Wood ID, Beech or Maple or ?

[CordWrangler]

I scrounged a load of this wood recently along side the road by my house. It is quite heavy, similar in weight to red oak. It seems quite hard to split compared to red oak or soft maple. When I got it, I thought it was Beech but after splitting a round, I'm not sure.

What do you guys think?

Thanks,
CW

 

[ckitch]

I think maple, all the beach I have cut had a dark area in the middle

 

[BamaScroungr]

If you find any black warts on the bark, it's probably hackberry. Not sure otherwise.

 

[Prichan]

Beech

 

[BoiledOver]

If it ain't beech, it sure is a good imitation.

 

[Applesister]

Red maple...totally.
Beech bark is way thinner than that. And a couple shades on the lighter gray side.

 

[paul bunion]

Beech, it has the bark disease.

 

[Applesister]

Beech, it has the bark disease.

Yeah...maybe
Red maple gets a bark canker too but the stress cracks are small and even that kinda leans more toward beech.
But the inner bark on Beech is light tan and very thin...not reddish.
Red maple
I can pull two pieces from my stack and send pics.

 

[jeffesonm]

looks like a lot of the beech I've cut

 

[Cburke]

Beech for sure, the reddish hue in the split pictures gives it away, I have a ton of beech that I burn, great wood enjoy!

 

[Rebelduckman]

Another beech nut here

 

[BringinHeat]

Looks like Beech to me also.

 

[CordWrangler]

So, if it is Beech, what should I expect for drying time? Would it be closer to Maple or more like Red Oak?

Thanks for everybody's input on what type of wood this is. It is appreciated.

CW

 

[CombatChris]

I'm going to say 'not beech' because of the coloring and grain of the splits.

You don't have pics of any of the leaves or stem buds, do you? Beech is really identifiable by that, since the usual bark check isn't clear.

 

[CordWrangler]

@ConbatChris, sadly I don't have any of the leaves or stem buds. It was just a pile of rounds and a couple of larger limbs on the side of the road. I got lucky and saw them the day after it was cut down.
CW

 

[Applesister]

You can easily get Red maple below 20% in one year. Beech is heavier and denser, if you split medium sized splits you can get it to 17% in a year. Bigger splits take more time.
Its a balanced trade off for heat given off when you go to burn. If you need the wood right away split small and pray that its maple.

 

[Ncountry]

Beech. If you look closely you can see the tell tale flecks, found in most beech, in the end grain and splits.

 

[jeffesonm]

also mine burned "okay" after 1 year, but great after 2

 

[Pennsyltucky Chris]

I recently got two limbed beech trunks of about 40 feet in length. Here are some splits I did this afternoon.