Buried Treasure/ Wood ID

[4seasons]

Was out cutting firewood today and found something interesting. As I was cutting the white oak, hickory and red oak that I was there after I found a dead tree with no bark buried under the tops of the others. I thought what the heck and stuck the chain into it. As the yellow/green chips flew out I thought oh well it's tulip poplar. But wait my full chisel chain is not light-sabering thru this log like it would normally do with something as soft as poplar. This stuff is hard. So my question is what did I find here? The hollow part in the middle was full of mud. Dulled my chain in a hurry.
Very heavy and hard to split. Kinda like hitting concrete only stringy. Only have had my maul bounce off one straight grained wood as bad as this before. Anyone want to try an ID.
View attachment 221011

Uprooted at least 4 years ago as that as how long the trees that were on top of it have been down.
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It was tangled up in a bit of a briar patch and I have the scrapes on my arms to go along with it.
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That hole in the middle was full of mud. Color is real close in this photo too.
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That would be a clump of mud that fell out when I stood it up to split.
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Check out how stringy. Almost like hickory in the way it holds on to itself.
P.S. I am pretty sure I know what it is but I go on bark for most my ID's so looking for a little conformation.

 

[4seasons]

Just a few more pics
View attachment 221022

Color is a bit off in these pics, I was losing daylight and the phone camera wouldn't flash
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These splits are a very golden yellow in color. Almost like my wedding band but not as shiny.
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Looks like a bug ate a hole in it here.

 

[superclyde007]

Looks like locust to me. I love locust.

 

[Ductape]

Looks like locust to me. I love locust.

My first thought too

 

[dingeryote]

Hedge. It isn't stringy enough to be Locust, and those are the only two I can thnk of that are that color.


Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[branchbuzzer]

Definitely black locust. Probably been sitting there about 20 years, that's why all the dirt. Sometimes that's just organic material, your chain might have got dull fast just from the wood , it is pretty tough on chains.

Now that you know what to look for, you'll be able spot some more on the ground like that. They are almost always rock solid like that, super water resistant. That's why they are highly prized as fence posts.

That one looks like the locust borer got it, hollow at the base and then gets solid as you go up.

 

[lfnh]

+1 on Locust. Sprouts around stump.

 

[4seasons]

Locust is what I thought too, but without bark I am never sure.
I have never seen one rot in the middle like that one before and didn't know there was a bug that would eat into it, so those 2 things made me second guess myself. Sure was heavy and hard enough to split to be locust though.

 

[branchbuzzer]

Locust is what I thought too, but without bark I am never sure.
I have never seen one rot in the middle like that one before and didn't know there was a bug that would eat into it, so those 2 things made me second guess myself. Sure was heavy and hard enough to split to be locust though.

Another way you can recognize them when they're on the ground like that is the roots still on the base. They don't rot off as fast as other trees on the ground, so you'll see those spikes. A lot of times the trunk will be covered in green moss from sitting there so long, but it will still be solid.

I have ones near me that have been standing straight up and dead for at least 20 years and ones on the ground that are probably much older. There is a hilltop near my house that is steep and hard to get to that had about 50+ dead locust trees of various sizes on it when I arrived. I've probably gotten about 10 cords worth off of it over the years. If they fall and get hung up they usually just sit there forever. When you cut a standing dead one down you need to make sure it has a clear path because they get hung up real easy, the tops usually don't flex or break off if they hit something on the way down.

 

[darkbyrd]

Black locust. I recognize it better without the bark.

 

[owbguy]

I agree on the black locust opinion. I have a lot of it here. We had a straight-line wind go through 7-8 years ago that took nearly 300 grown trees from my woods. I had it logged for timber. The logging company wouldn't touch the black locust. I had one stretch of about 2-3 acres of black locust leveled by wind so they were stacked one on top off another lick pick-up stix. It was some serious cutting and dragging to unravel, but man is that wood good for the owb. Now, I have that same 2-3 acre tract with about 10 million 8-10 foot locust suckers.....

 

[darkbyrd]

I agree on the black locust opinion. I have a lot of it here. We had a straight-line wind go through 7-8 years ago that took nearly 300 grown trees from my woods. I had it logged for timber. The logging company wouldn't touch the black locust. I had one stretch of about 2-3 acres of black locust leveled by wind so they were stacked one on top off another lick pick-up stix. It was some serious cutting and dragging to unravel, but man is that wood good for the owb. Now, I have that same 2-3 acre tract with about 10 million 8-10 foot locust suckers.....

Sounds like sustainable firewood to me!

 

[branchbuzzer]

I agree on the black locust opinion. I have a lot of it here. We had a straight-line wind go through 7-8 years ago that took nearly 300 grown trees from my woods. I had it logged for timber. The logging company wouldn't touch the black locust. I had one stretch of about 2-3 acres of black locust leveled by wind so they were stacked one on top off another lick pick-up stix. It was some serious cutting and dragging to unravel, but man is that wood good for the owb. Now, I have that same 2-3 acre tract with about 10 million 8-10 foot locust suckers.....

A great way to get it is find where they're logging and ask if you can "get that out of their way". Lots of times they are happy to let you have it since it has no value as a saw log.

 

[chuckwood]

milling locust to make lumber?

A great way to get it is find where they're logging and ask if you can "get that out of their way". Lots of times they are happy to let you have it since it has no value as a saw log.

I mill lumber with a chainsaw mill from time to time, and thought about making locust lumber, which should be way superior to pressure treated pine in strength and longevity. However if it dulls chains that badly, I might get discouraged. Anybody ever heard of making lumber out of the stuff - all I've ever seen from it is fence posts.

 

[chuckwood]

splitting locust

Locust is what I thought too, but without bark I am never sure.
I have never seen one rot in the middle like that one before and didn't know there was a bug that would eat into it, so those 2 things made me second guess myself. Sure was heavy and hard enough to split to be locust though.

I've used locust for firewood, and found it to be outstanding for making heat and some of the easiest stuff I've ever split. So easy, in fact, that you can split it just as fast with a maul as with a mechanical splitter.

 

[ancy]

I mill lumber with a chainsaw mill from time to time, and thought about making locust lumber, which should be way superior to pressure treated pine in strength and longevity. However if it dulls chains that badly, I might get discouraged. Anybody ever heard of making lumber out of the stuff - all I've ever seen from it is fence posts.

Yep my buddy had his kitchen cabinets made out of it and car siding in his cabin too. It is really cool wood.

 

[branchbuzzer]

I mill lumber with a chainsaw mill from time to time, and thought about making locust lumber, which should be way superior to pressure treated pine in strength and longevity. However if it dulls chains that badly, I might get discouraged. Anybody ever heard of making lumber out of the stuff - all I've ever seen from it is fence posts.

you'd think there would be a market for it as 4x4 etc posts. My WAG would be that it's cheaper to use the pressure treated pine and more available. A few hardscrabblers around here use locust for foundation joists or supports..

 

[boilerwood]

I think it's hedge.

 

[Jonesy11]

out of the two choices it is def. NOT hedge. This is hedge, alot brighter yellow even after being down for a long time.

 

[banshee67]

black locust

hedge is much brighter.. even if down.. once you cut a log open in the middle it should be brighter yellowish/green


edit: i see jonsey put up some good pics, thats what i was talking about.