Help Identifying logs

[11ultra103]

I was gifted some free pin oak wood as long as I removed all the wood on the property. Now i know some of it is pine, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what type of wood this other tree is. Seems like soft wood because the saw cut right through it, and it's much lighter than the oak. A tree service had cut these trees down and removed all branches and any leaves are all gone. Not sure if I can season this stuff and burn some in my Jotul along with oak or if it's bad to burn. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[weatherguy]

Looks like cottonwood, all woods good to burn, how many btus you get is another story.

 

[Eureka]

+1 on cottonwood. It quickly dries to be very light and burns fast. It lights off really nice and is a great starter or for when heating needs are low or brief. I actually like it and burn a lot but I find a use for most woods the tree man delivers. Wood snobs hate it.

 

[11ultra103]

Someone else told me it may be big tooth aspen, which is a type of poplar. And I was just reading on cottonwood which sounds like another type of poplar. Sounds like its ok to burn but burns fast. Thanks for the help

 

[Soundchasm]

I can't say, but if it's cottonwood, it'll dry as light as balsa. Split some of it, but not all of it, until you're sure.

My understanding is that cottonwood is 90% water, so the live cut weight will definitely throw you if you're not sure.

 

[11ultra103]

I can't say, but if it's cottonwood, it'll dry as light as balsa. Split some of it, but not all of it, until you're sure.

My understanding is that cottonwood is 90% water, so the live cut weight will definitely throw you if you're not sure.

Thanks, Im going to split some down and probably burn it in fall and burn some in the camp fire. Id think my Jotul would have no issue burning it with the way it burns off the smoke, I dont really see their being a creosote issue as long as its below 20% moisture

 

[Soundchasm]

Thanks, Im going to split some down and probably burn it in fall and burn some in the camp fire. Id think my Jotul would have no issue burning it with the way it burns off the smoke, I dont really see their being a creosote issue as long as its below 20% moisture

I'll take dry cottonwood over wet oak any day of the week. I just want to save you the effort of processing very heavy, wet rounds that will become light as a feather unless you need to or just want to.

From a BTU standpoint, the lowest BTU rating I could find for any pine was 13.2 MBTU/cord. Cottonwood is rated at 12.6 MBTU/cord. So it's less energetic than the least energetic pine.

White oak is 24.2 MBTU/cord. So you'd need two sticks of cottonwood to one stick of oak. That's a lot of labor and storage space. Your stove will never know the difference between oak and cottonwood, of course.

I'm only thinking about your vertebrae. ;-) If it's cottonwood, knock it in half and come back to it when it's lighter. That's the advice of a permanently curved man.

 

[lost in the woods]

im going with aspen

 

[MAD MARK]

im going with aspen

You can tell it's an Aspen by the way it is.

 

[Kevin Weis]

going by the bark not a Aspen. Cottonwood is not native to east coast mid-atlantic area unless it was planted there. To be more definitive you need to split it. I think the Aspen has a lot smother bark than what's shown. But I've been wrong before.

 

[CincyBurner]

My first thought was ginkgo (It sure would be nice to have leaf or twig with buds. Very easy to rule in or out).
Bark of a mature ginkgo looks a bit like cottonwood, but it's definitely not as thick, or blocky.
Ginkgo is a light density wood. And it's been planted as a landscape tree in cemeteries since 19th century.

 

[11ultra103]

I'll take dry cottonwood over wet oak any day of the week. I just want to save you the effort of processing very heavy, wet rounds that will become light as a feather unless you need to or just want to.

From a BTU standpoint, the lowest BTU rating I could find for any pine was 13.2 MBTU/cord. Cottonwood is rated at 12.6 MBTU/cord. So it's less energetic than the least energetic pine.

White oak is 24.2 MBTU/cord. So you'd need two sticks of cottonwood to one stick of oak. That's a lot of labor and storage space. Your stove will never know the difference between oak and cottonwood, of course.

I'm only thinking about your vertebrae. ;-) If it's cottonwood, knock it in half and come back to it when it's lighter. That's the advice of a permanently curved man.

Thanks for the info! The deal I was offered was if I wanted any of the wood I had to take it all. I'm getting quite a few loads of pin oak out of it. And some cedar I think. Pretty sure thats what is is. I already have all the junk wood at home, just working on cutting up the pin oak now. the logs are 4 ft wide, so i'm working my butt off to cut them