Wood I.D. - call it

[wood-fan-atic]

First pic is ( left to right ) black locust - red oak - ?? 3rd ??
I know,I know, you want to see inside a split.... I forgot to snap one.BUT,I can tell you that it is a very clean white , straight fiberous, stringy split.Very heavy,but not as heavy as an equal size oak. Easy to split, but stays together b/c of the stringy-ness. I'll add a pic of the split tomorrow. Any guesses in the meantime?

 

[Bubbavh]

GUM!

 

[CountryBoy19]

Really tough to tell because the pics are pretty bad... from what I can see the middle round isn't Red Oak, the bark looks too coarse for it. The split on the right... tough to tell from the pics... maybe ash? I've had ash before that was sort of stringy.

As of right now these are just WAG's because I can't see the pics very well.

 

[wood-fan-atic]

That middle round is definitely oak. I was splitting some yesterday, its 80% of what I burn.I thought #3 might be some type of ash ,too. But the bark is a little different- browner and the fissures a little deeper.

 

[WOODBUTCHER]

left sugar maple...middle red oak...right sweetgum.....

Woodbutcher

 

[wood-fan-atic]

I REALLY have to stop using my cell phone camera. The first two ARE, without debate, beyond all doubt , poitively - black locust on left and oak in the middle. The only one unbeknownst to me is the one on the right. Y'all seem to think its sweet gum.Ive never had sweet gum before. And from what Ive seen in the charts, I dont think I want it. There are a bunch of rounds at the pile Ive been given permission to take. Now, I'm not so sure I'll bring 'em home.

 

[Wood Duck]

If it is Sweet Gum (and I can't tell from the pics) bring it home anyway. How will you know if it is worth collecting if you don't give it a try? I'll scrounge anything once, maybe twice. I like to get crappy wood because I don't feel guilty burning it in the campfire ring.

 

[wood-fan-atic]

Ive got a few 20" rounds (maybe 4-5). I feel bad being a scrounging SNOB! There is so much black locust and oak on the pile that Ive been bringing home- I just dont want to 'contaminate' my stock with sub-par wood. And on Friday, I'll have access to all the ash I can possibly haul and store. Am I being a stuck-up scrounger? :roll:

 

[bigtall]

If that is sweet gum, you should have a real good time splitting it. It is kind of like the carp of the firewood world. If it is easy to split, it isn't sweetgum.

 

[CodyWayne718]

White Ash. Do you have any of the tops to the tree? If so, look for opposing branches/twigs

 

[wood-fan-atic]

No tops. All of it is already bucked into rounds. Thats what makes it so hard to resist ;-)

 

[Wood Duck]

I am opposed to firewood scrounging snobbery, but there is nothing wrong with choosing the better wood first. If there is locust and oak, I'd take those first (assuming you have time to season the oak) regardless of what the other wood is. The sad reality of scrounging is that when it rains, it pours, and there never seems to be time to get it all. Then there are long periods when you can't seem to scrounge anything. Get all you can now even if it is sweet gum, but take the best first.

 

[FLINT]

I can't tell for sure from the picture, but I could believe sweet gum.

if its sweet gum, the wood should be very very white, and absolutely stringy - so stringy that even after you split it, you have to keep hacking the fibers apart.

if this wood is still really green it may not split terrible.

my parents live in the piedmont of VA and i've split my fair share of sweet gum. its splits a lot better green than dry. we don't have it up here, and i'm not sad.

sweetgum burns fine, about like red maple. my dad likes it. careful if you stack it green though - make sure there is plenty of air flow or it will mould - its really really

heavy and wet when green, but dries pretty quick and looses a lot of weight.

if I needed wood, i would not turn down sweet gum. well, i wouldn't turn down anything actually.

 

[billb3]

the middle round looks like typical red oak that grows in the northeast

the one on the right looks a bit like the poplar that grows around here.
I <<don't bother with it. So, I have no idea what it splits or burns like.


It can be nice to have a pile of wood near the driveway for the relatives and friends / neighbors that think I should give it all away seeing I took it out of my woods for free. I usually have pine and some somewhat punky feline willow there. Mostly nice small stuff that didn't require splitting effort.

 

[smokinj]

Gum

 

[wood-fan-atic]

Yes it IS so stringy that while splitting it, you need to hack the splits apart b/c they JUST WONT let go.....and VERY white. I think we can close the book on this one - sweet gum it is - Thanks ,all - you guys rock.

 

[FLINT]

Hey,

I had another thought.

what about hickory. hickory can have bark like that and white wood and it is also stringy

very very hard and heavy

if that is hickory, definitely get all you can get. its on par with that locust