Well problem solved I ran across a guy yesterday that had cut down an 80' tall sugar maple 3 years ago and just happened to have about 10 or more cords of cured sawed and split wood and he gave me about a half a rick of some really nice stuff, this will last me until I can get some of mine cut and cured. He wanted nothing in return, I was really wanting this to smoke some buckboard bacon this weekend, been curing 10 days tomorrow so it is ready to smoke and I thought the maple would be worth trying I will take him a package of bacon in return for his kindness. In the mean time I have also found out my son has cut down a butternut tree so I will be picking up some of that to try as well, I believe this has been cut down for a year or more so it should be ready to go as well. Thanks for all of your comments, advice and suggestions for now the problem has been solved. Now I just need to find a source for some oak, cherry, apple and hickory, I have a ton of maple trees and other varieties but so far I have only located 1 lone hickory tree on my 3 acres and I am not willing to sacrifice that, I did find a couple that are about 1/2" around but it will be years before they are ready for the smoker so for now I will have to beg, barter or buy some.