Water Maple ??

[WV_hillbilly]

  I may be able to get a tractor trailer load of  maple logs . Right now  they are supposed to goto a pulp mill  What a waste . But it seems they are having a hard time getting someone to haul them . Time is critical so they must go soon . I have been trying real hard to get them for 3 weeks . I did get some ugly ones  but the nice ones are still laying there .

 I was told they were Water Maples . I haven't heard of them before . I looked in my tree ID book and didn't find any maple referenced as that . They were growing along  the river bank and have bark like poplar or red elm . They have a real small heart and lots of  light colored sap wood . The heart on a 18" tree is probably about 3-4 " in diameter . I can't get a pic cause the place they are at won't allow a camera for security reasons .

In the tree ID book  I noticed that they could be Black Maple, red maple or sugar maple . The trunks are staight  and no branches for the first 20 - 25 feet . Most of these are in the 16 - 24 " butt diameter and 16 ' long . Is there any way to tell  with out leaves on them ? 

I would like to know if I could use them for posts and floor joists in my new saw shed . If I can get them I would have enough to saw out most of the structural parts  and some siding to boot .

[Buzz-sawyer]

Sounds like silver maple they grow like weeds along creeks.........
It has been the craze for the last several years for cabinets.
I have used it for limber...nail it green!!!!
It tends to twist a little in the sap wood particular....but it is usefull for lumber.

[WV_hillbilly]

 Well Great news . I went to work today and the  land clearing guy was waiting for me . Looks like I will be busy for quite a while . Now I just have to arrange for the trucking to get them here to my place . I'll get some pics of them when I gettem home .

[SwampDonkey]

I agree with Buzz on the ID, silver maple. They can also be red maple which grow on a wider variety of sites including bottom land. The leaves are quite distinct between the two and red maple can have a large heart. Bud of red maple are blunt and red, as are the most recent growth on the branch tips. Both flower early in spring with ripe seed by mid-june.  Water maple may even refer to box elder (otherwise known as Manitoba maple, or ash-leaf maple, which has red heart and blunt buds and with current growth often purple). The more upland maples such as sugar maple and black maple have pointy brown buds and the seed is ripe in October.

[WV_hillbilly]

 It's hard to Id these to me as they are already laying in a stack ready to ship out . They topped them and sawed them to length .  I know they aren't box elder cause I have some of those growing on my place . Daylight will come slowly tonight for me  waiting . I'm taking the trailer to work so I can bring some home tommorrow . That way i know the rest will fit on the semi . 

[SwampDonkey]

See the first thread in this forum on ID'ing hardwoods by properties and click on the 'soft maple' link. Then click on the image of the plain piece of lumber to enlarge the image and see different stains applied.

I agree it's a little difficult to id without the leaves, buds and bark. But, with experience you can ID the wood by its physical properties.