Wood ID...old wood from clearcut

[Intheswamp]

I had buried this post in another thread but didn't get any response on an ID for this wood. I thought I'd bring it up to the top to get some feedback...sorry for the redundancy....

Saturday I went up to a friends property that was clear cut about a year or so ago but found a locked gate on the part that I really wanted to go to to work on some oak tops that I had spotted out a few months ago. Looks like I’m gonna have to hit him up for a key. But anyhow…being as I was there and there was some of the clear-cut that wasn’t behind the gate I decided to grab a little bit of what I could. I had some saw trouble but I ended up with probably 1/4 of a cord. I did find that my (physical) limit is 12-16 inch rounds.<groan>

Some wood ID’s would be nice if somebody wants to give it a shot. All of the wood *seems* to be pretty dry. All of it basically had bark simply surrounding the wood…could knock it off pretty easily….cracking/checking along the grain in several of the smaller pieces. I’m kind of wondering about splitting this…busted up a little of one big round while I was there, that sucker was tough...the Fiskars SS bounced off of it several times I might have to save up rounds and rent a splitter later, we’ll see.

Today's scrounge. 2x4's are 12' long, canthook is 4.5' long....

These are the big rounds (seen on the left side of the group picture)....

Bark of the big rounds....

Grain of a split from one of the big rounds....

Somewhat close-up of splits from big rounds....
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n153/intheswamp00/FW-_20110226_8556Medium.jpg

Wood chips of the big rounds....

These are the next largest rounds(seen on the right side of the group picture)....

Bark of the next largest rounds....

Wood chips of the next largest rounds....

Anyhow, that killed a few hours today for me...now if I can just get me a key...and a new elbow....and a new.... ;-)

I'm thinking water oak for big rounds and *maybe* white oak for the few next smaller rounds.

Thanks for the feedback,
Ed

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Big rounds are oak- did you see the medulary rays in the split pic? Sure sign.

 

[chinkapin_oak]

biggest ones are Oak, the next biggest are silver maple. you did good!

 

[gzecc]

Looks like nice stuff. A little punk but looks aready seasoned. If you have a moisture meter split on an post the results.

 

[smokinj]

Nice chips! Looks like some sweet splated wood.

 

[Intheswamp]

Thanks everybody for the feedback. This body of mine has seen some rough miles and currently back and elbow (one op already on it) problems so I was worried I might've worked for some junk wood. Thankfully it is good wood.

Adios Pantalones, the medulary rays...are those the darker "specks" that I see in that split? Interestingly, just last night I was reading in an old McCullough chainsaw book and they had a nice drawing (and short description) showing oak's cell struture.

chinkapin_oak, thanks for the ID's. I'm happy with the oak (tough stuff, though). I may forgo the maple in the future, though, and go for the higher btu oak...of course the quicker burning maple might come in handy for short, hot fires.

gzecc, I split a piece off of a big round (oak)......45%!! This stuff, after a bit of thought, has been cut at the most a year...looking at it you would think it'd be dry as a bone. I also split one of the small 5-6 inch rounds (oak, I'm thinking)...it measured right at 40% in the center...no bark and deep checking along the grain....sounds like baseball bat when I hit two of them together. I think I'm going to find me a piece of kiln dried lumber and see what the meter reads on it.

smokinjay, the difference in the chips made me curious. Is it due to the difference in wood hardness?

Well, I hope to revisit the site and snag some more of this wood. Like I said, my limit is going to be around 16" just for the physical aspect of lifting and toting. I'm trying to cut a grunt of the recommended 16" and go for 17"...just a little more wood in the F3CB to help a tad with burn time. Those small 5-6 inch rounds are becoming more interesting to me as they're really straight and cutting them to 17" shouldn't pose a problem putting them in the F3CB.

I'm hoping to figure out a better way of getting the wood to the truck. It is a standard (wasteful to me) clearcut with lots of small limbs/trees littering the ground which makes it almost impossible to push a wheelbarrow through. I've thought about setting getting some 2x8 planking and using it to traverse some of the areas, but still there are simply piles that the wood would have to be walked out of just as I did Saturday. I've got some snatch blocks and a truck, but I don't have a good line yet...basically just some 1/2 braided rope of unknown test and so tow straps. I've definitely got to figure out a retrieval/loading technique being as my body just isn't what it once was.

I did run into a problem with both of my saws. My Rancher 55/18" chain adjuster gave up the ghost...apprently the nylon(?) nut that keeps the adjustment screw in place disintegrated to gunk...got a replacement ordered. No biggie there. I had just bought a used Stihl MS260 Pro 16" from a guy a week ago and had brought it with me to try out. The Stihl looked good, cranked good, and with the chain that came with it it cut like the tasmanian devil boring through a mountain. But, after getting the wood in the pictures cut it suddenly started bogging down, finally to the point of the chain stopping completely and not cutting well at all when it was running. I pulled the blade out of the last cut and a whisp of smoke came out from where the bar attaches to the motor housing. Looking at the chips that it had just cut they were very much smaller chips than had previously been produced. I did not sense hitting anything but I'm hoping it just hit something and dulled out quick on me...I didn't have a 3/16" (waiting on Bailey order) to touch the chain up with so I packed up and came home. I haven't had a chance to check it out, but hope to get to it later this week. :-S

The next thing is...splitting with my back and elbow(s)...I've had surgery on both in the past. Right now I'm seriously contemplating purchasing either a Huskee 22ton or a Speedco 5ton electric. I know that little bit of wood I got doesn't warrant buying a splitter but I'm shooting for much more...hoping to get several years ahead. I'm anticipating my needs to be between 1 and 2 cords per year. I could build up a bunch of rounds and rent a splitter for a day...might not be a bad thing, but it would be nice to take 30 minutes and split some rounds when I had the opportunity rather than having to plan a day *and* make sure the rental splitter was available.

Thanks for the feedback, everybody. I need all the help that I can get!
Ed

 

[Intheswamp]

biggest ones are Oak, the next biggest are silver maple. you did good!

I checked out silver maple and find that we are at the very southern fringe of the range for silver maple. I've had another guy mention white oak. Is there a chance it could be white oak being as we're well in the range for white oak?

Thanks!
Ed

 

[chinkapin_oak]

biggest ones are Oak, the next biggest are silver maple. you did good!

I checked out silver maple and find that we are at the very southern fringe of the range for silver maple. I've had another guy mention white oak. Is there a chance it could be white oak being as we're well in the range for white oak?

Thanks!
Ed

Well, the big rounds might be white oak...but those "next biggest" rounds sure look like some type of soft maple. Perhaps red maple

 

[Intheswamp]

biggest ones are Oak, the next biggest are silver maple. you did good!

I checked out silver maple and find that we are at the very southern fringe of the range for silver maple. I've had another guy mention white oak. Is there a chance it could be white oak being as we're well in the range for white oak?

Thanks!
Ed

Well, the big rounds might be white oak...but those "next biggest" rounds sure look like some type of soft maple. Perhaps red maple

Well, it's all btus and there's one thing for sure....whether it's oak or maple it's all going to be ash one day.

Ed

 

[chinkapin_oak]

Well, it's all btus and there's one thing for sure....whether it's oak or maple it's all going to be ash one day.

Ed

One thing I forgot to mention is that the "native range" maps aren't accurate. We have Kentucky coffee trees up here, but we are suppose to be out of range for them.
Silver maple and red maple are pretty much weed trees around here since they grow everywhere, especially where you don't want them. Plus, silver maple is a common yard tree, and is often planted for its quick shade. Same thing with black locust...it's only suppose to be native to the Appalachians, but people plant them everywhere.

 

[Intheswamp]

Well, it's all btus and there's one thing for sure....whether it's oak or maple it's all going to be ash one day.

Ed

One thing I forgot to mention is that the "native range" maps aren't accurate. We have Kentucky coffee trees up here, but we are suppose to be out of range for them.
Silver maple and red maple are pretty much weed trees around here since they grow everywhere, especially where you don't want them. Plus, silver maple is a common yard tree, and is often planted for its quick shade. Same thing with black locust...it's only suppose to be native to the Appalachians, but people plant them everywhere.

I definitely agree about range maps being error prone. Man is taking care of "johnny appleseeding" things all over this country. Plus, those folks that put the range maps together couldn't have possibly checked everywhere...they just have to go by samples and surveys. I'm afraid that we're going to be taken over by bradford pear trees down here....seems everybody and their brother wants to plant them.<sigh> BTW, anybody know what the btus are for bradford pear trees...I know where some 4" pruned limbs are...seems like hard wood. ???

Ed

 

[DiscoInferno]

I've never seen a definitive number, but I've burned a fair bit of bradford pear and I'd put it around red oak or so. Maybe a little bit better. It's not a "hard" wood in the sense of strength (breaks rather easily across the grain, in fact) but it is dense.

 

[Intheswamp]

I've never seen a definitive number, but I've burned a fair bit of bradford pear and I'd put it around red oak or so. Maybe a little bit better. It's not a "hard" wood in the sense of strength (breaks rather easily across the grain, in fact) but it is dense.

I guess rather than "hard", the better word would indeed be "dense". The rounds that I picked up definitely seemed very heavy. I'll grab some and put them out back to dry. BTUs are BTUs

Ed

 

[Wood Duck]

I think your maples look like they could be Red Maple, which is very common in a lot of the south (and northeast too). Around here they seem to leave a lot of Red maple in the woods and take the oak, cherry, and a few other hardwoods. I like it for firewood.

The medullary rays in the oaks are rays - lines that are visible - from the center of a round pointing toward the bark, sort of like a sunburst pattern. In your pictures they are light colored, which is usually how they appear. Probably they are more visible in person than in your pictures.

 

[Intheswamp]

I think your maples look like they could be Red Maple, which is very common in a lot of the south (and northeast too). Around here they seem to leave a lot of Red maple in the woods and take the oak, cherry, and a few other hardwoods. I like it for firewood.

The medullary rays in the oaks are rays - lines that are visible - from the center of a round pointing toward the bark, sort of like a sunburst pattern. In your pictures they are light colored, which is usually how they appear. Probably they are more visible in person than in your pictures.

Well, looking again at the wood the bark doesn't seem as "thick" as white oak bark...at least to me, but I'm really just beginning to pay more/closer attention to tree species so I've got a lot to learn.

Thanks for clarifying the medullary rays in the pictures...I was trying to see them in the split rather than the round. I mentioned that I had been reading about the medullary rays the other night and was having trouble visualizing them. This helps greatly. I took another picture here to hopefully show the rays better...also the drawing that I was looking at that depicts the cell structure including medullary rays...

Thanks for all the help! Ed

Picture that hopefully shows the medullary rays a bit more clearly....

Illustration of the medullary rays in a line drawing...

 

[Intheswamp]

I thought this clear-cut was older than it is. I checked back and this wood has only been cut down and laying in log lengths for probably nine months....it's definitely got to be split before it starts drying. I'm still pondering splitters....comparing Speecos to Huskees now.

Ed

 

[Intheswamp]

Well, my guy brought a key by to me to the rest of the clear-cut and I'm itching to get back up there for more firewood. I'm a little anxious about it being as they are in cleanup mode now and burning some off. I hope they do a poor job! It's rained last night hard, raining today, and will rain heavy tonight so I can't get up there today...but any burning left to do will also be postponed.

I got a bonus, too... I told my friend that I was only cutting down and dead stuff...he told me to cut whatever I wanted...down or standing. What has me worried, though, is that he went on to say that they were going to burn it off, *spray* and then, replant in pines.

My question is...how will the spray affect the remaining down wood and also trees that die from possible over-spray? Will the standing dead and down wood still be usable for firewood? I've read some on herbicide use in reforestation projects/pine plantation plantings but I see nothing about firewood harvesting after the spraying. ???

Ed

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Ed, if it were me, I would not worry about it.

 

[Intheswamp]

I think you're right, Dennis. Sometimes I tend to over think things, I guess. I'm trying to decide on whether to ride up there or not this afternoon. The gated part of the clear-cut has got some slick hills and hollers and we've had some heavy rains over night and this morning. The small un-gated portion where I got the wood last weekend is flat ground and fairly easy access. I wouldn't mind getting some more of that oak and when I get it gone there's some more of the maple underneath it....lots of the 6" oak rounds to be got, too. We've got more rain predicted for today but looks like a gap in the action right now and movement *looks* like it might just keep to the north of us a bit...it's a 20 mile ride question.

Ed

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Get as much as you can Ed but unfortunately we are into that time of year when it is rain and mud for a lot of areas. Here, we got some rain yesterday but we are still blessed with a lot of white. It even snowed quite hard for a while this morning but didn't last too long. It surely will be nice when we can see the ground again.

 

[Intheswamp]

Get as much as you can Ed but unfortunately we are into that time of year when it is rain and mud for a lot of areas. Here, we got some rain yesterday but we are still blessed with a lot of white. It even snowed quite hard for a while this morning but didn't last too long. It surely will be nice when we can see the ground again.

It looks like we're moving into a rainy spell down here, too. A few days break and then some more moisture. I'm trying to get as much wood as I can from that clear-cut before spring/summer gets here. I don't know what the impact of the herbicide spraying will be, but without it the clearcut will grow into a jungle. I like the dry roads of summer, but the heat/humidity down here and the bugs can be a lot of fun at times.

As it was, I decided to see what I could grab today from the clear-cut....had the late afternoon to get it in.

I was going to check the MS260 out but I guess I flooded it and fouled the plug or something...it ran like a scalded dog last week and I'm not sure what's going on there...I'm also wondering about the clutch...it's a new/used saw and the guy I got it from says not to worry he'll fix it. I put the 260 back up and pulled out the old faithful Huskee 55 and started cutting. Mostly some more of the oak. I had cut a little while but then the rain came...I started to leave then thought about logging crews and ya'll up in the white stuff so I figured it wouldn't be the first time I was wet. I cut some more big rounds (big for me anyhow...15"-16") and a bunch of the smaller 5"-10" stuff...i like the small stuff as I can pull the bark completely off in one piece usually and it shows the red pigmentation of the wood...pretty...and it should work great in the F3CB. I also got some different wood...not sure what it is though it was heavy....it's in the picture below showing the dark heartwood...from a distance that tree really looked WHITE...white oak? I cut until the monsoon rain moved in...a little before dark. Driving home was *real* fun in that downpour....but glad I was out of the clear-cut and on asphalt road again!

Here's a pic of today's scrounge...the rain broke for about 5 minutes for me to get a picture... Ed

 

[Intheswamp]

Ok, here's a shot of yesterday's haul after unloading and stacking...still pondering a splitter. I figure I got a face cord yesterday...

Here's a shot of the grain of the mystery wood...I think it's white oak...the medullary rays are fairly prominent....

...and last, here's a shot of the bark of what I think is white oak with a good ol' greenback for color comparison...

Lastly, here are some shots showing the color of those smaller rounds. Looking at some stumps that were sprouting near where these small diameter trees were the leaves looked like a red oak of sorts...multi-pointed...sharp points....not like duck-feet water oak leaves. But whether this is the same wood...????