Wood ID please

[sweedish]

Trying to figure out what kind of wood this is. Was already dead and bark falling off when I cut it up. Not boxelder, ash, maple, paper birch or aspen. Its dry, and still quite dense, more so than cherry. Thoughts?

 

[gzecc]

Need more pictures of other angles and parts and different distances. Split too

 

[Corey]

The first thought that hit my mind was 'elm' - I don't know why...but that is what that grayish moldy/mossy bark reminds me of.

Looking closer, guess I'm sort of losing all sense of scale... I see 5-6 growth rings in what I take to be a 6-8 inch diameter log... so I'm thinking one of those must be off by a fair amount. Often times the bark on a small branch won't look like the 'familiar' bark on the trunk of a tree, so that also throws things off. If it really is growing an inch a year, possibly some sort of ornamental tree? Possibly poplar?

 

[Osage]

Bark looks like black locust.

 

[sweedish]

It’s about 5” across. I’m in Michigan if that helps narrow it down.

 

[Corey]

Wow. Yeah, trying to think of what could grow that fast, that far north. Willow, poplar, aspen, possibly some evergreens... though you say not aspen, and it doesn't look like an evergreen.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Bark looks a little like pignut hickory. Got a photo of a split? Stringy wood would suggest hickory.

 

[Simonkenton]

Locust.

 

[sweedish]

Didn’t split very easy, not straight grain. This was growing along a ditch, and had 25 years ago+ been pushed into a pile. No signs of being punky or any other rot. Bark mostly off of the pieces, so I can’t really compare to a living tree to use an app.

 

[sweedish]

Didn’t split very easy, not straight grain. This was growing along a ditch, and had 25 years ago+ been pushed into a pile. No signs of being punky or any other rot. Bark mostly off of the pieces, so I can’t really compare to a living tree to use an app.

View attachment 287367 View attachment 287368 View attachment 287369 View attachment 287370 View attachment 287371

Sorry, accidentally uploaded an unrelated picture of a 4 point I saw during hunting season

 

[Jags]

The splits look like elm to me.

 

[gzecc]

Too far gone for me to ID. Leaning towards some weed gone wild with those huge growth rings.

 

[Caw]

Too far gone for me to ID. Leaning towards some weed gone wild with those huge growth rings.

I agree it like like something invasive. Likely will just burn right up, I'm not sure I'd spend any time on it.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

Those additional photos were pretty good. And I'm now pretty much stumped.

 

[sweedish]

It’s very dense, like applewood. So maybe it is locust? Does locust split like ash? This was intertwined grain and it’s closed pore, that’s what had me confused is that it’s so dense but it looks like it grew very fast, and I don’t remember seeing pods from other locust trees, but maybe I missed them.

 

[sweedish]

It’s very dense, like applewood. So maybe it is locust? Does locust split like ash? This was intertwined grain and it’s closed pore, that’s what had me confused is that it’s so dense but it looks like it grew very fast, and I don’t remember seeing pods from other locust trees, but maybe I missed them.

If it is locust, lucky me, I have 15 ish pieces of premium firewood.

 

[sweedish]

If it is locust, lucky me, I have 15 ish pieces of premium firewood.

Moisture meter says about 14 percent, but I can hardly push the pins in very far

 

[Simonkenton]

Locust is easy to split.

 

[stoveliker]

If it's that dry, burn it and tell us how it goes, how it smells etc. Nice puzzle ..

 

[weatherguy]

Bark looks like locust and if lasted that long down that's a good indication.

 

[gzecc]

No locust that I've seen in the northeast.

 

[bigealta]

Does not look like locust from here in NJ, but burn it and if it smells Very funky than that’s the unmistakable sign it is locust.

Locust bark is also very distinctive, pull it off, if it is thick and stinks when burned that’ s a good sign it’s locust.

Take a pic of a piece of bark removed and show both the inside and outside. It’s pretty easy to tell if it’s locust bark.

 

[Corey]

Definitely interesting puzzle. If it turns out to be 'good' wood, we need to definitely identify, because I want some!! With a growth rate like that, you could almost plant in the spring and harvest wood in the fall! You aren't downstream from any nuclear power plants are you??

 

[Stinkpickle]

Yeah, that thing grows like an invasive sumac or tree of heaven.

 

[Osage]

Black locust produces it's own nitrogen, and actually grows rather fast. I planted a small sapling I dug 4 years ago and it is now about 15' tall with a 3" trunk. Around here we have groves of them that were planted for fence posts. You can get good line posts in about 5 yrs.
Still looks like black locust to me.