# More log pics...what kind are they?



## WdWkrCp (Jan 13, 2010)

Here are some pics that I was able to take while the logs were dry and the sun was shining. These pictures are all of the same log, one of the end grain, then overall and a closer shot of the bark. Originally I thought it was a BIG cherry, now I am not sure, guess I thought the heartwood would be darker....:blink:


----------



## WdWkrCp (Jan 13, 2010)

Here is another log that I would ask anyone to tell me what it is. It is laying next to a shag bark hickory. Thanks again.

Ooops. Helps to actually attach the photos. LOL


----------



## WdWkrCp (Jan 13, 2010)

More pics of a log...can anyone tell me what this wood is?


----------



## WdWkrCp (Jan 13, 2010)

Found this one laying off in the bushes and was intrigued by the red center of the wood. Does anyone know what this type of wood is? The guy who has these logs has piled close too 20 logs back in this area. The only log I was certain on was the log that had a metal sign on the side of it "white ash". LOL. Thanks again to everyone, especially Daren, for the assistance with this. I just want to make sure I know what I am getting.


----------



## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

#1 Red Oak
#2 Ash
#3 White Oak
#4 Cypress

Just my guesses, I have trouble identifying trees by bark. Just curious to see if I'm right.


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

WdWkrCp said:


> Originally I thought it was a BIG cherry, now I am not sure


We are from the same neck of the woods, I don't know why I am having trouble IDing some of these. I guess it makes all the difference in the world, being there and being able to poke at the log and just looking at a picture. That first one looks a lot like cottonwood bark to me now, a smallish cottonwood...or an elm ?. For sure not cherry, I thought maybe that from the first picture in the rain too.

And to add, it looks lightning struck to me.


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

WdWkrCp said:


> More pics of a log...can anyone tell me what this wood is?


For sure silver maple.


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

WdWkrCp said:


> Found this one laying off in the bushes and was intrigued by the red center of the wood.


The first picture is eastern red cedar (aromatic cedar)


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

WdWkrCp said:


> Here is another log that I would ask anyone to tell me what it is. It is laying next to a shag bark hickory.


I am answering out of order, so I am attaching your quote for cross reference. I had to stew on this one. In the rainy picture I though a hickory species...now I think ash. Ash with some disease I am not familiar with that caused that pronounced ring coloration. It is not spalt, that is a semi fresh log.


----------



## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

Daren said:


> Ash with some disease I am not familiar with that caused that pronounced ring coloration. It is not spalt, that is a semi fresh log.


 I was told by the owner of the sawmill I worked at that the color of 'dark centered ash' comes from the fact that the tree grew in a wet low lying area. The lumber is not really white, but has darker areas in it. Don't know the actual cause, just curious.


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

I would like to see some more guys/gals chime in. Your 2 threads asking for ID help have gotten a lot of looks, but few attempts at ID. The only ones I am 100% on from your pictures (from both threads) are the 2 small cherry you posted earlier, the silver maples in both and the eastern red cedar.


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

djg said:


> I was told by the owner of the sawmill I worked at that the color of 'dark centered ash' comes from the fact that the tree grew in a wet low lying area. The lumber is not really white, but has darker areas in it. Don't know the actual cause, just curious.


I don't know the actual cause either. But when we are talking dark heart it is usually a consistant darker color than the sapwood, not weird rings of varying color. 








I am surprised that silver maple doesn't have a darker heart, even a small bit, not a bad looking log really. Back to your low lying area comment. Maybe there is something to that. If that ash (?) came from a flood plain/river bottom and every couple years it was put through great stress--like being flooded it could explain the growth ring discoloration ???


----------



## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

No disrepect intended, but I only speak out of very limited experience. I thought ERC too on the last one, but I've never seen one with a clear trunk; the branches go all the way to the ground. That's why I thought it was cypress.


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

djg said:


> I thought ERC too on the last one, but I've never seen one with a clear trunk; the branches go all the way to the ground. That's why I thought it was cypress.


Most are very knotty, depends where they grow. If they grow in the open they can branch out low, if they grow under cover (forest) they most often shoot up towards the light. And as far as disrespect...this is an open forum and everyones opinion is welcome. Even to come right out and call me flat wrong is not disrespectful. That is why I asked more people to chime in, just because I post a lot here doesn't mean I know it all :no:

Here is ONE cedar tree I milled, the bottom 2 logs were clear/limb free...That tree was 80+' tall, pretty large for ERC around here. 4 logs before it forked and 2 more logs off each top fork, 8 logs off one tree. (small pics, lost the originals in a computer crash, had to find these someplace else)


----------



## WdWkrCp (Jan 13, 2010)

Thanks for the help with IDing these logs. Just curious what makes you think the big log is lightning struck and if this would affect the wood for purposes of furniture making. 

Also, if it helps, the log identified as eastern red cedar....the second pic is of the bark and was only about another two feet into the brush from where I took the first pic. 

As of right now, I am definitely grabbing the cherry and shag bark hickory. I am not sure if I want to go to the trouble with the silver maple....is it worth it for woodworking purposes? If that is ERC then I am definitely grabbing that one as well. I would like to find an elm is all this.

The tree service is one of the busier ones in this area and takes down about 3 to 4 trees a week and I have at least one month before the sawyer and money all work out. hopefully these logs will still be there and the wood is still good...any thoughts on this?


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

WdWkrCp said:


> Just curious what makes you think the big log is lightning struck and if this would affect the wood for purposes of furniture making.


I marked what is an indicator to me that it was lightning struck. You could actually, if you wanted to for fun, where I circled it count the rings and see how many years ago it was struck. I see a ring seperation the year it was hit, there is probably if you look close a scar/burn on that growth ring.

...if it *is* cottonwood...you don't want it anyway :no:...he has better stuff there. If it where a better hardwood (still assuming cottonwood as my guess) that is not too bad of a strike from the looks of it and could be easily milled out. It has a heck of a heart check, darn near busted in 1/2. But that too could be worked around, kind scary though, makes me wonder if the log has much internal stress.


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

WdWkrCp said:


> I am not sure if I want to go to the trouble with the silver maple....is it worth it for woodworking purposes?
> 
> hopefully these logs will still be there and the wood is still good...any thoughts on this?


If you have a use for maple, those are not bad looking logs, like I said small/no dark heart. They should mill out decent...but with the hot weather coming on they will not stay white very much longer. Maple (any, hard or soft) to be really white needs to be milled soon after felling, especially in warm weather.

The rest of the hardwoods (and cedar) will still be fine for a month/or longer...will they still be there ??? That is not something I would gamble on myself :no: I would get while the gettin's good...I think you would be hurt to go back in a few weeks and see everything split for firewood and gone.


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Your lightning struck "cottonwood"










Big old ELM in my log pile :confused1:...(shhh, don't tell anyone I said cottonwood :shutup


----------



## Logger (Nov 26, 2009)

*logs*

1st log red oak/black oak, the crack is a frost crack and the green comes from minerals in the ground(those green cracks are a sawmilers nightmare as useally spiral the tree)2nd log is green ash, the discoloration could be from bird peck or busted limbs above, 3rd is white oak, and 4 is aromatic cedar, my 2 cents. Have a good day Mike


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Logger said:


> 3rd is white oak,





djg said:


> #3 White Oak


Well there are 2 votes for white oak...which would explain the lack of a dark heart if it was silver maple, my first guess.

Here is silver maple (I milled in another thread)

















Here is a white oak laying in my yard. That is why the more people chime in the better, IDing logs (unless they are simply obvious like cherry/walnut/cedar) it's tricky some times without any other evidence like leaves/twigs.


----------



## Chad (May 10, 2009)

I say yes to the cherry, the cedar fore sure, and the maple. I don't have enough knowledge on the rest.


----------



## ARECHER (Aug 8, 2008)

Hey neighbor.
I know just where you are. In fact I drop by there every now and then to see what's in the pile. We had a walnut and a cherry taken down a year or so ago and used that tree service. They did a great job and I have a big pile of lumber. I have been meaning to get my chainsaw mill and RipSaw over there for a while, but never seem to have the time. If there are any bigger logs that you need broken down I might be able to help.

I know there was a decent Osage log back there and my neighbor two doors down had 3 nice walnuts taken out about a month after we did. I don't know if they're still there or not though. I think there was a big mulberry in there a couple of months ago... that may be that orange-ish looking butt log in your one pic.

Watch out for those dogs-I'm not sure what that's all about.

Here's the link with some pics of the logs I milled...
http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f26/urban-milling-walnut-log-6136/

When you get things lined up, I wouldn't mind helping out or at least watching some of the milling.

Andy


----------



## ARECHER (Aug 8, 2008)

ARECHER said:


> Hey neighbor.
> I think there was a big mulberry in there a couple of months ago... that may be that orange-ish looking butt log in your one pic.
> 
> Andy


Nevermind, the one I thought was a mulberry is in your first post (I just found that). It's the knotty one.


----------



## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

Daren said:


> It has a heck of a heart check, darn near busted in 1/2. But that too could be worked around, kind scary though, makes me wonder if the log has much internal stress.


 On trees like this, do you suspect the heart check to run all the way up the log? And if so, and IF it were Oak, would this log be a candidate for quarter sawing? Would this approach yield the most lumber vs. conventional sawing? And if there were a lot of internal stress in the log, what would that mean for the final lumber? Would it develop cracks in it like heart shake (or is it wind shake?) once the stresses are relieved?


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

djg said:


> On trees like this, do you suspect the heart check to run all the way up the log?
> 
> And if so, and IF it were Oak, would this log be a candidate for quarter sawing?
> 
> ...


It sure looks like it has made it's way up/across the log pretty far already for a semi fresh log. That is a pretty big crack. I don't imagine it would just stop, it looks like it wants to split the whole log.

If it is oak, and big (we don't know the diameter, looks big enough though) I think 1/4 saw would work. Flat sawn we would have to deal with the crack anyway, cut around it. 1/4 it and we could cut to it.

1/4 sawing always yields less. Even cutting the bad part out flat sawn and just tossing it the yield would be higher.

Not sure what it means for the final lumber, that is why I said "kinda scary". I don't think the lumber would crack once milled. But it "moving" and tearing itself apart in whole log form makes me think it would move after it is milled...so back to your 1/4 sawing question, 1/4 sawn is more stable. May be just the way to go about milling that one if it is oak.(the more I look at it oak is for sure possible)


----------



## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

You're going to get some great looking lumber out of those logs - I feel safe in saying that much. :yes:


----------



## jwoods (Mar 8, 2010)

I vote for Red Oak in picture #1. Notice the medulary ray fleck radiating out from the center. Attached are a couple pictures of cottonwood end grain, some bark can also be seen.

Joe


----------



## WdWkrCp (Jan 13, 2010)

Allright, at least part of the mystery is cleared up...


The large large, measures 7 feet long and about 36 inches in diameter is in fact Red Oak. I checked online pics of known red oak logs (bark) and I cut a small wedge off the end. Smells just like oak...:thumbsup:. 

I was able to grab all the eastern red cedar logs and one of the smaller cherry logs this morning and take them to the place where I am storing them until I can get them to the mill. I will try to post pictures of what I grabbed later. 

Turns out the logs are not free but the tree service has offered a once in a life time deal to me and I may wind up with more logs than I thought. 

I also found some black walnut logs in the piles, however some of them have little fungus growing on the sides. I cut a wedge off of one to verify it is walnut and the center seems solid, however the fungus scares me a little. Is this log still worth grabbing? There is another log that measures about 40 inches on the top end and close to 60 inches on the base, with a total length of about 20 feet. Would love to have it but I think I need a crane to get it on the trailer and even then I could only haul it by itself. Still be cool to see the wood inside it though. 

Will post more later and pics of the actual milling when it occurs. :icon_smile:


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

WdWkrCp said:


> Smells just like oak...:thumbsup:.
> 
> 
> I also found some black walnut logs in the piles, however some of them have little fungus growing on the sides. I cut a wedge off of one to verify it is walnut and the center seems solid, however the fungus scares me a little. Is this log still worth grabbing?



Yea we need smell-o-vision, like I said seeing a picture is very limiting compared to being able to poke/smell/feel a log for ID. Cool that is a nice sized oak, looks dead straight too.

Don't let that fungus bother you at all. Walnut heartwood is pretty decay resistant. I have milled them after the white sapwood was long gone/or at least mushy enough to just grab a soggy handful...the lumber still milled out very nice. Check this "rotten log" maybe a little patch of bark, rotten and soft as soggy bread...heartwood still perfect. It's not walnut, but I have done the same with walnut, just no pictures here.


----------



## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

WdWkrCp said:


> There is another log that measures about 40 inches on the top end and close to 60 inches on the base, with a total length of about 20 feet. Would love to have it but I think I need a crane to get it on the trailer and even then I could only haul it by itself. :icon_smile:


If you cut it in half would you then be able to move it? Or even thirds? If it's walnut also, even short boards are worth something.
And Daren, I checked out your "rotten log". If it had been more recent (not 2008) I would have taken it (the boards of course) off your hands. I know you don't much care for white oak :laughing:.


----------



## Mizer (Mar 11, 2010)

I stacked almost twenty loads today and looked at a whole bunch of logs. I agree with Logger, I feel pretty certain the first is RO second is Ash third is WO and the last is Cedar.


----------



## WdWkrCp (Jan 13, 2010)

Here are the pics of what I was able to grab from the pile yesterday with just me and a friend loading his truck by hand. Some of the larger logs will have to wait until I figure out how to get them on a trailer. :yes:


----------



## WdWkrCp (Jan 13, 2010)

I did cut some small wedges off some of the logs that were in question. As I said before the larger one is definitely Red Oak. The second log I am still not sure about. The third picture is of the HUGE log that i believe is black walnut based on the bark. I did not have time to cut into this log because of time but will definitely take a closer look the next time. Let me know what you think.


----------



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

WdWkrCp said:


> me and a friend loading his truck by hand.
> 
> Some of the larger logs will have to wait until I figure out how to get them on a trailer. :yes:


, by hand eh ? Nice start, cedar and cherry.

There is some discussion of parbuckling here to load logs on a trailer without a tractor or loader. (down the page a ways)


----------



## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

The bottom log (3rd picture) looks like Pecan, and those look like Pecan sapling leaves all around it. 

In the top picture, right above the wedge that cluster of small leaves looks like they could be immature locust leaves, more like Honeylocust than Black I think -- just no blooms because they are not trees yet just saplings also. The ~4 leaves just to the left of those, look to be Hickory of the non-Pecan variety perhaps Shagbark. The tree on the left in the middle picture looks like Shagbark I guess y'all settled on that though?


----------



## Logger (Nov 26, 2009)

*log*



WdWkrCp said:


> I did cut some small wedges off some of the logs that were in question. As I said before the larger one is definitely Red Oak. The second log I am still not sure about. The third picture is of the HUGE log that i believe is black walnut based on the bark. I did not have time to cut into this log because of time but will definitely take a closer look the next time. Let me know what you think.


 The bark looks to be cherry to me, looking at the end could go either way cherry/walnut. The old branch stubs look cherry also, but could be wrong. Mike


----------



## WdWkrCp (Jan 13, 2010)

So I was finally able to coordinate with some people and grabbed a trailer full of logs. I got two 8 foot long, 18 inch diameter shag bark hickories, one black walnut about 16 feet long and 22 inches in diameter, and the remaining cherry logs. All in all, I feel pretty good about the whole thing. The guy I bought the logs from gave me a heck of a deal. 

I did not grab all the logs, mainly due to how many there were and my ability to store/mill/haul them. The mystery logs in my pictures, with the weird grain pattern on the ends, turns out they are ash trees. I got lucky and on the day I showed up to haul logs away, the owner was there and went through the logs with me, telling me what kind they were and where they came from. Needless to say, he was able to point out some of the better species to me. 

It only took me two hours of work, between pulling logs out, cutting them down to a more manageable size and then loading the logs. I spoke with a friend of mine and he was able to show up with a big backhoe that he had replaced the front bucket on with a pair of forks. Made loading the logs EXTREMELY easy, especially since the dirt road in front of where the logs were laying was under about 3 to 6 inches of water. I forgot my camera on the day we got them so I was only able to take a couple of photos with my camera phone. 

Here are couple of photos I took.


----------



## WdWkrCp (Jan 13, 2010)

I had to leave the big Red Oak log due to the weight limit of the trailer. As you can see in my photos the frame of the trailer was bowing pretty bad. No worries though because the owner said I could come back if I ever needed wood again and he was not going to stop cutting trees anytime soon. 

I am curious, one tree in a previous post/photo of mine, I said was a mulberry. It is about 40 inches in diameter at the base and 30 inches at the other end. There are a lot of knots, etc on the main trunk and the owner said this was an Old English Oak log. Is this worth anything more than a regular oak log? I ask because I might be able to grab it once my uncle's 20k pound rated trailer becomes available. I had my eye on it the day I got the other logs, but knew there was no way it would fit on the trailer I had. 

All in all, I got 3 red cedar logs, 5 cherry logs, 2 hickory logs and one walnut log. I am wanting to build furniture for my house with all this wood and want some opinions as to how it should be milled. I was thinking of doing it all in 5/4, except the cedar. The cedar I was thinking of lining blanket chests with and was thinking of doing it a little narrower...maybe 3/4? Any thoughts from the experienced sawyers out there? 

Thanks for all the help with this project and I will most certainly get some photos of the milling and eventually the finished projects. Gonna talk to the sawyer about milling towards the end of this month or early next month. After that I will stack/sticker it all in my uncle's barn and hopefully in about a year, I can use some of it.


----------



## Chad (May 10, 2009)

Nice wood , I think that trailer might be at its max load, so unload her and go get some more!!!!


----------

