Wood ID please...again

[kbrown]

So I was out cleaning up a pile of misc stuff I had gotten last year. This stuff came from my neighbor; I couldn't resist it last year being just three doors away. Now that I am splitting it, I think it was better off being left for the trash pick up! Just a mess with the splitter; twisted all to hell and still wet almost a year later! I think I remember seeing this in posts before, but can't recall what type of wood it is and any burning value. This piece here looked more like a steak than a split!

 

[woodsmaster]

maybe cedar ?

 

[Lucky Phil]

Does it smell like cedar?

 

[firefighterjake]

No guess . . . but I would fire up the grill and toss it on since you're right . . . it looks a lot like a steak!

 

[golfandwoodnut]

definetly looks like cedar, I love the smell of that stuff.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Looks like ceder to me, stringy bark and all. The oils in it make it a great firestarter.

Matt

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Looks like a beautiful piece of wood to me. That would look great sanded down. Not sure what you could make out of it but it should be good for something.

 

[JustWood]

Food coloringwood. mmmm hmmmm

 

[smokinj]

Food coloringwood. mmmm hmmmm

that makes sense!

 

[kbrown]

Doesn't smell like cedar; has a very distinctive barn yard like odor. I know that it wasn't a cottonwood or willow, the leaves were smaller than a maple. One neighbor from Canada says they called them Saskatchewan maples -they were a junk tree to them and would just cut them out from farmer's field and let em rot. Funny thing is that redness quickly fades after being split and is very faint a couple days later. Maybe some sort of elm or box elder?

 

[Todd]

I've seen red streaks in Box Elder but nothing that extreme.

 

[oldspark]

I've seen red streaks in Box Elder but nothing that extreme.

Thinking the same thing.

 

[kbrown]

I didn't think about snapping a pic of the bark, but the first few rings inside the bark are yellow. The straighter pieces split just perfect; just as the splitter touches it they "SNAP" apart.

 

[LLigetfa]

One neighbor from Canada says they called them Saskatchewan maples
. . .
Maybe some sort of elm or box elder?

LOL I never heard of a Sask Maple. Maybe your neighbor has been away from Canada too long.

The Manitoba Maple is in the Boxelder family.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acer_negundo

 

[kbrown]

That may be my fault; Manitoba Maple sounds more familiar. Damn it! LOL

 

[Tom Pencil]

My vote would be for a Non-aromatic cedar.

 

[benjamin]

I've seen red streaks in Box Elder but nothing that extreme.

+2 the giveaway with box elder is the tons of little thin green slipping bark suckers poking out of even some big rounds, lots and lots of gnarls sometimes and the smell sounds familiar.

 

[ansehnlich1]

Based on the description of the odor, and looking at the piece on the right that is NOT red, I'm callin' in boxelder. Looks exactly like boxelder, and I've cut my share of it. Reason it looks so funny is the twist in the split. If the OP would post a pic of the end of a round then it would be easy to tell.

I say boxelder!

 

[ansehnlich1]

if that ain't boxelder I'll eat my fiskars

 

[Shipper50]

It sure would make a nice looking grip for a handgun.


Shipper

 

[begreen]

I'm with the box elder crowd. Here are some images of the wood in various cross-sections:
http://tinyurl.com/38wnwvn

 

[kbrown]

I'm with the box elder crowd. Here are some images of the wood in various cross-sections:
http://tinyurl.com/38wnwvn

Those are some great pics. Most of those represent exactly what I was seeing on the splits. The cause of the red color is very interesting; I can say from fact that this tree was under some tremendous stress as it had three main trunks twisted around each other for the first 12' and from there the limbs were always weighed down from snow or storms. Ultimatly it was a mild wind storm that brought down 2/3 of the tree. If stress can cause the red color, then that was this for sure.

I am going to call this ID as flaming box elder!