Wood ID Help

[Caw]

Hi Folks,

I'm a brand spanking new wood burner and happy to have found this forum. I have an Osburn 1600 insert (1.8 cu ft box) in a 2 story cape. I've learned a ton already and now it's time for my first post!

I recently purchased a new house here in MA and on the property I found a good sized pile of logs that seemed to be in OK shape. I bucked them up and fired them through the splitter. Here are pics of a few of the splits:

A few observations of the wood:

1. Its EXTREMELY light. I feel I could chuck a spiral 20 yards with one split. I bucked, split, and stacked 2 cords if red/white oak last week and this wood is easily 3x lighter.

2. The wood seems soft. Not balsa soft, but it feels different than all the oak/maple I'm used to. Perhaps this is just from aging for a long time? I have no idea how long they were stacked out back.

3. Some pieces are too punky and I just tossed them into my firepit pile. Mostly the bottom of the stack as they were on the ground. Some are on the edge or partially toast while some seem perfectly fine.

4. The moisture meter has them all around 18% which is about as dry as anything is ever gonna get outside here.

Based on what I could find online have a few guesses on what it could be:

- Chestnut Oak
- American Elm
- Basswood

I'm a little hesitant to use it as I feel like it's just going to turn into an inferno in the stove. Perhaps I'll mix it in as starter logs for my hardwoods?

What do you think?

Thanks for the help and keep up the good work on the forums!

 

[gzecc]

Split them small and use for kindling

 

[firefighterjake]

My best guess would be something in the aspen/cottonwood family.

 

[Caw]

My best guess would be something in the aspen/cottonwood family.

I definitely have poplar trees here, I just took one down actually, but I've never seen poplar with a dark core. The bark on this has a lot of ridges and I thought big tooth aspen but again with the color. I also thought black walnut but I'm too far north for those.

It's not gonna be good stove wood, likely kindling as recommended above...I just want to know what it is it's killing me!

 

[johneh]

I also thought black walnut but I'm too far north for those.

Don't tell my Black Walnuts they are too far North
They might stop producing nuts.

 

[Caw]

Too far north isn't 100% accurate but it would be a very rare tree where I live and a crime to let such beautiful wood go to waste.

I'm just gonna make kindling out of it but not knowing what it is is still driving me crazy. I'm going to call it super old elm until someone smarter tells me otherwise!

 

[Stinkpickle]

I think basswood is a good guess. Not sure, though. I have no experience with it.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Elm would be kind of heavy. Chestnut oak feels like the heaviest oak to me, a bit heavier than your white oak. I've got no experience with basswood as firewood. But the bark maybe does look like basswood?

 

[johneh]

The bark looks like some of the big old popular around here
And they have a dark heart wood

 

[CincyBurner]

Ginkgo ?

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I think basswood is a good guess. Not sure, though. I have no experience with it.

Basswood is white inside and the bark looks more like Ash, I just cut some a few weeks ago, all white inside.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Ginkgo ?

I looked it up in the National Audubon Tree book and I think you might be right!

 

[Caw]

Does that grow in New England? I'll have to look that up. I've never heard of that tree around here.

 

[Stinkpickle]

Ginkgo ?

I think that might be it.

 

[Stinkpickle]

Does that grow in New England? I'll have to look that up. I've never heard of that tree around here.

It’s a popular landscape tree.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

It’s a popular landscape tree.

Yeah, grows wherever people plant it. Not unusual on Midwest streets and campuses. I don't recall if it's planted much in New England. Does seem to like the Ohio/Indiana climate.

 

[Caw]

It’s a popular landscape tree.

Everything I'm seeing online shows a more uniform light color grain. This is definitely a thin light sapwood and dark large heartwood. Also this was a big tree. 10+ 10-15" x 4' logs before I bucked.

Yesterday I turned it all to kindling and I noticed that while it split easily due to being old, it was still fairly stringy. More than I expected.

 

[Caw]

Here is a cross section of Ginko. This does look similar. I live in a heavily wooded deciduous area so it's just surprising to me. It's all oak, maple, poplar, and elm here with tons of huge pines mixed in.

I wish I could find a split picture.

I agree with everyone and think it's likely a poplar variety or this ginko. I have two gigantic 4+ foot eastern poplars on the property so poplar makes sense.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

I looked it up in the National Audubon Tree book and I think you might be right!

Now I also saw in this book that they have two pictures of Eastern Cottonwood, and the second picture looks very much like the first picture that you posted so who knows?

 

[Caw]

I was finally able to dig up a picture of Eastern Poplar splits and voila...its settled. My wood is definitely very old Eastern Poplar aka nice kindling for my Red Oak stash

Thanks for all the replies!

 

[SpaceBus]

Looks like basswood or poplar to me. We have several basswood on the property and I prefer to look at them rather than burn it. It's a nice species for wood working as well.

 

[CincyBurner]

I agree, not ginkgo, since ginkgo has white ring on inner bark and typically a landscape planting not found in wooded, natural ares.