Tree ID (Sorry, I'm sure these get asked a lot)

[Mike Van]

Also wouldn't there be sap running in the sugar maple this time of the year? Wouldn't we see some of it.

If it happened to be below freezing the day the tree was cut, the saps down in the roots - Needs a thaw to flow. 25+ year sugar maker here.

 

[bower4311]

If it happened to be below freezing the day the tree was cut, the saps down in the roots - Needs a thaw to flow. 25+ year sugar maker here.

Oh okay yeah. When we cut it, it was above freezing but it was also in the single digits that night and teens in the morning. It was probably still frozen.

 

[Picaso]

oak has distinctive rays that can be seen on the end grain.. looks like light thin pencil lines that run to the pith. you can almost always see them (rough cut, old boards, even in charcoal - no matter) and i dont see them in your pic. in the future that might help you identify an oak. the smell of oak is distinctive too once you know i, but doesnt work as well as looking for those rays. my guess was maple too. red maples have red buds early early in the season so youd see them if they were present. id guess sugar maple. silver maples grow very fast compared to sugar so a tree that old i would say could be twice the dbh of a sugar if it was silver maple. barks not black enough for me to think it's black maple from the pics either. my 2 cents


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mad Professor]

Easiest way to tell if it is maple is opposite branching. Find a young (tip) branch with lateral offshoots. If they appear to grow in pairs directly opposite, then in the northeast, it will be either ash or maple 99% of time.
In terms of buds if you can see any, maples will be small red tips to large clusters of red buds.
Barks are usually last component I use in confirming an I.d. But I'd have to guess maple as well from what I see in the pics.

Red/swamp/soft maple has red bud tips, much less so with sugar maples. The reds buds here have started to swell a bit with the warm weather, the sugars are still tight.

 

[carhartt]

Does it smell slightly like dog Sh%t when your cutting it? If so its an oak.

 

[milkman]

If that tree isn't maple, i'd eat it -

I'm with Mike, I'll even help him eat it.

 

[Picaso]

Does it smell slightly like dog Sh%t when your cutting it? If so its an oak.

the smell of oak id take any day over the smell of fresh cut black locust. damned rank

 

[Mike Van]

the smell of oak id take any day over the smell of fresh cut black locust. damned rank

Locust does have a sour smell between the bark & wood when fresh cut - slimy too - However, when dry, it really smells good burning - The only wood out there I don't like is basswood, wet, dry, its got a stink to it I just can't get used to/

 

[JTM]

I cut a sweet gum that was full of water. My saw stank like poo for a month.