Wood ID - told it was ash?

[DiBurn90]

Got some wood from a neighbor last summer that was cut by a tree service right before lockdown and they were not able to come back to get it for a while. She wanted it out of her front yard and asked if I wanted it, score. She had two trees taken down, one was a gnarly pine that I didn't really want but took to be neighborly, it'll go in the fire pit and she said they told her the other was Ash. No leaves when I got the wood but the bark seemed similar to the ash I had in my stacks. Just got around to splitting it and the wood looks different than the other ash I have and it had a spicy smell to it. I know there are several species of ash. only been doing this a couple years so still need to know some of the woods without leaves. Is this Ash or something else? Going in the stack either way as it was free just like to know what I'm burning if possible.

Appreciate the help.

 

[mcdougy]

Looks pretty similar to ash

 

[stoveliker]

To me the split surfaces look more stringy, the core darker, and the bark flakier than I'm used to with Ash. But I do not have experience with different types of ash. Just the two trees I cut up and split...

 

[Stinkpickle]

Same here. It looks close to ash, but just different enough for me to guess it’s not. And the spicy smell, too....hmmmm.

 

[baseroom]

Ash! It can be stringy at times... Bark can look different ..depends on long its been down?dead. Wood inside is Ash. If you can pull any bark off and see trails from EAB larvae.....dead give away!!

 

[hickoryhoarder]

I'd say it's not white ash. Maybe another type?

If the branching is not opposite, it's not ash.

I'm wondering about basswood.

 

[Simonkenton]

The bark looks like ash. The wood looks more stringy. Could it be hickory? Is it hard to split by hand?

 

[MongoMongoson]

Ash can be some of the stringiest wood I get, if I get it from someone's yard. If it comes out of the woods it tends to have nice straight grain and splits beautifully. Maybe the variety they plant in yards/in the city is different than what grows wild around here.

I have also noticed when I split some of the stringy ash, I get a whiff just for a second of a smell almost a little bit like wood smoke. Is that the spicy smell you are getting?

I cropped one of your images. Those looks like borer larvae tracks to me which also helps indicate ash.

There are different types of ash, and I don't think they are easy to tell apart. To me, they are all ash and I just don't worry about it.

The basswood I get has very white wood throughout and splits like a dream. It is almost completely uniform in color so to me this does not look like basswood.

 

[DiBurn90]

I'd say it's not white ash. Maybe another type?

If the branching is not opposite, it's not ash.

I'm wondering about basswood.

Thanks, I know there are several species but definitely not able to tell them apart lol.

Unfortunately it was all pretty much cut to rounds when I got it so no idea about the branching. But appreciate the information.

 

[DiBurn90]

Ash! It can be stringy at times... Bark can look different ..depends on long its been down?dead. Wood inside is Ash. If you can pull any bark off and see trails from EAB larvae.....dead give away!!

Good to know. All the ash I have dealt with hasn't been stringy, but that's not a lot.

It came down last summer right before lockdown so maybe 14 months or so.

I will have to pull the bark and check, didn't even think about that. Thanks

 

[DiBurn90]

The bark looks like ash. The wood looks more stringy. Could it be hickory? Is it hard to split by hand?

The smell made me think of the other hickory in my stacks, bark doesn't really look the same but I know it can vary. Most of hickory I have is shagbark. I know it's not that.

I split it with a splitter so I'm not sure. Did have a few of the larger pieces take a little bit of force before splitting though.

 

[DiBurn90]

I have also noticed when I split some of the stringy ash, I get a whiff just for a second of a smell almost a little bit like wood smoke. Is that the spicy smell you are getting?

I cropped one of your images. Those looks like borer larvae tracks to me which also helps indicate ash.

There are different types of ash, and I don't think they are easy to tell apart. To me, they are all ash and I just don't worry about it.

The basswood I get has very white wood throughout and splits like a dream. It is almost completely uniform in color so to me this does not look like basswood.

View attachment 279610

Kind of, little bit of a wood smoke smell with almost a black peppercorn smell to it.

I didn't notice that when I was splitting it but yeah that does look like the borer tracks I have seen on my other ash.

Yeah, from what I have seen it should all burn similarly if it's ash, not really worried about which species it is just if it's actually ash.

I have never dealt with basswood but this definitely isn't uniform in color.

I appreciate all the information it's definitely a help.

 

[hickoryhoarder]

My guess today is some kind of hickory. Obviously not shagbark.

 

[blades]

Ash, or maybe Elm, but which one I do not know. I have had some ash that is stringier than any Hickory almost like some Elms.

 

[DiBurn90]

Ash, or maybe Elm, but which one I do not know. I have had some ash that is stringier than any Hickory almost like some Elms.

Hadn't considered elm. It looks a lot different than the elm I split right after it but there are several varieties of elm.

 

[old greybeard]

heres some Ash I cut up this week. Much lighter than the maple in the pile. Pieces in the front are Ash. My new Echo 490 ripped that big trunk where two trees grew together