Poplar? Or other

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
  • Hope everyone has a wonderful and warm Thanksgiving!
  • Super Cedar firestarters 30% discount Use code Hearth2024 Click here

mrd1995

Burning Hunk
Feb 21, 2020
199
North East, Pa
Found another large 20" downed tree on our property. This one is cutting on the harder side. Thought maybe ash at first, but I am getting a little color when split in two, also fairly easy to split 2hits with a boys axe 16" in two. What do you guys think? Had similar weight to dry ash.
[Hearth.com] Poplar? Or other
[Hearth.com] Poplar? Or other
[Hearth.com] Poplar? Or other
 
Maple? Softwoods (poplar/aspen) cut easy usually. What's the color & texture on the split?
 
Some additional photos. Some of the splits have a hue of purple or pink also.
[Hearth.com] Poplar? Or other

[Hearth.com] Poplar? Or other
[Hearth.com] Poplar? Or other
 
Purple/pink is common in box elder, but in my limited experience that is usually pretty twisty...
 
It is not ash. But from the photos I'm not sure what it is.
 
Ash 100%, no doubt about it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Woody Stover
Also if it was easy splitting except for if it had a knot. Then I couldn't get it with a fiskars x27, very curly grain and a lot of. Burls. Smell was almost non existent, very subtle smell. Thinking poplar species still, I've heard alot of people say basswood but I am unfamiliar with the species.
 
Ash 100%, no doubt about it.
Classic pinhole in the center, visible rings in the endgrain, split face looks right, rot where it broke off looks right.
Bark ridges look a bit flatter than White Ash I usually see here but as we know, bark can vary quite a bit in many species.
 
Last edited:
If it's in the basswood/poplar group the wood will be 'unsolid' - light feeling, flaky. These species grow fast so the wood's cells are loosely tied together. Ash is a hardwood that grows slowly. The wood is firm and solid feeling. The growth rings look pretty tight and the wood looks solid. Ash is a very good firewood, and poplar not such a good firewood. It looks like ash to me, too.