# Ash vs Basswood Id



## BamaScroungr (Mar 3, 2015)

Been bucking and splitting for 2015/16 winter and beyond.  Recently had a treecutter friend drop off a load that he described as standing-dead ash.  I've never burned ash, but have heard good things and got excited.  Upon handling it, however, it seems too lightweight to be ash, even dead, so I was thinking it might be basswood?






Split what I think are some limb pieces, but these have a dark heartwood so I'm not even sure if they are the same species.  They seem denser than the trunk wood, also easy to split.





For color reference, those splits are sitting on top of a fresh cut red maple round.

Also in the batch are some logs from a different species I've never encountered.  Very dense, but again easy to split.  






Any ideas?


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## Jon_E (Mar 3, 2015)

Yeah - you have quite the collection of species there. 
Top photo - ash on top, basswood on bottom. 
Second photo - probably cottonwood, but punky/rotten.  Wood that's solid does not split jaggedly like that. 
Third and fourth photos - white oak. Burn that in a couple of years, or more.
Rest of photos - sure looks like sugar maple, and they are not out of normal range in northern AL.


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## BamaScroungr (Mar 3, 2015)

Thanks for the input Jon_E.  It would be cool if some of this haul were ash.  The two logs in the top photo look like the same species to me, but I'll have to check the weight to be sure.  The split in photo 2 is really lightweight, almost insubstantial.  Would love to season/burn sugar maple too.  Guess I'll just have to sort everything by relative density after it's c/s.


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## Wood Duck (Mar 3, 2015)

In the first photo, the bottom log is Ash. The holes in the log appear to be from the Emerald Ash borer. I would not expect EAB to be present in Alabama yet, but that is what it looks like. I agree third thru fifth photo are oak, and the last two are Sugar Maple. I am not very familiar with Basswood so I won't agree or disagree with that ID.


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## BamaScroungr (Mar 3, 2015)

Stoked for oak!  Hope you guys are right.  I'm not familiar with basswood or ash.  Just Googled EAB range, and as of 2014 it's been reported in Georgia and Tennessee, which is pretty close to home.


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## nrford (Mar 3, 2015)

Top two pics ASH, second pic is very nearly all punk.
Next two most definitely W. Oak
Last three sure does appear to be Hard Maple


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## BamaScroungr (Mar 3, 2015)

Thanks for throwing in, nrford.  Sounds like I've got a great score!  I'm going to try burning some of that punky ash this week for the heck of it, since it seems winter isn't quite done with us yet and I'm down to the very last of my seasoned wood.


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## Applesister (Mar 3, 2015)

The second pic has really punked wood. That white pigmented fungi is all thru the split. It could be the primary reason the piece has no density.
Top pics could be Ash, the difference in wood between the Ash and Basswood is Basswood is very white and very clean and fine grained. Ash has a darker center than the outer wood and is very "grainy". The bark looks like 2 different types. If you split them you will know.
3rd pics are definitely oak. The wet wood helps with that ID.
The last pics being sugar maple is a hard call but the split looks very maple.
The bark however is not familiar to me.
Sugar maple will be as heavy as the oak.
Nice collection of wood...


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## Applesister (Mar 3, 2015)

The holes were bored by something going from outside to inside. Wider in diameter on the outside is usually birds.
But bird peck usually means something is on the inside. Except sap suckers.


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## BamaScroungr (Mar 3, 2015)

Thanks Applesister.  Still in the process of bucking it all up and will split immediately after, so I'll see what I end up with.  So far all the alleged Ash is dull yellow all the way through, not white at all.  I assumed sapsucker holes, but I have no experience identifying.  Glad for another oak confirm--you're all looking at medullary rays, right?  Interesting you mention the wetness... next time I suspect oak, I'll put a hose to the end cut.  Great to know!  And yes, the alleged sugar maple (the only "hard" maple, right?) was very dense and heavy.

THANKS EVERYBODY!

P.S.  I really get off on this wood ID stuff, been skulking my way through your archives...


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## Woody Stover (Mar 4, 2015)

BamaScroungr said:


> So far all the alleged Ash is dull yellow all the way through, not white at all.


Sure sounds like the White Ash I see here...


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## Buzz Saw (Mar 7, 2015)

The wood pecked go crazy on the ash  trees to get to the EAB. Unfortunately when you see a wood pecked it's to late for the tree.


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## BamaScroungr (Mar 7, 2015)

Hopefully that means I'll end up with more ash!  Burning some of the punky stuff in the stove now, and it's burning HOT, not spitting any moisture at all.


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## Jon_E (Mar 8, 2015)

Wood Duck said:


> In the first photo, the bottom log is Ash. The holes in the log appear to be from the Emerald Ash borer. I would not expect EAB to be present in Alabama yet, but that is what it looks like. I agree third thru fifth photo are oak, and the last two are Sugar Maple. I am not very familiar with Basswood so I won't agree or disagree with that ID.



Only reason I said basswood is because if you look carefully, the bark on both logs does not look the same.  The bottom one looks just like the basswood trees I have in my woods.  Also, basswood will not have as much of a pronounced grain (actually rather difficult to see basswood grain) whereas the ash will be distinct grain almost like red oak.  Also many ash trees have a darker heartwood, frequently irregular, not clearly defined like the white oak in the later photos.  Of course, it's very easy to tell when the wood is dry.  Basswood is soft and very lightweight, where ash is still heavy and dense.

On the other hand - the OP is in Alabama, not Vermont, so I could be totally off in left field.


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## Pennsyltucky Chris (Apr 20, 2015)

What is this one?






I believe I have quite  a bit of this. I'm trying to post pics but the lighting stinks.


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## claydogg84 (Apr 20, 2015)

Pennsyltucky Chris said:


> What is this one?
> 
> 
> 
> ...



The picture he posts of that same piece, just from above shows the Rays. It's a form of Oak, nrford says White.


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## PA. Woodsman (Apr 21, 2015)

I just split some punky Ash like in your second picture this weekend, and when I tried to split it smaller it just cracked off in pieces like that but smaller. I used what I could out of it, the cracked pieces went into the compost site.


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## BamaScroungr (Apr 21, 2015)

I had the same issue, so I just split it large.  Burns great so I'm keeping all of it, even the fragments for kindling.


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## davidseb1111 (May 21, 2017)

Pennsyltucky Chris said:


> What is this one?
> 
> 
> I believe I have quite  a bit of this. I'm trying to post pics but the lighting stinks.


The wood in the fourth picture looks like Black Walnut with the almost black core and the almost diamond shaped bark.


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