Hickory is primo for BTU. Hard to split with a maul but great if you have a gasoline powered splitter.
However, three years ago I got a truck load of cut and split hickory delivered. Looked like great fire wood. After two years I began to burn it. The wood was covered with fine, powdered sawdust, like flour. I found that it had hickory bark beetles. The wood looked pristine when it was delivered two years earlier.
I have never had beetles like this in firewood and I have been burning for a long time.
From now on I will take a pass on hickory.
