What’s this wood?
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Ashful
Minister of Fire
I can pretty much always ID anything I'm splitting, but doing it in a photo without the aid of feel and smell is tougher for me. Without seeing the freshly split face, just from the bark and end color, I could've said plain old ash, before patrickk went all exotic on us. 
johneh
Minister of Fire
From photos identifying wood is difficault at best.
So I go to my standard answer
" I'll go out on a limb and say it is firewood"
So I go to my standard answer
" I'll go out on a limb and say it is firewood"
Ctwoodtick
Minister of Fire
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
Yep, we need a good split-face pic, for sure.Without seeing the freshly split face, just from the bark and end color, I could've said plain old ash, before patrickk went all exotic on us.
I'm not ready to go 'exotic' yet, but several of the Hickories are wide-spread, and common. In ME, not as much so from what I see in The Guide. I'm pretty sure he must've seen Shagbark up there...
Yes, you could've said Ash, but I'm pretty sure you'd've been wrong. 😏 He said it was heavy, and that the bark was very tough. Doesn't sound like the White Ash I see here, and the bark sure doesn't look like it. As a couple posters have said, the bark is barking "Hickory!" 🐕
Ok so I have a pic of it split, then next to ash and another next to hickory. Thanks for all the replies. I’m still stumped, if I remember correctly it liked to make the fireworks when stoked.
It sure looks like that mockernut hickory though looking at pictures on the internet.
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
I'm "stumped." 😏 That split face looks more like Sassafras (it's not) than it does Hickory. And Hickory would be stringy; That looks like it wasn't too hard to split at all...? That darker center is a distinguishing feature, too.
The rings look close together on the previous pics. That will be a little heavier than a faster-growing tree of the same species would be, but I don't really know how much of a factor that could be. Time to call on the guys that actually know something. 😆
@CincyBurner @nrford
The rings look close together on the previous pics. That will be a little heavier than a faster-growing tree of the same species would be, but I don't really know how much of a factor that could be. Time to call on the guys that actually know something. 😆
@CincyBurner @nrford
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Ok so I got some more pictures. I stripped the bark off a smaller piece and cut an end off. Also there is a picture of just bark that had fallen off last winter.
I also found a picture in log form before I cut and split it from Aug 2017.
Like I said, the bark is very tough and does not want to come off. Also it’s very tight grain.
Thanks again for trying to help me figure this out. I don’t need to know for any reason, just curiosity.
I also found a picture in log form before I cut and split it from Aug 2017.
Like I said, the bark is very tough and does not want to come off. Also it’s very tight grain.
Thanks again for trying to help me figure this out. I don’t need to know for any reason, just curiosity.
I bet you’re right. It doesn’t look like the typical shag bark hickory we have here though.
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
Based on pics 5 and 6, sure looks like Hickory. The ones I see a lot here are Shagbark and Pignut, but that bark is different. It certainly has the segmented look to the bark ridges that I associate with Hickory. The larger dark centers on those logs are something you see in the Hickories as well.
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Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
It's tough to ID from bark, since it varies so much. For example, look at the earlier bark pics you posted, compared to the last set..
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
I've seen a slightly dark center on some White Ash, but not as dark as the bottom logs on the trailer. And the last bark pics don't look like White Ash to me. Maybe he has Green or Black Ash up there. He said it's real heavy, though, and those low-BTU Ash varieties wouldn't be..
I'm not seeing the D-shaped holes...??
This is a tough one. I’m not an expert but I don’t think it’s ash. The bark is very tough/durable, I had some that had fallen off the wood last winter and was burning it today in the fire pit. I usually break the bark up into skinnier sections when I burn it but this bark was so tough I couldn’t break it by hand.
The rings were very tight and it was fairly heavy when dry.
Maybe someday I’ll come across one of these trees on a hike and I can get a picture of the leaves.
The rings were very tight and it was fairly heavy when dry.
Maybe someday I’ll come across one of these trees on a hike and I can get a picture of the leaves.
CincyBurner
Minister of Fire
First impression: To me bark has distinctive appearance of hickory (maybe pignut ? - VT Dendro pignut or maybe C. ovalis - VT Dendro - red ). interlaced ridges (smooth with light horizontal breaks in the ridges).
Enplater: Can you get tight shot of leaves in bed of truck (last pic of post #11).
Enplater: Can you get tight shot of leaves in bed of truck (last pic of post #11).
Woody Stover
Minister of Fire
Yeah, I wondered about those leaves, then saw that the log pic was from 2017, so no help there. What I can see, leaves look like they might be on the the Oak, if I had to guess..
Ashful
Minister of Fire
Just when this thread was getting boring, you post this! The end grain looks like classic hickory, not maple. The bark could be too, but there are so many varieties that I'd not go by that alone. But as you noted, there's no way those leaves are hickory.
