drive by wood score - help identifying

[Ricky8443]

Just driving down the street and saw an enormous pile on the ground near the road for the taking in the suburbs again. i only selected rounds to perfect size with no knots (getting picky w wood plentiful around here). So i looked way up the 5 foot diameter trunk that remained and the leaves at the top kinda looked like oak, but it was difficult to tellL for sure. Anyways, after filling the truck bed, my hands smelled similar to a maple score from months back. Is that the smell of the green lichens? The rounds on top are from today (confirmation of oak?) . i know it def wasnt pin oak from the trunk. bottom rounds are elm and sycamore.

also, i was going to wait and split these rounds in spring of 2015 since im wwway ahead right now. any thoughts on waiting to split? thx in advance.

 

[Woody Stover]

Looks like something from the Red Oak group...visible medullary rays on the ends of the rounds would confirm. Can you get a closeup pic of the ends? Red Oak types split easier when they are fresh. I would go ahead and knock 'em out now, but with those straight pieces it shouldn't be a problem if you wait.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Split it as soon as you can to get the drying process started. Those top rounds are a mystery, they look like an oak of some kind.

 

[gzecc]

Too far away and wet. Split a few and let them dry, take closer pics especially of the ends.

 

[Ricky8443]

Than thanks for the guesses guys. Appreciate the help. I will take closer pictures in a few weeks when I'm back there.

Reason I don't want to split is because I've run out of space and I'm now storing on a large family owned property in mid-state PA that is unattended 99% of the time. I figured the liklihood of having large rounds stolen is much, much lower than than split stacked wood stolen.

 

[BCC_Burner]

If I were going to stoop to the level of a wood thief, I would prefer to snag rounds for sure. Easier to load up fast, and if you get them home and split them right away, you've changed the evidence enough that it would be damn near impossible to track that wood down.

On a more serious note, if it's out of sight, out of mind, leave it however you prefer. I am sort of neurotic about rounds in my yard. I can't stand seeing rounds laying around that I know I can split by hand. The pile reserved for hydraulics doesn't bother me, but if it will go by hand, I need to get it split and stacked ASAP.

 

[Ricky8443]

From an economics standpoint: The value in the wood is in the labor and process, or the cutting, drying, splitting, and stacking. The large rounds were free and only have the 'cutting' aspect of value, therefore its fairly low. If someone does steal it, I want lose any sleep.

Also, this property is located in an area where camping and campfires are frequent. therefore, some hunter/camper who comes across the stack might be tempted to grab a few sticks to beef up the fire. If I spend the time an labor increasing the value of this stack and some of it is stolen, I might lose an hour or two of sleep.

 

[Woody Stover]

I am sort of neurotic about rounds in my yard. I can't stand seeing rounds laying around that I know I can split by hand. The pile reserved for hydraulics doesn't bother me

You'd be getting hyper at my place, then; I've got several cords of rounds, big splits and logs lying around waiting, and I've got a splitter. All in good time...