Firewood and Wood Chips: What Happens to the Wood After Removal

What are the options for the wood?

Full haul-away is the default on most removals: limbs are chipped, the trunk is cut to lengths that can be loaded, and the site is raked. The other choices leave some of the material with you. Trunk wood can be cut to stove length and stacked where you want it. Chips can be dumped in a pile for you to spread.

Decide before the job, not during it. It changes how the crew cuts, where the truck parks and how long the work takes, and it is one of the things that separates two quotes for the same tree. Our guide to what to expect on tree removal day covers how that planning conversation goes.

Which Montana species make good firewood?

The Flathead National Forest publishes a firewood cutting guide that lists heat values for common northwest Montana trees, where a higher number means more heat. Western larch is at the top of its list at 22.3, followed by Douglas-fir at 20.6. Lodgepole pine is listed at 17.5 and ponderosa pine at 17.1, then grand fir at 16.7, spruce at 15.0 and subalpine fir at 13.6.

On that table, larch and Douglas-fir are the loads worth the most effort, the pines sit in the middle, and spruce and subalpine fir are at the bottom. The Forest Service table covers conifers only, so we are not quoting numbers for cottonwood, aspen, maple or other yard hardwoods. If your tree is one of those, ask at the assessment whether the wood is worth keeping.

How long does firewood need to season?

Freshly cut wood is too wet to burn well. The U.S. EPA's Burn Wise guidance, now an archived program page, says to burn only dry, split, well-seasoned wood and to season it for at least six months. It says wood burns best at a moisture content of less than 20 percent, which you can check with a wood moisture meter.

The same guidance describes how to store it: outdoors, off the ground, with only the top covered, because covering the sides traps moisture. It adds that properly seasoned wood is darker, weighs less and sounds hollow when knocked against another piece. A tree taken down in fall is therefore next winter's wood at the earliest, not this winter's.

Is all the wood from a removal worth keeping?

No, and it helps to be realistic. Straight trunk sections split cleanly. Crotches, knotty limb junctions and big butt logs are hard work without a hydraulic splitter. Wood from a tree that has been dead and standing for years may already be soft. Decide how much you can actually split and stack before asking for all of it.

Wood from a tree killed by insects or disease deserves a question at the assessment, because whether it is sensible to store it near other trees depends on what killed it. Our guide to pine engraver beetles and slash explains why fresh pine material near live pines needs thought.

Why should firewood not be moved long distances?

Because insects and diseases travel in it. The Don't Move Firewood campaign's Montana summary says tree pests that spread on firewood, including spongy moth, Asian longhorned beetle and emerald ash borer, could cause irreversible damage if introduced here, and that it is against state or federal law to bring untreated firewood into Montana from most out-of-state sources. It notes that Montana has a rule against bringing in ash firewood from any known infested area.

A Montana DNRC bulletin gives the working rule: buy it where you burn it, and make sure local firewood comes from within 50 miles, and ideally within 10 miles, of where you plan to burn it. For camping, DNRC says not to bring firewood from home, and to leave any leftover local wood at the campsite or with the camp host. The campaign adds a caution worth repeating: do not assume firewood is safe to move just because it shows no signs of infestation.

What does that mean for wood from your own tree?

Burning it at the property where it grew is the lowest-risk use there is. The care comes when wood leaves: a load given to family across the state, or a few rounds thrown in the truck for a hunting camp. Keep it local, within the distances DNRC recommends. If the tree was an ash, read our guide to ash trees and emerald ash borer in Montana before any of it goes anywhere.

Are wood chips good mulch?

Yes. MSU Extension describes arborist wood chips as a great option for landscape beds where soil health matters, and says a four-inch layer can help maintain soil moisture, keep soils cool, limit weeds and improve soil health over time. In a valley with hot, dry summers, holding moisture in the root zone is a real benefit.

Keep chips back from the trunk when you spread them around a tree. NorthWestern Energy's planting guidance, for example, says to leave about a 4-inch gap between mulch and the base of the tree. Fresh chips are a mix of wood, bark and needles or leaves, and a full truckload is more than most yards can use, so ask how big the pile will be before you say yes to all of it.

What if a utility crew took the tree down?

Then some wood may be left whether you asked or not. NorthWestern Energy's vegetation management page says that when it removes a tree, wood larger than 6 inches in diameter is cut into manageable lengths and left for the property owner, while smaller branches and debris are chipped and hauled away. Who trims what near the lines is covered in our guide to trees and power lines in Montana.

What about the rest: hauling, stumps and burning?

Whatever you do not keep is hauled away as part of our tree services. If you are hauling a load yourself in Missoula, the City's Garden City Compost page says it accepts wood waste and chipped material for a fee and does not take wood waste more than 6 feet long. The stump is a separate decision, covered on our stump grinding page, and grinding leaves its own pile of chips mixed with soil.

Burning limbs and slash is regulated by county and season. Read our guide to burning tree debris and Montana burn permits before lighting a pile. For more local topics, see the Montana Tree Guide.

Call HJ Property Care & Tree Service at (406) 215-7319 or request a tree assessment and an ISA Certified Arborist will look at the tree with you.

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