What is this shredded mess?

[gzecc]

Picked up these rounds from a friends burn pile. They were nicely stacked, just waiting for me. Now I know why someone didn't want them.

 

[NordicSplitter]

Looks like Cottonwood...

 

[johneh]

American Elm
That's what a lot of twisted grain will do
Ones that grow on a fence line or out in an open field are the worst

 

[gzecc]

I thought it was elm too.

 

[English BoB]

Ash at its worst...................ask me how I know.

 

[Whitepine2]

Could be Hornbeam it shreds rather than split.

 

[ewlsey]

Hackberry does that. The bark doesn't look quite right for Hackberry. We have a ton of it in this area an I burn a lot of it. Straight pieces are easy. Knots and crotches aren't worth messing with.

 

[TreePointer]

Many species can do that. Pictures of some rounds showing bark and end grain before being split would help.

From what I can see in the picture, my guess right now is a shagbark hickory.

 

[nmaho]

Looks like elm.

 

[gzecc]

Here's another. Also think its elm.

 

[claydogg84]

Got any bark pictures?

 

[gzecc]

Got any bark pictures?

Bark was all gone except the one pic (first in thread). That was why I thought it was elm originally. The round with the bark I thought was unrelated.

 

[mark cline]

Looks like Cottonwood...

cottonwood for sure bark does not look like elm

 

[CTBurner]

elm

 

[Mag Craft]

I have both here cottonwood and elm. I had to split both also.
Definitely not cottonwood the bark is not thick enough and the elm does shred like that
sometimes.

 

[claydogg84]

The bark looks like neither cottonwood or American elm, so I'm not sure what you've got. The cottonwood here has big thick bark and has always split easy. Elm is the only wood I've dealt with that will split like that.

 

[mark cline]

What does it smell like? Is it solid enough to burn or is it shredded because its rotted ?

 

[Jon_E]

Bark looks thin and gray, and not scaly or plated. Light-colored sapwood, possibly darker heartwood? Bark is not elm or ash.

I have had soft maple do that to me before, especially on knotty or twisted pieces. Also might be beech.

 

[Fred Wright]

Sweetgum does that, too. A shredded mangled mess. Gum usually isn't too bad splitting after the rounds have set a few months.

 

[gzecc]

Here is the last picture of it stacked. There is also some cherry mixed in. I think there were three varieties in this scrounge. Cherry, elm and this other stingy mystery wood with the grey scale bark.

 

[tinman1]

Here is the last picture of it stacked. There is also some cherry mixed in. I think there were three varieties in this scrounge. Cherry, elm and this other stingy mystery wood with the grey scale bark.

Lol
The top 2 pieces look like eagle wing wood ! Seriously I never came across wood like that

 

[AnalogKid]

American Elm. I have quite a bit of it still unsplit. Not looking forward to it!

 

[kennyp2339]

any tree will do that if it was located in a windy area, ask me about the two maple trees in my back yard, they gave my hydro a good run for its money, old timer came over and said "look at that twist, its from the wind"

 

[TreePointer]

The bark doesn't look anything like American elm, IMO. It's a lot smoother and shows plating and patterning of a shag. (Pictured below is a cropping and magnification of original.)

 

[kennyp2339]

Coming from NNJ, I'll say its a maple that has been cut about 1 or 2 ago