Very easy to split

[Stelcom66]

If all wood was like this I wouldn't ever consider getting a gas wood splitter. This was wicked easy - one swing and right in half. Yes, it wasn't very big in diameter, but it was almost 20" tall. It's a very thin bark, not much to it. I've got wood from so many sources including a tree in my yard taken down last year, and I lost track of what came from where.

Any idea what this is?

 

[showrguy]

If all wood was like this I wouldn't ever consider getting a gas wood splitter. This was wicked easy - one swing and right in half. Yes, it wasn't very big in diameter, but it was almost 20" tall. It's a very thin bark, not much to it. I've got wood from so many sources including a tree in my yard taken down last year, and I lost track of what came from where.

Any idea what this is?

View attachment 270361

It’s birch...

 

[Lakeside]

Black Birch -- good stuff

 

[Stelcom66]

It’s birch...

After the first answer I was going to say - but it's not white! Now I know about Black Birch.

Yes - definitely good stuff. I hope to encounter more.

Thanks

 

[usernametaken]

Doesn't look like black birch to me. Perhaps young red or silver maple. Either that or beech would be my guess.

Here's what black birch looks like. Youngest on left and oldest on right:

 

[gzecc]

very hard to identify with one split. Could be beech, birch etc....

 

[WoodScrounger]

I would have said that it is some variety of maple‍

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Bark looks like beech, but also could be some type of birch. Beech doesn't split especially easy. I have no experience with birch.

Username's photo on the left looks pretty much the same as Stelcomb66's photo.

 

[Stelcom66]

Yes was going to say the far left one looks the closest - but the bark does have somewhat more of a silver color.
If I can find more tomorrow I'll take another photo.

That's interesting how the same tree can appear almost to be another type of tree over time.

 

[wooddope]

Red maple for sure.

 

[usernametaken]

Red maple for sure.

That's where I'd place my bet...

Black birch has horizontal lenticels.

 

[firefighterjake]

My best guess before reading the comments was maple . . . most likely red maple which splits up quite easily and has similar bark.

 

[WiscWoody]

My best guess before reading the comments was maple . . . most likely red maple which splits up quite easily and has similar bark.

I think it looks like some kind of maple too.

 

[Stelcom66]

One of my sons dropped off a couple rounds today from my other son's yard - now I believe that's where the first photo came from. While I had to initially split this with a wedge and small axe - once it was in half it was very easy like before. My son said it was maple - not sure which variety.

 

[neverbilly]

Doesn't look like black birch to me. Perhaps young red or silver maple. Either that or beech would be my guess.

Here's what black birch looks like. Youngest on left and oldest on right:

View attachment 270379

Do you mind saying where those pics came from? I mean, is there a source that has pics in series like that for various species?

As for the OP, I was going to guess red maple.

 

[usernametaken]

Just Google the species you want to research and filter by images. You can find tons of great sites with info on most every species imaginable. I was going to just go outside and take pics from the woods around my home but it was cold and I was lazy... LOL

 

[peakbagger]

Odds are Norway Maple, its now considered an Invasive in some areas. Not bad firewood but it loves to take over. Looks like its been down for awhile. As an invasives go its not that bad except that it crowds out other native under its canopy.

 

[Stelcom66]

Maple of some sort seems to be the consensus. What a difference splitting that compared to other rounds I have. Not complaining - got them at no cost. Sometimes you can tell what it'll be like by looking at the bark. The easy to split maple has a thin, not prominent bark compared to other trees. I've got other rounds with more prominent bark where the wood is very stringy, or fibrous.

Norway maple is new to me. Interesting there can be many varieties of maple or others. Speaking of maple, where it came from - my son & D.I.L. tapped a couple maple trees in their yard about a year ago and made some excellent maple syrup.