Tree ID help

[berlin]

it's clearly ash

 

[CTburning]

based on the pics and looking at the rings-I would have to say Ash. I didn't check out the link but remember a bit when I used to make my own archery equipment. Maple has one growth ring with the same wood throughout the ring=difuse porous. Almost all other hardwoods are ring porous-they have a lighter-weaker early wood ring and then the denser late wood. If you can see two rings within a yearly growth ring, it isn't maple.

 

[Skier76]

I took better pics last night...but ran out of time to post them. We ended up cutting a good deal of the smaller stuff I took a few rounds out of my trailer last night and hit them witht he maul. They poped apart very very easily. So easily, I hit the driveway...and I didn't even wind up for the hit.

Interestingly enough....my boss said the guy who cut the tree stopped by last night to pick up his sweatshirt that he left behind. He said it was an ash tree. The guy took a couple rounds with him when he took the tree down. He said they burned great. So I'll toss a split or two on the fire this weekend and report back. The tree has been dead for almost two years.


*Edit:

smokingolf,
That's ironic...my boss took it down for pretty much the same reason; he was worried about it hitting his shed.

 

[gzecc]

If they pop open when split it sounds like ash.

 

[Skier76]

If they pop open when split it sounds like ash.

It was so easy to split, I'm thinking I could have done the job with my axe.

 

[marsfarmer]

Definitely white ash or norway. One way to distinguish between them is to split off a piece. Ash will have a more open grain like an oak. Imagine the grain on a baseball bat. That's ash.
Norway maple will have a tight grain, kind of glossy. Another trick with most maple species is to heat a chunk of it on yer stovetop. If it smells like syrup, you've got maple. If it smells like cooked wood, you got something else.
Also I'm seeing diamond patterns in the furrows of the bark. Norway, I'm pretty sure, has straight furrows. So I'd say you got an ash.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

If they pop open when split it sounds like ash.

I'm thinking the same thing....

 

[DaveH9]

Looks like white ash to me, and it splits easy like ash, and there is some sort of ash blight in CT. Standing dead ash all over. I had 2 dead ash trees, now only one left.

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

WHITE ASH

 

[JustWood]

MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!

 

[rphurley]

So, you live in Connecticut AND Vermont? What, was Connecticut NOT cold enough for you and you wanted a vacation home that really gave you the ball freezing cold you desired?

[/quote]

CT is too darn flat and doesn't get enough snow. VT has more mountains and more snow. Plus, it's a lot less muggy up there in teh summer.

No leaf pics guys; this tree was standing dead. I will get some better pics. These are just some taken with a BlackBerry. I'll dust of my digital when I get this stuff home after work.[/quote]

I second that reply Skier. I spend as much time as I can in SE Maine near the White Mountains of NH and I'm so happy the ski season is right around the corner. I took a boarding lesson once and felt like I was beaten with a baseball bat!

 

[Cedrusdeodara]

Might be maple or ash, like others have noted, but that bark and the "snap" on the splitter hint toward Sweet gum for me. Sweetgum is one of the stringyist and annoying woods to split and they have the same bark as your photo. Just my guess.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

If they pop open when split it sounds like ash.

It was so easy to split, I'm thinking I could have done the job with my axe.

Skier, one winter I was laid up with my back. Even after surgery I was able to split some big ash blocks. What I did was sit on a log (hot seat mandatory) and using a sledge and wedge, just tapped the wedge a few times with the sledge and it would split. Nice! You got a good score there.

 

[Skier76]

Thanks everyone! I'm pretty confident that it's ash. I'm amazed with how easy it splits. It actually burns pretty well too. It was standing dead so it's semi seasoned. I tried burning from the top of the tree first. Seems that if I load the stove carefully, get it up to temp, I can drop a split or two on, get a little sizzling, then it's off and running.

Here's something interesting. I put a few medium splits on the hearth Saturday AM. We burned most of the day Saturday and into the night. We burned a little on Sunday morning. I noticed last night, that the top of those splits actually had a good deal of checking on it. Not sure if that drove out much moisture, but I was surprised that only a day or so next to the fire produced checking.

I'm excited about ski season too...we're just a few weeks off in Southern VT. "Maybe" next weekend.

 

[Skier76]

Finally, some better pics!

I got another load today after work. I have a good 2 or three more trips to make. Amazing how much wood came out of one tree.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Now that I see some split it's not lookin' like ash to this old pennsylvania boy......

 

[Skier76]

You thinking more along the lines of maple?

 

[smokinj]

i will still stick with white oak

 

[WoodPorn]

I've Changed my mind, I'm going w/Ash, but specifically Black Ash. See pic from Hobbit House Inc.

 

[Bootlegger]

i will still stick with white oak

White oak has a thin "white" bark with flatter ridges, I've got it all over the place, second only to chestnut oak. Definitely not white oak.

 

[JustWood]

If it ain't ash I'll eat your Castine

 

[Skier76]

If it ain't ash I'll eat your Castine

LOL!

 

[smokinj]

If it ain't ash I'll eat your Castine

good enough for me ash it is!