Help ID some wood I got from the junkyard please

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samhoff2

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Aug 12, 2011
61
Wyoming
A friend at the junkyard had a burn pile. I went and got this.

I'm thinking it's Cottonwood (we have LOT of it in Wyoming - state tree after all) but the bark looks a little too rough and thick. It's not dark enough to be Russian Olive (the other thing we have a lot of around here, besides pine).

I tried splitting a piece just now and it felt HARD.

Help please?

Thanks,

Sam
 

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Ok, thanks for the help. I was still wearing my ear protection from the chainsaw so perhaps I couldn't hear it screaming. But now that I know that triangular bark (usually?) equals cottonwood from now on.

Thanks!

Sam
 
Locust bark looks like that too. The bark is soft as well. Never seen any cottonwood, if it doesn't seem like cottonwood do you get any locust? Get alot of Black Locust by me no honey locust that I have seen. Just a thought.
 
Never seen cottonwood but it sure looks like black locust, is it heavy?
 
The bark in the middle pic looks a lot like some of the tightbark hickory we have around here - it has that almost "diamond" pattern. However, when looking at the cross section, I don't recall seeing hickory bark quite so "tall" or thick. I'll defer to the far more experienced on this one.
 
If I saw that on my property, I'd say ash. But, sounds like you don't get ash in WY - not sure! Cheers!
 
NH_Wood said:
If I saw that on my property, I'd say ash. But, sounds like you don't get ash in WY - not sure! Cheers!
Click to expand...
I agree if I was cutting wood in Iowa and found that I would think Green Ash but picture ID on computer is hit or miss sometimes.
 
weatherguy said:
Never seen cottonwood but it sure looks like black locust, is it heavy?
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Worry not. Freshly cut cottonwood can be really heavy. Six month later it is light.
 
I vote for Locust
 
samhoff2 said:
A friend at the junkyard had a burn pile. I went and got this.

I'm thinking it's Cottonwood (we have LOT of it in Wyoming - state tree after all) but the bark looks a little too rough and thick. It's not dark enough to be Russian Olive (the other thing we have a lot of around here, besides pine).

I tried splitting a piece just now and it felt HARD.

Help please?

Thanks,

Sam
Click to expand...

I vote Ash or Basswood, does not look like the Black Locust I have here in NJ.
 
Tight rings my vote BL!
 
That's not cottonwood.
I have no input as to what it is, but I know it is not cottonwood.
:p
 
I've never split cottonwood but from what I understand, it's not hard. I vote black locust. Is it kind of yellowy green with a hint of pinkish red at times when you split it?
 
Not Black Locust. This is Black Locust. No diamond pattern. BL bark is much thicker too.
DSC06761.jpg
 
Split a piece in half. cotton wood smells like cow crap.
 
Flatbedford said:
Not Black Locust. This is Black Locust. No diamond pattern. BL bark is much thicker too.
DSC06761.jpg
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Good pic! No question that's black locust! The stuff from wyoming? What do I know, I'm from New Hampshah.
 
The picture in my avatar is black locust. I don't know what trees you have in Wyoming, but it sure looks like Black Locust to me. It's checking nicely too - nice score.

Split it and run your hand down the grain. If you pick up some tiny pesky splinters - it could be Black Locust. BL is also a fairly fast drying wood too.

Good score!
 
Don't know what tree you have, but I was trying to hand split some 10 yr dead cottonwood with a monster maul a couple of weekends ago and it was horrible. It is the first time I have ever stuck a monster maul. SOB would penetrate 4" into the end grain. When I got the maul out it closed up like it was never hit. (for the record, I can swing a monster maul at a pretty fast rate).
 
Jags said:
Don't know what tree you have, but I was trying to hand split some 10 yr dead cottonwood with a monster maul a couple of weekends ago and it was horrible. It is the first time I have ever stuck a monster maul. SOB would penetrate 4" into the end grain. When I got the maul out it closed up like it was never hit. (for the record, I can swing a monster maul at a pretty fast rate).
Click to expand...

+1 I did the same thing last year. Gave up the maul and borrowed my neighbor's splitter and the wedge would go in 3/4 of the way before it would split.

That stuff sucks to split!
 
Hey samhoff2, where's the picture of the grain of a split piece of this wood-we wanna see what it is! Don't leave us hangin' here , bro!! We need to make a FINAL CONCLUSION on it!!
 
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