What is that odor??

[wdchuck]

Smelly feet?
Stinky socks?
Locker room?
PeeeYeeeeewww....

Drove through a neighborhood tonight on the way home from making big sticks into little sticks, and this sour odor infiltrated the car.
It's woodsmoke, but what type of wood could smell THAT bad?

I've burned every species that is around here, but this really caught my shnoz off guard.

 

[04ultra]

Smelly feet?
Stinky socks?
Locker room?
PeeeYeeeeewww....

Drove through a neighborhood tonight on the way home from making big sticks into little sticks, and this sour odor infiltrated the car.
It's woodsmoke, but what type of wood could smell THAT bad?

I've burned every species that is around here, but this really caught my shnoz off guard.

HI MIKE!!!!........Box elder smells bad

 

[wdchuck]

Yes, be can offer an odor, but this stuff was quite nasty.

 

[TreePointer]

I've cut into some pin oaks that smelled exactly like cow manure. When I split it, I had to check my shorts just to confirm it was indeed the wood.

 

[treemandan]

HI MIKE!!!!........Box elder smells bad

Interesting. I never burned it, if I did I wasn't paying attention. Now that you mentioned it I would like to take a whiff.
There is a certain hicory I think smells like BBQ and oak saw dust and my sweat mixed smell like dog poo poo if the plain smell of oak dust wasn't enough.
Ailanthus smells just sitting there and you better not burn that. That has a smell that reminds me of BO raunch.
Maybe it was just the Italian hoagie stuck in the heater vent of his truck?

 

[treemandan]

bet it was LEAVES! yellow mustard gas?

 

[treemandan]

I've cut into some pin oaks that smelled exactly like cow manure. When I split it, I had to check my shorts just to confirm it was indeed the wood.

Thank God, I thought it was just me. Like it was just me who smelled like poop. Quite an earthy odor and glad to know it. When you open your wallet does saw dust fall on the counter?

 

[wdanforth]

Either pin "piss" oak or Catalpa. They both smell bad. My guess is Catalpa. It is the worst smelling wood when burnt.

 

[turnkey4099]

I got a complaint from the neighbor when I was burning small gauage scrap of green (uncured) black locust. Not a really bad smell but definitely odd.

Harry K

 

[TreePointer]

Thank God, I thought it was just me. Like it was just me who smelled like poop. Quite an earthy odor and glad to know it. When you open your wallet does saw dust fall on the counter?

Heehee! Yep, chips fall out of the wallet and I have to blow on my cellphone screen to see it. Hmm, maybe I should tell the kids that it's a fancy new wind powered model.

 

[Griffbm3]

Interestingly I have noticed that certain Birches have a "burnt hair" quality to them. I find it mostly with Yellow and White birch, although Black Birch I don't notice it as much. I burn a lot of Birch this time of year, and noticed it myself last night. No foot smell though. Maybe all of those "single socks" have made their way from my laundry hamper to your woodstove. You see, that would explain a lot, it would take care of your question about the smell, and would make my wife feel like she isn't going crazy... My guess is Birch though, although I have never smelled Catalpa burn. I did burn some Witch Hazel the other night, nothing different, just took off and burnt REAL fast.

 

[KsWoodsMan]

Cataulpa - when it burns, the smell reminds me of an old burning tire filled with fresh excrement. It is a smell that sticks with you. After burning very much of it you can recognise the bark and grain at a glance and learn to avoid it.

Elm that has soured in the log has the smell you described. Some others might too. That one is memorable.

 

[MNfarmer]

could be basswood.. that has a pretty nasty smell too

 

[Zodiac45]

could be basswood.. that has a pretty nasty smell too

+1 My guess too. The ubiqitous "popple" is piss smelling as you cut and or split it but not so much burning. I had a neighbor this year come by all excited telling me he scored several truckloads of maple he and a friend were cutting that they found on the side of a road up country. Showed me some in back of his truck. You can guess what it really was. I tried to tell him it was popple and that's why they found it laying round untaken. Didn't want too believe (denial) because he'd already done two loads! Of course later he sheepishly admitted (was the friends fault of course lol). Moral of story, I told him that up here maple would last maybe a day after it fell. If you see it more than once, it's crap.

 

[wdchuck]

Have to keep my eyes open next time I smell it, maybe there's a woodpile outside to give a clue.

 

[saw mutt]

I'm surprised no one has suggested that maybe there was more than just wood in that fire...throwing some trash in the fire would certainly add to the odor...

 

[cleanburn]

I've cut into some pin oaks that smelled exactly like cow manure. When I split it, I had to check my shorts just to confirm it was indeed the wood.

:jawdrop:

 

[Wood Scrounge]

Either pin "piss" oak or Catalpa. They both smell bad. My guess is Catalpa. It is the worst smelling wood when burnt.

first time I burnt catalpa I thought one of the kids pooped their pants.

 

[StihltheOne]

worst smelling stuff..... Russian olive!! We should have a smell off competition!! I bet this stuff would be top 5 easy!!

 

[AOD]

Worst smelling wood, without a doubt, railroad ties.

Worst smelling anything else, three way tie between old carpet, styrofoam or tires.