# Worst smelling wood??



## Der Fuirmeister (Feb 8, 2009)

I love the smell of balsam while walking through a Northern WI woods hunting grouse. I really like the smell of apple wood or hard maple. Hickory and cherry smell nice. Not at all fond of piss elm or sh*t maple (box elder).  And some wet oak I've cut smells, but I burn them because they warm my home.

What's the worst smelling wood in your area??


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## bsruther (Feb 8, 2009)

The only one that I can think of is Silver Maple, after it's split. To me, it smells like a bucket full of blue gill.


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## gzecc (Feb 8, 2009)

Black locust stinks


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## rphurley (Feb 8, 2009)

Woodford said:
			
		

> The only one that I can think of is Silver Maple, after it's split. To me, it smells like a bucket full of blue gill.



I'll find out soon.  I just scored about 2 cords that were cut in my neighborhood by the power company.  Initially, as I pulled up, I thought it was white oak but as soon as I was able to pick up some of the larger pieces myself, I took a look at it again.  I was disapointed but then though how much my electric bill has been raised in the last few years, and now I'll be happy to take any wood they cut!


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## crazy_dan (Feb 8, 2009)

green oak fresh cut or split stink bad also makes my yard smell bad for a couple of weeks


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## ansehnlich1 (Feb 8, 2009)

burning boxelder is one of the nasiest i've ever smelled, so bad i hate to burn it, HOWEVER, i still do


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## CowboyAndy (Feb 8, 2009)

i will third boxelder, stinks pretty bad but it still burns!


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## Rich_CT (Feb 8, 2009)

I haven't burned much of it yet, but the black locust I split this past fall was pretty foul smelling.  The prior home owner used it as fill.  It doesn't rot but smelled like it was starting to  ferment.

Rich


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## LLigetfa (Feb 8, 2009)

Some guy down the road burns some gawd awful stuff in his OWB.  Smokes out a sq mile area.  Looks like a pile of green Poplar/Aspen next to the OWB.


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## Eric Johnson (Feb 8, 2009)

My vote goes for fresh-cut red oak. Sometimes it smell OK, but other times it smells to me like somebody just threw up a gut full of cheap bourbon.

Of course, it's been about 30 years......


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## Backwoods Savage (Feb 8, 2009)

Maybe you fellows have different oak in your area but I always liked the smell of oak even back when I worked in the mill or was logging. 

My vote goes for cottonwood, willow and elm with popple very close.


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## Backwoods Savage (Feb 8, 2009)

For those who don't like the word popple:




From the American Heritage dictionary:

pop·ple2 (p¼p“…l) n. Informal. A poplar.


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## LLigetfa (Feb 8, 2009)

My bad.  After re-reading the question, it's the smell of fresh cut wood, not the stench of burning it, that is questioned.  In that case, fresh cut Birch and Balsam Fir both have the smell of cat piss and I don't care to have either in my house.  Poplar can have a bit of a sourdough edge to it when green but smells OK once seasoned.  I really do like the smell of Black Ash and sometimes linger at the woodshed taking it in.  Cedar smells nice too.


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## Later (Feb 8, 2009)

Dutch elm disease passed through here about 35 years ago. The city cut about 1000 trees and piled them in a field. I cut for two weekends, smelled campfire piss for the next two seasons. Never forget the smell.


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## JBinKC (Feb 8, 2009)

I think Ailanthus aka tree of heaven wins the prize for the worst odor. Smells like a skunk when freshly cut and burnt rubber when burned.


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## Bigg_Redd (Feb 8, 2009)

gzecc said:
			
		

> Black locust stinks



x2.

Green locust smells like hot garbage when it's saw'd & split.

For burning it all smells about the same to me as long as it's dry.


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## bsruther (Feb 8, 2009)

JBinKC said:
			
		

> I think Ailanthus aka tree of heaven wins the prize for the worst odor. Smells like a skunk when freshly cut and burnt rubber when burned.



I agree. This is another non-native tree given to us by our asian friends.
We call it stink tree. The leaves resemble a walnut, sort of.


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## wendell (Feb 8, 2009)

Cottonwood. The dead leaves in the fall stink. All the twigs that fall of it each fall stink. Even the living tree stinks.


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## Sprawl (Feb 8, 2009)

Black Walnut has a smell a lot of people can't stand. It doesn't bother me too much and it burns forever.


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## KarlP (Feb 8, 2009)

Got to be Sumac.  

They don't smell much at all when dry.  The smoke doesn't smell bad.  But those things STINK when green.


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## woodmeister (Feb 8, 2009)

piss oak, you'll know it when you split it.


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## cityevader (Feb 8, 2009)

I cut Black Locust for the first time recently...smelled like doo-doo.


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## Der Fuirmeister (Feb 9, 2009)

Wow, I didn't realize there were so many foul smelling types.  With all the bad smelling wood, a new comer to this site must be wondering why we all burn the stuff!

I mentioned that I like the smell of Hard Maple and Apple.  LLigetfa mentioned Cedar and Black Ash (which I like as well).  Not to hijack this thread, I'm going to start a new thread about the best smelling wood.........


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## CowboyAndy (Feb 9, 2009)

i hadnt realized it was worst smelling when fresh cut... honestly i hadnt noticed.


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## Bubbavh (Feb 9, 2009)

I 2nd Black Walnut!!  That stuff just stinks like SH!T!


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## karri0n (Feb 9, 2009)

I've got a big pile of red oak in my yard right now, and it's stinkin up the joint pretty bad. Not sure if it's the "worst" smelling wood, but it sure ain't pleasant.


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## Wet1 (Feb 9, 2009)

karri0n said:
			
		

> I've got a big pile of red oak in my yard right now, and it's stinkin up the joint pretty bad. Not sure if it's the "worst" smelling wood, but it sure ain't pleasant.


My neighbors must want to kill me.  I have about five cords of freshly split red oak sitting on my property lines, it really kicks you in the nose when you open the door.  The stuff smells for a long, long, time.    I kind of like the smell of it.  For their sake, I hope they do too.


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## karri0n (Feb 9, 2009)

I certainly don't find the smell appealing. My cat went over to the pile and sprayed on it, and I swear it smelled better for a good 15 minutes until that smell wore off.


This stuff is also freshly split, though it's been down for over a year.


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## johnsopi (Feb 9, 2009)

red oak smells like throw-up


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## TreePapa (Feb 10, 2009)

duplicate post removed


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## Wet1 (Feb 10, 2009)

karri0n said:
			
		

> I certainly don't find the smell appealing. My cat went over to the pile and sprayed on it, and I swear it smelled better for a good 15 minutes until that smell wore off.
> 
> 
> This stuff is also freshly split, though it's been down for over a year.


Hmmm, well I guess you could make a case for it smelling like cat piss!


Red oak will basically not season in log form, it takes a VERY long time to season w/o being split.  A round that has been sitting for year or two basically smells just like a fresh green round when split open.  Like the smell or not, it's premium stuff once it has seasoned!  :coolsmile:


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## mike1234 (Feb 10, 2009)

Last fall I cut a dead tree, not even sure what it was, but it was above part of my septic system, in fact I think that is what killed it. 2 months later I moved it into the garage to get ready to burn, and OMGosh did it stink, like the septic system.  I took it back out to the wood pile and it is still there, hopefully it'll stop stinking enough to burn it for next season.


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## bren582 (Feb 10, 2009)

I find the comments on red oak surprising.. i love the smell of fresh cut red oak or any oak for that matter, I also prefer the smell when burning it.. I just love Oak all around. hickory is up there as well just great stuff..


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## jotul8e2 (Feb 10, 2009)

It is interesting to find completely irreconcilable views on the smell of red oak.  I ran into this just the other day when my wife commented on how much she liked the smell of freshly split red oak; I find it pretty foul.  Of course, there are many varieties of red oak, and it varies with the species, the soil conditions, and so forth.

I have cut a fair amount of black walnut over the years and never really thought about the smell one way or another.  I also split the logs out of two black locust trees year before last and remember only that it had an odor so it must not have been too bad.

Another variable is the time of year the wood is being worked.  If the tree is full of sap it will have a much stronger odor than it will in the winter.

Mark


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## TreePapa (Feb 10, 2009)

Woodford said:
			
		

> JBinKC said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



It looks like a tree, but it's really a weed! It (or at least the female trees) have really nasty seeds. About 1/3" balls, stick to and in your shoes, get in everything, pain in the donkey to clean up. A very messy tree. Also the branches seem weak and prone to splitting (on the tree). Our neighbors have this weed, and it is right next to my firewood / compost / trailer parking (used to be where I parked my truck).  I can't remember the smell (I've trimmed the branches over my property and used for firewood, but it got mixed in w/ everything else.

Peace,
- Sequoia


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## TreePapa (Feb 10, 2009)

I don't know what species of wood it was, but a couple years ago, I picked u p a "curb find" of some type of non-native ornamental tree. Dark bark, reddish wood, heavy (green), and I swear to whatever it smelled like pesticide! No, it hadn't been sprayed, the green wood actually gave off a noxious odor that reminded me of pesticide. I noticed it when loading it up, but I thought maybe I could live with it. However, when I got it home to unload, I thought better of it ... after I was done stacking it. I moved it all to the curb, put a "Free Wood" sign on it and prayed that some other sucker would come along. He did, and I prayed he wouldn't change his mind before taking the foul stuff away. He didn't and that nasty stuff left my life, thankfully.

I swear the wood itself gave off a pesticide-like odor. It was awful.

Peace,
- Sequoia


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## karri0n (Feb 10, 2009)

I like the red oak smell once it's seasoned, or when it's burning. It's the green stuff that has the odor I'm talking about. It definitely smells like the p!ss of a strange animal.


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## Don Ed (Feb 19, 2009)

This thread, although somewhat less educational than many on Hearth.com, has brought a lot of laughs.  I'm not sure I have seen the word "piss" used so many times to describe something I usually consider quite relaxing and somewhat dignified...that is, burning wood.  Then there was the "bucket of bluegill" comment.  As a life-long pan fisherman I am certainly acquainted with the smell of bluegill.  Pretty sure I would not want that in my wood pile or my stove!

Thanks for the "smelly" laughs!

DL


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## Summertime (Feb 20, 2009)

The White Oak I have been splitting smells like a Whiskey barrel and I love the smell of it!


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## lexybird (Feb 20, 2009)

i have a load of semi punky wet red oak ,it smells like rotten cat piss and  rotting fungus ,worse yet this is in my basement drying out


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## Der Fuirmeister (Feb 21, 2009)

w0xdl said:
			
		

> This thread, although somewhat less educational than many on Hearth.com, has brought a lot of laughs.  I'm not sure I have seen the word "piss" used so many times to describe something I usually consider quite relaxing and somewhat dignified...that is, burning wood.  Then there was the "bucket of bluegill" comment.  As a life-long pan fisherman I am certainly acquainted with the smell of bluegill.  Pretty sure I would not want that in my wood pile or my stove!
> 
> Thanks for the "smelly" laughs!
> 
> DL




I meant to lighten the conversation.........


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