Help ID'ing yellow wood

[steveb76]

Locust.......Ran thru a cord of it this winter, burns a long time. Good heat with minimal air.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

What ever you end up calling it , don't burn it in an open fireplace. It's gonna make sparks and lots of them.

 

[wdchuck]

Another thread on yellow wood. pics too.


http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?p=1792749&highlight=yellow+wood#post1792749

 

[wdchuck]

What ever you end up calling it , don't burn it in an open fireplace. It's gonna make sparks and lots of them.

:agree2:

 

[WetBehindtheEar]

Gotta go with Locust also

I've got both Mulberry & Locust. The mulberry seasoned up in one year and turned a nice reddish.

The locust stayed yellow & sizzled at me even after two years split & off the ground. But after THREE years.. awesome stuff...

 

[Dingus Dan]

locust it would be if it has a stinky smell when burning.its either that or a chance its sassafrass did it smell like root beer when you cut it is it very light or med weight does it crackle a lot when burning?

lone wolf, it was 2 year seasoned when i got it, not really scented even when i split it into kindling. no crackling either but it is extremely light weight, almost as light as pine.
i haven't really smelled it while burning but will do so and post results
thanks!

 

[Dingus Dan]

Looks alot like the black locust I cut today. Did you cut the trees yourself, did it have little black seed pods and thorns on the upper branches?

sorry bluestem, i have not other reference point besides those two pieces. there is plenty more of it, just none with bark.
i'd love to find more too, it's not something i've seen referred to in sale's pitches... everyone seems to sell whatever they have as "oak" on craigslist, even if it clearly not.
personally i prefer a mix as the wife complains about the preciseness it takes to light a stove using only red oak... she loves pine kindling!

 

[wdchuck]

I've got both Mulberry & Locust. The mulberry seasoned up in one year and turned a nice reddish.

The locust stayed yellow & sizzled at me even after two years split & off the ground. But after THREE years.. awesome stuff...

I've heard that.......

 

[wdchuck]

I've heard that.......

But never experience it personally.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Hopefully this helps.....

View attachment 125313


The two pieces on the left are Black Locust, the 3rd and 4th are Mulberry.

I still say it's Mulberry....especially when comparing the bark of the 4th split with the original poster's bark, and the yellow straight-grain of the wood in the 3rd split. All of these splits have been in my garage since early last Spring.

 

[Greenthorn]

Guess mulberry is different in these parts, this has been split and seasoned for a year.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Guess mulberry is different in these parts, this has been split and seasoned for a year.

That's nice and dry wood there; I notice that it's all debarked, too.

 

[julian 1973]

I say its mulberry also. It is yellow when cut, then quickly turns a dark reddish brown. It also splits very easy. When cut it should have a sweet smell, and it makes some of the best wood for smoking!

 

[WetBehindtheEar]

no crackling either but it is extremely light weight, almost as light as pine.

Now THAT is a confounding statement. Both Locust AND Mulberry will be pretty dense after seasoning. I've never had locust be light like that... all other things aside, I'll still say locust.

It's not mulberry because it's still yellow AFTER it's been sitting split.

Also, the mulberry has a white/lighter color at the sapwood/cambium region. long after splitting/seasoning.

Or is it fresh splits that we're seeing?

 

[TallElf]

I've got both Mulberry & Locust. The mulberry seasoned up in one year and turned a nice reddish.

The locust stayed yellow & sizzled at me even after two years split & off the ground. But after THREE years.. awesome stuff...

Great for bonfires... but much better in a wood stove. Does pop and crackle and shoot nice sparks onto the hearth when re-loading.

Most round here use for fence posts but I think that it is much better to burn.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

It's not mulberry because it's still yellow AFTER it's been sitting split.

Look at my picture in reply #31; you'll see that the Mulberry is still pretty yellow even though it was split last Spring, and I have had other pieces stay yellow inside well after being split, though most does turn reddish-brown.

 

[SWI Don]

The color change in mulberry is caused by the sun. If you can put it in a dark place it will stay yellow a lot longer. It will change color over time even when finished with a clear finish.

I will agree on smoking with mulberry.

I haven't had the opportunity to burn black locust yet, honeylocust yes, but that is not the same thing. In my experience honeylocust takes a long time to season also. I have had some smaller trees season in a year but I have had a bunch that took 2-3 years from large trees to get dry. These trees were girdled 1-2 years before I cut them.

Don

 

[mustangwagz]

NOt sure, but i got a bunch of it..

In my neck of the woods, i got prolly a dozen of these tree's.. Yellow when cut, stays yellow regardless of time seasoning. Very Light in weight, Burns like crazy for a short pd of time. (although, during the time i was burning, i had a puny burner so couldnt get BIG logs..) and poped like crazy!! SO, with seeing what i've read so far about being good wood to burn with minimal air, imma chop some down in the near future (IF I CAN, got like 2 ft of snow and makes hard to get to) and let it dry in Larger pieces. Alot of whats standing is already dead so thats a plus! Wish me luck!

 

[mizzou]

Maybe it's just me , but isnt the bark of black locust more ...



Black ?

I cut a lot of black locust and about 20% of it has the brown bark. Otherwise it is the same color of wood, also burns the same, hot and long. Got a stove full of it going now.

As to the OP, I will say black locust.

 

[WetBehindtheEar]

Look at my picture in reply #31; you'll see that the Mulberry is still pretty yellow even though it was split last Spring, and I have had other pieces stay yellow inside well after being split, though most does turn reddish-brown.

Good point. Now I'm not so sure about anything mostly because of the density coments by the OP AND his pic shows a solid color throughout both your mulberry & locust show white sapwood regions...

GREAT DISCUSSION!