coppersnowblue
ArboristSite Member
Need help ID'ing this wood.
Need help with this wood ID
- Thread starter coppersnowblue
- Start date
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coppersnowblue
ArboristSite Member
I thought hickory when I saw it but when I started cutting if seemed soft and light.
woodcutter69
ArboristSite Operative
my guess is silver maple. (soft maple).
blackoak
Addicted to ArboristSite
Were there any leaves still hanging on it? That's the best way to determine the species
iowa
Addicted to ArboristSite
Looks exactly like the soft maple that I cut up a couple weeks ago.
coppersnowblue
ArboristSite Member
There were no leaves it was blown down probably 2 years ago. It was about fifty feet from a small creek. I'm going to throw some in the OWB and see how it burns. I'm not expecting real good results.
Looks like willow to me. It's a member of the "woof" wood genus. When you throw it in the stove it goes WOOF before you close the door 
Makes a dull chain seem sharp and a boy feel like a man when throwing it around when dry. When wet, it's like a sponge.
Makes a dull chain seem sharp and a boy feel like a man when throwing it around when dry. When wet, it's like a sponge.
Lignum
Addicted to ArboristSite
pacman
ArboristSite Operative
Looks like a willow to me.
AIM
Addicted to ArboristSite
I'm not real good at this but I'm gonna guess hard maple. The bark is peeling from the sides where as soft maple peels from the ends.
woodbooga
cords of mystic memory
Looks like willow to me. It's a member of the "woof" wood genus. When you throw it in the stove it goes WOOF before you close the door
Tried to rep you but have to wait. "Woofah" wood is what we toss in while kindling or if we're baking in the oven and need high heat real fast.
Can't say for certain, but the wood pictured looks a lot like the silver maple I busted up a couple months ago.
Soft + light could be willow, butternut, basswood, cottonwood, maybe others. Bark looks like shagbark hickory or silver maple but it appears too thick to be the maple. Silver maple around here has pretty thin bark. It looks thick like cottonwood or butternut bark, and the wood is somewhat fuzzy on the end grain, also like cottonwood, butternut or basswood, but it's not dark enough wood to be butternut and the bark does not look like cottonwood or basswood. Fresh wood from any of those is still heavy, silver maple really isn't all that soft or what people would perceive as a 'soft' hardwood.
I'm stumped. Usually when I exhaust all my possibilities for bark + grain + appearance + weight identification, I need to resort to the sniff test. Basswood has a very distinct odor, for example, that would be easy to identify.
A 2-year-old blowdown could be tricky anyway, seeing as it's had some time to dry a little. It could be maple, but without actually getting my hands on a piece of it, I can't be certain. Silver maple does tend to fuzz up on end grain if it's a bit older, as it's starting to decay.
I'm stumped. Usually when I exhaust all my possibilities for bark + grain + appearance + weight identification, I need to resort to the sniff test. Basswood has a very distinct odor, for example, that would be easy to identify.
A 2-year-old blowdown could be tricky anyway, seeing as it's had some time to dry a little. It could be maple, but without actually getting my hands on a piece of it, I can't be certain. Silver maple does tend to fuzz up on end grain if it's a bit older, as it's starting to decay.
strongback
ArboristSite Operative
Definitely looks like soft maple. Except I would expect a soft maple that was layed down 2 years ago to have a significant amount of punky wood.
I still say Willow. Near a creek is a good clue. Bark falls off of it quickly when dead, flaky bark with browner hues underneath, wood fuzzes up because it SO soft when cut. Too much "lug" in the bark compared to the silver maple around here. We'll see what the expert says but I'm sticking to my guns
I had some fun with willow when I was a youngin'. Cut a 3 ft in diameter willow down and decided to "impress" the neighbors. Took 2 chunks and plunge cut the centers out on one end leaving the other solid looking. Layed them on the truck bed and when I heard a car coming I'd put both of them on my shoulders and wait at the road, acting like I was just going to cross the other side. The looks I got were priceless and never told them what was up. I'm 6' 6" and got the reputation from then on to be some sort of Paul Bunyon. People still remind me of that and tell their friends about it. What they don't know won't hurtem' :greenchainsaw:
Laird
Nemo me impune lacessit
I concur. It looks well preserved for being down 2 years.
Here's a known silver maple for comparison.
http://www.arboristsite.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=88756&stc=1&d=1233599224
Here's a close up. Notice is has more of a gray or silver(imagine that
) hue to the bark. Bark is similar but the bark peel and the deep brown color on the smooth cambium is what tips the scales for me.Limb shot
chainsawaddict
ArboristSite Guru
I still say Willow. Near a creek is a good clue. Bark falls off of it quickly when dead, flaky bark with browner hues underneath, wood fuzzes up because it SO soft when cut. Too much "lug" in the bark compared to the silver maple around here. We'll see what the expert says but I'm sticking to my guns
I had some fun with willow when I was a youngin'. Cut a 3 ft in diameter willow down and decided to "impress" the neighbors. Took 2 chunks and plunge cut the centers out on one end leaving the other solid looking. Layed them on the truck bed and when I heard a car coming I'd put both of them on my shoulders and wait at the road, acting like I was just going to cross the other side. The looks I got were priceless and never told them what was up. I'm 6' 6" and got the reputation from then on to be some sort of Paul Bunyon. People still remind me of that and tell their friends about it. What they don't know won't hurtem' :greenchainsaw:
Work Smarter, Not Harder
:greenchainsaw:
Looks like Silver Maple from around here.
