Pink Oak! (and yet another wood ID request)

[Hasufel]

I was splitting some white oak and noticed that a few pieces showed a very bight pink streak along the split face, just inside the heartwood from the punky layer. The pix don't do it justice but trust me, it really stands out in real life. You can see a little bit of it along the cut edge too, though not as well. I assume it's some kind of fungus but thought I'd see what y'all think. Almost looks like someone drew on it with a pink highlighter!


Now for the wood ID question. I found some stuff that I thought at first was white oak because it was almost exactly the same color. However, it doesn't have oak rays and it turns out to be an absolute PITA to split. Even without knots, I had to resort to wedges to split 6"-8" rounds of this stuff. The grain is super stringy. The smell is interesting, almost spicy. It reminds me a little of teak or other tropical woods. But those don't grow around here. Any idea what it could be? Sorry, this has been down for a while so no bark or leaves to help out. There are a few sycamores around here...could that be what this is?

 

[Tar12]

I have seen the pink fungus strip many times in oak. Your ID question is Elm.The tell tale sign is the severe checking on the outside. Love me some Elm! Thats probably running 14-17% and ready for the stove! I grab it every chance I get!

 

[Hasufel]

I have seen the pink fungus strip many times in oak. Your ID question is Elm.The tell tale sign is the severe checking on the outside. Love me some Elm! Thats probably running 14-17% and ready for the stove! I grab it every chance I get!

Thanks. I didn't think there was much elm around here. Now I know what everybody's been complaining about. That stuff is next to impossible to split by hand.

 

[Tar12]

Thanks. I didn't think there was much elm around here. Now I know what everybody's been complaining about. That stuff is next to impossible to split by hand.

Although I have a $7500 commercial splitter I usually don't mess with it unless it will go right into the stove. Around here I find a lot of the small stuff around and really treasure it as it is a excellent firewood! Choose your battles wisely! lol

 

[Stinkpickle]

You'll like that elm.

 

[Dobish]

splitting elm by hand teaches you how to swear with words you have never even imagined before....

 

[Stinkpickle]

splitting elm by hand teaches you how to swear with words you have never even imagined before....

LOL! "Splitting" probably isn't the proper term. More like "shredding".

 

[johneh]

Tends to make its own kindling
Lots of hairs
American Elm the reason I bought a splitter
Lots of it in the fence lines here

 

[Hasufel]

Although I have a $7500 commercial splitter I usually don't mess with it unless it will go right into the stove. Around here I find a lot of the small stuff around and really treasure it as it is a excellent firewood! Choose your battles wisely! lol

Thanks, everyone. I sure hope this stuff is as good as you say. This is the only time I ever needed a wedge for something so small. I've lost track of the number of times I screamed LET GO ALREADY

I split/shredded a few rounds yesterday and most tested out in the high teens or low 20s MC. Strangely enough a couple were way up in the 40s. I set aside a few of the driest pieces to try out. Once I see how well they burn I'll decide whether the rest of the tree is worth messing with. At this point I'm not so sure--I do enjoy the occasional challenge but this is a bit ridiculous!

 

[Tar12]

Here are some better pictures of the elm I cut a few days ago...as you can see it is very well checked. I haven't found a piece yet over 17% when it looks like this....mind you this is all small stuff...this stuff is very dry.I just came off of a 24 hr burn

with this.

 

[Hasufel]

Here are some better pictures of the elm I cut a few days ago...as you can see it is very well checked. I haven't found a piece yet over 17% when it looks like this....mind you this is all small stuff...this stuff is very dry.I just came off of a 24 hr burnView attachment 194350 View attachment 194351 with this.

So you just burn the smaller rounds without splitting them? I split the largest round in the last pic in post 1 and MC was 21%. Not bad for a freshly bucked round that came from a creek bed. I also have some rounds with almost no checking--those are the ones that ranged from teens to >40%.

 

[Tar12]

So you just burn the smaller rounds without splitting them? I split the largest round in the last pic in post 1 and MC was 21%. Not bad for a freshly bucked round that came from a creek bed. I also have some rounds with almost no checking--those are the ones that ranged from teens to >40%.

Yes I just burn the smaller rounds with a lot of checking with out splitting them. They light right off and burn nice and steady for hours.I try not to grab the bigger stuff but when I do I set it aside until I have enough to justify firing up the splitter and it gets burned the following year.

 

[Dobish]

i burn the smaller rounds too.... anythign about 4"-6" diameter. Every so often I will split them, but most of the time they light right up....

 

[TheBigIron]

Red elm for sure, I used my 35 ton splitter last weekend and it struggled to split some of those elm rounds...

 

[CheapBassTurd]

I thought the splitter was going out. LOL

 

[Hasufel]

i burn the smaller rounds too.... anythign about 4"-6" diameter. Every so often I will split them, but most of the time they light right up....

Looks like I have two dead elms side by side, with the bigger one maxing out at about 8"-9" at the base. That'll need splitting for sure. The biggest round I bucked has about 30 rings on it. So presumably Dutch elm disease is what keeps them from getting too big? I can't imagine having to process a fully grown elm...it hurts just thinking about it!

 

[Dobish]

Looks like I have two dead elms side by side, with the bigger one maxing out at about 8"-9" at the base. That'll need splitting for sure. The biggest round I bucked has about 30 rings on it. So presumably Dutch elm disease is what keeps them from getting too big? I can't imagine having to process a fully grown elm...it hurts just thinking about it!

There is a reason I have 2+ cord that is still stacked in rounds out back by the playset.... mainly because I can't drive back there right now to get the splitter there

 

[mstoelton]

Elm is a PITA to split but it does burn really nice when it's dry! It comes with it's own firestarters - the shredded hairs really light up nicely when you are starting a fire!

 

[Tar12]

Looks like I have two dead elms side by side, with the bigger one maxing out at about 8"-9" at the base. That'll need splitting for sure. The biggest round I bucked has about 30 rings on it. So presumably Dutch elm disease is what keeps them from getting too big? I can't imagine having to process a fully grown elm...it hurts just thinking about it!

Dutch elm disease is the reason. At least here it is not to often that you see a large elm and when I do I pass them on by unless I see a lot of limb wood in it.....lol