# Identify this wood



## medic8852 (Mar 14, 2015)

Could someone identify this wood for me? A buddy got some dropped off at his place and I can't seem to place it. Thanks!


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## mingo (Mar 14, 2015)

Looks like tulip poplar.


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## coltont (Mar 14, 2015)

Not tulip poplar. Maybe some kind of aspen or cottonwood.


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## sw oh logger (Mar 14, 2015)

medic8852 said:


> Could someone identify this wood for me? A buddy got some dropped off at his place and I can't seem to place it. Thanks!


Most likely is Cottonwood, could be Sassafrass however.


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## lfnh (Mar 14, 2015)

Peel off some bark. Sassafrass smells like, well sassaafrass. Black ants like sassafrass heart. Light weight.
Cottonwood smells often like cat piss.

Bark color and end shape on right pic sure lean toward sasafrass. idk


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## U2bwolfb4 (Mar 14, 2015)

kinda looks like chinese elm..


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## treeslayer2003 (Mar 14, 2015)

sassafras


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## Oldmaple (Mar 14, 2015)

Cottonwood


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## buzz sawyer (Mar 14, 2015)

I go with cottonwood.  The bark looks exactly like the cottonwood bark I carve.


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## jefflovstrom (Mar 15, 2015)

Cottonwood is poplar. The person that said chinese elm has never seen one. Unless he was thinking Siberian elm, 
Jeff


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## coltont (Mar 15, 2015)

Cottonwood is not the same as poplar.


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## coltont (Mar 15, 2015)

The ridges on the bark are too flat for sassafras I think.


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## treeslayer2003 (Mar 15, 2015)

looks exactly like sassafras here. looks nothing like tulip poplar.


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## coltont (Mar 15, 2015)

Our sassafras is much more tan to brown in color here. Rarely solid at that size. Normally if it was that big it would be a flying squirrel hotel.


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## jefflovstrom (Mar 15, 2015)

coltont said:


> Cottonwood is not the same as poplar.



They are both the same genus,,so they are.
Jeff


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## coltont (Mar 15, 2015)

Haul a poplar log and a cottonwood of the same dimension..... Like 12 6 20 inches on the small end to a saw mill. Come back and tell me they are the same. That's like saying oak is the same as beech since they have the same genus.


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## jefflovstrom (Mar 15, 2015)

coltont said:


> That's like saying oak is the same as beech since they have the same genus.



Fagus and Poplar are not the same genus. You mean same family,,, 
Jeff


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## coltont (Mar 15, 2015)

I never said they were.


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## treeslayer2003 (Mar 15, 2015)

Coltan Jeff prolly does not mean tulip poplar, wich is a magnolia.

my biggest solid sassafras to date was 33"


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## coltont (Mar 15, 2015)

Dang that's a brute for sassafras. Ever uproot a small one in the early early spring and peel root and make tea from it?


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## lone wolf (Mar 15, 2015)

medic8852 said:


> Could someone identify this wood for me? A buddy got some dropped off at his place and I can't seem to place it. Thanks!


Cottonwood, Sas is more orange .


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## treeslayer2003 (Mar 15, 2015)

coltont said:


> Dang that's a brute for sassafras. Ever uproot a small one in the early early spring and peel root and make tea from it?


no but it does smell good. size on those seems to depend on what type ground its growing in. theres alot of it around here but very few big ones.


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## jefflovstrom (Mar 15, 2015)

coltont said:


> That's like saying oak is the same as beech since they have the same genus.



What?
Jeff


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## jefflovstrom (Mar 15, 2015)

coltont said:


> I never said they were.



Yeah, you did.


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## KenJax Tree (Mar 15, 2015)

Cottonwood,Poplars,Aspen its all the same crap


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## coltont (Mar 15, 2015)

Mike. I'm taking your advice your advice you kinda gave me the other day. I'm outta here. To the op I hope I helped you in some way.


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## coltont (Mar 15, 2015)

One last thing. Poplar pays 700 a 1000bdft. That's hardly junk.


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## treeslayer2003 (Mar 15, 2015)

there seems to be some confusion over what poplar is.........here on the east coast it is tulip poplar wich is way different from any aspen or cotton wood. some of us never seen a aspen and some of you western guys never seen a tulip poplar.


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## jefflovstrom (Mar 15, 2015)

coltont said:


> I'm outta here. To the op I hope I helped you in some way.



Well, I doubt you did. Probably confused him more. 
Jeff


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## treeslayer2003 (Mar 15, 2015)

coltont said:


> One last thing. Poplar pays 700 a 1000bdft. That's hardly junk.


i make most of my money cutting poplar


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## KenJax Tree (Mar 15, 2015)

There is about 30 different different species in the Populus genus and then divided into about six sections on the basis of leaf and flower characters. So yeah it varies from coast to coast


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## Jed1124 (Mar 15, 2015)

The confusion comes when folks call Tulip; Tulip Poplar. It's also called yellow poplar which is misleading as well. It's a member of the magnolia family as stated before and not a poplar at all. OP's wood looks like sassafrass.


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## buzz sawyer (Mar 15, 2015)

fwiw - Cottonwood is also known as Carolina Poplar.


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## James Stern (Mar 16, 2015)

Looks like tulip poplar.


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## bitzer (Mar 16, 2015)

Ok poplar is yellow/tulip poplar of the east coast. Its an ancient tree of ancient lineage. We don't get them around here. Popple is big tooth aspen/quaking aspen here. To those that don't know what they are talking about that confuse the term popple and call it poplar. Cottonwood looks similar to aspen, but is even less valuable (if at all) and is called poplar by the same uneducated group. We don't have sassafrass here. The smell of the wood tells a lot. Don't worry about jeff, Colton, hes a jackass. He said they were in the same genus on the first page. Boxelder is in the same family as sugar maple so I guess they're the same tree too right? So to re-cap: aspen=popple=ok timber, Tulip/yellow poplar= good timber, cottonwood=junk.


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## catbuster (Mar 16, 2015)

All my access roads are washed straight down to bare bedrock. There is nothing left. So walking the Cats and excavators in will be fun this afternoon. Here's to hoping I don't lose a half million dollar machine.


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## catbuster (Mar 16, 2015)

catbuster said:


> All my access roads are washed straight down to bare bedrock. There is nothing left. So walking the Cats and excavators in will be fun this afternoon. Here's to hoping I don't lose a half million dollar machine.



Whoops. Tapatalk and I messed this one up. Sorry guys


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## Fubar (Mar 16, 2015)

has this been posted twice or have i lost it ? 
no matter what it is , it looks like free fire wood to me .


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## treeslayer2003 (Mar 16, 2015)

if it is sassafras, its the best kindling ever.


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## Jed1124 (Mar 16, 2015)

bitzer said:


> Ok poplar is yellow/tulip poplar of the east coast. Its an ancient tree of ancient lineage. We don't get them around here. Popple is big tooth aspen/quaking aspen here. To those that don't know what they are talking about that confuse the term popple and call it poplar. Cottonwood looks similar to aspen, but is even less valuable (if at all) and is called poplar by the same uneducated group. We don't have sassafrass here. The smell of the wood tells a lot. Don't worry about jeff, Colton, hes a jackass. He said they were in the same genus on the first page. Boxelder is in the same family as sugar maple so I guess they're the same tree too right? So to re-cap: aspen=popple=ok timber, Tulip/yellow poplar= good timber, cottonwood=junk.


Aspen would be a member of the populos genus making it a poplar. That's only if you want to go by the genus and stuff. Otherwise you could call it whatever you like.


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## bitzer (Mar 17, 2015)

Jed1124 said:


> Aspen would be a member of the populos genus making it a poplar. That's only if you want to go by the genus and stuff. Otherwise you could call it whatever you like.


Its pronounced 'popple' or it is in the logging community. Aspen, cottonwood, black/white poplar, willow are all in the same family.


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## Gypo Logger (Mar 17, 2015)

Cottonwood or quaking aspen, but let's confuse things more an say it's weeping willow. Lol


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## Gypo Logger (Mar 17, 2015)

bitzer said:


> Its pronounced 'popple' or it is in the logging community. Aspen, cottonwood, black/white poplar, willow are all in the same family.


Popple is slang for poplar, just like ruff is slang for roof. Lol


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## Gypo Logger (Mar 17, 2015)

coltont said:


> Mike. I'm taking your advice your advice you kinda gave me the other day. I'm outta here. To the op I hope I helped you in some way.


Don't leave now. Things are getting interesting. I love the tree id threads.
To find out what it is, just bury a piece in the wet ground, if it sprouts it's cottonwood or willow.


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## Fubar (Mar 17, 2015)

Gypo Logger said:


> To find out what it is, just bury a piece in the wet ground, if it sprouts it's cottonwood or willow.


see ,i learn something new each day .


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## medic8852 (Mar 18, 2015)

Lol, damn guys, I certainly brought up a debate. And yeah, my bad, I posted it here and in the firewood forum bc tapatalk made it look like one didn't post. I told him free firewood is always a good thing. Haven't actually seen the wood myself. Where I cut, I get a lot of the various elms, oaks, and maples with the occasional shagbark hickory. In fact, a winter storm busted off the top of a nice hickory, soon as it dries out a touch, I'll be going after it. Thank for all the help gentlemen.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## treeslayer2003 (Mar 18, 2015)

hey let us know if it has a sweet smell


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## hammerlogging (Mar 18, 2015)

Coltont, Bitz, Treeslayer, holy ****, I just pulled half my hair out. 
What is it with some people?
I might have cut 35,000 feet of poplar alone between Tuesday and Wednesday. 
least I hope it was poplar.....


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## treeslayer2003 (Mar 18, 2015)

lol, i'm workin on it to Joe............wish i could just stay in it.

i shoulda just told um it was biscuit gravy lol.


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## hammerlogging (Mar 18, 2015)

about my 3rd day cutting timber, ever, I cut a hell of a nice, oh, about 1200' bf poplar. skidder driver puller up and said "what the hell'd you cut that for?" It was a gum.


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## treeslayer2003 (Mar 18, 2015)

LMAO! hell, i thought i had a big white oak once turned out to be a sweet gum lol. some times i get veneer price for really clean big gum.


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## bitzer (Mar 18, 2015)

Some guys are just jackasses Joe. Gotta point em out! 35mbf in two days huh? I need a falling gig like yours. I have no idea what I'm capable of if I was laying out and topping all day.


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## treeslayer2003 (Mar 18, 2015)

Bitz it ain't hard in the right poplar stand. if they tall and fat and its a thick stand, its gravy. like you, i spend more time on a machine than falling........some body has to skid and load........my shadow is a lazy azz.


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## duckman (Mar 23, 2015)

medic8852 said:


> Could someone identify this wood for me? A buddy got some dropped off at his place and I can't seem to place it. Thanks!


looks like


medic8852 said:


> Could someone identify this wood for me? A buddy got some dropped off at his place and I can't seem to place it. Thanks!


looks like balsam poplar if its light like cotton wood or quaking aspen


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## Westboastfaller (Apr 7, 2015)

treeslayer2003 said:


> sassafras



Yes thats 'exactly'what it is from its latin name below we just call then cottonwood and don't get technical to what area after all we name it from the the white hairs in the spring.
*BALSAM POPLAR
Populus balsamifera

BLACK COTTONWOOD
Populus balsamifera ssp trichocarpa*

the black cottonwood is a subspecies of the balsam poplar
also known as Balsam Cottonwood, Western Balsam Poplar, Tacamahec Poplar
the cottonwood is named for the seeds with the cottony hair that float through the air like summer snow
the balsam gets its name from the resin that has a sweet, balsam odour
When we say Balsam we are referring to Grand fir really.On the coast o
*BALSAM POPLAR
Populus balsamifera

BLACK COTTONWOOD
Populus balsamifera ssp trichocarpa*

the black cottonwood is a subspecies of the balsam poplar
also known as Balsam Cottonwood, Western Balsam Poplar, Tacamahec Poplar
the cottonwood is named for the seeds with the cottony hair that float through the air like summer snow
the balsam gets its name from the resin that has a sweet, balsam odour
When we say Balsam we are referring to Grand fir (sortwood).On the coast it has the same bucking specs as Western
Hemlock so we group them together as hem-bal for overseas. If they are not 15' at 12metres 40 ft then it become fertilizer, back into the ground.


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## Westboastfaller (Apr 7, 2015)

looks like balsam poplar if its light like cotton wood or quaking aspen[/QUOTE]

'Balsam poplar I'd agree but right?
Its all water...do those blocks look light
cut and picked enough up to know what I'm looking at there thats heavy wood from my standards of comparison anyway


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## Whitespider (Apr 17, 2015)

Tree ID threads... just like back home in the firewood forum.
I'm feelin' more 'n' more at home 'round here.

*I'VE MOVED HERE*


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## tla100 (Apr 20, 2015)

Cottonwood.....and I love the smell of it.......


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