Hard Maple Pricing and Quality

Hard Maple pricing and quality can be tricky to determine when the tree is standing. Unlike most hardwood species where the heartwood is cut into dimensional lumber, with Hard Maple, it is actually the sapwood that holds value for lumber and other wood products, not the heartwood. This sets it apart from species like Oaks, Walnut, and Cherry, where heartwood is the primary source of valuable timber.

In other words, Hard Maple lumber is cut from the outer ring of the tree, therefore bigger sap areas are preferred by lumber mills and timber buyers.

Hard Maple Pricing and Quality

Setting aside whether or not a log could sell as veneer, in general, the smaller the heartwood of a Hard Maple tree, the more valuable it is. The heart size of Hard Maple trees depends on many factors and is usually hard to predict before cutting.

Determining Hard Maple Quality

Because you can’t tell how big the heartwood is relative to the sapwood, Hard Maple is one of the more difficult species’ of hardwood timber to value while standing. It is just impossible to know how they will cut.

While not fool-proof, there are some rules of thumb for valuing Hard Maple while it is still standing. In general, the more tight the bark on a Hard Maple tree is, the more likely it is to contain high quality wood. Locations with more of certain types of minerals can cause the hearts of Hard Maple trees to grow larger. Further, wetter locations tend to grow Maple with larger hearts. Two Maple trees from the same tract of land and stand of timber can present radically different rations of heartwood to sapwood.

Hard Maple is best when it is small hearted, tight-barked and bright white in color. In the picture below the two trees on the left are very high quality, small-hearted and of veneer quality, while the tree on the right has a large heart and will not yield high quality Hard Maple lumber.