Swing, bounce, swing, bounce, swing, bounce...

[wahoowad]

Anybody recognize this wood? I scrounged up some logs and limbs. The ends are rather orange. I split a few limbs and the wood looked like some kind of raw fish or meat. It is still quite wet. My maul bounced off like it was a block of rubber. It was rediculous! (Those logs in the background logs are red oak).

 

[elkimmeg]

Looks lik American Rock Elm
good luck you will need it

 

[ansehnlich1]

Hey I had some huge and nasty green maple to split last year, maul, wedge, and axe all would bounce off, so what I did was fired the chainsaw and cut about 3 inches down into it, then pounded the wedge in there, and after a few swings with the sledge hammer she'd split. I mean, these pieces were around 3 feet across.

 

[GVA]

Ash? maybe... The bouncing just reminds me of what I went through last fall cutting the stump out. The bark seems to look similar.

 

[laynes69]

I've never had problems splitting ash. It looks like elm, good luck!

 

[ourhouse]

This is a tough one. Definitely not ash. Maybe Elm, pos. a type of Cherry Not realy sure.

 

[DonCT]

Looks like a job for Wedge'N'Sledge

 

[DriftWood]

When the wedges start to bounce out I some times chain saw a shallow rip cut into the face of a round. I use this cut to hold the wedge and help split the wood where I want it to spilt.

 

[kevinlp]

See my other topic. The solution for your hand splitting nightmares...

https://www.hearth.com/talk/threads/5074/

 

[wg_bent]

It's elm.

You'll never split rounds that large unless you do as Kevin suggests.

If you only have a maul, cut the rounds to 1/2 or 1/3 the length so you have disks, and either burn then whole or then split them.

That round you have there should produce around 12 chunks.

 

[mtarbert]

I think it is Maulberry......and that is almost impossible to split. Actually I keep a few rounds of it around so when my brother in-law wants free wood I tell him that he can have all he wants to split.After a few wacks he usually goes inside to eat (anything) with the women

 

[ourhouse]

I think it is Maulberry......and that is almost impossible to split. Actually I keep a few rounds of it around so when my brother in-law wants free wood I tell him that he can have all he wants to split.After a few wacks he usually goes inside to eat (anything) with the women

That was going to be one of my other choices

 

[Corey]

When I saw the title, I said, "I'll bet this thread is dealing with some kind of elm" - either that or you were trying to split an old tire with a maul. Both have about equal chance of success!

Corey

 

[mtarbert]

I got some maulberry last summer and it was salmond pink on the edges...have had some that was almost blood red I guess it depends on the minerals in the soil or what we have been pouring around it trying to kill it

 

[restorer]

I think it is Maulberry......and that is almost impossible to split. Actually I keep a few rounds of it around so when my brother in-law wants free wood I tell him that he can have all he wants to split.After a few wacks he usually goes inside to eat (anything) with the women

I don't think it's mulberry. Mulberry is a yellow-green, not red colored. At least the mulberries that grow around here. I posted about that wood a bit back and I was told it was either Osage Orange or Mulberry. It was Mulberry. It was not reddish at all.

I'd say Osage Orange. One of the densest native hardwoods. You will earn your firewood splitting it. I have turned some on my lathe and thought it the best tool "duller" I have found in native species. Looks great finished. This wood has been used in the south for fence posts for years, as in 100+ has a hard time decaying.I am told it makes great tool handles.

 

[Roospike]

I think it is Mulberry......and that is almost impossible to split. Actually I keep a few rounds of it around so when my brother in-law wants free wood I tell him that he can have all he wants to split.After a few wacks he usually goes inside to eat (anything) with the women

I don't think it's mulberry. Mulberry is a yellow-green, not red colored. At least the mulberries that grow around here. I posted about that wood a bit back and I was told it was either Osage Orange or Mulberry. It was Mulberry. It was not reddish at all.

I'd say Osage Orange. One of the densest native hardwoods. You will earn your firewood splitting it. I have turned some on my lathe and thought it the best tool "duller" I have found in native species. Looks great finished. This wood has been used in the south for fence posts for years, as in 100+ has a hard time decaying.I am told it makes great tool handles.

Yep , Yep , Yep , Yep...................Osage Orange AKA: Hedge wood / Hedge apple good hard stuff , bout 32 mill btu per cord (oak being 27 )..... Burns hot and burns like coal . 1000's of hedge fence post round here in these parts and miles and miles of tree hedge rows a growing. Hedge looks kinda like Mulberry when cut and normally dont get very big. Bark looks different than Mulberry.

The posted pic look more of Mulberry then Hedge / Osage Orange

 

[Roospike]

Here is a pic of a white "male Mulberry" tree in my back yard.
Looks like wahoowad has a Red Mulberry.

 

[DiscoInferno]

I've not had the pleasure to try to split Osage/Hedge or Elm, but I have split plenty of mulberry (red mulberry, I believe). Even though it's almost always twisty and knotty, I've always found mulberry to be easy to split, brittle even. Exposed surfaces turn a rich brown, although fresh cut/split mulberry is (in my experience) neon yellow. Get that log split and it should be obvious if it's mulberry.

 

[colsmith]

Looks sort of like the elm we have been gathering this past week, but I really don't know. I do know mulberry really well, it doesn't look like mulberry to me. That is more of a two-toned wood, sharply defined lighter outside ring and darker center. Fresh mulberry also gives off a rather unpleasant smell when split, elm doesn't smell much. Yes, I have taken to sniffing wood, sounds funny but it is one more clue for ID purposes. You don't need to sniff the mulberry, it is strong and you can't help but notice, if the wood is fairly fresh. Hubby says he can tell locust by the smell, although it doesn't seem noticeable to me.

 

[Roospike]

All i can smell is the exhaust from my gas splitter . :red:
Does wood have a smell before being burned ? lol :lol:

 

[wahoowad]

I was sitting at Subway and noticed their trees outside. They were Elm (still had a few leaves attached) and the bark and limbs looked exactly like what I picked up. I'm pretty sure it is Elm now. I was hoping that orangish color would be a dead giveaway but I guess not. I had an oak log yesterday that was pretty orange too.

 

[wahoowad]

Went for a walk at lunch. Found the actual tree my unknown wood came from. Pulled a leaf and small berry off and it is actually a Callery Pear!

(broken link removed)

I found the following site helpful to narrow down my choices using a leaf:
(broken link removed)