It is easy to find many differing opinions when it comes to maple firewood. This is partly because of the differences between different species of maple. Maples are usually put into two categories, hard maple and soft maple.
All maples are technically hardwoods, but some are harder than others. Hard maple usually refers to sugar maple and sometimes black maple. These are the hardest and most dense of the maples. These are also considered by many to be the best maple firewood because like other dense hardwoods, they burn long and hot. Hard maples are comparable to the oaks as far as BTU and their burning characteristics.
Soft maple usually refers to red maple and sometimes silver maple, which is sometimes called swamp maple. These maples, as you might guess from the name, are softer and less dense than hard maples. These maples don’t have as many BTU’s as hard maples but they still make good firewood. One advantage of soft maple firewood is it sometimes splits easier and dries faster.
Bigleaf maple on the Pacific coast could also be considered one of the softer maples.
Maple wood is loved by bugs so it’s best to keep it off the ground and store it in a dry place. Maple is not a wood that keeps well so its best to burn it within a year or two.
Post your questions or experience with maple firewood below.
I burn a lot of maple. Sugar maple is much preferred, as I mainly burn for cooking purposes, and it has a very nice smell. It also has ideal burning characteristics for direct grilling, and makes good coals. It tends to burn hotter and brighter than oak or hickory- similar to Ash- making it a good choice for campfires. (again, it smells really nice!) Rock maple is a good name for this wood- that’s a good description of how hard and heavy it is, lol. Due to that, I find it pretty easy to split, and because of the fine grain, it splits pretty cleanly, too. You don’t bury your axe in it, like you do with Silver maple- it either splits (with a very satisfying CRACK!) or you bounce off of it…
In between Hard and soft maple, is Norway Maple. It’s hard, and heavy like sugar maple- and splits like a dream-but doesn’t have as many btus. It IS higher in heat content than soft maple, though. Has a similar pleasant smelling smoke to hard maple as well- making it a decent substitute for cooking purposes. It’s not a native species here, but a lot has been planted over the years and it’s spread.
Silver maple, in my experience, is ideal for recreational fires. It burns hot and bright- sometimes a bit TOO hot. The smalls are perfect for kindling and tinder- and the trees drop plenty. Best of all, it dries super fast. On the down side, it can get very stringy and tough- especially in big yard trees. Making splitting by hand an exhausting chore- it traps your axe frequently, and almost requires you to chop all the way through it… OR it can split perfectly fine. Not a good choice for grilling or BBQ, because it burns so hot and fast. (makes regulating the heat a problem, and the coals burn out quickly.) For heating, you’ll just need a lot of it. Given space, it’ll grow quickly into a huge tree with a big canopy.
I have gotten a few pieces of Red maple, and like it better than silver. Seems to be straighter grained, as well- so it splits easier. Roughly the same btu content.
All are VERY plentiful in the northeastern US and Canada, and easy to get.