What kind of wood is this? Twisted grain.

[KeepItNatural]

I have been struggling with this wood for 2 years. I finally split it all, and yes, by hand. I had to cut the logs shorter to be able to split it, and even that wasn't too easy. I was told by the tree service guys who took it down 2 years ago that it was ash, but no one else has seemed to think so. I'm thinking either I misheard them, or the wood they were talking about was another tree.
Does anyone know what kind of wood this is? I tried to take pictures to show how the wood grain looks. It's very twisted, almost like a corkscrew design the whole way down. Some times the way the wood would split, it would shear off in a circular manner.
Any ideas?

 

[smokinj]

got any pic's of the bark my frist thought is maple

 

[KeepItNatural]

I'll take some pictures of the bark tomorrow, and I'll try to grab one of the much larger pieces from the back of the pile to give a better context of how the whole thing looked.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

First thought that comes to mind is Silver Maple.

 

[Mmaul]

Silver maple thats been cut awhile. Split some that looked just like that.

 

[smokinj]

Silver maple thats been cut awhile. Split some that looked just like that.

thats what i was thinking as well

 

[JustWood]

DING DING DING !! You guys are winners Some type of maple . I'm goin with Sugar but it's 2 far gone to really tell.

 

[KeepItNatural]

Cool. For the last two years, as I keep saying, we've been under the impression that this was ash. I'm glad to know that its not, b/c everything I could find about ash said the grain was straight and easy to split. This was neither.
What can you guys tell me about burning silver maple?

 

[BucksCoBernie]

I agree, it looks like the maple chunks I have.

 

[smokinj]

Cool. For the last two years, as I keep saying, we've been under the impression that this was ash. I'm glad to know that its not, b/c everything I could find about ash said the grain was straight and easy to split. This was neither.
What can you guys tell me about burning silver maple?

anything you want to know 20 million btu per cord ash is fine and the part you have is hart wood the best of the tree ( i have 9 cords ready thats about the onlything i'll burn this season)

 

[quads]

Box Elder

 

[burntime]

Silver maple. I have a cord of it cause it was an easy score. It dries fast and burns hot. Its fine for the bookend seasons but does not last nearly as long as oak and ash. That being said its worth taking...

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

Punk Maple.......J/K
I'm with Lee as I've split some really twisted punky Sugar Maple before.

WB

 

[mayhem]

Been working on a load of Box Elder that looks just like that. All twisted, almost none of it splits on the first whack.

 

[Duetech]

rsgBJJfighter, Silver maple is below sugar maple in btu output and dries quicker. My guess would put the silver at around red maple or a little better. See link:
(broken link removed to http://chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm)
I have had both silver and sugar maple that was twisted like what you have it's not uncommon in either one. It's just the way the tree grew trying to get light. In the open the same tree would probably have grown straight and not twisted at all.

 

[savageactor7]

Looks like some of the punky wood I'll burn.

 

[smokinj]

Looks like some of the punky wood I'll burn.

+1

 

[lexybird]

looks like the crotch section of a sugar maple to me

 

[WoodPorn]

I don't think it looks punky, it is pretty well spaulted. Burn it this year before it starts dry rotting, those black lines are your first indication of decay..

It is definitely Maple, not sure what type

 

[wendell]

I would actually say it looks just like slightly punky elm as elm is very hard to split but not so much if it is really punky.

 

[Tony H]

Did I read someone say box elder ..... does it have red streaks and from the end looks like star / random red and splits a little tough but not really stringy like elm
it even chips off strange shaped pieces. Does it seem to take 5 or more blows to get a split going and on bigger pieces you have to take no more than 6" from the outside. You really have to look close at the grain to find the best place to split the stuff.

Maple is pretty straight grain wood except where branches join and often cuts with one or 2 blows with a maul.

What you have is Box elder . I have at least 8 cord of each in my yard right now.
Also check the smell maple smells well .. like maple and Box elder smells like piss.

 

[berlin]

i'm going w/ box elder too. usually twisted, usually rotten as in the pics. splits funny but not as bad as elm. also, if the tree guy didn't know his trees to well, at first glance with its lightly furrowed bark and small pointed leaves it could be mistaken as ash, whereas other maples and elm are not likely to be mistaken as ash.