Help Id'ing wood

[KMB]

I was splitting some mixed hardwood today and came across a few pieces of this wood:

A split piece:

The stuff was terrible to split. Some of the pieces got stuck on the splitter's wedge . The bark came off real easy. Stringy wood (as the pictures show) The bigger pieces were not as heavy as the Oak. I called the guy who had given me the wood and he thought it might have been Elm. So could someone tell me what this wood is? Thanks.

Kevin

 

[PA Plumber]

Since I'm about 0 for 10 on these identify this wood stuff I'll take the first shot. How about some kind of Cherry? Color is nice and the weight description sounds about right. Is there a chance this blind pig found an acorn?

 

[ericjeeper]

No. you are still hungry

The bark peeling off is a sure sign of an elm. excellent firewood. just tough as nails to split with a maul.

 

[KMB]

Since I'm about 0 for 10 on these identify this wood stuff I'll take the first shot. How about some kind of Cherry? Color is nice and the weight description sounds about right. Is there a chance this blind pig found an acorn?

I have some Cherry and it's a real dark reddish color and it splits nice and clean. But thanks for the try.

Kevin

 

[sawinredneck]

The bark peeling off is a sure sign of an elm. excellent firewood. just tough as nails to split with a maul.

I am leaning towards elm as well, but never seen bark like that.The bark almost looks like Pine, but the grain is to striaght. Not sure?

 

[KMB]

The bark peeling off is a sure sign of an elm. excellent firewood. just tough as nails to split with a maul.

Thanks for the info. I might get some more of it for my personal use, but to sell, I'm not gonna mess with it - takes to long to split. I am using an old ex-UHaul rental splitter and it was having a tough time with that stuff. As I mentioned in my first post, got a few pieces stuck on the splitters wedge. Not sure what is the rated tonnage on that splitter.

Kevin

 

[Husky137]

Definitely not cherry or pine, looks like elm to me, based on the bark and the shredding grain pattern from splitting.

 

[KMB]

Nyssa sylvatica is my guess. Also called black gum, tupelo and pepperidge.

http://bio.bd.psu.edu/plant_web/Nyssaceae/Black_Gum.html

It burns well and I split it for firewood but it is tough. I find to get it off of the wedge it is easiest to just push it through with the next piece. The smaller limbs that don't need splitting make good firewood too.

Not sure if this holds any water, but in the description from your link, it says that it's found in rich swamps. I think the guy got it from a residential property in a town/city. Could it (Black Gum) possibly grow elsewhere? My knowledge of trees is very limited.

Kevin

 

[kevinj]

I really don't think it's elm.
Is there a possibility he may have thrown in some apple wood ?
The bark looks like it may be.
And the grain, how it pulls in the photo,
is not as fibrous as elm might be.
But yet, the diameter of the trunk is a bit large
for apple. Or perhaps another fruit wood.
A general hypothysis.

 

[Brushwacker]

The bark and the stringy grain look like or similar to black gum here in Indiana. The color of the wood looks off in the pic as it usually looks white to me when I split it and the smell reminds me of not so fresh pond water. Possibly conditions where it stood could cause the wood to have the tint. It looks as its been cut for a while and possibly was exposed to high heat to me.

 

[John Ellison]

It looks like the elm we have in this part of AR. Don't know what kills them, but it seems like an awful lot of them die off around here.

 

[kevinj]

It looks like the elm we have in this part of AR. Don't know what kills them, but it seems like an awful lot of them die off around here.

Probably Dutch elm disease.
Caused by the Elm bark beetle.

 

[KMB]

It looks like the elm we have in this part of AR. Don't know what kills them, but it seems like an awful lot of them die off around here.

I think this wood came from the Shreveport/Bossier City, LA area or Minden, LA - about an hour and a half from me across the state line. I also was told that this wood was from a tree that had been dead for a while.

Kevin

 

[ben14826]

I've never seen elm that dark before. I am also from NY so I'm sure it could be much different in AR. I would guess either apple or hophornbeam. I don't see a lot of them get that big but I have seen a couple.

 

[Freakingstang]

looks like elm to me (from the north,lol) or a similar family. The greyish color looks about right for aged Elm (2-3 years). The bark is a little differant though. It is definately not apple. Apple splits very easy and has a nice smell to it. The shredding from the split gives me bad memories of the elms I had to clean up before getting to the good wood. Elm in these parts like to rot before it is seasoned good enough to burn, but if you can get it seasoned, it burns very well.

 

[KMB]

Thanks folks for the reply's thus far. I'm just glad I'm done with the little bit I had in this load.

Kevin

 

[1CallLandscape]

Elm

I ocassionally split it myself and it is elm. and as someone said it looks funny cause of possible dutch elm disease,

 

[JUDGE1162]

ELM good burning wood if you can split it

 

[Bowtie]

I gotta say Elm. I have a dying elm in my backyard that has the blocky grain just like that. Carpenter ants having a field day with it. Elm is wierd stuff, I believe there are more variations and mutations out there than maybe even classified. But thats just my opinion. Elm can be a PITA to split, but when I first used my fireplace it was all I could get (Thank you Dad). It did burn good after sitting for a year and change.