I don't know what this log is

[Daren]

I got a mixed load this morning of red/white oak, walnut, cherry, honeylocust, hickory and hard maple. A few were fresh cut yesterday so I just end sealed them. Some of the white oak and cherry had been down a few weeks so I bucked the ends off and sealed the fresh end. I bucked this "red oak" I thought and that ain't it. . It is not hackberry, way too hard. I don't take much hickory, some of the logs where hickory I recognized (obvious bark) This bark throws me. I really don't know what kinda log this is  . I have to scale and pay in a couple days I think it would be wise to know what I am paying for  . The guy is easy to work with, but I can't really afford to make any mistakes right now. (spending money on logs and not selling lumber, bummer)
 

[ADAMINMO]

Cottonwood or Gum?? 

[Aroostooksawyer]

How about ash

[beenthere]

First blush for me is ash.

Aroostooksawyer....I agree and you type faster.

[Dodgy Loner]

Three votes for ash.

[Gary_C]

Most likely a Bur Oak which is also considered a white oak for commercial purposes.

Could also be a Green Ash, not a White Ash.

[bull]

Go with Ash !!!!

[Ron Wenrich]

Definitely ash.  If it was an oak, you would have the large rays.  It should cut out fairly nice.  If you leave it lay too long, you'll get powder post beetle in little time.  The handle company that used to buy ash kept the logs wetted down with a sprinkler system during the summer to help control the beetle.

[Daren]

Could also be a Green Ash, not a White Ash.

I know white ash pretty well, it's not that...but I do not know green ash. I will have to look at that closer ?

[Dodgy Loner]

Once they're sawed into lumber, it's all white ash .

With the bark still on it, you can generally tell the two apart: white ash tends to have blockier bark; green ash has interlacing ridges and furrows and often has a mossy trunk, because it grows in wet locations - it's a very common river bottom species.  I'd say you probably have a green ash there, but the lumber will be indistinguishable from white ash.

[Daren]

Is green ash bark softer ? I am believing everyones advice. The white ash around here the bark is tougher/hard. This bark is very soft and not clinging to the log well either. It just fell off the cookies I bucked when they hit the ground. It has not been down but maybe a week and it was standing live. Oh well, ash it is. At least the heart is pretty small. (and ash is cheap  so I am glad I asked.)

[Ironwood]

NICE ASH! Ironwood

[pigman]

In this area, I have heard it called "blue" ash. I am not sure if it is same as green ash. It is a softer wood and  it grows on dry hill sides .

[WDH]

Blue ash is a different species.

Nice ash!

[Left Coast Chris]

Not sure about ash....... I cut a Raywood Ash yard tree recently and it had much smoother bark.

[Dodgy Loner]

Is green ash bark softer ? I am believing everyones advice. The white ash around here the bark is tougher/hard.

Around here, both white and green ashes have pretty spongy bark.  Your hard-barked white ashes may just be a regional difference.

[SPIKER]

I cant quite put my finger on it but is similar bark to a tree I had questions on at my place that I think is cotton wood here is pic. of my tree which is in creek bottom/wet area.   mine also appears to be dieing.



mark

[ely]

the bark does look like ash and it may well be but i will vote gum.

the last picture looks like cottonwood to me spiker.

daren my compliments to whomever sharpened that chainsaw.

[Daren]

daren my compliments to whomever sharpened that chainsaw.

That'd be me, thanks for noticing 

[WDH]

Gum is diffuse porous, where all the wood pores are very small and about the same size.  Therefore, the annual rings do not stand out very distinctly.  In ring porous woods, the wood put down in the first part of the growing season has very large pores.  Then the tree shifts to smaller pores in the latter part of the growing season.  This pattern leaves annual rings the are very distinct, part of the ring with very large pores and part with small pores, leaving a distinct demarcation between the pore types.

This log is ring porous as you can very easily see the annual growth rings with the bands of large pores and the bands of small pores in each ring.  That is one major characteristic that points to ash, besides the bark.

[ely]

thanks for explaining all that, wish i would take the time to study a bit more.

[Tom]

That makes me feel so smart!!  I had looked at the rings and though, "black gum doesn't have rings that you can see very easily."  I didn't know why, but you have taught me something.

Now, about the bark. 

That is one major characteristic that points to ash, besides the bark.

What would you designate as an Ash bark.   Gum is more of "Woof woof " and I picture Ash as being more of a "yap yap".

[LeeB]

Hey Tom, I think Ash barks come in a wide range of sounds from near silent to loud and rauccous.

[WDH]

Yep Lee,  ash bark can be quite moody .

Ash bark has ridges that can run together and make a diamond pattern sometimes and at other times, they do not form the diamond ridges.  It can be variable.  In fact, there can be a few feet of bole with very distinct diamond ridging, then the bark breaks up into blockly knobby squares and rectangles.  Also, there is a green lichen that loves ash bark, and it is visible in the pic.

[Gary_C]

That bark is also typical of the many Bur Oak we have here. I just misjudged the width and depth of the ridges and valleys when I saw the first picture. Bur Oak bark has much coarser ridges and deeper valleys.

Since I had already typed that guess, I just left it but also noted it did appear more like Ash. The end grain picture with the pronounced rings made it almost sure it was Ash and not Bur Oak.

Bur Oak is also one of the most dense hardwoods we have, so that description of very hard was another misleading clue. Bur Oak can be so hard that sometimes sparks will fly when you cut it with a chainsaw.

[SwampDonkey]

I've seen white ash with different bark from one area to the next. Some areas have ash with diamond shaped ridges and deep furrows and some less furrowed, but more of a flaky texture. It might be the different between white and green, I am mostly familiar with black and white ashes. Black ash bark is corky in my area and 99% of the time found in swamps and lowlands. White ash doesn't like swampy ground. In my area there is tons of white ash second growth, now a ways north of here the only ash I see is black ash.  Seems to me white ash is mostly restricted to the best growing sites in my province and that's mostly in west central and south central NB. We call your green ash, red ash because it has bark sometimes with a reddish tinge to it.

Ditto to WDH's description.