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Yes, boxelder. It's a species of maple. Not the most dense firewood out there, but it burns. Your photos are the type that are needed to properly ID a tree. Good for you.
Yes it does resemble poison ivy, which grows in profusion around here, climbs trees with vines 5 inch in diameter.
But this isn't poison ivy these are leaves from a tree.
I looked up box elder on the firewood chart. I am going to leave this for someone else. My last two truck loads were fresh cut white oak and the two before that were locust. I just need one more truck load and I have that much locust right next to my drive way, if need be. I am a firewood snob. Why fill the pile with mediocre wood when you can dig around a little and find real good wood?
Boxelder is also my guess. Opposite branching (in the maple family), but leaves don't look like other maples. I'd probably leave it for someone else too.
I'm going with boxelder too. I removed that kind of tree last year from my backyard as it was leaning too much over sidewalk that goes by my house. Wood really isn't worth anything including for burning but I bucked the tree and split it and stacked it on my backyard fires firewood rack.
+1 on boxelder, I've cut & burned a lot of it. Definitely not my favorite, I don't go out of my way for it, but if one falls in my woods, I'll cut it up
A mile from my house there is a dam on the French Broad River. The power company makes electricity at this dam. I was down there walking my dog yesterday and I saw this tree down, on the Duke Power Company property.
The good news: One mile drive. Can drive the truck right up to the wood. Big tree with 14 inch limbs, perfect firewood size.
The bad news: Got to get permission from Duke Power to cut it up. Probably have to hire a lawyer to sign waivers etc. Who knows.
Bad news 2: It is box elder. I have heard of this tree but never seen one as far as I know. Having looked it up, it is one notch better than pine, and not even as good as black walnut which is my backup wood.
If a box elder tree fell across my driveway, I would cut it up and burn it but this tree, I will leave for someone else. And I bet a dollar some hill billy will be out there today cutting it up.
At first I thought it was ash. Duke power, in the past 6 months, has cut hundreds of ash trees beneath the power lines around Madison County, and leaving them lay. The hillbillies have been running around scrounging up all this ash.
So, I bet you some hill billy IDs this wood as ash and is having a field day cutting it up today.
Box elder is one of the few that I have very little ambition to go after. It's about the only thing sitting in piles here rotting in the woods. Had good intentions, but after processing and burning some - uhm - can't seem to want to go get the rest. Ranks right up there with willow and cottonwood. If trees are sparse, go for it. Other land owners around just pinch it out with a bucket tractor and leave it lay in the fence rows. In no time it's mush and goes away.
Many here in PA. don't care for Box Elder, but as aansorge said it dries fast and burns, it's fuelwood just not real desirable but it works. It grows like a weed, they are fast growing and all over the place and yes I also have in the past been fooled thinking it was Ash until I started cutting into it lol!
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Here it is. About 200 feet west of the little white structure in the middle of the photo, right on the edge of the meadow, that is the doomed box elder.
I went down there yesterday with the beagle. Much to my surprise nobody has begun whacking this downed tree.
Simon, I retired from Duke Power after 25 years of service. Based on my experience, forget about that tree. Getting permission to cut it and haul it away from company property would probably be more difficult that getting a Constitutional Amendment passed. Besides, it's not very good firewood.
i will cut box elder and let it rot on the ground just so it wont go to seed in my woods. I was pulling garlic mustard today and ripped out a bunch of box elder seedllings too. I hate them they are weed trees.