Logging and sawing Poplar trees (aspen) with pictures.

[sailorman]

Popular or Aspen, is widely used in our area as a paint grade trim material. When I built our house twelve yrs ago we used it for all the trim. For paint grade trim its better than pine due to the generally clear wood and knots that dont bleed through. The wood machines great, no tear out, knots dont bleed through paint if sealed and using good quality paint. The grain raises a little when first coat applied but quick sandpaper swipe will knock downthe grain.  It was and still is used as a secondary word for furniture. It is a great utlity wood for the shop as well.

[beenthere]

sailorman
Sounds like you are talking about Yellow poplar (generally clear wood...) rather than aspen.

No such wood as popular.

[PC-Urban-Sawyer]

...
No such wood as popular.

But some woods are quite popular  :D

Herb

[thecfarm]

sailorman,close enough,most of us know what you mean. Most of us can't spell either or press the wrong keys too.  :(

[Stephen1]

It will be good for the white wood in cabinet frames so you should be able to deal the white wood. I think you have cut it just in time if not a bit late in it's lifetime hence the brownish heart. I am hoping some other people in here pipe for the reason for the brownish wood.
Stephen

[Solomon]

You just taught me something therr WDH.

[thecfarm]

WDH is a smart guy when it comes to wood. Have to watch him though,he will get you to try something called grits. He thinks it something to eat.  :D

[Solomon]

I'm oringinaly from Northern Maine, lived here on the Coast of Virginia since 76' .  I happen to love Grits.
Niel Young ain't got $&%# on a Southern Man.  I may have been born a Yankee but I've gotta tell ya,  Theese southern gentelmen have taught me many a thing.

[grweldon]

After living in Michigan for the first 20 years of my life, I settled in Georgia after my 4-year stint in the Army.  It took me quite a while to get used to the "charm" of the south.  Never did get used to grits, much rather have potatos of any kind, but...  I call Alabama my home now and I'm quite happy with the choice.  I have become quite "cold intolerant".  Again, for the record, I'm still "grit" intolerant!  Sorry WDH!

[Solomon]

Not to worry Gweld, I haven't lost my love of some northern knowledge either.   I love Mince Meat Pie, Fiddle Heads, Brown Bread, Moxie,   Milk Toast , Dandilion Greens and My late Grand'ma , God rest her soul, made a Yankee Pot Roast that would make your taste buds dance a waltz in 5/4 time across you tongue and messagge your tonsils on the way down.  (I have the recepie by the way).
   If I were half the Sawyer as she was a cook,  I'd be a wealthy man!

[grweldon]

Dandilion greens are a northern thing?  My grandma made them, she was from Kentucky.  I always thought it was a southern thing, but any good southerner will tell you that Kentucky isn't really the south!  In any case, dandilion greens taste like dirt, just like collards and spinich!

Milk toast is right up there with grits in my book!

Yankee pot roast... to borrow a southern phrase... "them's good eatin'"...

Well, we better knock this off or the powers that be will be moving this to the FOOD forum!

[Riggs]

And yet another thread turns to food..... :D :D

[chevytaHOE5674]

My neighbor cleared out a spot in the woods for his house, barn, and chicken coop. The land was probably 90% quaking aspen, so he sawed it all up into 1x and 2x construction materials and used it to build his entire house and chicken coop, and most of the barn. If you keep it out of the weather its a good building material.

[cutterboy]

I think you have cut it just in time if not a bit late in it's lifetime hence the brownish heart. I am hoping some other people in here pipe for the reason for the brownish wood.
Stephen

Stephen, a little more information on that brownish wood. For that Aspen sawing I did last week I cut down two trees with a total of six logs. The pictures of the brownish wood came from the first log I sawed which was the second log up the first tree. None of the other logs had that brown wood, not even the butt log of the same tree. Well, they all had a little.....around the knots and along the pith, but nothing like that first log.

[Bandmill Bandit]

makes great flooring and paneling too. Heres a couple of pictures of the most recent aspen I milled on the weekend.



 



 



 



 

the Redish/brownish heart as well as other similar color highlights throughout the log seems to be from air getting access to that area. I have a tree manual on order from the Alberta sustainable resources oofice that is supposed to have comprehensive information on ALL the hard woods trees that grow in the province. I will share info when I get it, if it has that info.   

[MReinemann]

Built my deck out of it 2years ago.  Still waiting for it to turn to dust.  I stained it of course so far so good.  It likes to move when it dries, may want to put some weight on top of the pile while it's drying.  Love milling it grain is nice and it's easy to cut.
-Matt

[Corley5]

My house is built mostly from big tooth aspen.  Good stuff.  We cut the trees on day one, sawed on day two and nailed them up on the third day.  The material was still straight that way.  It will twist and warp as it dries

[WmFritz]

      I cut a few big tooth aspens down when I was making room for a cabin. All of them looked healthy but, the hearts were all hollow.  After seeing these pictures,  I'm going to have to try milling some to use for paneling.  Thanks for posting these.

[Okrafarmer]

I grew up in the aspen-maple-balsam fir forest of central Maine. Ok, we had other things too, like white, yellow, and gray birch, white pine, hackmatack, beech, an occasional NRO, and hemlock. My dad always considered aspen a trash tree, and referred to it as the biggest weed on our property. We cut a lot for pulp. I nearly lost my life felling aspen when I hung one aspen up in another, and forgot about the first one when I cut the second one.  :-\

[petefrom bearswamp]

Matt,
I grew up in Delanson and my brother Al still lives in the house i grew up in.
I have sawed a little Aspen, both Quaking and Bigtooth and it saws nice and second the fact that it makes very good paintable trim.
As far as firewood I second the gofer comment as you can get worn out making repeated trips between the wood pile and the stove.
Pete

[cutterboy]

Hey Bandit, nice lumber and thanks for the pictures. What size is that big cant and what are you going to do with it?

[cutterboy]

My dad always considered aspen a trash tree

That's what my dad told me, except he called it poplar. That is the main reason I never sawed any of my aspen till now. I only sawed it after reading old aspen posts in this forum. I'm glad I did. Thank you Forestry Forum!!!

[Okrafarmer]

My dad always considered aspen a trash tree

That's what my dad told me, except he called it poplar. That is the main reason I never sawed any of my aspen till now. I only sawed it after reading old aspen posts in this forum. I'm glad I did. Thank you Forestry Forum!!!

My dad also called it poplar. No one I know actually calls it aspen in Maine, but I guess that is the true name of it. It is a member of the poplar family. Most of the people I knew called it popple. I really don't know why, but it is widely called popple in Maine. I guess for the same reason okra is often called okre in South Carolina.

[Migal]

  Popular is just that glad red oak and cedar is quite popular in my area  8) okay we got to much YP IMO lol

[Okrafarmer]

Let's remember, people, yellow poplar is a totally different tree. Not related. Not a true poplar.

I need a macro key that says that.