# Can you identify wood by smell alone?



## Firewoodmaven (Nov 24, 2009)

I saw Nonprophet wrote that black locust 'has a wonderful “sweet/spicy” smell to it, kind of like a Dr. Pepper' - I am pretty new to cutting firewood and I am wondering what you experienced folks think of identifying wood by its smell. Are the smells distinctive and consistent enough? If you were blindfolded and asked to smell several kinds of wood, how accurate do you think your answers would be?


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## schwaggly (Nov 24, 2009)

I can but only willow and cedar. one smells like perfume the other smells like dog crap


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## LLigetfa (Nov 24, 2009)

Some I can.


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## Tony H (Nov 24, 2009)

I think I can with a few woods that are a little more distinctive like cherry peach apple cedar pine


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## Adabiviak (Nov 24, 2009)

Jeffrey pine has a very distinct vanilla smell... otherwise no.


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## Birdman1 (Nov 24, 2009)

All I can smell is free heat :zip: 

Cept when the Pine Barrens  get lit up, once you've smelled that
you will know the difference between camp fire and what can I do to help.


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## Wood Duck (Nov 24, 2009)

I bet I can identify oak, black birch, red cedar (nothing similar here, but there are some in other parts of the country), pine (can't tell species apart), Sassafras, cherry, and I think Black Walnut. Others don't seem to have a strong enough smell, or they are too similar to other woods. In fact, yesterday I was sorting oak from Red Maple, and some rounds I had to do by smell. I could smell the oak, but the maple didn't have much smell.


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## gzecc (Nov 24, 2009)

I think, oak, black locust, apple, cherry, cedar, hickory?


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## Hurricane (Nov 24, 2009)

Oak, cherry, cedar, sassafras for sure  They would need to be fresh split, or wet. 
When I split oak you can smell it 200 ft away sometimes.


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## savageactor7 (Nov 24, 2009)

... 'sh!t house door off a tuna boat'.

That was the punchline to the funniest joke I heard in a long time. Our logger neighbor told it about a blind guy that was interviewing for a job grading lumber.


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## Corey (Nov 24, 2009)

I would think once your nose is 'tuned' and given fresh wood, or at least a fresh surface, you could smell wood just like you can food.  Some is very easy - pine, cedar, etc - some will have more 'nuance'.  The key would be can you determine the species?  Red oak / white oak....scotch pine / yellow pine...silver maple / sugar maple, etc?


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## Adios Pantalones (Nov 24, 2009)

Red oak smells a bit like steak sauce/vinegary
Pine smells like... pine
cedar smells like- cedar (easy ones huh?)
Elm smells pretty bad
There are a couple that have a melon-like smell.  White ash is one.
Black birch smells like spearmint and rootbeer.
Sasafrass has a distinct smell as well.


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## Backwoods Savage (Nov 24, 2009)

Yes, you can tell most wood by the smell.


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## firefighterjake (Nov 24, 2009)

Cedar and pine and poplar . . . very easy to tell.

Cherry and apple . . . smell good, but I don't cut enough of these species to be able to id them by smell alone.


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## DAKSY (Nov 24, 2009)

schwaggly said:
			
		

> I can but only willow and cedar. one smells like perfume the other smells like dog crap



Actually, I'd classify willow as smelling like somebody peed on it, but I do agree that it smells AWFUL...


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## billb3 (Nov 24, 2009)

The only willow I've cut had it's feet in the cesspool across the yard. Obviated by the grey  stinky poo that bled out of the stump for weeks in the middle of Summer.

I'm guessing that's not what willow normally smells like.




fresh cut red oak, cedar, white pine, sassafrass and cherry  I could probably guess real easy.
maple, holly, birch, aspen , and beech  i just haven't cut enough of or the smell wouldn't be distinct enough to me.


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## Corey (Nov 24, 2009)

billb3 said:
			
		

> I'm guessing that's not what willow normally smells like.



Actually - it may not be too far off!  Willow, poplar (lombardi) and elm all have various "odour de toilet" if you ask me.


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## muncybob (Nov 25, 2009)

I just spoke with somebody that wants a tree cut down. All he could tell me was that when he cut a part of it he said it smelled like dog poop????  Any ideas?


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## Duetech (Nov 25, 2009)

Could be a congressional tree. You can find them in all fifty states and in foreign countries they have different names but they grow there too. You can prune them and they will give off a fresh odor but you have to stay at it or pretty soon they start giving off a stink again. The root balls are tenacious and legilattively feed off about everything but are easily identified by their rizomes that resemble red tape. The red tape is nearly impossible to cut through and usually hides what causes the stink the tree produces. Most the time you don't have to cut the branches as just getting close enough to identify the tree will get you close enough to smell the stink it can give off.


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## WOODBUTCHER (Nov 25, 2009)

Black Birch (sweet birch) is way easy .......smells just like *birch beer*, very strong scent. I'll chew a twig in my mouth when I get a chance to buck a fresh felled one.
Yellow Birch has a very close scent to Black Birch... same minty scent. Although not quite as dominant.
Red Oak, esp if it's been sitting in log form for for awhile, smells like *stank* and or *putrid*
Cherry=real easy.
Hickory fresh cut has a unique scent I can pick right out.
Hemlock has a strange *stank* scent to it after sitting in log form for awhile.
Dead standing Elm reeks of bad odors also.


WoddButcher


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## Gunks (Nov 26, 2009)

I just split some logs (about 15 - 20" rounds) that smell like tobacco.  Anyone has any idea what wood it is?


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## Gary_602z (Nov 26, 2009)

Cave2k said:
			
		

> Could be a congressional tree. You can find them in all fifty states and in foreign countries they have different names but they grow there too. You can prune them and they will give off a fresh odor but you have to stay at it or pretty soon they start giving off a stink again. The root balls are tenacious and legilattively feed off about everything but are easily identified by their rizomes that resemble red tape. The red tape is nearly impossible to cut through and usually hides what causes the stink the tree produces. Most the time you don't have to cut the branches as just getting close enough to identify the tree will get you close enough to smell the stink it can give off.




 :lol:  :lol: 

Gary


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## Tony H (Nov 26, 2009)

muncybob said:
			
		

> I just spoke with somebody that wants a tree cut down. All he could tell me was that when he cut a part of it he said it smelled like dog poop????  Any ideas?



Could be poplar or box-elder both have that piss like smell    Not top notch woods by most standards.


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## CarbonNeutral (Dec 1, 2009)

My car smelled the best today it ever has - lots of fresh cut black birch - pepperminty!


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## drhiii (Dec 2, 2009)

I can pick out pinon and juniper/cedar.  Both very distinctive.  I can usually discern by being outside, who's burning what....   the worst by far is cottonwood.  That stuff is nasty, and low BTU output to boot.


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## Wet1 (Dec 2, 2009)

Yes, but it all smells like firewood to me.  :cheese:


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