White or red?

[saewoody]

I scored a nice little load at the dump again last weekend. It’s hard not to throw it in the trailer when it’s already cut to length and easy to get at. I thought it was oak, but wasn’t 100% sure. But it didn’t matter because free and easy is just that, so I wasn’t going to pass it up!

Finally got to splitting it today, and it’s definitely oak. I think it’s white because it had more of a sweet smell to it, not the more nasty swampy smell. It is a bit reddish in color, but not the same deeper red of the red oak. I think I’ve only dealt with white one other time. Just hoping you guys who deal with it more regularly could verify for me. Thanks.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BenTN]

Definitely red. Nice score

 

[Tom123]

I’m going with red. Nice haul.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Fuut Master]

Red oak no doubt about it.

 

[saewoody]

Thanks everyone!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Just as a heads up... white oak has a bark that looks like its peeling like a Shagbark Hickory or a silver maple
Thats a red oak score... i love them boath

 

[Tar12]

Red for sure! Nice score!

 

[toddnic]

That's red oak! Let is season for two to three years and you will have some amazing wood for your wood stove. I use red oak most of the really cold months here in the western NC mountains.

 

[Sconnie Burner]

Just as a heads up... white oak has a bark that looks like its peeling like a Shagbark Hickory or a silver maple
Thats a red oak score... i love them boath

X2 white oak also has a thinner bark structure with really shallow or virtually no furrows. Nice score either way! Oak is a majority of what I burn here.

 

[Hasufel]

I think it’s white because it had more of a sweet smell to it, not the more nasty swampy smell.

Nice! Another vote for red oak--I have plenty of it. BTW, both red & white oak can smell "sweet." The big difference is that white oak smells more like vanilla and red smells more like fermented fruit. I know some people on this site hate the smell of red oak but it's one of my favorite aromas, so there may be some variation. But white oak is easy to tell apart if you ever do a side-by-side sniff test.

 

[FaithfulWoodsman]

Bark certainly looks like white to me, much more flaky than red. I often, but not always, find the heartwood in both red and white the same or similar reddish hues. Also the ray length seems to look long, which is a white characteristic. Either way burning oak is awesome.

 

[Woody Stover]

Bark certainly looks like white to me, much more flaky than red. I often, but not always, find the heartwood in both red and white the same or similar reddish hues.

Doesn't look like typical Red Oak bark, though it could be something else in the Red family. In Whites, the bark on the lower trunk may look similar to that but further up, the bark will exhibit the classic flaky bark, almost like a Shagbark Hickory.
That "sweet smell" is telling. The best wood I ever smelled was when I split some White Oak rounds that had been sitting in a stack for a couple years. Took me forever to split it because I had to sniff every new round, the fragrance was that intoxicating.
Couple White pics:

 

[Woody Stover]

Either way burning oak is awesome.[/ATTACH]

Sure, but burning White is awesomer. It is the King of All Firewoods.