346xp, Fiskars, and what kind of tree is this?

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merr6267

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Ravenna, MI
Hi all,
I've been lurking for a while now, and finally have something to ask specifics/share, etc.

I was cutting an old long dead tree yesterday at my dad's house. They had never seen the tree alive as long as they had lived there, (~10 years) and it just fell in a wind storm a few weeks back. I'm wondering if you could possibly give your thoughts about what kind of tree it is.

You'll notice that the rings are pretty wide in the middle. The wood was very hard, and the diameter, as you can see is about 36". The noodles smell just like the red Oak that I have stacked in my yard at home for what it's worth.

It was a tree that has spent the last 100 years on a property line along a farm field, largely open land in lower West Michigan.

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I bought the 346 and the Fiskars this fall after spending a lot of time on this forum. I'm now fully into feeding the OWB for the first time. Lots of fun.

I realize that this tree is a bit much for the little 346, but with an 18" bar and semi-chisel chain, it never had a hiccup. It pulled all day. I'm thoroughly impressed with this little unit.

The big old rounds split up really nice with the x27 too.

Thoughts about the type of tree?

Thanks,
Phill
 
Don't ya know the 346xp is not meant to cut wood that large! :msp_wink:

Actually the 346xp is possibly the best saw ever made... I've had one since 2001.

Nice pics!
 
Ash?

But I suck at tree identification unless I have a leaf and my guide book :D

I think you might be on to something with this one. It definitely looks like ash from the grain and color of the wood. My guess would be white ash based on what is left of the bark. Let me be the first to say, that is one big ash tree.
 
Nice pics. I'm gonna say red oak, especially if it smells like oak. That smell is pretty distinctive, never noticed ash to have a red oak smell. Bark looks like red oak of some variety too.
 
What about a hard maple? I ran into one like that a few years ago, just looking at the bark, grain and the way some of the branches formed that you cut off.
 
Why do you think it ISN'T red oak? Because it sure as heck looks like the red oak I cut around my property. Standing dead looks a little different from the live stuff so you could see some darkening and other changes, but those last few pics, the grain close-ups, sure look like oak to me. (Plus there are a lot of subtypes...)
 
I say Oak. If it smells like oak and it looks like oak it must be oak.
 
The wood grain looks like the red elm we have here. Some splits very easy, but most is a PITA to split...

At first glance I thought the same thing... But then....

I decided it was an Ash tree...
:msp_sneaky:

Don't let the saturated trunk color fool ya. Check that bark out... Just enough to say ASH all over it...
 
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Bark and wood grain look ashy to me.

Could be it sat dead so long it got a little sour, explaining the smell?

But..one of the pics also looks oak, so I dont know.

Huh, I think I can tell better whnever I hand split some mystery wood. Hardly any sense of color here, but the feel of the whack sometimes triggers memories..
 
If you care, sand that face you split a bit, and let 'her dry for a few days. If she's red, she's oak, and if not, it's probably ash. Does it matter? Great firewood either way. Nice score!

BTW, it's definitely not elm or maple, not with that end grain. Not cherry either, not sycamore, not walnut. Not much left to consider.
 
Bark and wood grain look ashy to me.

Could be it sat dead so long it got a little sour, explaining the smell?

But..one of the pics also looks oak, so I dont know.

Huh, I think I can tell better whnever I hand split some mystery wood. Hardly any sense of color here, but the feel of the whack sometimes triggers memories..

You got it... I just worked up a Pecan tree that did that exact thing... I'll get some pics tonight of it...
 

At first glance I thought the same thing... But then....

I decided it was an Ash tree...
:msp_sneaky:

Don't let the saturated trunk color fool ya. Check that bark out... Just enough to say ASH all over it...

Bark sure looks like red oak to me, deeper and wider fissures than ash. JMHO
 
Thanks for all the replies. I'm not terribly concerned, I just thought that it was a pretty neat tree, and it definitely will keep me warm for a while.

The comments about the wood being soured could definitely be true, among other things, there was a cavity near where the first large limbs were that was about 4" in diameter that was packed full of water. After the saw sliced through it the water was spraying out of the cut. It was pretty interesting actually, being that I'm a bit of a rookie in wood harvesting.

My parents were disappointed that it fell, as they said that quite often there was an owl sitting in it, and they see to think that it was living in the tree . . . Oh well . . . if it was a nice home for an owl, its still useful in making my home more pleasant as well, for a few weeks anyway.

I'll try to get some smooth cuts along the grain and see how it looks after a few weeks in the shop after drying.

The main reason I questioned the thought that it was an oak is that the rings were so thick, while the 10 cord that I had delivered this fall were all very tight grained. Most of them were 4-12" diameter and some had 100+ rings. This big tree had 100+, but was 3 feet thick. 2 weeks ago however I cut up what was left of its top, and some of the limbs were 12-16" diameter and very very hard with tight grain. I suppose that the tree would grow most quickly in the trunk, especially if the canopy was large? I'm not sure how that all works . . . just making guesses.

Thanks,
Phill
 
Bark sure looks like red oak to me, deeper and wider fissures than ash. JMHO

Yes large, but look closely how the ridges inter-weave like helix's... Red oak bark is more vertical... Or truncated I guess you could call it. That, and the grain don't look like Red oak.
 
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How do these not look the same?

Guess it doesn't matter in the end!

BTW, ring size/spacing says more about the growth environment/seasons than about the species. Younger trees could look totally different even in the same species because they started growing decades later, in a wetter/dryer/warmer/colder season. And two different species could look similar for the same reason. If you care at all, sand it down and look for the medullary rays, which oak has and ash does not. Otherwise, to the furnace with it! :msp_tongue:
 
Yes large, but look closely how the ridges inter-weave like helix's... Red oak bark is more vertical... Or truncated I guess you could call it. That, and the grain don't look like Red oak.

Yeah, hard to tell from pics even though these are very good pics. Nothing like wood ID's to get us going.:laugh:
 
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