Wood ID: Could the property owner be wrong?

[saewoody]

This was taken down in the neighborhood. Asked the owners about it. I was told it wasn’t very good wood because it was Swamp Maple. The owner said he would have kept it if it was good wood, because he also burns. My thought is free is free, plus it’s easily accessible and close to home. Even if it is some type of soft maple, it certainly isn’t the worst wood I could put in the stove. But I’m not sure I’ve cut a maple with a dark center like that. At first glance I was thinking some sort of Hickory. Anybody agree with swamp maple, or could it be hickory or something else? I’m in CT. Thanks!
PS: for those who may visit multiple sites, I apologize if you see this in more than one place. I generally don’t “double post”, but curiosity has got the best of me.

 

[jackatc1]

Yes he is wrong, it's Sweet Gum.
I hope you don't split by hand.
In one respect he was right, it's not considered very good fire wood.
But it does have many redeeming qualities.

 

[WiscWoody]

The Maple we have up here has the dark core like that. By Swamp Maple you also mean red maple as that’s what some call Red Maple. Like you said it isn’t that bad of a wood to burn, I’ve burnt worse including Poplar and basswood but I try to avoid them if I can. Good score if it is Maple.

 

[danthedewman1]

How do some consider the wood bad to burn?

 

[Ctwoodtick]

Mostly people go by btu’s Per cord, ease of splitting, drying time as a way of saying if it’s good wood or not.

 

[jackatc1]

Not good fire wood because it's very difficult to split.
I would be happy to burn it, but not split it.

 

[shoot-straight]

love me some red maple- drys quick and burns hot, but jsut not that long

sweet gum (what i see there too) is tough to split and is the ashiest wood ever for a "lighter" wood. its terrible, i have burned alot of it that came in a discounted "mixed hardwood" load i bought.

 

[Kevin Weis]

In my neck of the woods Swamp Maple is Silver Maple. I'd only take Silver Maple of there truly is nothing else. Hugh ash content. Only thing that has more ash is Norway Maple. However that above is not Silver Maple I'm almost certain. It could be Red Maple, another soft maple. IMO that is better than Silver Maple. Sweet Gum in the mid-atlantic region is a coastal plain tree almost exclusively. Unless it has been planted as an ornamental. Kevin

 

[saewoody]

In my neck of the woods Swamp Maple is Silver Maple. I'd only take Silver Maple of there truly is nothing else. Hugh ash content. Only thing that has more ash is Norway Maple. However that above is not Silver Maple I'm almost certain. It could be Red Maple, another soft maple. IMO that is better than Silver Maple. Sweet Gum in the mid-atlantic region is a coastal plain tree almost exclusively. Unless it has been planted as an ornamental. Kevin

This was taken down right on the edge of a small brook, so I don’t think it was planted. Thanks for the input


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[Pat32rf]

Free is free. I have a hydraulic spliter powered by my 35 hp tractor so it will split and burn in my owb

 

[Tom123]

I’m thinking Red Elm AKA slippery elm. I have never seen gum in CT.


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[nrford]

Elm, Grey. Too much sapwood for Red

 

[jwfirebird]

maples have lighter gray smoother bark on the small branches. personally if its free and close i would take whatever. if you have a splitter, you can burn softer wood shoulder season or leave it bigger and throw a piece in with some harder wood for the colder times

 

[WiscWoody]

When I see the bark it says Black Ash to me but probably not.

 

[FLINT]

I really do not think that is maple. Red maple I think it good wood - but that does not look like red maple at all to me. Silver maple is worse wood than red, but again, doesn't look like silver to me either. Box elder is technically a maple, but again, not looking like that.

your very top picture does kind of look like hickory - and the bottom picture does look a lot like sweet gum - though I don't think sweet gum grows that far north.

are all those logs definitely from the same tree? if so, thats a lot of logs of a similar size - was the tree either really tall and skinny, or did it have multiple trunks. If multiple trunks and growing near water - does make me think of something like silver maple or box elder

OR - what about Willow? Willow grows near water, has bark kind of like that - has dark heart wood and grows with multiple trunks.

 

[shoot-straight]

Another thing about gum that I hate- it goes from decent wood to a yellow punky mess is no time if not split stacked and top covered.

 

[saewoody]

Got the wood cut up, and split a few pieces. Figured I would see if these pics confirm or change people’s view on type of wood. Splits easy, so not sweetgum. Has a sort of sweet, but smelly scent. I’m leaning towards hickory. The grain doesn’t look like maple.

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[saewoody]

Here’s some more.

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[Kevin Weis]

Although the bark is telling me a little different, I'm leaning to Red Maple. Another clue is that the center breaks out like that. Few trees do that when split and I think the Red Maple is one that tends to do that. Kevin

 

[shoot-straight]

Yep not sweet gum

Sassafras???

 

[TedyOH]

Growth rings are too far apart (fast growth) for hickory

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[Simonkenton]

That split piece looks for all the world like black walnut, though, the bark is not like black walnut.
Sweet gum is a groan to split. I bought some planks from the sawmill and built a beautiful front door for my log cabin, the wood is just beautiful, but, hard to work with.

Hickory is just a groan to split, I won't even take on a hickory tree with my maul, gotta have a gas powered splitter for hickory.

 

[saewoody]

Based on responses, I guess I’ll lean towards red maple; especially since the property owner called it swamp maple.


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[Kevin Weis]

Good Choice. Red Maple is also a wetland species typically. You mentioned it was growing near a creek naturally and not planted there. Another indicator.

 

[nrford]

It's Willow. Definately not Soft maple or Hickory!