# "Mulberry is weird"



## sage_morgan (Dec 18, 2005)

We got a lot of mulberry in our last pickup load of split wood. It doesn't burn worth a darn and it's heavier than crap. The burning, of course, is the issue. DH mentioned that he thought it was still wet (not dried out sufficiently) because of how it is burning.

The guy seems like a good guy; He and his son brought us wood 5 weeks ago. Last weekend the boy brought us another load. mulberry seems to be 1/3 to 1/2 of the load. 

So I called him and said it wasn't burning very well at all. and he said well, this stuff was in logs for two years and he hasn't had any other complaints. Also he can't do anything about it this Saturday but he mentioned coming to switch out the mulberry.

I told him to hold off a bit, that we couldn't do anything on Saturday, either, and I'd call him later.

Any tips about Mulberry? Is it weird because it takes forever to dry adequately?


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

Logs?

We have burned mulberry. One tree will produce a great deal of prunings each year. They grow very prolific long shooting branches each year. The only 'log' that you get from mulberry would be the trunk, a single straight piece of 6 to 8 foot. Everything else in a mulberry tree is knotted and twisting and branching.

I have no idea why you are having problems.

Mulberry wood is wet when fresh cut, but it does dry out in one season.

IMHO, your results may vary.


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## sage_morgan (Dec 18, 2005)

Oh yes these are good-sized tree trunk parts. Even split, many of them are 1/4 and 1/6 pieces of a log, but no pieces with *all* split sides. It's very dense stuff, would it necessarily dry in 2 years?

I realize YRMVary, but ... anyway.


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## MELOC (Sep 26, 2005)

i cut a mulberry that i thought was a honey locust. it was about 12 inches at the trunk and about 20 or so feet high and branchy. that was two years ago and i still have a few pieces of the trunk. the branches all dried out really well, but the trunk wood seems like it is still wet...kinda. it is weird. it is heavy, but it seems basically dry. it burns like it is green. i usually mix it in 1/3 to 2/3s of good, dry fool-proof wood like oak or black locust. it burns well that way. just be sure to put that 1/3 on a bed of coals or it may smother out. split it smaller if you can as that may help too.


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## gccrook (Nov 21, 2003)

Mulberry is related to the Osage Orange (Hedge) tree, and has similar wood. I have only burned a little bit of it, but it burns much like my hedge. I very likely could have been still green, but not after 2 years. It only takes 6 - 9 months here to cure hedge or mulberry.


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## sage_morgan (Dec 18, 2005)

I talked to him again yesterday. It was my fourth try getting ahold of him, as I keep leaving messages and they have said they have a son who listens to the messages and deletes them (kinda bad for business, right?)

Anyway, he seems upset that some of this wood won't burn. Says no one else is having any trouble. ... So?

Well, heck, maybe it was just that ONE tree that didn't dry out, got split and put on the truckload WE GOT. 

I am not lying, I am not kidding and it really only burns at 200 degrees, which is NOT hot enough. It just smolders and smolders and it leaves ash that is like ash of wet wood, in a clump. I've even saved a chunk for him.

I have been unfailingly nice to the guy. I can sure see how it would happen. It's wood and it's not all the same! But he's really resistant to the idea that any of his wood isn't good enough.

I said, well just bring me another load, and we'll keep this stuff and use it in another year. He was still crabby about it, I could tell. He called and said he'd be by on Sunday. He needs to lighten up. 

It's not like I'm talking bad about him; I called HIM and didn't post nasty posters around town or tell anyone the wood is not seasoned ... jeepers! *shakes head*

I sure hope this turns out okay; he seems like a nice guy. Maybe it's just been a crappy month. It has been for me.


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## Candace (Jan 14, 2008)

If this guy is coming on Sunday, have a fire going and show him what you're talking about. I think you get more from being nice than not also but at the same time, you did pay for a service & product that isn't working for you.


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## Ohio Rusty (Jan 18, 2008)

It may not make very good firewood, but cut in 6 foot lengths and split, mulberry is an excellent longbow wood !! Guys that make longbows pay big money for mulberry staves. You have to keep them dried out of the weather and the ends treated with wax to keep the ends from splitting or checking.
Yew is difficult to get, but mulberry os prolific here in this country.
Ohio Rusty


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