Tree Identification Help Needed

[jacksonp]

What species do you think? Thanks for the help!
Does anyone know if this type of tree is good for milling slabs?
Located in South Western Ontario

 

[treettoad44]

tree id help

To me that looks like a hard or sugar maple. It is really goog to mill very hard though. You will need to keep chain sharp. What part of southwestern Ontario?

 

[jacksonp]

To me that looks like a hard or sugar maple. It is really goog to mill very hard though. You will need to keep chain sharp. What part of southwestern Ontario?

I am very new to this - what makes you think its a maple? And where would you make the cut to the trunk? Ie before the first real outgrowth of branches? - Thanks

 

[buzz sawyer]

I'd lean toward Sugar Maple as well. The bark and the spalted grain were my clues.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Here's a lighter look a the last photo.

 

[jacksonp]

To me that looks like a hard or sugar maple. It is really goog to mill very hard though. You will need to keep chain sharp. What part of southwestern Ontario?

kitchener

 

[jacksonp]

Is anyone familiar with the symptoms this tree is showing? And how it affects the wood for milling/lumber purposes?

 

[treettoad44]

more info

From your pictures it sure looks like a sugar maple to me. The spalted area on the trunk is dead trunk wood. Also the trunk appears to have radius crack along with some other cracks. It might mill up to have some very unusual grain patterns. What are you going to use a csm or bsm. I'm near Windsor

 

[qbilder]

Was a big tree in a big forest, and was left alone while everything else was cut around it. The new full exposure to sun caused it to begin branching out all over. It was already a mature tree before this happened, and probably why it wasn't cut with everything else. The loggers knew it would have a lot of heartwood & very little white sap. Nothing wrong with the tree. It's just very old, past its prime, and now down. If I were to guess, i'd think you have a lot of trees under 12" diameter, a few big ones like that maple, and not a whole lot in between. That's just a guess, going on what I have seen in your pictures. Looks like the property was cut 10-20 yrs. ago.

edit: the last pic shows some sunburst rays. I can't tell if it's natural or if i'm seeing saw marks. If it's natural then you, sir, have a treasure on your hands. If those are rays & not saw marks, then you have a great big, mostly solid, very colorful birdseye maple log. Is there any possible way you could cut a 4-6" cookie from the butt or stump and break it in half, then show a close up picture of the grain?

 

[buzz sawyer]

Was a big tree in a big forest, and was left alone while everything else was cut around it. The new full exposure to sun caused it to begin branching out all over. It was already a mature tree before this happened, and probably why it wasn't cut with everything else. The loggers knew it would have a lot of heartwood & very little white sap. Nothing wrong with the tree. It's just very old, past its prime, and now down. If I were to guess, i'd think you have a lot of trees under 12" diameter, a few big ones like that maple, and not a whole lot in between. That's just a guess, going on what I have seen in your pictures. Looks like the property was cut 10-20 yrs. ago.

edit: the last pic shows some sunburst rays. I can't tell if it's natural or if i'm seeing saw marks. If it's natural then you, sir, have a treasure on your hands. If those are rays & not saw marks, then you have a great big, mostly solid, very colorful birdseye maple log. Is there any possible way you could cut a 4-6" cookie from the butt or stump and break it in half, then show a close up picture of the grain?

Good observation. Even if from the saw, there should some nice wood in that tree. Be careful when working with spalted wood. The dark lines are a fungus and can cause respiratory problems if the dust is inhaled.

 

[jacksonp]

Birdseye Maple?

Was a big tree in a big forest, and was left alone while everything else was cut around it. The new full exposure to sun caused it to begin branching out all over. It was already a mature tree before this happened, and probably why it wasn't cut with everything else. The loggers knew it would have a lot of heartwood & very little white sap. Nothing wrong with the tree. It's just very old, past its prime, and now down. If I were to guess, i'd think you have a lot of trees under 12" diameter, a few big ones like that maple, and not a whole lot in between. That's just a guess, going on what I have seen in your pictures. Looks like the property was cut 10-20 yrs. ago.

edit: the last pic shows some sunburst rays. I can't tell if it's natural or if i'm seeing saw marks. If it's natural then you, sir, have a treasure on your hands. If those are rays & not saw marks, then you have a great big, mostly solid, very colorful birdseye maple log. Is there any possible way you could cut a 4-6" cookie from the butt or stump and break it in half, then show a close up picture of the grain?

So I took some more pictures. Made a few a cuts. Does any one have any experience with spalted wood. Any precautions to avoid bringing the fungus into your home or body? Is the wood still good? Is there a way of knowing whether the decay has gone to far to make something useful out of the wood? Very new to this, any info would help.
The first few are to show the grain or rays - and the last pic is the most rotten branch I could find, it was still pretty hard to cut - can something like this be used - the trunk looks about 50% infected.
Also - what do you guys think? Birdseye? Take a look and lemme know what you think - Thanks again

 

[cityslicker]

What I think qbilder was referring to was the potential of visible rays on the very end (or crosscut) section of the log where the growth rings are visible. If it looks like 3 dimensional rays of sun or such you may have something very special.

As far as spalting goes once dry I do not know nor have heard of any issues with sensitivities to spalted wood, though it may exist. Once the food source (sugars in the tree) for the fungus is gone so is the fungus. Here is a wiki page about it. Spalting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Try holding a screwdriver in your hand and try to plunge it into the wood, if it does not enter very far you may have decent wood. If it enters easily then it may be too soft for stabilizers to help. If the wood is still firm I think the spalting shown in the middle pictures looks very promising. I say mill it then see what you find. The first and last pic look like regular maple the tiny flecks are part of the grain structure it's always there. You want to find what looks like literal waves in the wood that is curly maple. Birdseye is different as is quilt. Quilt is like waves going north to south and at the same time waves going east to west, it is very cool! If I had a log thats end looked like the one in your third pic I would be sharpening chains right now!

Are you going to mill this stuff or what?:msp_biggrin:

 

[qbilder]

Your last picture shows some curly figure in the sapwood, which is cool. But I don't see any significant birds eye figure. Very tight grain & pretty wood, though. You should certainly mill it to see what's in there. The spalt might give you some minor respiratory issues if you are breathing the dust, so best wear a mask. Otherwise it won't bother you.