# Telling the Difference between White & Red Oak Logs



## Cambium (Oct 14, 2014)

I got a load of Oak dropped off but was wondering if its White or Red. The smaller "darker" pieces are throwing me off. The bark and big pieces look like White Oak.

What are the ways to tell the difference?


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## jrider (Oct 14, 2014)

All looks like red oak to me. White oak has bark that kind of looks like little potato chips you can flick right off with your fingers. Also, when it gets bigger, I find red oak to have much deeper furrows in the bark.


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## cus_deluxe (Oct 14, 2014)

look closely at the endgrain of the heartwood. red oaks will have more open pores, in white oaks these pores will be more clogged up looking. try to clean any sawdust and stuff off before looking.


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## DMAC (Oct 14, 2014)

From the pictures, I agree, it's hard to tell. Some of the smaller rounds have distinctively red heart wood but the bark is more consistent with white. This may not help determine the variety but I looked up the difference in my Dirr book: White oak bark on old trunks is light, ashy gray often broken into small, vertically arranged blocks and scales. Older trees have deep fissures with narrow ridges; sometimes with rather smooth, gray spots.

Red oak bark on old trunks is brown to nearly black and broken up into wide, flat-topped, gray ridges separated by shallow fissures. On very old trees the bark is often deeply ridged and furrowed.


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## ray benson (Oct 14, 2014)

Looks like Red Oak bark possibly Pin Oak


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## Swamp Yankee (Oct 14, 2014)

Red Oak

Surprised to see one from CT that large in dia. without a bunch of core rot. Lot of them when they reach 24 inches or so dbh, the centers start getting punky.

Looks like you got some noodlin' to do.

Take Care


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## taskswap (Oct 14, 2014)

I'd put money on Pin Oak, which is technically a red oak. Most red oaks don't get so wide - I have 75ft tall red oaks on my property that are only half as wide as that - and has deeper furrows in the bark. Smooth bark in CT is almost always pin or black, and I don't seem to see black oak much.

Have any leaves? That's a sure way to tell.


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## Cambium (Oct 14, 2014)

Thanks for the replies. I see a lot of Health Large Oaks this size around here but I wouldn't think Pin Oak gets to it.

But here's a couple of close-ups. I think I might agree it's a Red Oak now. No leaves around from it.


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## brewmonster (Oct 14, 2014)

Northern Red Oak.


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## taskswap (Oct 14, 2014)

Looks like Firewood Oak to me.


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## mr.finn (Oct 14, 2014)

Red Oak to me. Pin oak will usually have a ton of limbs on them.


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## Time's Standing Stihl (Oct 14, 2014)

Looks like a pin oak to me....


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## old_soul (Oct 14, 2014)

red oak, white oak has rough bark


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## CTYank (Oct 14, 2014)

Northern Red Oak, definitely.

Noodling? WTH? That wood is as easy to split by hand as any. Lotsa "one-shot-kills" there with any decent, sharp maul.

Then, give it lots of time, at least two summers in the sun.


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## Guswhit (Oct 14, 2014)

I'm voting for pin oak as well. I'd like to see where a branch has been cut off the trunk. My silly opinion is the bark is too smooth to be red oak, even though they are close.


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## flotek (Oct 14, 2014)

Guys The leaves are in some of the pictures it's pin oak for sure . The difference between red and white is very easy to spot once you've compared them a few times . Pin oak has pointed leaves ( and narrow loves ) the red oak family has pointed ends too but fatter wider leaves. ..while the white oak has radius round leaf ends . Most oaks keep much of their leaves till December so leaf identification is easy to spot usually . The bark is noticeably different between the two and grain is too . It's one if those things where you just have to familiarize yourself by looking at pictures and the bark is another easy difference to spot


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## jrider (Oct 14, 2014)

The op said these logs were dropped off so those leaves on the ground don't mean squat.


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## flotek (Oct 14, 2014)

jrider said:


> The op said these logs were dropped off so those leaves on the ground don't mean squat.



Yes that's true but I didn't mean the random maple leaves on the ground .. Besides it's obviously a red oak family


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## flotek (Oct 14, 2014)

Red oak family


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## flotek (Oct 14, 2014)

White oak ........


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## flotek (Oct 14, 2014)

White oak bark


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## flotek (Oct 14, 2014)

Red oak bark


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## blacklocst (Oct 15, 2014)

Plus White Oak will not have any shade of red to it.


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## buzz sawyer (Oct 15, 2014)

Still can't see the pores in the end grain but the bark looks like red / pin oak.
You can also tell by the smell. White Oak will have a pleasant bourbon-like smell. (if you like bourbon).


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## Sawyer Rob (Oct 15, 2014)

I'm voting red oak, it's not like the white oaks we have around here...

SR


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## sb47 (Oct 15, 2014)

When you cut into it the smell should be a good indicator as to what species it is.
Red oak will have a stronger smell then the white oak does.
Though they do smell similar the red oak will be a stronger sent.


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## f1100turbo (Oct 15, 2014)

Pin oak.


Turbs


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## Chris-PA (Oct 15, 2014)

I agree with northern red. Around here probably 60% of our red oaks are actually schumard oaks, and it is hard to tell the difference except in the spring and fall. Likely there are fewer schumards up there, if any. 

One thing that is interesting is that both northern red and shumards have different leaves on the sun side vs. the shade side, with the ones on the sun side being more like a pin oak leaf, though not quite as extreme. That fooled me for quite some time.


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## brewmonster (Oct 15, 2014)

Chris-PA said:


> Around here probably 60% of our red oaks are actually schumard oaks



That's interesting. I'm not at all familiar with Shumard oak, but according to my books its distribution is pretty southerly. Is there some oddball disjunct population where you live?

When I first moved here I was always looking at black oaks and thinking they were red. Took me a while to learn the difference. Not saying that you would make the same mistake, of course.


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## buzz sawyer (Oct 15, 2014)

Here's a photo showing the difference in the end grain and chart showing the two groups.



*Red and White Oak Groups*
*Red Oak (Quercus rubra)*
Black Oak (Q. velutina)
California Black Oak (Q. kelloggii)
Cherrybark Oak (Q. pagoda)
Laurel Oak (Q. laurifolia)
Pin Oak (Q. palustris)
Scarlet Oak (Q. coccinea)
Shumard Oak (Q. shumardii)
Southern Red Oak (Q. falcata)
Water Oak (Q. nigra)
Willow Oak (Q. phellos)

*White Oak (Quercus alba)*
Bur Oak (Q. macrocarpa)
Chestnut Oak (Q. prinus)
English Oak (Q. robur)
Holm Oak (Q. ilex)
Oregon White Oak (Q. garryana)
Overcup Oak (Q. lyrata)
Post Oak (Q. stellata)
Sessile Oak (Q. petraea)
Swamp Chestnut Oak (Q. michauxii)
Swamp White Oak (Q. bicolor


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## Full Chisel (Oct 15, 2014)

My bet is on Pin Oak, unless it's a variation of Red Oak that is different from the reds around here(So. IL). The bark looks way too smooth, not furrowed like Red Oak. Looks like the smoother Pin Oak bark. It's not White Oak, this I'm sure of.


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## Chris-PA (Oct 16, 2014)

brewmonster said:


> That's interesting. I'm not at all familiar with Shumard oak, but according to my books its distribution is pretty southerly. Is there some oddball disjunct population where you live?
> 
> When I first moved here I was always looking at black oaks and thinking they were red. Took me a while to learn the difference. Not saying that you would make the same mistake, of course.


Yeah, I had one of each out front of our house. We live in a house on a steep bank, so the front porch ends up looking pretty high up into the trees. I could tell they were not the same but it took me a long time to identify them, since the shumards are not supposed to be up here.

The leaves of the shumards have a pronounced red tint when the first leaf out. The northern reds hold their leaves much longer here, which is why they took such a pounding during the Halloween storm we had a few years ago (that northern red out front is now gone). The leaves of the shumards are a little different, but it is subtle - if I recall they are less symmetrical. But give the difference between sun and shade leaves on the same tree ID gets tough.


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## Marine5068 (Oct 16, 2014)

Nice leaf pics Flotec
It does look like Red Oak to me, but a leaf always tells the truth.
Great firewood nonetheless, after two years seasoning that is.
I burn lots of it here.
I also have three mature(80-100 year old) Red Oak trees on my property and so many young ones I can't count them all.
That'll be good burning and you can do like I do and use a steel splitting wedge to get the larger rounds down to manageable size.


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## Saddle Mander (Oct 16, 2014)

Broadly speaking, white oak bark looks "flaky" and red oak bark looks like "dinosaur skin."

At least they do to me.


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## NCSteveH (Oct 17, 2014)

I bet in two to three years you find that it is an ash tree.


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## Al Haase (Dec 29, 2019)

I’m sure it’s a variant of red oak. Definitely not white oak. Pin would have myriad small branches and a maximum height of about 70 feet. Burr oak is very hard like white, also a nice whiskey-like aroma. In any case, you’re a winner with a pile of great wood!


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## Sawyer Rob (Dec 29, 2019)

SR


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## sunfish (Jan 2, 2020)

Red Oak.


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## lone wolf (Jan 2, 2020)

Looks like Pin Oak or possibly Red Oak.


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## EchoRomeoCharlie (Jan 2, 2020)

Swamp Yankee said:


> Red Oak
> 
> Surprised to see one from CT that large in dia. without a bunch of core rot. Lot of them when they reach 24 inches or so dbh, the centers start getting punky.
> 
> ...



No noodlin necessary. 

Red oak will split like a dream. I have some 24-32" rounds. Haven't got to the real big ones yet, but I had a 24" cleave with one shot from a 5lb felling axe. Super easy stuff to hand split.


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