Today's Scrounge - Wood ID

[Jay106n]

Scored a good one today. Green oak, black birch, and a few unidentified logs. The rounds are varied. Let me know what you see.

 

[BenTN]

bottom 2 pics look like pine. Great score.

 

[Jay106n]

bottom 2 pics look like pine. Great score.

Initially I thought it was cherry and then started to think pine. Then I wasn't sure. Majority of the load is oak though.

 

[BenTN]

that pine will be great for getting that oak lit in a couple years.

 

[Jay106n]

that pine will be great for getting that oak lit in a couple years.

Oh yea, I have no problem with pine. Works great for getting fires started.

 

[Wood Duck]

I agree. It looks like Scots Pine, which is pretty common in yards, parks, etc. I have a couple of cords of it out back.

 

[bboulier]

Looks like Scotch Pine. Excellent wood.

 

[Woody Stover]

What kind of Oak is that? We have a lot of Red, Black and White here, but nothing that looks like that. Can you get a closeup of end grain and split face?

 

[Omaha419]

That stuff on the bottom almost looks like Sassafras, just based on the Orange-ish bark where it's cut. Doesn't look like oak at all.

 

[BenTN]

those pieces on the bottom look like chestnut oak we have here. dark heartwood with deep furrowed bark. i have never seen sassafras that large, but the color of heartwood does look a little off. those fresh cuts should surely smell enough to tell the difference between sassafras and oak.

JAY, do they smell like rootbeer?

 

[Jay106n]

those pieces on the bottom look like chestnut oak we have here. dark heartwood with deep furrowed bark. i have never seen sassafras that large, but the color of heartwood does look a little off. those fresh cuts should surely smell enough to tell the difference between sassafras and oak.

JAY, do they smell like rootbeer?

It could be chestnut oak. Not sassafras. No rootbeer smell.

 

[Applesister]

Chestnut Oak or Cottonwood
Black Birch or Red Maple
Some type of needle bearing softwood.
A good mix indeed.
Do you have it split by now?

 

[Applesister]

Chestnut Oak smells like Dijon mustard. My favorite oak. Lucky find in my book. I'd be delighted with that load.
I'd say Chestnut, it has kind of an olivey colored heartwood.

 

[Woody Stover]

Chestnut, it has kind of an olivey colored heartwood.

Oh, OK. It struck me that it almost looked like Tulip on the end cut...that kind of olive color, but the bark isn't right. Sass bark would be more orange (here anyway) and end cut doesn't look right. We are on the edge of the Chestnut Oak range here, and I found leaves on a lot behind my MIL's house last year....huge leaf! Can't remember the bark, though. Hopefully that tree is still there so I can take another look. Never seen cut wood, that's why I wanted to see a closeup end grain and split pic...

 

[Jay106n]

No I did not get it split yet. It is stacked in rounds. I went out in the rain today for a 2nd load. Got some of the same wood, along with a mix of a maple, and some small pine.

Some pile as yesterday, lots of oak leaves on the ground.


Fresh cuts

 

[Rebelduckman]

I ain't doubting you but I haven't ever seen any oak like that

 

[Jay106n]

Hey, I don't know jack about woods so I could be wrong. I guess I'll just have to get it split and stacked to see how fast or slow it dries out.

 

[Rebelduckman]

It's got btu's and will keep you warm no matter what it is

 

[Jay106n]

It's got btu's and will keep you warm no matter what it is

Oh yeah definitely and its free so either way win-win!

 

[Omaha419]

Man, I swear that looks like my sassafras I split a while ago. Here's my thread.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/index.php?threads/Help-with-ID'ing-this-wood.-Maryland.145032/

 

[Jay106n]

Man, I swear that looks like my sassafras I split a while ago. Here's my thread.

https://www.hearth.com/talk/index.php?threads/Help-with-ID'ing-this-wood.-Maryland.145032/

It definitely does look alike. Did yours have any kind of odor? Mine doesn't smell like anything but wood.

 

[Omaha419]

It had a citrus like odor.

I just noticed chestnut oak was mentioned as well.

 

[Applesister]

Uh...maybe cottonwood or Sassafras.
The olivey color is not visible in the second pics nor mudullary rays.

 

[Jay106n]

I spoke to the land owner today, he said the tree was definitely a chestnut oak when he cut it, his lot is full of them.

 

[Woody Stover]

but I haven't ever seen any oak like that

Looks like the range of Chestnut Oak doesn't quite reach you but that doesn't mean there are none there. OTOH, range looks to cover the entire state of CT.
I got back over to take another look at that Chestnut Oak today.
The bigger leaf in the first pic is about 8", and leaves are "broadest beyond middle, short-pointed at tip, gradually narrowed to base," to quote the Audubon Field Guide. In Jay's pic, I see some Black/Red Oak leaves for sure, but hard to tell if some of the others might be Chestnut...


Guide says bark is "gray, becoming thick and deeply furrowed into broad or narrow ridges." That description more matches Jay's pics than what I saw (this tree is 20"+ DBH, a bit bigger than the rounds in the truck, I think.) Bark on this one looks almost like White Oak bark...scaly.


The wood is marketed as White Oak, so we should be able to see medullary rays in a close-up of the end cut, and a split face pic should look similar to White Oak I would think...