What type of log is this?

[Jeff]

Do you have a picture of a board? Even Basswood and Aspen lumber will look very similar until you see the knots in the lumber.  Basswood has knots with very distinct defined edges, where as aspen knots will usually have color spreading from the knot edges which are not nearly as defined.

[SwampDonkey]

That's OK dodgy because I've seen a person that should know, confuse balsam poplar for red oak. And had the log(s) right there to look at. And swear up and down it was red oak. And cut them where no red oak was present down on a wet flood plain. You just gotta walk away.   

[Jeff]

I've also seen a high school shop teacher confuse balsam poplar for red oak. One of my cousins. I went to the old farm and he had a couple sections of short 4 foot logs in his truck. He was going to take the "Red Oak" home and cut it into boards on the shop band saw for a personal project.

[WDH]

All the southern boys are sitting this one out, I see . We don't have true poplar around here. Just yellow-poplar (aka tuliptree). We do have basswood in limited areas, but the bark looks a lot different from your northern stuff. I won't be of much help on this thread.

 

[Gary_C]

Jeff is right on the money. That's Aspen.

Aspen has so many different looks to it's bark, it can fool you. But that deeply furrowed look to the lower part of the tree is common. Sometimes you have to look up to the top of the tree to be sure what it is, but after seeing a lot of Aspen go down in front of my harvester, I know it's aspen. And definately not Basswood.

[Gary_C]

This is what our aspen looks like.

(Image hidden from quote, click to view.)

Wow, that one wins a prize. The Lyle Lovett of aspen trees.

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah the second one is a nasty widow maker with lot a lateral limbs. It was over mature and full of conk. I wouldn't take a saw anywhere near that thing. The picture was for the bark, not for the beauty. It's also over 30" dbh. The first was 26 inches dbh as I recall.

Aspen logs here that are up to 14 or 18 inches have smooth green/gray with some white sections or pinkish hue bark beyond 5 or 6 feet of the but. Like this. Unless its the white barked ones that never seem to grow much on higher elevation. This is at the point where the bark is starting to separate into ridges. This tree is around 14" and probably 35 years old. I have a 10" in the back yard and the bark is more green at 25 years of age.



That tree has enough logs from it that you would see some of the traits on up the tree. I don't see it, so can't agree to aspen.

I don't consider these junk when you get as much for pulp as veneer for them. That's why no one bothers to separate it because of the extra handling costs for nothing.

I think you'll find that the variance you see in the bark is hybridization and between species of poplar. I've been to Jeff property I saw aspen just like what I see here in NB. Not even a second guess. I also see it across northern Ontario.

[Jeff]

The aspen in the U.P. on my property, would not be typical to what we see at this latitude. Although we have some that looks like that, is can have a very different appearance from site to site. Some can even look like white birch from a distance.  It would be rare for us to confuse a basswood log with Aspen. Ash, yes. Basswood looks quite a bit like ash in log form with the bark on. New yard guys at the mill would always confuse it.

[SwampDonkey]

Yes, as I said your aspen grows like here. We have those white barked aspen that look like white birch to. But you would still not confuse it, or I wouldn't.

As far as basswood goes it grows with white ash and hard maple up here and I wouldn't confuse it for ash, but instead some folks confuse it for hard maple. My father for one.

I think it might just be the color or photography angle in the pictures, but sure looks like basswood bark.

MM has a bunch of photos of aspen in CO from his hunting excursions and they have the white bark.

[Dale Hatfield]

No doubt Its aspen.  We  often see 2 kinds of aspen smooth wood and fuzzy wood.  when ya buck a log you will see what is fuzzy or smooth.
Funny is the fuzzy one will often hold a hinge better than the smooth wood. But neither will hold much for side lean.
Jeff is spot on I have seen everything he has said in aspen as well.

[Dana]

I thought we had the answer two pages ago so I didn't reply. Since the debate is still on I say it's Aspen or what we locally call popple.

[isawlogs]

 SD is having trouble acknowledging that his books don't have the answer... It's OK Bill, every once in a while one misses and gets a strike , you've hit so many out of the park this one we"ll let pass 

  It has poplar written all over it.  The fact that it is a year old on the ground is deceiving. Sorry Bill... it's poplar , I can't tell ya what kind of poplar aint that smart but its in that  family tree. 

[1crowfarm]

Hello folks I plan on sawing tomorrow god willing I have three or four Poplar logs on the log deck to saw before I saw these ? logs up I will take lots of pictures and post them on here .I'am thinking that these logs are Aspen now from the last picture that was posted on here.
Hopefully we can solve this mystery with some pictures of the boards cut from this logs 

[SwampDonkey]

Marcel it was based purely on experience. Never saw aspen with basswood bark before. What I showed for aspen is what we got, simple as that. If I'm wrong that's fine, never bothered me before. Anyone that would get worked up over a darn tree has some issues.

[MapleNut]

It is aspen...you can tell by the smell!!

[Jeff]

Never saw aspen with basswood bark before.

We are now in agreement! Because on the other hand, I've never saw aspen basswood with basswood aspen bark before. 

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, what do they call that? cancelled reciprication or something? Well they should anyway.

[WDH]

You are the Yin and he is the Yang  .

[LeeB]

Yep, a couple of ying yangs. 

[SwampDonkey]

Now that we've resolved that, what's next?