Identify this wood

[ourhouse]

The 2nd pic is locust The others i'm not sure.

 

[maiwalhe]

Sorry it took me a little longer to get a picture of the bark, but here they are.


You guys are really helpful. I did not expect that many comments. By looking thru them I tent to lean toward locust now.

 

[wahoowad]

here's some known locust for comparison....your stuff, if it is all the same tree type, looks like locust to me.

 

[elkimmeg]

Looks like big A** poison IVY Oh! you mean the wood of host its' growing on. Me I do not burn poison IVY I hack it off with an axe

 

[maiwalhe]

For those who where asking I am on the East Coast in the Northern Virginia Area.

As far as the poison ivy goes, only the leaves are dangerous, right?
Anyway do I have to remove it before burning the wood?

 

[kd460]

Yes to removing it, it's not just the leaves that give you the troubles. It's the oils (sap?) found in the entire plant. It can last awhile also. Get it on your gloves or clothes and it will contaminate stuff that the clothes or gloves come in contact with.

I have read it causes respiratory irritation when burning poison ivy fumes/smoke are inhaled. Treat it like a contagious disease. Be very careful. KD

 

[wahoowad]

That was a crappy picture I posted of locust. These might be better - they look more like your wood too. I turned the earlier pictured locust into this small stack this afternoon. Money in the bank for next year.

 

[Gooserider]

For those who where asking I am on the East Coast in the Northern Virginia Area.

As far as the poison ivy goes, only the leaves are dangerous, right?
Anyway do I have to remove it before burning the wood?

Poison Ivy is VERY BAD STUFF to burn, this applies to ANY PART of the plant. The oil that causes the nasty blisters, itching, rash, etc. is found throughout the entire plant, and is very slow to break down. I would consider any part of the plant that is recognizeable to be hazardous.

As mentioned earlier, clothing that comes in contact with poison ivy gets contaminated and can cause infection at a later time, however, my understanding is that laundering in standard laundry detergent will pretty much take care of the problem, so no need to get rid of exposed clothing.

What makes it so nasty to burn is that the toxic oil comes out in the smoke, and can cause the classic poison ivy rash INTERNALLY if inhaled - ever try to put calomine on your lungs? A good dose of poison ivy smoke can easily put you in the hospital for an extended period, and can even be fatal.

When I was a little kid, my father found this out the hard way burning some brush that he had cleared. It put him in the hospital for about a week and seriously ill for several weeks after that.

I don't know how the oil does when burned in a woodstove, hopefully the secondary combustion would take care of it, but I wouldn't care to try the experiment. Pre-EPA stoves would be more of a problem obviously.

Bottom line - DON'T BURN POISON IVY

Gooserider

 

[stoveguy2esw]

i have to echo goose on this one , my mom is allergic to poison ivy, dad burned off some about 100 yards down the back hill from the house and had to take my mom to the hospital that night. the vines themselves contain the very thing that causes the reaction , just as the leaves do during the green seasons, bottom line , if you can avoid burning it , do so it may not affect you but it could affect your neighbors.

mime esw

 

[Homefire]

Nope I still say BOX ELDER

 

[JMF1]

Gooserider is exactly correct. I had to pass on 6 nice ashe trees last year (covered in poison ivy) after doing some research on it............damn internet has too much info! Not worth the risk to me even though ashe is tough to pass up!

 

[maiwalhe]

Boy am I glad I asked you guys about this wood. I had no clue that the stuff that was growing on it was poison ivy.
So I guess I am going to be on the safe side and remove it before I burn the wood.

I have two cords of this wood. The first cord I stacked last week without knowing anything. The second one I started stacking
yesterday after reading all the posts and it scared the hack out of me. I handled it like dynamite.

 

[johnsopi]

]This is a great site for identifing trees.

 

[Sandor]

Lived with this women about a decade ago. She said to eat poison Ivy to get rid of the allergic reaction. She said her grandfather made her eat it when she was a kid.

Anyway, she said she wasn't allergic. So, I rubbed some leaves on the her arms. 4 dayz later, may hands were toast (I had gloves on, but....?)and her arms were unscathed.

Hmm. I didn't eat it! Anybody heard of this before?

 

[ourhouse]

I have before, a couple of guys at work have talked about it. Give it a shot and let us know how you make out

 

[kd460]

Folk lore. Some people are naturally immune to it (about 10%). It's an exposure type of a thing. The first time your exposed, you may not even know it, then every time after that the reactions to it get worse and worse. Eating the stuff is a great way to end up in the hospital. KD