Identify this wood

[Gypo Logger]

I wouldn't want to put my hand in its flame. Goffer wood is ok when there's nothing else.

 

[tla100]

Yep, looks like cottonwood. I did cut some nice straight 2' diameter rounds at the local city tree dump. Was sitting there, no limbs, straight and thought what the heck. I left splits pretty large. Bark usually falls right off and has a stringy paper-looking stuff under the bark.

 

[stumpy75]

That looks a lot like sassafras. What did it smell like?if it smells like root beer it's sassy , could be wrong tho

I agree. Orange bark and darker wood. The outside of the bark looks like cottonwood, but the orange color of the inner bark and the darker wood says sassafras to me too. The only cottonwood I've seen around here has a white or light colored wood, and no orange in the inner bark...

 

[jimdad07]

I agree. Orange bark and darker wood. The outside of the bark looks like cottonwood, but the orange color of the inner bark and the darker wood says sassafras to me too. The only cottonwood I've seen around here has a white or light colored wood, and no orange in the inner bark...

The bigger and older cottonwood gets the darker the heart wood gets, I've cut quite a few over the years and that's a carbon copy of what they look like when I cut them for milling. Of course we don't have sassy around here either for me to compare to.

 

[stumpy75]

What got me thinking it was sassafras was that even the smaller pieces had that deeply furrowed bark. On cottonwood, those would usually be smoother around here. And the smaller cottonwoods would not have that deep furrowed bark either(at least around here). That, and the orange inner bark.

I cut some of it a few years ago on my neighbors fence row. Didn't really like root beer for a while after that though!

If the OP could find out if it had any smell, that would solve it.

 

[jimdad07]

What got me thinking it was sassafras was that even the smaller pieces had that deeply furrowed bark. On cottonwood, those would usually be smoother around here. And the smaller cottonwoods would not have that deep furrowed bark either(at least around here). That, and the orange inner bark.

I cut some of it a few years ago on my neighbors fence row. Didn't really like root beer for a while after that though!

If the OP could find out if it had any smell, that would solve it.

That's funny, must have smelled pretty darn strong! You're right, the smaller branches usually don't have bark like that. I didn't use my noggin on that one.

 

[stumpy75]

It took several washings to get the smell off my jeans, and my chaps still have that odor! They were cut in the late spring, so they were about as heavy and wet as they would be all year...

 

[roddog]

Some of my neighbors take the roots from sapling sassy and boil it for tea. Not my favorite but it's not bad either. Cotton wood here seems to be a lot whiter with a dark heartwood but not the orange under the bark. Btus are btus tho CSS it and burn it