Wood Id. Oak or Maple?
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![[Hearth.com] Wood Id. Oak or Maple?](/talk/data/attachments/27/27368-d1e95d46f2a0eee76510bcd3fb67f897.jpg?hash=Phn0lo0ldY)
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Looks kind a like American Elm?
(broken link removed to http://www.uwgb.edu/BIODIVERSITY/herbarium/trees/ulmame_bark01.jpg)
(broken link removed to http://www.uwgb.edu/BIODIVERSITY/herbarium/trees/ulmame_bark01.jpg)
Ah, that's "mapoak" . . . or is it "moak" . . . or maybe it's "oakple" . . . OK, I don't really know . . . I'm better at tree ID with leaves.
Looks a bit like some of the maple that grows here in and near the swamp.
I've been told it's silver and red maple.
We also have some oak that looks quite a bit like that too so I'd have to smell it.
I don't have enough maple nor enough to cut to know for sure which is which.
We do have a lot of different kinds of red oak, though, and there can be quite a bit of variation there, too.
I've been told it's silver and red maple.
We also have some oak that looks quite a bit like that too so I'd have to smell it.
I don't have enough maple nor enough to cut to know for sure which is which.
We do have a lot of different kinds of red oak, though, and there can be quite a bit of variation there, too.
Backwoods Savage said:
heck Dennis I dont even know of a red maple tree...crimsom king the only thing I can think would be called red maple, And whats called norway maple out there is way different crimson king is a norway.
The red Maple we have around here has smooth bark with some vertical cracking.
(broken link removed to http://www.uwgb.edu/BIODIVERSITY/herbarium/trees/acerub_bark01.jpg)
(broken link removed to http://www.uwgb.edu/BIODIVERSITY/herbarium/trees/acerub_bark01.jpg)
sugar maple's my guess.
I don't think it's red, but wouldn't rule it out. Red maple is something of a chameleon, its bark morphology being highly variable.
I don't think it's red, but wouldn't rule it out. Red maple is something of a chameleon, its bark morphology being highly variable.
I've got swampy woods and that's maple to me. Not oak, but pretty heavy. You'll find it dries about 2x faster.
I was trying to determine if it belongs in the slow drying rack (oak 2+ years) or faster drying rack 1 year. Sounds like 1 year rack.
i think it is red maple
i looked real close to the wood grain pic - and i think i saw it but maybe it was distortion or my imagination - but maple wood is real easy to identify - especially red maple - because the grain has a very particular look to it - there will be some light silveryish like marbling to it, its pretty. so look close to the sap wood and if its red maple you will see a pretty little design kind of thing going on. oak will never ever ever look like that - oak grain is just very coarse.
i looked real close to the wood grain pic - and i think i saw it but maybe it was distortion or my imagination - but maple wood is real easy to identify - especially red maple - because the grain has a very particular look to it - there will be some light silveryish like marbling to it, its pretty. so look close to the sap wood and if its red maple you will see a pretty little design kind of thing going on. oak will never ever ever look like that - oak grain is just very coarse.
The bark on those trees looks exactly like Red Maples that grow in PA. Younger trunks and branches have a smoother bark, but older trees look like the pictures. Looking around my yard at a bunch of Red Maples, I'd say those in the picture would fit right in. Red Maple is also called swamp maple, and is a very common tree over a large part of the eastern US. I am not sure about the upper midwest - maybe they look different there.
The more I look at these, the more I'm thinking sugar - my original guess. Especially the barkless pic. I've got one on the property that's infested with sugar maple borer. So I see a lot of barkless limbs that come down.
Also, it's pretty tough splitting and will often splinter like the split logs you got shown in pic #2.
And finally, that middle limb buck in pic #1 has a strong resembelance to what's shown below - a semi mature trunk bearing a SMB scar:
![[Hearth.com] Wood Id. Oak or Maple?](https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php?ACT=24&fid=27&aid=34537_VGZtupkGUusFihZk1653&board_id=1 "[Hearth.com] Wood Id. Oak or Maple?")
![[Hearth.com] Wood Id. Oak or Maple?](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/fig3-webp.212320/ "[Hearth.com] Wood Id. Oak or Maple?")
Also, it's pretty tough splitting and will often splinter like the split logs you got shown in pic #2.
And finally, that middle limb buck in pic #1 has a strong resembelance to what's shown below - a semi mature trunk bearing a SMB scar:
I'd have to agree that red maple bark varies a lot by region. I get red maple both in MD and in MI. In MD it's mostly a yard tree, the bark of older trees has elongated scales although it's less "scaly" than silver maple. Often it's a little brown or red under/between the scales. I could believe that bsa0021's pics were red maple from around here. Here's a pic of some that was just dumped in my driveway. (Ignore the random hemlock chunk.)
In MI I've got red and sugar maple intermixed in my woods, and I cannot tell them apart without the leaves. Bark looks the same, both like CC's second pic (which I don't see as resembling the others that much myself) and not much like it does in MD. There's a lichen or something similar that grows on the bark in MI which probably has something to do with the coloring. The exception is one extremely old and large red maple, which looks almost like a shagbark hickory.
In MI I've got red and sugar maple intermixed in my woods, and I cannot tell them apart without the leaves. Bark looks the same, both like CC's second pic (which I don't see as resembling the others that much myself) and not much like it does in MD. There's a lichen or something similar that grows on the bark in MI which probably has something to do with the coloring. The exception is one extremely old and large red maple, which looks almost like a shagbark hickory.
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If silver maple is a soft maple, what is hardness of red and sugar maple? How long do they take to dry?
Sugar maple is the species known as 'hard maple,' while Red and Silver Maples are called 'soft maple.' I don't know what the wood of Black Maple is like. There are a few around here, but I haven't cut one. There is also the small Striped Maple or Moosewood that is native, but never large. Norway Maple seems like Red Maple to me, based on cutting more than on burning (I haven't burned a lot of it). Box Elder, also called Ashleaf Maple, is also a maple and soft wood.
Wood Duck said:
With that information, the next question is how do I identify sugar maple from other soft maple? Or, is sugar very difficult to distinguish from soft maple?
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