Wood ID Help

[ReggieT]

Hey Guys,

I'm still in Birmingham, AL.
Had a decent load of firewood given to me and a tad confused on its ID.
Thus far the top 3 ID's are Pecan, White Oak or Pignut Hickory.

Here are pics before and after some sawing and splitting.
Any ideas or thoughts?
Splits okay and is a tad heavy...no leaves or nuts about.

 

[River]

Hickory.

To my knowledge, I have never seen pignut hickory, but these photos are of some kind of hickory. On my property (for what it's worth), if a hickory does not have shaggy bark, it's a bitternut hickory.

 

[ReggieT]

Hickory.

To my knowledge, I have never seen pignut hickory, but these photos are of some kind of hickory. On my property (for what it's worth), if a hickory does not have shaggy bark, it's a bitternut hickory.

I loves hickory
Much obliged River!
I've got some great friends and relatives in Indy & South Bend.
My wife & I use to stock up on grub from Shelton's Farm Market in Niles, Michigan, until they closed last yr...😭

 

[Woody Stover]

Based on the bark in the first pic, I'll say Pecan, which is in the Hickory family.
We have a lot of Pignut here, the bark doesn't look right for that.

 

[ScottLewis]

Hickory. When I have stacked up hickory it always gets infested with bark bugs. The pile will be covered with fine sawdust, looks like flour.

 

[Woody Stover]

Hickory...bugs. The pile will be covered with fine sawdust, looks like flour.

Powderpost beetles. On the plus side, your wood will dry faster. Minus side; You end up with less wood. 😏

 

[Woody Stover]

Here's some Pecan I've got in the stacks..with a couple of powderpost beetle holes. 😄

 

[ReggieT]

Here's some Pecan I've got in the stacks..with a couple of powderpost beetle holes. 😄

View attachment 341414

Quick question; Which burns hotter White Oak or Pecan?

 

[Woody Stover]

Quick question; Which burns hotter White Oak or Pecan?

I haven't ever burned much Pecan; The stuff in my stack has been my only appreciable score of it. I'll probably give it another year before burning, but I guess I could split a couple open soon and check moisture..maybe it dried faster that I thought.
Pecan should burn very similar to the closely-related Hickory. But I haven't burned much of that either, even though there's a lot of it in the woods here, mostly Pignut and a few Shaggies. I mostly get down wood, and the Hickories don't die or fall too often here, it's mostly the Red Oaks that do. If Hickories DO fall, get 'em quick, they don't hold up for too long.
That said, most of the BTU charts I've used have had White Oak at 25.7 Mbtu/cord, some of the Hickories a point or so more at 26.5-26.7, and Shagbark at 27.7. Now, if you can notice a difference burning woods that only differ by a point or two, you're sharper than I am. 😏

 

[ReggieT]

I haven't ever burned much Pecan; The stuff in my stack has been my only appreciable score of it. I'll probably give it another year before burning, but I guess I could split a couple open soon and check moisture..maybe it dried faster that I thought.
Pecan should burn very similar to the closely-related Hickory. But I haven't burned much of that either, even though there's a lot of it in the woods here, mostly Pignut and a few Shaggies. I mostly get down wood, and the Hickories don't die or fall too often here, it's mostly the Red Oaks that do. If Hickories DO fall, get 'em quick, they don't hold up for too long.
That said, most of the BTU charts I've used have had White Oak at 25.7 Mbtu/cord, some of the Hickories a point or so more at 26.5-26.7, and Shagbark at 27.7. Now, if you can notice a difference burning woods that only differ by a point or two, you're sharper than I am. 😏

Good stuff & wise council. I had looked at the several BTU charts...just curious about actual hands-on burning experience.

 

[ScottLewis]

White oak and pecan will be very similar. I used to live in central Georgia. There are pecan orchards all over the place down there. I burned pecan in the wood stove. Even better, we were hunting wild hogs in the Oconee River Swamp. We would get a ham from a 110 pound wild hog and cook it in the smoker for 8 hours using pecan wood. That's the best meat I ever ate.

 

[Woody Stover]

cook it in the smoker for 8 hours using pecan wood.

The guy I scored my Pecan stash from found out, after he said I could have it, that the wood was prized by BBQ fans. He then thought he was sitting on a gold mine. When I got there he told me that since he promised me wood, I could have one trailer load (5x8') but that was all.