wood id/is it worth taking?

[nola mike]

Got a bunch of this stuff about a block from my house, right off the road. Chainsaw went through pretty easily. Anyone know what it is? Unless it's real cramp, the ease of getting it is appealing.

 

[Sodbuster]

Looks like Boxelder to me, pretty junky wood, OK for shoulder season, but don't expect too much.

 

[shoot-straight]

My vote is its sweet gum. It's fun to split.

 

[Longstreet]

Sweet gum. Leave it, it's not worth the effort.

 

[nola mike]

hmm, might be right about the gum. I took a couple of whacks with the fiskars before I posted. Noticed that it didn't split easily. I already brought some back, so might as well try to split it. Looks like it has some btus and dries quickly. How does it dry without splitting? I could just let some rounds dry for next year maybe?

 

[StihlKicking]

Unsplit sweet gum usually just rots instead of drying.


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[ValleyCottageSplitter]

How did you guys guess sweetgum? I was thinking the heartwood looks a little like maple, but bark looks different.

 

[Sodbuster]

How did you guys guess sweetgum? I was thinking the heartwood looks a little like maple, but bark looks different.

Take a look at the growth rings, they are about 1/4" wide, very fast growing.

 

[nola mike]

Well, tried to split this stuff. Holy crap, basically impossible. Made me wish for elm. Took me 45 minutes to split 6 rounds in half. Guess the gum guesses were right, though strange that I didn't see any gumballs when I collected it.

 

[Easy Livin’ 3000]

Grab and burn, real nice.

 

[Longstreet]

Well, tried to split this stuff. Holy crap, basically impossible. Made me wish for elm. Took me 45 minutes to split 6 rounds in half. Guess the gum guesses were right, though strange that I didn't see any gumballs when I collected it.

View attachment 196729

There are a few gumballs visible in your first picture. Sweetgum is proof that the devil does exist.

 

[nola mike]

Oh yeah. I see one there. Didn't notice them when I was getting the wood though. As an aside, the day after I split this stuff, I had one big round leftover from somewhere--thought it was oak. Was looking forward to redemption, until I realized that it also sucked. Yup, elm. Maybe that's why I hadn't split it earlier. Still better than the gum though.

 

[ValleyCottageSplitter]

I think I might have got a load of sweet gum too. Does yours have a dark chocolaty center with bright white sapwood? My bark looks a little more flaky though.

 

[nola mike]

Yeah. Some of the bark is flakier than in that pic.