another load of mystery wood, id help please

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dingeryote

dingeryote

Blueberry Baron
Joined
Nov 21, 2008
Messages
13,603
Location
Michigan
Did ya ever see the tree when it was leafed out? Silver maple has leaves that are silvery colored on the bottom and in a wind the tree will look very silver when the wind tips the leaves up.

Here is a link to a good bunch of info on silver maples:

http://www.na.fs.fed.us/pubs/silvics_manual/volume_2/acer/saccharinum.htm

Old folklore is that if it's gonna rain, the silver maples will turn thier leaves into the wind. I have been looking for consistency in this for years, and I think the Swamp Maples around here are about as accurate as our local TV weather liars. Right about half the time they get it right.;)

All the same, they get the MS250 treatment as soon as they pop up in the Berry patch, so they have no motivation to be truthfull.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote
 
Curlycherry1

Curlycherry1

Addicted to ArboristSite
Joined
Jun 2, 2009
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1,689
Location
Minnesota
Old folklore is that if it's gonna rain, the silver maples will turn thier leaves into the wind. I have been looking for consistency in this for years, and I think the Swamp Maples around here are about as accurate as our local TV weather liars. Right about half the time they get it right.;)

Chickens in the coop in the morning when it is raining = will stop raining.
Chickens outside in the rain = rain all day.
Honeybees heading to a hive and not going back out when dark clouds are approaching = rain within 2 miles of those hives (I won a bet using that one with my dad once, and he never lost very many bets). :)
Cows laying down = nothing - cows don't know squatt!
 
woodbooga

woodbooga

cords of mystic memory
Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
11,943
Location
Between Gonic and Chocorua
It's a dead ringer for the "Swamp Maple" I have here.

Let it season for a full year and it ain't bad for early fall and late spring warm ups. Splits nice though.

Make sure to treat the stumps after cutting, or it will shoot a gazillion suckers out and be back in no time.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

The subspecies we call swamp maple tends to be red maple, which will also multi trunk. Come Labor Day, they're harbingers of fall, their leaves turning a deep red weeks before the slopeside and ridgetop trees turn.

Most of the native (not landscape) silvers I see in New England grow along riverbanks. Not sure if they prefer wet feet or are simply better able to outcompete in floodplanes.
 
Wood Doctor
Joined
Jan 10, 2008
Messages
12,553
Location
Omaha, Nebraska
Wow!!!
Never had it do that unless it was on the ground. LOL!! A wee bit humid there Doc?

Stay safe!
Dingeryote
Actually, the humidity doesn't seem to be the cause. I'm not sure what does it, but soft maple around here just has no storage time. I could store ash, oak, locust, and mulberry for years, but soft maple just plain dry rots, even if off the ground and stored in a garage. Cottonwood will even outlast it.

In six months, it's ready to burn if cut green and in three years it's toast (almost crumblewood). :dizzy:
 
jcappe

jcappe

ArboristSite Guru
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
555
Location
SE Iowa
Actually, the humidity doesn't seem to be the cause. I'm not sure what does it, but soft maple around here just has no storage time. I could store ash, oak, locust, and mulberry for years, but soft maple just plain dry rots, even if off the ground and stored in a garage. Cottonwood will even outlast it.

In six months, it's ready to burn if cut green and in three years it's toast (almost crumblewood). :dizzy:

I find the same with it seasoning quickly. Our camping group has a huge supply of it. I don't think it's probably ever sat more than two years but have never had it get punky on us in two years time.
 
dingeryote

dingeryote

Blueberry Baron
Joined
Nov 21, 2008
Messages
13,603
Location
Michigan
Actually, the humidity doesn't seem to be the cause. I'm not sure what does it, but soft maple around here just has no storage time. I could store ash, oak, locust, and mulberry for years, but soft maple just plain dry rots, even if off the ground and stored in a garage. Cottonwood will even outlast it.

In six months, it's ready to burn if cut green and in three years it's toast (almost crumblewood). :dizzy:

Wierd.
I have some silver maple I cut out of the creek bank over a year ago at the bottom of the "Lazy" rack, and it's still solid. They still have good tone when knocked.

Maybe it's a soil/growing environment thing, but I'd like to see the stumps go to rot in a year!!!:cheers:

Stay safe!
Dingeryote
 

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