I bought a bunch of logs that were just thrown in a big pile in a field. Some have been there 2-3 years. There is a lot of different species. So far I have found Walnut, red Oak, Silver Maple, Hackberry, Sassafras, Cherry, pine, Ash, tulip Poplar.
Well today I drug out a nice log that was about 24" in diameter and about 9' long. I thought is was walnut because the bark looked exactly like-you guessed it, walnut. I would of bet a hundred bucks that it was walnut. But when I cut into the log the wood was a lighter brown with diffenate grain pattern kind of like Oak. There wasn't a big difference in the sap wood and heart wood. It didn't smell like walnut either when it was cut. The wood to me looked like Butternut and maybe that is what the tree is. I have never cut butternut before and was wondering if the bark looks like walnut?
I have only seen butternut once before so I'm not too good of a judge but it is the only species that I can think of that has the light brownish color that this lumber has.
Any ideas?
Have a look at the top topic in this section, there are some bark pictures of butternut. I suppose there are no branches left. There are twig pictures showing the differences in the pith in that thread. Get out the jacknife and shave off the wood down to the pith. I've left butternut on the wet ground before, it's pretty rot resistant.
SwampDonk, there were no branchs or twigs left on the log. Most of the bark was peeling off but what was there looks like the bark on your butternut picture but I would also say it looks like the bark on the walnut.
Have you ever sawn any Butternut? The wood that I sawed was light brown or tan colored with only a slightly lighter color in the sapwood. The only other wood that I can think of is Catalpa but the bark looks different then what I saw.
Yes, I've had some sawn and it looks olive green to me, but the text says its Chestnut brown, which is like you describe. The wood is light too, not as heavy as walnut and softer. It doesn't have a distinct odor like walnut has.
I didn't notice the walnut oder with the wood that I cut so I am going to say that it is butternut. Thanks for your help. :)
How about English or Carpathian walnut? I've cut a few of those and they have a light brown heart. I don't recall the smell. Having laid so long, the smell might not be as strong.
I don't think I've ever cut butternut. But, that's considered as white walnut and shouldn't be light brown.
When you say "grain like oak", is this an open grained wood? Ash would fall into that category, and it has a brownish heart.
It's definately not dark brown. Of course if you wet it, it's a bit darker.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/11009/SD_butternut-color.jpg)
This is a piece from my stash in the barn.
It looks a lot like that pic from swampdonk. I don't know what English walnut looks like but I know it ain't Ash.
English walnut looks something like chocolate milk. If you had woods grown trees, chances are that it wasn't English. They ususally have to be planted.