Free Wood ID

[Tar12]

Any clue on which type? The tree was absolutely huge. Looked like it was about 5' in dia.

It is Red Oak..easy to split..

 

[whatyousmokin]

Could it possibly be red elm?​

​

ELM FIREWOOD SMELL​

One of the core disadvantages of Elm wood is that it stinks. The unpleasant smell of Elm wood can originate from a couple of different sources. Elm wood can smell bad because it had diseases and beetles living in it that corroded and corrupted the wood.

It can also smell bad because Elm wood tends to absorb the smells of what’s growing around it. This is great if the Elm tree was growing near a field of daisies, however, if it was growing above a septic line, well, you can imagine what it smells like. Because of this, it’s a good idea to know where your Elm wood came from before burning it in an enclosed space.

https://www.backyardboss.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/red-elm-firewood-wide.png

 

[Dfw245]

Could it possibly be red elm?​

​

ELM FIREWOOD SMELL​

One of the core disadvantages of Elm wood is that it stinks. The unpleasant smell of Elm wood can originate from a couple of different sources. Elm wood can smell bad because it had diseases and beetles living in it that corroded and corrupted the wood.

It can also smell bad because Elm wood tends to absorb the smells of what’s growing around it. This is great if the Elm tree was growing near a field of daisies, however, if it was growing above a septic line, well, you can imagine what it smells like. Because of this, it’s a good idea to know where your Elm wood came from before burning it in an enclosed space.

https://www.backyardboss.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/red-elm-firewood-wide.png

Hmmmmm now this gives me cause to pause.

 

[Dfw245]

After looking at forums line, it does appear to be either Red oak, or Pin oak. Both have a very distinctive smell. Some say pin oak smells sorts like manure. How ironic I used that same reference. Not sure how to tell the difference between Pin and Red. But it does appear to be one of those two

 

[Dfw245]

Here's one last pic just for clarification

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I really can’t make out anything in the picture to tell you whether it’s more likely red oak or pin oak, but I find it’s always helpful to check range maps and indicators of what’s more likely to grow in the area. Pin oaks tend to favor wetter areas so they don’t grow much in our area of Texas, but they do transplant well, and people might plant them as ornamentals and shade trees. Most of our oaks are live oaks, but the next most common in our area seems to bed red oak. I don’t know how it is in your part of the state.

People on this site are good with firewood identification (better than I am), but to I.D. a tree, it’s often helpful to have photos not only of bark and endgrain but also of leaves or buds (or flowers or fruit all depending on the season). I realize you may not have a way to get those photos for this particular tree, but I’m just mentioning because it seems as those you’ve got the wood scrounging addiction and are eager to learn. I bet you’ll be finding more wood and asking more questions in the not to distant future.

Red oak tends to be nice and easy to split. I really don’t know about pin oak. Have you tried any splitting?

 

[Dfw245]

I really can’t make out anything in the picture to tell you whether it’s more likely red oak or pin oak, but I find it’s always helpful to check range maps and indicators of what’s more likely to grow in the area. Pin oaks tend to favor wetter areas so they don’t grow much in our area of Texas, but they do transplant well, and people might plant them as ornamentals and shade trees. Most of our oaks are live oaks, but the next most common in our area seems to bed red oak. I don’t know how it is in your part of the state.

People on this site are good with firewood identification (better than I am), but to I.D. a tree, it’s often helpful to have photos not only of bark and endgrain but also of leaves or buds (or flowers or fruit all depending on the season). I realize you may not have a way to get those photos for this particular tree, but I’m just mentioning because it seems as those you’ve got the wood scrounging addiction and are eager to learn. I bet you’ll be finding more wood and asking more questions in the not to distant future.

Red oak tends to be nice and easy to split. I really don’t know about pin oak. Have you tried any splitting?

I haven't split any yet. Still haven't made my way to home Depot to grab a maul of some sort. I need to though. And pardon my ignorance, but wouldn't skill in identifying firewood equate to being rather skilled in identifying cut trees? Just asking. But since there seems to be some iffyness I may lean more towards not using it as cooking wood.

But thanks for the advice I'll look into tree ranges. I'll also, when I go back, grab some photos of the leaves potentially. And when you say buds? What part specifically is that

 

[Dfw245]

You're absolutely right, I have been bitten by the scrounging for wood bug lol

 

[DuaeGuttae]

You're absolutely right, I have been bitten by the scrounging for wood bug lol

It’s pretty clear!

Virginia Tech Dendrology Fact Sheet

dendro.cnre.vt.edu

That link has some nice pictures of a Shumard Red Oak (a popular type in east Texas). I don’t know if that’s what you’ve got, but the fourth picture in shows buds on the end of a twig. I just posted it because I thought a photo would explain buds better than I could with words. The time of year you can snap photos will determine what identifying factors you have to use. Some distinctive trees I can do by bark, but I’m mostly a leaf girl myself. There are some tricks about alternating vs. opposite branching for deciding something like maple versus oak, but when deciding among different types of oak I mostly do leaves, and I’m not as good at that as others on this site. There are other things that can help like knowing whether it drops acorns every year or every other year, but that doesn’t work identifying rounds of firewood. I’m afraid that just really isn’t my strong point.

Before you head to Home Depot, you might want to post in the gear forum to get some advice about mauls or axes. I know there are folks who really like a Fiskars X27 (or 25 depending on height) splitting axe and others who use a maul. I myself use a little five ton electric splitter, but my husband uses an axe or a sledge and wedge to make big rounds small enough for me to handle. Most of our wood down here in Texas Hill Country doesn’t need splitting, though, but we’ve got a few Live Oak rounds that even my husband hasn’t been able to split. I think he’s going to “noodle” them (cut them in half sideways with the chainsaw).

 

[Grizzerbear]

When you split the wood you will know pretty fast if it's red oak by the color and "stink" smell. The heart wood will be reddish pink color. I have never split pin oak but I'm pretty sure it is in the white oak family therefore it should resemble white oak inside in general.

 

[Dfw245]

It’s pretty clear!

Virginia Tech Dendrology Fact Sheet

dendro.cnre.vt.edu

That link has some nice pictures of a Shumard Red Oak (a popular type in east Texas). I don’t know if that’s what you’ve got, but the fourth picture in shows buds on the end of a twig. I just posted it because I thought a photo would explain buds better than I could with words. The time of year you can snap photos will determine what identifying factors you have to use. Some distinctive trees I can do by bark, but I’m mostly a leaf girl myself. There are some tricks about alternating vs. opposite branching for deciding something like maple versus oak, but when deciding among different types of oak I mostly do leaves, and I’m not as good at that as others on this site. There are other things that can help like knowing whether it drops acorns every year or every other year, but that doesn’t work identifying rounds of firewood. I’m afraid that just really isn’t my strong point.

Before you head to Home Depot, you might want to post in the gear forum to get some advice about mauls or axes. I know there are folks who really like a Fiskars X27 (or 25 depending on height) splitting axe and others who use a maul. I myself use a little five ton electric splitter, but my husband uses an axe or a sledge and wedge to make big rounds small enough for me to handle. Most of our wood down here in Texas Hill Country doesn’t need splitting, though, but we’ve got a few Live Oak rounds that even my husband hasn’t been able to split. I think he’s going to “noodle” them (cut them in half sideways with the chainsaw).

Lol yeah but hey that's a good thing right?

Thank you thank you thank you for all the valuable information. I appreciate you taking time out to help me out and explain. I'll have to check out that fiskars x27 then. I don't plan to get a log splitter so I guess I really need to learn as much as I can about the process.


And about that stink....it already has a pretty noticeable stink. Would that confirm it for you? When I get it split down further, hopefully soon, I'll see if there's a more resounding stink than there is currently.

 

[stoveliker]

I've done the scrounging style. But I just took anything that was good (not rotten). Then figured out what it was so that I can relate the burning characteristics to the species. The bottomline is that if you have a good (modern) stove, any wood will work for it. Some contain more BTUs per stick because they are heavier. (Oak is as good as pine - same BTUs per pound of dry wood. It's just that a stick of oak weighs more than a stick of pine, and thus you can get more pounds in your stove leading to longer burns at the same heat output settings of the stove. ) Regardless, all have their good aspects - be it for coldest times or shoulder times.

Any wood will burn well, IF it is dry enough. Again, IF it is dry enough.

And that is the single most important issue starting burners face.

And because that is the case, I'd take anything (not rotten) that you can take. Why? drying is the most important, and drying takes time. So taking wood *now* rather than waiting for something better will give you extra drying time. Waiting will only hurt your case; wet "better" wood is far, far worse wood to burn than dry "poor" wood (as in the belief that pine and poplar are no good firewoods - a belief that I hope to have pointed out is mistaken). Dry wood, even if from supposedly poor species, will burn well, will provide heat and ambiance.

So take in that variety, now, split it, stack it covered, let it season, have a moisture meter and just for the heck of it resplit a few splits every 2 months so you can see what the drying times are.

You'll also learn which woods split easier than others, how they smell (try cherry - stinks when fresh, but heavenly when burning), how much they shrink when drying, how long they need to dry in your climate, how splintery they are (gloves!), how easy they light off, etc etc.

And when you get that experience, at some point you'll be sourcing your wood in a bit more stable/consistent way, and you might be able to afford some pickyness - based on what you personally value in the processing and burning characteristics. No one can tell you what you like best - but to figure out what you like best, you gotta taste everything.

So - I'll stop my preaching here. I like your posts about wood types. I learn some stuff, I can maybe help here and there, I smile at the enthusiasm ("yay, another addict made" ;-) ). All good. But stack it - and stack it all.

 

[Dfw245]

I've done the scrounging style. But I just took anything that was good (not rotten). Then figured out what it was so that I can relate the burning characteristics to the species. The bottomline is that if you have a good (modern) stove, any wood will work for it. Some contain more BTUs per stick because they are heavier. (Oak is as good as pine - same BTUs per pound of dry wood. It's just that a stick of oak weighs more than a stick of pine, and thus you can get more pounds in your stove leading to longer burns at the same heat output settings of the stove. ) Regardless, all have their good aspects - be it for coldest times or shoulder times.

Any wood will burn well, IF it is dry enough. Again, IF it is dry enough.

And that is the single most important issue starting burners face.

And because that is the case, I'd take anything (not rotten) that you can take. Why? drying is the most important, and drying takes time. So taking wood *now* rather than waiting for something better will give you extra drying time. Waiting will only hurt your case; wet "better" wood is far, far worse wood to burn than dry "poor" wood (as in the belief that pine and poplar are no good firewoods - a belief that I hope to have pointed out is mistaken). Dry wood, even if from supposedly poor species, will burn well, will provide heat and ambiance.

So take in that variety, now, split it, stack it covered, let it season, have a moisture meter and just for the heck of it resplit a few splits every 2 months so you can see what the drying times are.

You'll also learn which woods split easier than others, how they smell (try cherry - stinks when fresh, but heavenly when burning), how much they shrink when drying, how long they need to dry in your climate, how splintery they are (gloves!), how easy they light off, etc etc.

And when you get that experience, at some point you'll be sourcing your wood in a bit more stable/consistent way, and you might be able to afford some pickyness - based on what you personally value in the processing and burning characteristics. No one can tell you what you like best - but to figure out what you like best, you gotta taste everything.

So - I'll stop my preaching here. I like your posts about wood types. I learn some stuff, I can maybe help here and there, I smile at the enthusiasm ("yay, another addict made" ;-) ). All good. But stack it - and stack it all.

You hit the nail on the head. Or should I say, the split? Lol I will have to disagree though, fresh cherry smells great to me. When split I mean. I love it. Then again cherry is my fav. But yeah I'm not as impatient as most newbies. I'd rather buy it and let it sit and sit for a couple years before touching it just to see how well it burns. But you make very very very valid points. I guess my only thing is, I don't have a wood stove. I only have a fireplace and a smoker out back. Most of it? Is for my smoker. So the pickiness kinda starts at the beginning due to the nature of it. How well it burns is a great part however actual flavor is the main part about choosing wood. For me, if I come across wood? First thought is, hmm, how does this taste? No good for smoking? Well maybe I should try throwing it in the fireplace? That's about it. The burn characteristics are important to me because I like to learn how it works and therefore apply that to cooking times and fire management. But then translate that over to putting it in a fireplace. So while you are bang on about just grabbing essentially whatever you can find that isn't bad (punky and what not), I just like to know the species more so I can learn about correct application of use. Thanks for that. I needed every bit of that and both of you have been huge helps. Seriously. I just learned something knew already about the pine and oak comparison. Didn't know that. Interesting. So BTU rating is for a given pound of weight or? So far in my backyard in just three weeks or so of becoming a wood enthusiast lol, I have Red oak, Pecan, cherry, and Hackberry. That quick. And just found another connect that's selling a cord (real cord) for $35. Mesquite. Looks like I'll be stocking up on that as well.

Just that fast I've looked into the X27. I love it already. Looks like I'll be grabbing that. And at some point? Plan to buy a chainsaw so I can start jumping on these trees that people need cut up.

 

[stoveliker]

I'd say that for smoking the same holds; try much. (And I think dry wood gives a better taste than wet wood.) At.least, if you smoke a lot. If you do it once a month, you indeed want to be picky about what you get. But if you use it every (other) day, I'd just grab from all species and compare.

Mesquite: run. To it. Now. ... Drool...

 

[Dfw245]

Oh I definitely do it probably about 5-6 times a month. Yeah he has mesquite and Hackberry. Albeit green. But still, I didn't care, I'm looking at getting one...or hell maybe even two cords at a time. At that price? Either this is a setup....or I'm about to score. HUGE. I've always been leery of mesquite when smoking because it can be too strong at times. But I've heard it puts off ALOT of heat. So I'll be grabbing that. Potentially a cord of each. Or maybe just all mesquite. Not sure yet. I just like to know wood species so I'm not getting ripped off ya kno? Especially when it comes to smoking. Burning for heat? I'm way less picky about. As long as it doesn't form creosote, I'm good

 

[stoveliker]

You can mix mesquite with other wood to mitigate the strength.

Hope you find some hickory too.

 

[Dfw245]

You can mix mesquite with other wood to mitigate the strength.

Hope you find some hickory too.

So run to the mesquite huh? Lol that great? Should I grab one of each or just two mesquites?

And yeah that's true. Hickory apparently is getting harder to find down here. Prices are soaring. I prefer it over mesquite for sure tho. Cherry being my fav, then post oak, then hickory, then apple. Just started using red oak...had a much different smoke smell. Post oak smells like a house burning, red oak has a weird sweet woodsy smell.

 

[stoveliker]

I guess it has to do with availability; no mesquite here, so I'd run to it. I don't know hackberry. Try all

 

[Dfw245]

I guess it has to do with availability; no mesquite here, so I'd run to it. I don't know hackberry. Try all

I guess that's our cherry then lol out of thousands of posts maybe only one guy has it. And better believe I ran. Sprinted even. And snagged a little over a 1/4 cord for $80. Freshly split, didn't care. It actually burns decently too. Made a pulled pork for the SB. Came out great. Can only imagine when it gets seasoned well and burns even better. Not familiar with hackberry either, I'll do some research on it.

 

[Dfw245]

Not to rain on anyone's parade, but looks like I'll have to come back to this. I'm starting to doubt this is indeed red oak. All the smells I read are more of a vinegar type or urine type smell. Neither of those smelled. It has a very farm smell. Cows, horses, barnyard type smell. Like a zoo pit lol not urine, but...ya know...the other stuff. But no matter how much it's split, the smell doesn't get stronger. And this stuff is green. Also, it DOESNT seem to split easy at all. At least by hand. Not as steel hard as the pecan I have, but definitely close. Also, the red oak bark I've seen around here tends to have less grooves and ridges. Could this be something else? All the elm I've seen around here, it looks similar.

Edit: Also, the leaves in the area don't help. It's a large open space with no leaves on the twigs. But I'm seeing elm leaves, and two different types of oak leaves. (Post and Pin)

 

[CincyBurner]

A knee-jerk ID from pic in post #30 is that it's elm.
Your comments: "It has a very farm smell. Cows, horses, barnyard type smell." and " it DOESNT seem to split easy at all" would also persuade toward elm.

 

[CincyBurner]

Any pics of close-up of buds ?
Pics of buds during dormant season are very useful.

 

[Dfw245]

Any pics of close-up of buds ?
Pics of buds during dormant season are very useful.

Don't believe I have any close ups of buds. It's a guys backyard and he has wood just cut down in random places. It's kinda hard to tell which branches go to which tree lol but I'll see what I can do. So elm has that farm smell to it?

 

[Dfw245]

Could this be American Elm as well? Has that dark heartwood. Not chocolatey like Siberian elm but similar to my other post that I found out was American Elm.

 

[whatyousmokin]

Can you post a photo of a fresh split of this wood that is in question? If it's stringy, hard to split, and stinky it very well could be (red) elm.