What kind of wood is this?

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
ozarkjeep

ozarkjeep

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Dec 10, 2006
Messages
264
Location
Arkansas
got 2 trailer loads of this sat, and at least 3 or 4 more if I want it.

splits easy, smells ODD.

It doesnt have the grain of red oak, or the smell of red oak ( dog crap, vomit)
its a different almost chemical smell about it.

here are some photos.

plan is to split stack and dry this for next years firewood, but im concerned now it might not be good wood for heat, since I have no idea what it is.
 
clawmute

clawmute

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Dec 17, 2007
Messages
179
Location
Western Saline county, Arkansas
The bark on some of those pieces - especially the top center piece in the first photo looks like Black Cherry with those individual scales that are so distinctive of it. Black Cherry trees can be identified by their bark even when leaves are not present and are pretty common in our portion of America.
 
ozarkjeep

ozarkjeep

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Dec 10, 2006
Messages
264
Location
Arkansas
is black cherry decent firewood?

I hate that its cut up now, a buddy of mine loves to turn wood and make stuff, this would have been some great stuff for him if it were lef tin longer lengths.

I never knew cherry had a smell like this, but ive never split it green either I guess.

thanks guys!

( that was QUICK!)
 
Kevin in Ohio

Kevin in Ohio

Addicted to ArboristSite
. AS Supporting Member.
Joined
Jan 2, 2009
Messages
1,844
Location
Ohio Stop Jawin' and start Sawin'
is black cherry decent firewood?

I hate that its cut up now, a buddy of mine loves to turn wood and make stuff, this would have been some great stuff for him if it were lef tin longer lengths.

I never knew cherry had a smell like this, but ive never split it green either I guess.

thanks guys!

( that was QUICK!)


20.4 million BTU's /cord. Better than Elm or Sycamore. weighs 3696/ cord wet and 2928/cord dry. Red oak has 24.6 m/btu's/cord for comparison. Decent burn in my book and in the middle of the pack.
 
ozarkjeep

ozarkjeep

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Dec 10, 2006
Messages
264
Location
Arkansas
great!

now, how long does it take to season?

red oak takes me almost 3 years to NOT hiss.

white oak I can burn in a year.

where does cherry fall?

thanks guys!
 
strongback

strongback

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Apr 29, 2008
Messages
177
Location
Virginia Beach
I concur with black cherry, but I think we'll have to ask Wood Protective Services (WPS) to come pay you a visit and determine your fitness to be a wood user based on the evidence of excessive abuse illustrated in the attached photo. :)

Were you trying to teach it a lesson or split it? :deadhorse:

I'm just teasing. :jester: Was it as hard to split as it appears? Was it just this piece or is it all that tough?
 
ozarkjeep

ozarkjeep

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Dec 10, 2006
Messages
264
Location
Arkansas
ive got a few excuses for that.

1) the handle on my CHopper axe was loose, I went to lowes and bought a new axe. it SUCKS, I went back and bought a hdnle repair wedge and fixed my chopper axe.

2) I bought a wedge and sledge, and was trying to get my small 12 year old son to help me. he made some of the hits, and was also driving the wedge in with a framing hammer and then using the sledge. maybe ugly rounds.

3) the ground there is leaves, not compacted, so until I got a few split up, there was no solid base to split on. - the rounds are longer than I normally cut so when I put them on top of my normal splitting stump it was too tall for me to split effectively.

they actually split very easily and nice, some looked like you could screw and glue together and make a table.

Ill post more pics, it is really beautiful wood.
 
dingeryote

dingeryote

Blueberry Baron
Joined
Nov 21, 2008
Messages
13,603
Location
Michigan
Definately Black Cherry.

Been burning the heck out of it here. Timber prices are zip nadda squat, so it's worth more for heat than lumber, except for Veneer logs.

As for burning, it does OK green, not bad really, and Half seasoned Cherry is great for spring and fall. It Coals out really heavy after a medium quick burn.

When it's seasoned for two years it burns real fast, and hot, with heavy coals. I love it for in the mornings to kick things off.

Get the logs up off the ground quickly or they get snotty.
I swear Cherry sucks moisture out of the ground.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote
 
Joshlaugh

Joshlaugh

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
Messages
268
Location
Licking county, Ohio
I second that. I have been cutting a few black cherries and that wood rots faster than anything else I can think of. It will do fine as long as you keep it off the ground. I am worried about the 1/2 cord that I have on my driveway right now as it is wet. I need to finish splitting it and get it up on pallets asap.
 
Kevin in Ohio

Kevin in Ohio

Addicted to ArboristSite
. AS Supporting Member.
Joined
Jan 2, 2009
Messages
1,844
Location
Ohio Stop Jawin' and start Sawin'
I second that. I have been cutting a few black cherries and that wood rots faster than anything else I can think of. It will do fine as long as you keep it off the ground. I am worried about the 1/2 cord that I have on my driveway right now as it is wet. I need to finish splitting it and get it up on pallets asap.

Even when it's in the dry for more than a year, Powder Post beetles love it! They'll bore their holes in it and dust it up in a hurry. I had a 2 year old pile and you can actually HEAR them chewing it up in the summertime when standing next to it. Must taste pretty good but I don't think I'll try ;)
 
dingeryote

dingeryote

Blueberry Baron
Joined
Nov 21, 2008
Messages
13,603
Location
Michigan
got a problem with some of the btu charts listing cherry as poor coaling. its my experience that cherry coals damn good. am I wrong?

I dunno about the charts. The stuff around hereburns HOT and fast,then Coals out in big chunks that burn hot for a good long time.

Who knows. Maybe they got some cheap Chineese Cherry for the tests?

Stay safe!
Dingeryote
 

Latest posts

Top