Poplar shingles?

[scgargoyle]

I was reading a book on the history of Salem, SC, and it had a bit about timbering in the area. They milled a poplar that was described as 70 feet to the first knot, and yielded 22,000 shingles. Two questions- is that a big poplar (I'm thinking 'yes') and is poplar good for shingles? I've only heard of cedar for shingles.

[zopi]

poplar rots pretty easy...dunno how long it'd last as shingles...splits nice tho...


atsa big poplar..

[rebocardo]

70 feet to the 1st knot, yes, I would call that big  8)  Though it is not uncommon to find them in the 40 dbh around here still.

[isawlogs]

  I'm digging a hole I think that it being the history of Salem SC , that it could be a live and learn thing , someone had to use it first to find out that there was better .. or maybe better could not be found , also could be that it was used as siding under the eaves , not much rain would get it there .
  Keep ready you might just find where they used it  ;D :P

[Gary_C]

Most likely in Salem, SC that would be Yellow Poplar or Liriodenron tuplipifera which is a different family than the Aspen poplar or Populus that we in the north think of when somebody mentions poplar. And according to the Hardwoods of North America it can reach heights of 160 ft. with diameters of 8 feet.

The durability of both is not rated very high, but yellow poplar or tulip poplar has been used more for exterior uses than the aspen poplars or cottonwoods. I would not waste my time making shingles out of any of the poplars, but if that's what I had the most of I guess it would be better than nothing.  ;D

[scgargoyle]

You're right- I'm talking about yellow poplar. I thought I'd ask, since I have a number of them on my property. It was interesting reading about how they did things in the old days. Around 1902, they bought motorized road machines to maintain the area roads. In a couple years, they gave up on those, and went back to mules to maintain the roads! Timber was a big deal back then, with 6 mills operating in a town with less than 200 people.

[thecfarm]

Kinda sounds like this small town here.I would have no idea how many mills there was here.More in the spring than late summer.They would dam up just about any brook for water power.Everything was shipped,moved in wood boxes,crates.I've seen starters boxes made out of wood for tomatoes plants.Here in Maine we have to transplant tomatoes into the ground to get any fruit.Now everything is made out of plastic.

[Dodgy Loner]

Historical accounts indicate that many, if not most, frontier homes were shingled with woods that we would consider "unsuitable" for the task.  Accounts from the northeast state that oak and ash were the common woods for splitting shingles.  Ash, of course, is no more durable than yellow-poplar.  In north Florida, pine was by far the most common choice, but cypress was a more durable option.  In the southern Applachians, oak was the most common choice, but if yellow-poplar of better quality was available, they would have used that.

The key here is that all of the woods used to make shingles were easy to split.  Riven shingles follow the grain of the wood, so they shed water more efficiently and will last much longer than the same species of wood if it were sawn.

[SAW MILLER]

I took a tour of the Adena mansion Which is a historical building here at Chillicothe ,
Ohio and was supprised to hear from our guide that the scalloped sawn shingles on the roof were yellow poplar.
  I never would have expected the house to be shingled with poplar.

They had replaced the roofing recently and used poplar because thats what was on it originally.

[ohsoloco]

Dodgy, I can see why ash would be used as shingles back when they were hand split...that is one of the nicest splitting woods I've come across.  Whenever I have to split wood into kindling for the woodstove, I always reach for the ash first if there's any in the woodpile 

[Dodgy Loner]

I've never had the good fortune to split any ash firewood because it was uncommon where I grew up.  I have split enough white oak shingles to put a roof on a small log cabin, and I can tell you one thing: when this roof rots, next time I'm using red oak! : :D

[thedeeredude]

I read in one of Saint Roy's books that split red oak is great for a shingle because the open pores channel water away  better.

[Dodgy Loner]

I read the same book.  Matter of fact, I've read all of his books.  I used white oak because it's more rot-resistant, but red oak definitely splits easier.

[thedeeredude]

I read the same book.  Matter of fact, I've read all of his books.  I used white oak because it's more rot-resistant, but red oak definitely splits easier.

I still need three of his books.  Then Ill never come out of the workshop. ;D

[srt]

The history of Poplar confuses me.  I've seen more than one piec of over one hundred year old poplar in exterior use around here.  About ten years ago we replaced porch spindles on a house in historic Cape May poplar spindles - Just like the originals that were taken off.   Although warned that we didn't think poplar would last, we did as the builder requested, and replaced them with spindles turned from the same kind of wood.  Note that the originals were still very sound, but they just had way too many coats of paint to look good to the owner and builder who was fixing up this little (huge) place.  Within three years we were habing more spindles turned as some of the new poplar ones had roted.   Now the place has changed hands again, and I don't want to track how the spindles are doing.   

What's up with poplar sometimes lasting in the out of doors?????

[Dale Hatfield]

Our  Campus has a living history area (log cabin village ) At any rate when they need to repair or replace they try and use red oak. They get cut offs from a veneer log yard  about 20 miles from here.  The cut offs  are from upgrading a log ,to clean any end check or poor felling cuts.