red oak vs pin oak

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Pin oak is a type of red oak. Do you mean "northern red oak" and "pin oak?"

What I use:

Leaves (lobes start deeper toward midrib in pin oak)
Acorns (round with squat cap in pin oak vs. longer northern red oak)
Branch pattern (pin oak will have 90° branches and some that seem to grow straight down.)
General form/silhouette.

If I walk under an oak tree and it steals my hat, then it's a pin oak, LOL!
 
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on a pin oak the upper branches point up, the middle branches point out, and the lower branches point downwards. The bark is a bit different too. Just do a google search of the bark and you'll find the differences.
 
Yes northern red oak vs pin oak. I've googled and google and they have such similarities that i still can tell an exact difference. So how do all the branches point on a northern red oak?
 
We have some really tall trees in the woods that don't have an branches for a good 20 up i've alway called them red oaks but wondered if they might be pin oak. seems like the barks as those shiney lines in the middle i saw some pics of red oaks like that when i google them
 
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If I walk under an oak tree and it steals my hat, then it's a pin oak, LOL!


LMAO!!! That was great. I have 3 Pin Oaks on my property, trunk is stright up and branches point downwards and extend quite a bit. I think the leaf color in fall is a way to identify too. Pin Oaks have a more brighter color than red? Im not 100%.
 
Pin oaks are very reluctant to drop their leaves in the fall. Seems that only really strong winds (>40 mph) can pluck them.
To me, the bark of the pin oak is a prime clue- quite smooth with little micro-bumps.
 
Cut them down and split them. If it is red oak, it splits like a dream. Pin oak is a stringy SOB. At least the trees that we call red/pin oak around here.

I agree that pin oaks usually have droopy lower branches.
 
I love the way oak smells, but every so often, I encounter a section of pin oak that smells like a cow manure.

I've cut many varieties of trees that have had that aroma. The common thread was growing where there was lots of s$$t around, either a fenceline next to a barnyard, or a field edge where lots of manure was applied to the field. Once dry, smell is gone. (Unless it gets rained on, then a faint scent is awakened for a bit)
 
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