Is Tulip timber valuable?

[Don P]

I've gotten the empty drums of "sourwood" honey. Quite a range, they apparently grow in Nicaragua too.

[Ron Wenrich]

On value, when I first started in the sawmill end of the business, we sawed a great deal of tulip poplar.  It was more valuable than red oak.  White oak still had value as veneer, but the sawn lumber wasn't sought after.  When I first went into the procurement end in 1976, I was told not to buy red oak.  We sold it as casket lumber.

Markets turned around in the late '70s and early '80s when the open grained species, like oak and ash, became more popular.  A lot of this was due to the Boomers starting new houses, and the lower cost of the open grained species.  Eventually, the open grained species took off, and closed end species like maple, hickory and tulip poplar were no longer show woods.  Poplar is still used in interior furniture parts.  I remember helping to grade 16/4 tulip poplar that was used in Steinway pianos. 

Although tulip poplar doesn't command as high of a price as in the past, it still has a strong market.  On a per acre basis, tulip poplar will hold more usable timber than species like oak or maple.  That's due to the straightness of the tree.  A really nice red oak may have 3 usable 16' logs (many don't), where the poplar will grow 3-4 usable 16' logs.  As an added bonus, tulip poplar is resistant to many tree diseases and pests, at least in this part of the country.

[BrandonTN]

The most common timber tree in western NC. Thanks for the hardwood timber value/product use history there Ron. Not necessarily the highest value/bdft but the highest overall volume!

[lxskllr]

Tulip poplar makes the best survey stakes imo. Smooth finish, Light and strong as long as there aren't any defects. Oak is more tolerant to defects as far as getting them in the ground goes.

[Ianab]

Although tulip poplar doesn't command as high of a price as in the past, it still has a strong market.  On a per acre basis, tulip poplar will hold more usable timber than species like oak or maple.  That's due to the straightness of the tree.

Predicting future value needs a crystal ball. What wood will be "in fashion" in ~50 year time? Thing is that we know Tulip Poplar is a decent timber tree, it should always have "some" reasonable value and established markets, and the size and form of the tree might make up for some lower bd/ft values. 

Either way, it's on the list of "good trees for future timber", with the honey and hummingbirds thrown in as a bonus in the meantime.  

[SwampDonkey]

A generation ago you couldn't sell sugar maple unless it was firewood. In the late 60's a pulp market opened up. In the late 70's there was some local demand for tool wood from maple, it was a bonanza. There was big maple and good money to be made. There's still no mill in NB that makes veneer with it. There's more aspen veneer made here than any other species. Strawberry boxes. I've toured a strawberry box mill before, back 35 years ago. Just goes to show the changes and also regional differences.