Help needed identifying wood @ Woodchopper's Ballroom

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Arthur

New Member
Hearth Supporter
Nov 22, 2005
11
Anyone care to make a stab at identifying this wood? The tree had been cut down and left last year sometime. I decided to saw it up and bring 'em home. Bark fell off easy in whole sheets, but the wood seems real wet. The downed tree was suspended off ground, so no rotten-bug infested areas. (Piedmont area, NC)
 

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Dylan may well be right, but I'd hazard another guess based on a couple observations.

First, that would be a tremendous hickory based on that third split photo. We've got a lot of those in our neighborhood (mockernuts I think) and NONE of them is even close to that large. And I know many of them are scores of years old. At least, I think they are, being between 60 and 80 feet tall. None have that large of girth. The bark on the photos doesn't look furrowed enough to me, either. And it seems too light in color compared to the ones I see around here, but it may have changed colors since dying for all I know.

I might also suggest it appears a little bit like what I call white oak based on bark color and texture, and the apparent girth. That would explain why it's still wet, too. Unfortunately, I don't know if what I call White Oak really is White Oak. And all the links I visit don't really clear it up for me.

I defer to Dylan. He seems fairly confident about tree species. What do you think Dylan? Possible White Oak? Or still think it's a Hickory?
 
It seems to split fairly easy. Wouldn't Mockernut be abit hard to split? Also, it has no fragrance at all, freshly split. Most oak smells somewhat, right?
 
Arthur said:
It seems to split fairly easy. Wouldn't Mockernut be abit hard to split? Also, it has no fragrance at all, freshly split. Most oak smells somewhat, right?

Unfortunately, I've never split Mockernut. And I don't remember what White Oak smells like (been 2 years since I split some). I did pick up some White Oak just yesterday, so I should be able to tell you that in a week or so.
 
I'd say it's a little too stringy and monochromatic for white oak. The white oak I'm familiar with has clearly defined heatwood and sapwood & shorter fibers.

So if it's a choice between the two, I'd go with the hickory.
 
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