Is this wood or trash?

Looks like hedge to me also. Had a friend say his ex-wife loaded his whole stove up one time w/hedge while he was gone....she called and said the stove glowing red. Said he got home and sure enough looked like the whole stove was about to melt. Said all he could do was let it cool down...be careful with the yeller stuff

Definitely hedge. Great firewood but wouldn't put more than a couple of pieces in at a time.

I'm very late to the party but yes Osage Orange for sure......

firefighterjake said:

Never met any wood species yet that I didn't like

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I should have invited you over last spring when I was splitting 2 cords of plum wood. While I didn't request "extra crotch pieces and the bendiest branches they could find", it's what I got. It burns nice, but man I don't want to split plum wood ever again.

Tom Wallace said:

I should have invited you over last spring when I was splitting 2 cords of plum wood. While I didn't request "extra crotch pieces and the bendiest branches they could find", it's what I got. It burns nice, but man I don't want to split plum wood ever again.

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Two words: Hydraulic splitter.

That said . . . I think I've run across one or two rounds that I gave up on and left for a subsequent year before attempting them again . . . and when I got done . . . those splits were definitely not going to win any firewood beauty contests.

Definetely trash. Stack it all together, tell me when I can pick it up. I'll take it off your hands free of charge.

Definitely hedge. Dry it well and save for a nice cold night. It will make a lot of nice coals, too - so if you've ever wanted to try grilling in your stove, that would be a good wood to do it with, too.

I don't consider any wood to be trash. I'll burn anything that isn't too punky. There are some woods I wouldn't go very far out of my way to obtain, but I'd take them if they were easy to get.

Of course I am not talking about hedge. I'd love to have some hedge.

Hedge does one of the richest color changes as it dries. That crazy yellow slowly gives way to a beautiful cinnamon kind of color. Cherry does a wonderful darkening act as well. Cherry will stop turning if you apply a finish to it, but I saw some photos of guys spinning bowls and the hedge changed color after it was varnished.

Just for fun, pick that split up. Now go pick up a similar sized split of just about any other wood and compare the heft. Classic ton of feathers/ton of bricks kind of thing.

I haven't had the pleasure of getting any Hedge yet, but from experience with other high density woods: Black Locust, Honey Locust, Ironwood, overgrown Lilac trunks... I wouldn't be too worried about a stove load of it ONCE YOU GET THE FEEL FOR HOW IT BURNS.
The thing with the denser woods is that they take longer to reach maximum burn. If you treat it like Ash or something & turn your air down as usual based on stove temps you will get a surprise! Temps will keep rising long after you figure the stove is "dialed in" If you don't notice quick enough to shut down the air more & control it you can get the over-fire scenario, and of course the stuff will burn long & hot so the over-fire can last quite a while.
Learn it's ways and it will keep you warm on the coldest nights.
Oh, and this stuff would not be the best for cold starts either, due to the same "slow build" way it'll burn.