Tree/firewood ID (maple ?)

[woofer]

I obtained about 3 cords of this wood for free..... I am almost certain it is of the maple variety....... but I was curious if anyone out there could identify from the attached pictures if it is hard (sugar) or soft (silver)....there are almost no leaves left in the area where the trees were felled, so I couldn't really couldn't really id by the leaf type.

 

[fireview2788]

Looks like silver maple but would need some pics a little further away to say for sure.


fv

 

[jimosufan]

if it was in someones yard I'd say silver. However if it was close to the woods I would go with sugar. 1st pic looks like sugar to me.

 

[woofer]

I resized the pictures

 

[woofer]

They were in someone's yard, but it is a heavily wooded area/ yard. They had 22 large trees taken down in an area less than one acre

 

[fireview2788]

Bark doesn't look rough enough to be silver in the new pics.

fv

 

[Wood Duck]

I think it is Red Maple - a 'soft' maple but still pretty good firewood.

 

[nrford]

From someone that has sawn millions of board feet of Hard Maple,..... 100% H.Maple! Final Answer

 

[clemsonfor]

With that heart it dosent look like red maple as much, but we really dont have the other maples other than Silver in folks yards. All other maple besides red here is just ornamental plantings. So even as a forester this tree is really out of my knowledge i just have so little mape exp.

 

[ScotO]

Yep that's sugar maple (hard maple). We've been making maple syrup in the spring and that bark is what I look for when selecting my tapping trees.....that stuff is great wood for burning, I've been using it mixed with honey locust for overnight burns for the last two weeks......good score!

 

[John the Painter]

I'd say sugar Maple.Good wood.Easy to split.Good haul.

 

[woofer]

Thanks for the replies..... the owner told me originally that it was all red oak.....I was a little disappointed when I discovered it wasn't , (I did get about 1/2 cord of the oak), but hey if this is hard maple vs soft I sure won't complain.....

 

[Wood Duck]

How do you tell Sugar Maple from Red Maple from a picture?

 

[ScotO]

How do you tell Sugar Maple from Red Maple from a picture?

Wood duck, mostly by the bark, on the trunk of a red maple the bark spacing isn't as pronounced as it is on hard maple. The smaller hard maple trees (as well as branches of hard maple) almost have the consistency of (for lack of description) cellulite ....lol....as the tree grows and the trunk gets bigger the bark gets deeper and shaggier. Red maple bark is more shallow and almost thin and flaky bark. The branches of a red maple are generally smooth. Silver maples have smooth bark on most of the tree (except when the trunk gets larger), the trunk bark will get like red maple but the bark flakes are larger. We tap sugar and red maples, I don't bother with the silver as it has a much lower sugar content. Hard maple is an excellent wood for burning, plus it smells great when burning and is a great wood for cooking......

 

[iod0816]

Sugar maple. Red for my locale is typically smaller heart. And a more flakier bark compared to the thicker bark in the pics too.

 

[Superlite]

I would say Norway maple, makes good firewood if it gets split n' stacked quickly after bucked

 

[dannynelson77]

I would say Norway maple, makes good firewood if it gets split n' stacked quickly after bucked

Definitely not Norway maple....

 

[Waulie]

Sugar Maple for sure!

Excellelent score! One of my favorites.