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Please identify. I saw the leafs when they were on but do not know what type of maple this is. Trying to figure out what pile I want to put it in. Season less then a year or more then a year.
Maples by bark/grain can be frustrating. First guess is hard, based on the split. Not enough bark to really go on, even then they can be so similar. If u can get a live twig, silver has a very unpleasant odor when broke open and red does not. Saw chips are also usually much bigger in silver due to the soft wood.
Thanks for the replies. I have cut it in the past and it seemed to dry fast so silver maple seems to make the most sense. Less then one year seasoning pile it is.
The bark. I'm a guy who goes by bark. Some guys like the leaves. That helps me with oak.... of course maple leaves are easy, but IDing between red and silver from just a log can be difficult, IMO. If I see the entire tree, I can tell, but not usually from one round, especially not limbs.
It can be really tough to distinguish between the maples with just a split. Leaves make it much easier. Twig buds help also, as previously stated. https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/red-maple-ought-oh.151248/
This link shows a red maple I cut down a year ago and just got around to splitting. I know it was red maple because I had seen the tree several times and looked at the leaves. It looks very similar to you wood, but that doesn't mean they are the same.
To make things even more challenging, several yard tree varieties are a cross between red and silver maple. They exhibit the fast growth rate of the silver and the brilliant fall foliage of the reds. Plus the added bonus of no helicopters.