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Ash?

Post in 'The Wood Shed' started by Flatbedford, Nov 26, 2012.

  1. Flatbedford Minister of Fire

    I met a woman who lives near me on 4 wooded acres. She had a bunch of trees come down during Sandy and there are many others down too. She says I can have it all! I'm thinking that I may have three season's worth or more here.
    There is a huge two stem White Oak in front.
    1125121329.jpg
    And what I think are a bunch of Ash trees down in back. At least I think these are Ash. I once brought home Elm by mistake, thinking I had Ash. What do you all think?
    1125121247.jpg
    There will be more pictures once I get started. I have more wood lined up than I have room for right now, but I will be getting into this soon. I'm hoping that I can do some clean up for her and store the wood at her place until I have burned a few cords to make room for new stuff at home.
    #1

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  2. TimJ Minister of Fire

    joined: Apr 10, 2012
    1,024 posts
    Southeast Indiana
    Really nice score Flatbedford.
    IF you straighten up her property and stack that stuff nice and neat I am sure she will be very happy.
    You will be busy
  3. blujacket Feeling the Heat

    joined: Oct 2, 2008
    472 posts
    Dayton,Ohio
    Looks like Ash to me
    AJS56 likes this.
  4. Jack Straw Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 22, 2008
    2,009 posts
    Schoharie County, N Y
    Looks like ash, I see a lot of oak leaves around it. Does it have small oval shaped leaves?
  5. Flatbedford Minister of Fire

    No leaves on these trees. Most have been down some time. I didn't look carefully at the leaves on the ground. This is a wet area. The last big ash score I made was at another wet area. Do Ash trees like to have their feet wet?
  6. Jack Straw Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 22, 2008
    2,009 posts
    Schoharie County, N Y
    My woods are very wet and I have a ton of Ash.
  7. Backwoods Savage Minister of Fire

    joined: Feb 14, 2007
    24,111 posts
    Michigan
    A different ash than what we have.

    Steve, that is an excellent Christmas present. I hope you give her a good one too.
  8. Flatbedford Minister of Fire

    I'm gonna clean up a huge mess at her place, that's her gift! There are trees down everywhere on her 4 acres. I'll probably also have to rebuild a small bridge to haul the wood out. I'll post up some more pics in a new thread. Right now I just want to be sure that I've stepped into an Ash gold mine and not an Elm hell hole.
    bogydave likes this.
  9. RORY12553 Feeling the Heat

    joined: Dec 12, 2011
    446 posts
    Southern NY
    I know exactly what you mean about the elm hell hole. 1st scrounge turned out to be mostly elm and I spent a while spliting that stuff by hand!!
  10. Brewmonster Member

    joined: Jan 6, 2011
    115 posts
    Central NJ
    Have a look at the twigs. If the buds and leaf scars are opposite each other, ash is very likely. If not,...
    onetracker likes this.
  11. bogydave Minister of Fire

    joined: Dec 4, 2009
    7,736 posts
    So Cent ALASKA
    Serious amount of fire wood, one of the top scrounges of the year ! ! ;)
    Looks like a long term project.
    Should keep you busy thru the winter

    2nd pic could be locust ? close to locust bark anyway. would be nice eh?

    Keep us posted on your progress.
    Have fun :)
  12. Flatbedford Minister of Fire

    It's not Locust. I am sure of that! I have scrounged about 7 cords of BL on the last year and a half.

    I forgot about the opposing buds. I'll check that out next time I'm there.
  13. wingsfan Feeling the Heat

    joined: Dec 1, 2008
    340 posts
    Jackson,Mi.
    The bark in the second pic looks to be a deep texture, The ash around here the bark is only maybee 1/4in deep and falling off, due to the ash borer.
  14. jatoxico Minister of Fire

    joined: Aug 8, 2011
    727 posts
    Long Island NY
    Only scored ash once so what do I know but the bark in pic two is more deeply furrowed than the ash I've seen. Excellent find no matter what.
  15. HardWoodW Member

    joined: Oct 9, 2009
    73 posts
    Indiana
    I keep going back and forth on whether that's ash or not- I'd say cut off a round and split it by hand- if it splits like butter you've got ash
    Wildo likes this.
  16. Flatbedford Minister of Fire

    I think that is the way to go.
  17. albert1029 Feeling the Heat

    joined: Nov 15, 2011
    330 posts
    Southwestern PA
    cha-ching...
    Wildo likes this.
  18. Boog Powell Minister of Fire

    joined: Oct 31, 2012
    561 posts
    NE Ohio
    This is exactly what I was thinking, it looks too deep for the white ash of these parts. Its a dead ringer for the bark of big Tulip Trees, or american elm. Like HardwoodW said "try splitting a piece".
  19. jdp1152 Minister of Fire

    joined: Oct 4, 2012
    600 posts
    Massachusetts
    Looks remarkably like bark of the white willow I just had cut down. Kinda looks like elm as well though. I've got quite a few white ash around me at various stages of growth and that doesn't look anything like them.
  20. fire_man Minister of Fire

    joined: Feb 6, 2009
    1,121 posts
    Eastern Ma
    Flatbedford:

    I hate to rain on an Ash parade, but the bark texture is awful deep, and the ash like diamond pattern is certainly there. We definitely need more pictures, if nothing more we can salivate over your score!
  21. Gasifier Minister of Fire

    Flatbed. I can not be sure what you have from the pics. But I can say this. I have cut/split/stacked a lot of White Ash from my families property. I recently learned that does not mean I know what Ash looks like! Just the Ash on my property. A guy I purchased some wood from brought me some Ash. Didn't look like the bark of the Ash I was use to on my property. But it did have that nice straight grain like Ash. I asked him, "Is that Ash?" He said, "Sure is! Looks different from yours because it comes from a swampy area and is older trees." I believe him. It splits nice and easy. The bark is much deeper. And mine comes from ground that is drier than his, and the trees in our family property are pretty young. Just thought I would let you know what I experienced recently.

    Great score man! And good of you to help her out. You are saving her lots of money from paying a tree service to do it later! And hey. Even if it is elm. Rent a nice splitter for a day at a time when you have plenty of wood ready. It is free wood! ;lol I have done that in the past. I can rent one for 60 bucks for the day. Not bad.
  22. Hickorynut Member

    joined: Jan 10, 2012
    84 posts
    western ky.
    Flatbed, I agree with those others who say it could be something other than ash, as in tulip poplar. Compared to white oak it would be a loser ;)
  23. Wood Duck Minister of Fire

    joined: Feb 26, 2009
    3,761 posts
    Central PA
    In addition to pictures of the bark, some pictures of the twigs would be very helpful. Ash have opposite branching, meaning that in general a twig on one side of the branch is paired with a twig on the other side of the same branch directly opposite the first twig. Only Ash and maple have this among large trees.

    That bark is more furrowed than any Ash I have seen, but one picture can be confusing.
  24. ikessky Minister of Fire

    joined: Sep 2, 2008
    856 posts
    Northern WI
    Let me get this straight. You are meeting new women who are giving you wood.......... Again, am I the only pervert who thinks this way???
    will711 likes this.
  25. Wood Duck Minister of Fire

    joined: Feb 26, 2009
    3,761 posts
    Central PA
    No, you're not the only one. If this wasn't such a classy bunch you'd see a lot more comments.

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