Was wondering if some of the experts could ID these splits for me. Got a couple trailer loads on a scounge. Thinking the one on the outside was oak but not real sure. Also trying to figure out that middle one. Any ideas thanks?
Need a wood ID
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JSeery
Feeling the Heat
Looks like some oak there, and also maybe some sassafras (based on the red layer under the bark I'm seeing). Do any of the splits smell like root beer?
I just went out and checked no root beer smell but the outside part does look a lot like sassafras. I'm in Upstate New York so I'm on the northern edge where that tree is found but could be possible. I would think though that sassafras would dry fairly quickly and this stuff has been cut split and stacked since last fall open the sun and wind and I'm still getting measurements of around 30 on fresh splits.
HisTreeNut
Minister of Fire
+1 on the possible oak, but not sure on the rest.
Where in WNY are you? I grew up near Arcade and have a lot of family in the Buffalo area.
Where in WNY are you? I grew up near Arcade and have a lot of family in the Buffalo area.
Thanks for the info. It was free and will burn once dried, just not this year. I was just curious. I'm in the Fairport Victor area outside of rochester in between monroe and Ontario county. Most my family though is also in the Buffalo and surrounding area.
Lot of ash coming your way. They are all dying here in Chili. Next year your side of the city. Sad but producing lots of firewood
Yeah I hear you. got a lot of it last year it will be my primary wood source for this winter along with cherry and then a bunch of miscellaneous maples
JSeery
Feeling the Heat
Sounds like we've id'ed the oak (the shortest split in the picture). Is the mystery (possibly sassafras) wood pretty light? I burned mostly sassafras last year and my experience was that it was light and fragrant. It did not dry as fast as I would have thought, and didn't burn that well. Frankly, I'm going to avoid it in the future.
If not sassafras, any chance the mystery split (especially the middle one) could be soft maple? The grain looks about right for that but I guess I would have expected faster drying time if that was the case. It also sounds like you are pretty familiar with maple so maybe we can rule that out.
Tried to smell it but didn't really get any scent. May be due to sitting out since last year. Could be sassafras though. Wouldn't say its really light but not fully dried out either. What didn't you like about it, could always just use it for camp fire wood. Burned it a couple times and seemed fine. Don't think its silver, most I've seen are smooth when young and develop the long strips of bark when they age. Sure there are plenty of people here that would know better than me though. Thanks.
JSeery
Feeling the Heat
The sassafras wasn't really bad, it just wasn't very good either. It burned pretty quick and didn't put out that much heat. It also really liked to snap and pop in the stove, which made reloading kind of exciting (in a bad way). Good thing I'm not a fan of the rug we have in front of the stove. By the end of the winter my ash was ready so I switched to that, and it was so much better than the sassafras. In NY, it seems like we have lots of options for firewood, and I just wouldn't spend more time processing/stacking sassafras when there are so many better species around.
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