Bored and trying to learn my firewood

[Sledhead00]

So I'm bored killing off the last of my "use them or loose them" vacation days for the year. I figured I'd try to get better handle on the wood I'm burning. I bought a bit more than a full cord of the wood in the first three photos. Guy said it's mainly oak and ash mix.
I've tried googling wood species for pictures but it's often hard to (at least for me) to make a decent comparison.
The two at right I wrote Red oak given the straight grain and reddish hue like what you'd see on red oak boards at your local lumber store... Right??
The one on the far left has similar straight grain but no red tint, nor is the bark as rough as the other two.. Is it ash? I've got a bit more than a full cord of this stuff ( they're big size splits 18"-22")and despite it looking fresh and unseasoned I've split several pieces and nothing has been over 21%.. Didn't split super easy and took a few swings but tolerable.

I've got another stack of rounds that I've had up since Fall '13 and split two this past weekend to find them at 16%. Split with one swing and little effort.

That's probably enough for now...Thanks for any advice!

 

[nrford]

It's Ash....all three pieces. And all the pics except one in lower left(the stacked rounds). Can not ID anything in that photo

 

[Rebelduckman]

Yea I agree. Theres no oak present

 

[Sledhead00]

Rut-roh... I guess I better keep studying and reading... Thanks for the info..

 

[Rebelduckman]

Rut-roh... I guess I better keep studying and reading... Thanks for the info..

It'll get better with time. I'm no expert by any means but I've gotten a lot better at it over the last 6 months or so

 

[Sledhead00]

Well that was a major bummer... Last night I loaded up the osburn with 10 pieces of that stuff including the ones in pics. It lit pretty easily but never really took off real. After nearly an hr it got to 400 but that was about it(with full air). Secondaries were minimal and except when I through a couple cedar board pieces trying to get it going..
It never hissed or saw water boiling and I babysat it for almost 2 hrs before I gave up.. It was burning just never got hot stayed 300-400 all night. I basically wasted those pieces as it never got hot enough to raise the house temp and eventually the furnace kicked on anyways..
Had all kinds of coals and the far back log was still in shape til I poked at this morning, almost 12 hrs. It burned pretty clean to as the glass and box are still clean with no buildup. So long burning but poor heat... Everyone seems to rave that Ash is a pretty decent wood, Im not impressed..
So I throw 2 uglies on the coals about an hr ago, take right off, stove top temp runs right up and the house jumps 2 degrees in an hr...
Oyy, maybe it's a good thing im going back to work tmw...

 

[CenterTree]

I have some 22% ash that won't burn satisfactorily for me. Couldn't get the stove top temps up enough for me.

I found a few drier pieces ( 16%) and they were a world of difference. (for the better).

Give that ash another year in the sun maybe.


Also: I noticed in your pics that your pile contains mostly rounds. Splitting those would speed things along for ya too.

 

[Sledhead00]

Appreciate the advice. The more I've researched the more I have a feeling that the wood in the top 3 pics is basswood not ash... I put two more big pieces (well 4 pieces as I split both of them to check moisture 12-17%) of that stuff in about noon and it's again a dud...400 stove top nothing more and need to leave the air just about all the way open to get it, barely any secondary burn...
Luckily for me that photo of rounds has been stacked for over a yr... I just went and split 2 rounds (15-17%) and tossed them in, boom right to 550 with nice secondary's again..
It's stuff like this, that only intensifies my belief that you can't trust anyone...

 

[weatherguy]

I like to keep rounds that size unsplit but give them plenty of time to season, it depends on your wood situation whether you need them sooner rather than later.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Ash is great stuff. Seasoned well it burns well

 

[claydogg84]

Don't be afraid to crack the door to get the fire going better. I usually leave it cracked until the flames are really moving and stove hits 400. Then I'll shut the door and start knocking sit down around 500. The first picture are all the same tree, and they appear to be all Ash.

 

[nrford]

Appreciate the advice. The more I've researched the more I have a feeling that the wood in the top 3 pics is basswood not ash... I put two more big pieces (well 4 pieces as I split both of them to check moisture 12-17%) of that stuff in about noon and it's again a dud...400 stove top nothing more and need to leave the air just about all the way open to get it, barely any secondary burn...
Luckily for me that photo of rounds has been stacked for over a yr... I just went and split 2 rounds (15-17%) and tossed them in, boom right to 550 with nice secondary's again..
It's stuff like this, that only intensifies my belief that you can't trust anyone...

That is not Basswood. Without a doubt 100% positively ASH. It can be nothing else.

 

[Applesister]

I'm not able to say for sure what your wood is. I would guess some of it was Ash but I'm not positive. It looks like Green Ash that I have here in eastern NY. And this type is heavier than White with less BTUs. The stuff I've cut takes 2 Years to dry. It doesn't quite dry in one year.
Basswood would seem to dry well in a year.

 

[firefighterjake]

Nothing wrong with ash . . . if for some reason I had to only burn one species of wood . . . ash would be my go to wood. Easy to split, dries relatively quickly and it's just an all-around good wood to have on hand.

 

[Jags]

This is a great resource for learning tree identification:
http://www.amazon.com/Audubon-Society-Field-Guide-American/dp/0394507606

 

[Sledhead00]

Thanks for the book suggestion Jags, I just added it to my wish list and will pick it up when I get a few other things from Amazon..
I don't know what the deal is with this wood, but for the time being any wood that has the more ragged bark(like in the first 3 pics) is getting thrown aside. I don't know why it's burning so poorly, even Thursday night I tried to blend it with my limited supply of seasoned wood left from last yr and it heated poorly...

 

[Ralphie Boy]

So I'm bored killing off the last of my "use them or loose them" vacation days for the year. I figured I'd try to get better handle on the wood I'm burning. I bought a bit more than a full cord of the wood in the first three photos. Guy said it's mainly oak and ash mix.
I've tried googling wood species for pictures but it's often hard to (at least for me) to make a decent comparison.
The two at right I wrote Red oak given the straight grain and reddish hue like what you'd see on red oak boards at your local lumber store... Right??
The one on the far left has similar straight grain but no red tint, nor is the bark as rough as the other two.. Is it ash? I've got a bit more than a full cord of this stuff ( they're big size splits 18"-22")and despite it looking fresh and unseasoned I've split several pieces and nothing has been over 21%.. Didn't split super easy and took a few swings but tolerable.

I've got another stack of rounds that I've had up since Fall '13 and split two this past weekend to find them at 16%. Split with one swing and little effort.

That's probably enough for now...Thanks for any advice!

Identifying wood from splits can be difficult and confusing. It's better to learn to I.D. from the trees' leaves, twigs, fruit and branching. Most trees have alternate branching. For the trees that have opposite branching remember this acronym: mad horse. Mad horse = Maple, Ash, Dogwood and Horse chestnut (buckeye). It includes all the various types of each tree, such as box elder, which is a maple. Oaks are easily identified by their leaves. All red oak leaves have pointed lobes while all white oak leaves have rounded lobes. Sorry for the repeat if you already know this. Now class, take this information, go into the woods and try your new skills. Class dismissed.

 

[Applesister]

The wood looks like Green Ash. It grows in lowland wet soil. White Ash is more "upland".
Everyone on this site brags about the virtues of Ash but I think they must be talking about White Ash. There is a large difference between the trees but it is splitting hairs for most applications.
If you are buying firewood all you need to know is density and dryness.
Density= BTUs plain and simple. But you will need to know what Oak looks like. (The texture looks like Ash) Its a good thing you have Ash instead of Oak because you would need to wait longer to season this wood. (2 yrs)
It wont matter what type of wood it is, though, if you give it ample time to season.
You buy the wood, you season it, you control the drying time.
It also helps if you can find a halfway honest wood seller. Nothing you buy will be fully seasoned. Ash is heavy wood and puts out great heat but it needs to dry. Its not the shortcut wood people think it is.
If you start cutting down trees then you need to know what you are cutting, ethically speaking, and that is a different ballpark.

 

[Woody Stover]

The more I've researched the more I have a feeling that the wood in the top 3 pics is basswood not ash.

Looks like it could be Green Ash, which is not in the same league with White...

 

[Applesister]

Another basic rule...lol...or fun fact?
The definition of Softwoods and Hardwoods.
Hardwoods arent necessarily "hard" as in heavy with high BTUs.
Hardwoods are all trees that go dormant and shed their leaves every year. Period...end of story.
Softwoods are trees that hold their leaves for 3- 5 years (evergreen).
Some softwoods are denser and heavier than some hardwoods and have higher BTUs.
Trees are generally split into these two groups. Deciduous and Coniferous. And...hahaha...according to Hearth.com you can burn ALL of them.
Technically when you buy firewood softwood substitution is not considered ethical. And hardwood species like poplars are often classified as softwoods. But they are not softwoods.
The hardwoods that you purchase when money transactions are involved are generally Oak and sugar maple hickory beech ash locust mulberry etc..

 

[Poindexter]

Late to the party. I magnified "0394" to 400% and couldn't see any medullary rays as characteristic of oaks.

Not familiar with western NY. In North Carolina the oaks are all closely related enough to hybridize with each other very easily, then you get hurricanes coming ashore every five years or so spreading the acorns around, lots and lots of "pink" (red hybrid white) oaks as far west as Greensboro. The you throw in the pins and the waters and the swamps and you got a mess.

If you got an oak tree deer like to feed under, you probably got a white, the white oak acorn is lowest in tannins and thus the least offensive taste.

Usually the hardwoods at Lowes-Depot are pretty well picked over, but if you keep looking you will find smaller pieces (like 1x4s) with at least some flake or flame in the grain pattern. Those are the medullary rays. They are very similar to sap tubes, but they grow straight from the center of the tree towards the bark. Pic attached of a finished quarter sawn piece. I predict you will expert at finding medullary rays in the sawn ends of unsplit rounds before you split a face cord of the stuff.

 

[Sledhead00]

Looks like it could be Green Ash, which is not in the same league with White...

I showed some pieces to a couple guys at work and they both said the same thing, they also commented how it might also be called Swamp Ash and that' it's likely down of the same caliber as other Ash..
So yesterday I split about a dozen rounds from the stack in the one photo that's outside and brought that into my garage where my current yr wood is stacked. I tore down threw a few rows of those stacks and pulled out anything resembling this Green ash stuff and put that back outside... Maybe ill try a piece towards the end of the season or next yr..

 

[D8Chumley]

Another basic rule...lol...or fun fact?
The definition of Softwoods and Hardwoods.
Hardwoods arent necessarily "hard" as in heavy with high BTUs.
Hardwoods are all trees that go dormant and shed their leaves every year. Period...end of story.
Softwoods are trees that hold their leaves for 3- 5 years (evergreen).
Some softwoods are denser and heavier than some hardwoods and have higher BTUs.
Trees are generally split into these two groups. Deciduous and Coniferous. And...hahaha...according to Hearth.com you can burn ALL of them.
Technically when you buy firewood softwood substitution is not considered ethical. And hardwood species like poplars are often classified as softwoods. But they are not softwoods.
The hardwoods that you purchase when money transactions are involved are generally Oak and sugar maple hickory beech ash locust mulberry etc..

So beech is hard wood right? My few beech trees I have here keep their leaves throughout the winter

 

[Applesister]

So beech is hard wood right? My few beech trees I have here keep their leaves throughout the winter

Beech leaves makes good toilet paper. And you can find the little baby beechlet trees in the understory in the dark at night by their rustling leaves.
And heres one of my favorite Jeff Foxworthy axiom's;
"You might be a redneck if you know which tree leaves make the best toilet paper".

 

[Applesister]

Im not trying to bash Green Ash, taking 18 months to season is what it is. The tree is grouped under White ash at lumber yards. The two are very similar. There's another one...the swamp Ash might be Black Ash. It only seems to grow in hydric soils. Black Ash is the wood thats used in basketmaking. And I have invested some serious money over the years on Ash baskets. Ive bought a few at antique auctions for over 300.00.
Theres another one too, called pumpkin Ash. Its a southern range tree. Pumpkin Ash is a new one on me.