Unidentified oak

[Soundchasm]

Howdy All,

After having struck out on scrounges for 11 months and 29 days, of course the deluge happens all in the same week. Well, of course it does! What else would you expect?

After scrounging 3-4 cords that were mainly black locust, I get a call from someone I had spoken to a year ago when they discussed taking down multiple trees. Since I'm swamped, I agree to take the oak but not the ash.

No leaves since it was standing dead. Pretty sure it's a white oak, but no idea after that. Best guess is that I've brought home another cord.

Pics-
36" at ground level. 30" to 24" for most of the downed tree. Probably 35' in total length.

 

[CincyBurner]

Looks like straight white oak (Q. alba). The bark (flakey) in pic #5 is fairly characteristic of white oak.

 

[Soundchasm]

Looks like straight white oak (Q. alba). The bark (flakey) in pic #5 is fairly characteristic of white oak.

Wow, I think you nailed it. Just did a Google search for bark images, and I saw all the characteristics in one piece or another. Eastern White Oak. Thanks!

 

[hickoryhoarder]

White oak is my guess, though the bark doesn't look as flaky as I'm used to.

 

[weatherguy]

How much wood do you have turning down ash? The getting is good here but I'm without a truck, I could have brought home a cord today alone.

 

[StihlKicking]

I agree with white oak.

 

[MaintenanceMan]

Does it smell like a whiskey barrel?.... I could split white oak all day long just for the aroma.

 

[Soundchasm]

How much wood do you have turning down ash? The getting is good here but I'm without a truck, I could have brought home a cord today alone.

I know, crazy knowing what we know about consumption. I've got 4 cords under cover for 18/19.

I went from zero to overload in two weeks. Brought home at least five cords - maybe closer to six! Got 2.5 split already, so 3 or more to go for 19/20.

Part of turning it down was that I didn't want to tie up my friend's yard for weeks processing singlehandedly. And it took a week (3 trips) to split the oak with a wedge and sledge so I could move it.

So I'm sitting on 9-10 cords, depending on how it stacks out.

 

[Soundchasm]

Does it smell like a whiskey barrel?.... I could split white oak all day long just for the aroma.

I was working a 200+ year old bur oak, and you could just smell the "ancient" coming out of it!! Totally agree.

 

[Soundchasm]

This has got to be over a cord.

 

[weatherguy]

I think white oak smells like vanilla.

 

[Tar12]

It is white Oak I have aprox.15 cord of it split and stacked here....I get a lot of it..

 

[Schipp]

Burn a little of it green! If it smells like cow manure it’s WO! (seasoned WO doesn’t smell bad!)
But I agree, looks like WO!

 

[JSeery]

I think white oak smells like vanilla.

It does, because it contains the compound vanillin. When you drink an old whiskey (or wine) aged in oak barrels and you get a taste of vanilla, that's from the booze leaching the vanillin out of the wood. (Or so I'm told.)