Wood ID please....Locust??

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ArsenalDon

Minister of Fire
Dec 16, 2012
752
Meadow Valley, CA
My neighbor says this may be locust...but its tough for us because we mostly have pine, fir and cedar up here.

Not very fragrant when split, if any attribute I would say mildly sweet smell. This was just downed and splits like a dream, even knots are easily handled with my Fiskars X27. It is dense, heavy.

All these pics are from the same tree, I took different angles of bark and splits in hope it helps.

Help? and if you know for sure what it is, how long of a seasoning period would I have in an area with relatively low humidity.

Thanks
 

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Photo 121 and 77 are not locust. Others might be. First two might be maple. Maple dries fairly quickly. Locust three years from green stacked to seasoned.
 
Not locust for sure. Alder.
 
Not Locust, Im on the other side but most looks like some kind of Pine.
 
Some pieces have bark that resemble Honey Locust, but the wood looks more like maple - maybe it is a Red Maple. I assume it was a shade tree that somebody planted because you are in California where there aren't many broadleaved trees that are native and grow wild. So, if it is planted it could be one of many eastern hardwoods that are planted as shade trees in California, and I think Red Maple is one of those trees.

Red Maple, aka Soft Maple, is great firewood. I burn a lot of it and it has a good mix of reasonably high density paired with quick seasoning and easy lighting.
 
I agree - maple. The wave pattern in the grain, the dark heartwood - the bark - it all says maple to me...some kind of what I've always called "river maple"...soft maple....maybe red maple.
 
Alder is the pacific coast equivalent of Soft Maple as far as appearance of the wood. Just not 100% sure of the bark.
 
Red maple has a huge native range but I dont think California is part of it. I would think of it as a moisture loving tree.
The Alder here in NY forms dense thickets along creeks and streams. Never seen it in tree form.
I do know its western counterpart grows more substancially.
 
I had something that looked a lot like what you have there and the folks here told me red maple. I burn mostly oak with some other good hardwoods mixed in and I can say I was not a fan of the red maple, It burned ok but left behind a lot of ash.
 
Red maple has a huge native range but I dont think California is part of it. I would think of it as a moisture loving tree.
The Alder here in NY forms dense thickets along creeks and streams. Never seen it in tree form.
I do know its western counterpart grows more substancially.

It is a major timber source out there. Google "Pacific Coast Alder" California is in the Silver Maple Range maps I have seen.
 
And it seems that the consensus is Maple. I can buy that as there are a lot of Red and Silver Maple trees out here. So what is the time frame of seasoning Maple?
 
C/S/S you will be ready to burn it in 1 - 1.5 years. Maybe sooner if you can stack it in a location with a steady wind flow.
 
I agree to that its maple. My experience has been keep it really dry. The maple I have seems to soak up moisture a lot more than the oak
 
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