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help identify the tree

Started by coyotencuttin, July 12, 2009, 07:39:01 PM

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coyotencuttin

not sure what this is. located in maryland. bark looks similar (to me ) to hickory but not sure. maybe hackberry or alder but ??? the part to the left is almost 3 feet in diameter and about 10 feet long, it has 3 small trunks a couple feet past the bottom. alot of wood there. would it be good firewood for home heating or not worth the bother to cut it up??
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fishpharmer

The hacknerries I have seen have smoother bark and darker wood. 
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LeeB

Ain't hackberry. I vote hickory.
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

OneWithWood

One With Wood
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Ga. bow-man

 looks hickory--  can you split it?

DanG

Looks like Hickory to me too.  One way to tell for sure is to burn a little piece of it...just a chip of sawdust is enough...and if it makes you hungry for BBQ, it's Hickory. ;)
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SPIKER

with out a leaf and a bit better pic, I can say it dont look like hickory to me, definably NOT shag bark, and the 3 trunk split/form above the trunk appears more maple to me, the pig nut hickory has more of a diamond shape to the bark in these parts.   A leaf or closer identifying pic would be better even a end grain pic would help.

Mark
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coyotencuttin

have a couple better pictures. i have no pictures of the leaves.sorry. does seem to split hard and tears alot of wood.





i do appreciate the help. everything i have relys on leaf pictures and almost nothing on the bark.
Woodmizer LT 40 Hydraulic.

LeeB

'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

Jeff

Looks like maple to me. Especially the spit piece. The Hickories we have up here split clean.
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beenthere

Lookin like hickory to me. Touch, feel, and smell would confirm it.  Can you do that for us, or post it?   ;D ;D
south central Wisconsin
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Ron R.

I have to vote hickory too.

Dodgy Loner

Inner bark looks a little too thick to be maple, so I'm voting hickory as well. Probably pignut hickory. I've dealt with some hickory that definitely does not split cleanly!
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Jeff

Do you have any other firewood there of a known species?  Say oak?  Pick up a piece of oak if you have it of similar size to the unknown species. Which is heavier?  From my experience hickory is almost always the heaviest wood in the wood pile in northern hardwoods. If you have maple and hickory and oak and birch, you would always know the hickory by just grabbing a chunk, even if blind folded.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Jeff

I just went out and snapped a few photos of a soft maple in my yard. You should see the many similarities to the phot posted in the first post other then my tree is not firewood. Yet.  Its sick, dieing and will be soon.










Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Dodgy Loner

Quote from: Jeff on July 16, 2009, 10:22:47 AM
It's sick, dying and will be soon.

Sounds like you need to play sawyer again pretty soon cut_tree cut_tree cut_tree

;D
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

coyotencuttin

i'm thinking maple too. i found pictures of silver maple and i think thats it. does it make good fire wood?? the pile i can work on is pretty big and don't want to knock it down to size if its junk and not worth to cut up . thanks to everybody for their help.
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tyb525

The hickory I've cut has a dark brown heart, almost like white oak.
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nas

Quote from: tyb525 on July 17, 2009, 05:27:26 PM
The hickory I've cut has a dark brown heart, almost like white oak.
same here but I have only cut bitternut.
My vote is red maple
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Dodgy Loner

Maple splits as cleanly as any wood. Hickory is more variable in my experience. Also, hickory can form a very large tree with no heartwood, or it can have an significant proportion of dark brown or reddish-brown heartwood. Wish there were a simple way for you to tell the difference between the two, but the best way is with a closeup of cleanly cut end grain. Here are a couple of pictures from the excellent website, hobbithouseinc.

Hickory end grain - notice that the prominent alternating lines of light and dark; the light dots are actually water-carrying vessels formed each spring


Maple end grain - much more even appearance; annual rings are less clearly defined
"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

Any idiot can write a woodworking blog. Here's mine.

Jeff

Yea but isn't your experience probably mostly with more southern specimens?  Our Red Maple may split easy, or it may split exactly as in the photo. Variable. Our hickories for the most part will quarter themselves if left in the sun.  coyotencuttin's tree is more on a latitude as ours versus the southern hickories.  I've looked at a few ten's of thousands of logs up here and I would never have guessed hickory by the photo's presented from the northern hardwoods. Not that it can't be, but its certainly not close to my first inclination.

I'm still waiting for coyotencuttin's impression of the weight. Hickory tends to have that "heavier then I expected" feel when you grab a chunk. Maple's weight is more what you would expect for a chunk of firewood of a given size
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Lanier_Lurker

Off topic, but whoever felled the tree appears to have done a solid job.

I have to admit that the 2 more recent pictures look an awful lot like the red maple rounds I have out in the woodpile.  The bark just does not look quite like hickory - but if it is hickory it would almost have to be pignut as Dodgy says.

The unexpected weight of hickory is also a good indicator as Jeff says.  I just delivered some hickory I have been saving (for smoking meat) to a coworker.  The pieces were only 12 - 14 inches long and 6 - 8 inches in diameter.  When I grabbed them from the pile I was still amazed at how heavy they were.  That stuff is dense.

It looks like a big old red maple to this amateur.  The butt log looks pretty clear and straight too with not a much taper.  Might be a good sawlog.

DanG

I still say, flic yer Bic on a little splinter and you'll know right away if it is hickory or not.
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

LeeB

Just the tiniest wisp of smoke would tell the tale wouldn't it DanG.
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

SwampDonkey

Looks like soft maple to me and I've never seen one split easy, it will splinter as bad as rock maple. That crotched tree would be even worst to split. Dad always cut the junk trees for firewood and it was hard labour to get them split. Finally got a wood splitter for the tractor and a tow behind after done farming. I get rock maple for firewood and I bet I get 2 rounded wheel barrels of kindling sized splinters from each 1.5 cord load.

Now white birch, that's not even work. ;D
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