothing to worry about mind, just idle thoughts while I do my boring IT job……maybe 😈

Stoner, how long did you season the willow for? We’ve got one we need to take down in the garden.

You’ll need to protect the new growth from deer for three years or so, either with fencing or with a Very Large Cat. And with the latter, you’ll need good fences anyway.

I was disappointed that there was no graphs.

Coincidentally, since the sun is shining today, I’ve just been out to the wood store to bring in a tonne of logs to the boiler room to see us well into January, and to refill the pellet hopper with the last of last years pallet. I placed an order for a tonne of pellets this morning. My usual supplier is now offering a generic A1/EN+ rated pellet for as little as £210 a tonne. The Verdo (premium brand) pellets are still £260 a tonne. But both are the same specification.

Fundamentally these incredibly low prices are appearing as a function of the unseasonably warm winter continental Europe is experiencing. As the UK is a now a net importer of pellets from Europe, their surplus of supply is pushing prices down over here. We anticipate prices shooting up across the board once the rest of Europe starts getting cold. By how much? It’s difficult to tell, but we’d anticipate an increase of at least £20 per pallet, but potentially more.

Although pellet prices havent dropped as much as oil prices over the last 12-18 months, since I first got my pellet boiler 5yrs ago, prices have stayed the same or fallen.

any excuse for a graph:

I get free access to as much willow as I can carry, from my local cricket bat manufacturer. I can pick up mature trunk 2 – 3ft rounds that are the perfect length for my woodburner, and split them with my big splitting maul. Yes, it is very wet when fresh, but it dries well, burns well, and is FREE!!!!!!

I also coppice my Hazel hedge for a mix of kindling sticks (0.5-1″) and larger logs. Mixed in with some cherry wood from a fallen tree on my boundary, and some foraged Silver Birch, I do pretty well for free. 8)

mrchrispy – if you’d consider taking my cold too, you can have it.

ned – the willow would have been in cord around the field for 12-18m, then I would process and store for another 12-18m. I wont burn anything with more than 20% moisture. It’s a waste of fuel. I’ll keep it longer to season further, and buy and burn pellets instead.

Stoner – looking at the tyre on your chopping block – does that stop logs flying as you split them?

yes.

Interested in this also, as i have just bought a house and 2.5 acres of woodland on the mid wales border thats been left idle for about 15 years and needs some serious work. I discounted Willow as firewood for the reasons welshfarmer listed. My stove also does my heating and hot water.

A neighbour of my FiL chopped down a couple of conifers (Leylandii I think). I’ve kept the logs dry for a couple of years with a view to burning them in the chimenea. Someone has since told me that its resinous nature can make it a bit smoky and “lively”. Is this true?

A neighbour of my FiL chopped down a couple of conifers (Leylandii I think). I’ve kept the logs dry for a couple of years with a view to burning them in the chimenea. Someone has since told me that its resinous nature can make it a bit smoky and “lively”. Is this true?

Leylandii is excellent firewood once dry. It can take a while to season, but as it burns quite hot (if burnt correctly), the resinous isn’t a problem, as it burns off.

In most cases, chimneys tarring up is due to damp wood being burnt – just make its dry.

Without wishing to disagree with that amazing post by Stoner, the OP says he wants to use some existing woodland. I’ve been trying to grow willow in an existing wood for the last 3 years, with zero success. Unless you clear fell all of the existing trees, I don’t think there’s enough light (and possibly water) for them to grow. I’ve tried whips directly in the wood, and starting them in pots in the garden (they grow fine until transplanted).
At the same time I’ve been planting silver birch and chestnut which are doing fine.
Maybe I’m using the wrong type?

any excuse for a graph:

At the same time I’ve been planting silver birch and chestnut which are doing fine.

It very much depends on the ground conditions, but silver birch would be on my list. Just make sure that you don’t try and keep it too long or it’ll rot before you get chance to burn it.

I’ve been trying to grow willow in an existing wood for the last 3 years, with zero success. Unless you clear fell all of the existing trees, I don’t think there’s enough light (and possibly water) for them to grow. I’ve tried whips directly in the wood, and starting them in pots in the garden (they grow fine until transplanted).

I had the same experience. I terraced steep escarpment and planted rows of Flanders Red (Salix Alba Vitellina x Fragilis) with a view to building spiled banks along my brook. 3 years later and they’re just lanky, spindly whips that have grown very little.

In a well irrigated open field, they grow like the clappers, but not much good in shaded woodland.

In a well irrigated open field, they grow like the clappers, but not much good in shaded woodland.

Indeed, if I wanted to infill, Id stick to sweet chestnut. Longer rotation, but useful timber that can be harvested for railings as well as fuel

Yes to sweet chestnut, it seems to really like my conditions. I suggest the op tries a few different types to find what works.

If I had the room, I’d try a few Eucalyptus, mixed with native species like hazel and ash in a coppice rotation.

On the eucalyptus, it grows very quickly but can take an age to dry due to its oily nature; two years is best. You’re not confusing Alder with Elder are you OP, Alder is a majestic river side tree in my opinion. I’d be inclined to coppice what you have and plant whips in-between if there’s space. Removing competition is key to getting trees started, including grass and weeds. If you have a local tree nursery you’ll notice they’ll rotavate between rows to keep vegetation down.

**** ash every time. You can burn it green and grows quick. Mind you, I wouldn’t bother planting trees for firewood – you’ll be waiting forever and you get **** all for it. Better off just buying it in ~£1,000 an artic load which would do you for a few years maybe. Use the land for growing timber for craftwork or building materials e.g. sweet chesnut coppicing for fence hurdles or softwood for joists – much better markup and more useful.

as always – depends on the soil. Whats growing there at the moment, and what age is it?

you could look at some of the CCF techniques, especially something traditional like retaining standards over coppice. I recall some work a few years ago on mixed planting in poor soils to include some red alder, so you get a nice nitrogen boost to bring on the surrounding crop.

Depends on your site entirely, ground condition, soil, height, aspect, weather and many more variables. Everything will burn, some just needs more time to do so effectively.

Sycamore is the one tree to succeed anywhere – it will grow fast, split easy, burn well and coppice. Lots of people are quite anti sycamore, which is silly, massively under rated fuel wood and can be a massive food source for wildlife.

Alder is a good fast growing tree, coppices well, thrives on wetter sites. Downside is it can’t be kept for too long as firewood, goes quite powdery beyond 15 months we find.

Sweet chestnut, another good coppice tree, not so fast growing but good wood fuel, easy to split.

Poplar, pretty well covered by Stoner. Used for matchsticks, so you can be fairly certain it will burn. Black poplar is a pain to split though, claimed 2 blades and a valve block on the old log splitter.

Ash, fine if you’ve got it, but think it still has planting restrictions.

Softwood wise, been impressed with the growth of our hemlock, easy splitting as very clean stem, minimal brash. Could be a good nurse/shelter crop. Majority of softwoods are quick to get away compared to hardwoods anyway. Larch we have found to burn well, but also has restrictions currently.

Finally, there are grants out there, particularly for new planting. These generally contribute towards planting and fencing. Only aware of Glastir as I am in Wales, they aren’t great for the forestry sector, but I for new plantings as you can recoup some cost.

Or eucalyptus is touted as the fast growing future proof tree for a warming climate.

Coyote – Member

A neighbour of my FiL chopped down a couple of conifers (Leylandii I think). I’ve kept the logs dry for a couple of years with a view to burning them in the chimenea. Someone has since told me that its resinous nature can make it a bit smoky and “lively”. Is this true?

It burns just fine! 😉

Question, what’s the purpose of this wood burning fashion? I don’t get it.