Wood you care to ID?

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Woody Stover

Minister of Fire
Dec 25, 2010
13,121
Southern IN
There are several of these trees close together. I was hoping it is Hedge but the shape seems wrong. Doesn't Hedge have a short trunk and broad crown? These might be competing for light, and growing straighter up... The bark certainly looks right. These are on my BIL's property. If they're Hedge, I'll request them as payment for all I've done/am going to do for him. :lol: But they might not be dead. I guess I shouldn't let the vines kill them, but it's tempting. :lol:
Hedge is also called "Bodark" which is a cool name. 'Altered version of the French "bois d'arc" or "bow wood".'
Interesting page about the tree: http://www.gpnc.org/osage.htm
Wife said that she thought another neighbor cut some down and tossed it into the woods. My heart is aflutter with the possibility of grabbing some of this to try it out. With the Keystone's tiny firebox, I'd like to have some concentrated BTUs.

http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h407/2bnator/008.jpg

http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h407/2bnator/006.jpg

http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h407/2bnator/003-1.jpg

http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h407/2bnator/001.jpg
 
Black locust, no doubt about it.

Great stuff, high density- burns long and strong, once properly dried. (Worth the wait.)

Really tough stuff- make sure saw chain is very sharp. Splits pretty readily, except for forks & knots of course; snip them with chainsaw. If you buck it and wait to split, the bark will likely fall off, which you probably don't want.

Get ready for a saw workout, and a workout hauling out the wood.
 
CTYank said:
Black locust, no doubt about it.
Thanks, CTYank. I'll look around for some of the seed pods...
 
Might want to take a closer look at the vine also. I can't tell it it is poison ivy or another vine... I'm carefull untill I know.

ATB,
Mike
 
Vine makes me itchy just looking at it! We have a lot around here...I will cut them at the base somewhere and give them a few months to die off, seems that helps somewhat in controlling the oil factor but you still need to be careful.
 
I don't think that vine, which looks like Poison Ivy, will ever kill the tree. Vines aren't very efficient tree killers, Poison Ivy in particular. Maybe occasionally you see vines like Asian Bittersweet or Kudzu overwhelm a tree, but I have never seen Poison Ivy kill a tree or even come close.

I think the trees look like Black Locust.
 
Woody, those vines won't kill the tree but they surely will make you itch!
 
Thats a big blt!
 
Definitely black locust for the tree, and probably poison ivy for the vine. I've read somewhere that only about 50% of people are actually allergic to poison ivy, but upon repeated exposure, if you aren't allergic, you can become allergic.

Just wear gloves and if it touches your skin wash your skin with regular soap pretty soon and you'll be fine.
 
Wear a respirator too. Strip off all the vines in the woods as well. Drop the tree and pull the vines first in one big piece, haul them away from your area and throw your gloves in the trash.
 
Poison Ivy is an old acquaintance of mine and it's all over the place here. Once I cut a log with a vine on it and picked the rounds up with them touching the insides of my forearms, wearing short sleeves. I needed cortisone that time. I still get a little bit once in a while, but I'm pretty careful now.
I didn't look too close at the vine, but probably Ivy.
This is a not-very-good pic of the killer vine. It's green year-round. If you let it get into the top of the tree, it will get all the light and kill the tree. At least I think that's what happens.

http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h407/2bnator/001-2-1.jpg

http://i1108.photobucket.com/albums/h407/2bnator/002-1-1.jpg
 
I've had poison ivy and wisteria compete in the crown of both poplars and cherry trees.

May not have been the only thing that killed them but certainly helped stress them out.


Wisteria will kill pine trees. By strangling them. Even if you remove the vine, if there is a nasty twist (from the strangle) in the pine tree it will break at the twist down the road in a good wind or ice storm.
 
That is one fine firewood tree!! Let it dry after splitting and place the locust splits on a good bed of coals and hold on for some serious BTU's! Oh and it's heavy as hell too...

Have Fun!

Ray
 
Leaves of three....let it be.
 
Woody Stover's vine looks like Euonymus fortunei, called wintercreeper or a bunch of other names. It grows a lok more densely than most native vines, covering every tree for acres in some places.
 
smokinjay said:
Thats a big blt!
Yum! Sounds delicious... :)



Wood Duck said:
vine looks like Euonymus fortunei, called wintercreeper or a bunch of other names.
We've also got some huge grape vines out there...3-4" diameter.
 
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