# Identifying wood species



## Drew Pavlak (Aug 21, 2010)

Hello again all,

Been really busy lately sawing lumber and getting logs from trees the farmers around my dad's place have been taking out. One of the logs we got we can't identify.

First I don't have any of the leaves as it is almost winter in South West Michigan and they are all gone. The bark kind of reminds me of a elm or what we would call a standing dead elm around here as most of them die when they are under 20" in diameter. The cross section of the log is what has me stumped. (No Punn intended)

There is about 2" of sapwood around the outside that is white to yellowish white and the heart wood is an orangish brown in color. the chips from the chainsaw smell like a Cow Barn for those that have worked in one. The sap was bleeding out and running onto the ground, but as the end dried out a little it has gone from orangeish brown to a coffee or toffee colored.

There were hundreds of little branches coming off the main branches of the tree and if you split the limb wood you can see as the limb grew it kind of enveloped the smaller branches. It splits really easy too and is firly straight grained.

I will try to post some pics tomorrow, just wondered if anyone might give me somewhere to start. At first I thought it my be some type of Gum tree, but looking at some pic on the internet I don't think that is it. 

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Drew


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## Mizer (Mar 11, 2010)

A picture would help greatly, it is worth a thousand words you know. Is the wood light or heavy?


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## Drew Pavlak (Aug 21, 2010)

It's not as heavy as oak, but not as light as say Basswood. I would say it is comparable to walnut or cherry. I will try to remember some pictures after Deer hunting in the morning.

I should also say that I have seen similar trees near swampy areas. At least the bark is similar. I also don't see a lot of these around. Not nearly as common as maple or oak in this area.

Thanks,
Drew


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## jeffreythree (Jan 9, 2008)

A pic would help, but sounds like slippery elm also known as red elm. Elm trees of all kinds are called piss elm a lot because they can stink.


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## Mizer (Mar 11, 2010)

Drew Pavlak said:


> It's not as heavy as oak, but not as light as say Basswood. I would say it is comparable to walnut or cherry. I will try to remember some pictures after Deer hunting in the morning.
> 
> I should also say that I have seen similar trees near swampy areas. At least the bark is similar. I also don't see a lot of these around. Not nearly as common as maple or oak in this area.
> 
> ...


Maybe you will have a pic of something else too, good luck. My Dad is hunting near Manistee this week.


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## Drew Pavlak (Aug 21, 2010)

*Mystery Wood Pics*

As promised here are the pics of the Mystery wood that we have. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the input so far as well.
Drew


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## Drew Pavlak (Aug 21, 2010)

*More Pics of Mystery Wood*

Here is some that I Split.

Drew


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## Drew Pavlak (Aug 21, 2010)

*Red Elm?*

These are what we refer to as Standing Dead Elm around here. Not sure if it is correct or not. As you can see the bark falls off the tree, really clean for in the house and burns really good. Limb wood sounds like Bowling Pins when you hit it together.

Drew


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## Drew Pavlak (Aug 21, 2010)

*Pics of Log Pile and Hunting for Mizer*

Cause I mentioned it here are the Pics of the log pile we have growing. Probably not the largest in the world but not bat for a 70 year old and a 37 year old and a couple of days of hard work.

Mizer - Got this one 11/16/10 at 8:00 am. Not really big, but sometimes that's all you will get around here.

Drew


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## Mizer (Mar 11, 2010)

Drew Pavlak said:


> Cause I mentioned it here are the Pics of the log pile we have growing. Probably not the largest in the world but not bat for a 70 year old and a 37 year old and a couple of days of hard work.
> 
> Mizer - Got this one 11/16/10 at 8:00 am. Not really big, but sometimes that's all you will get around here.
> 
> Drew


Nice one! That will be some good eating.


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## phinds (Mar 25, 2009)

Drew Pavlak said:


> As promised here are the pics of the Mystery wood that we have. Hope this helps.
> 
> Thanks for the input so far as well.
> Drew


 
Drew, sure looks to me like some kind of elm, but one of the sawyers here is more likely to be able to say for sure. I don't know squat about tree bark but they will.

Paul


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## djg (Dec 24, 2009)

My guess is also for Red Elm. Nice grain in board form and supposedly good for outdoor projects.


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