Snuck outback before the rain got heavy and pulled two twitches of dead ironwood to the work area. Miss the frozen ground already
Curious, how do you know it's ironwood? And which ironwood? The one a.k.a. musclewood or the one we call ironwood, hophornbeam?
You are right, normally Ironwood does not get very big. I did some work on a Timber Stand Improvement cutting a few years ago. Cut these two Ironwood the Forester said were the biggest in the County. I have never seen sap run out of a tree like these Ironwood did.
I have several that are still healthy around the 12 inch mark. Tough on the chains, but burns so well. Did you make that big one Into lumber?
Yes, ironwood is in the hop hornbeam family as is blue beech, aka, musclewood. I did not know that folks in the south called blue beech ironwood until a couple years ago. I remember one fella pointing to me some blue beech and calling it ironwood. Hum... Seems he also thought I was crazy when we were walking through our woods with several folks and someone had asked me about ironwood. I don't have many but I pointed some out to him. So the fellow I'm speaking of told me that he was laughing at me as it didn't look like ironwood to him. Ah ha, so they call a different tree as ironwood. Just different areas of the country...
None around my parts that ive ever seen. Is it very rot resistant? Does the bark come off fast when its dies? I could go for an extended freeze up. Brief one in November then on and off mud since.
i've heard osage orange, hophornbeam, blue beech, and pacific dogwood, all called ironwood. but apparently there is many more. Ironwood - Wikipedia
Blue beech is very different from ironwood, at least here. Blue beech outback is nearly 2 ft in diameter, and are generally alive and well. I admittedly whack one or two a year as the wood is great. The ironwood here is mostly dead, and lasts for years on the ground. The larger of the skids I made has been on the ground for at least 5 years and is only gotten on the outer inch. Not as good as locust relative to rot, but burns great.
I see ironwood (hophornbeam) when I’m in the woods with the dogs. I see them only here and there- not a widespread tree by any means in the area. Biggest I’ve seen around here (southern CT) is about 6 in diameter.
I believe it is hop hornbeam, which around here people call it ironwood. You can call it pine, because I know when that stuff hits the stove it burns hot and for a long time.
I've never been to NY. nor have I been east of indiana. so Idk what ppl call anything around there. perhaps you should check this out Ironwood - Wikipedia you'll see "Ironwood" is a very commonly used term. sorry for asking for clarification.
Please do not apologize, actually I do if my responses come across wrong. I was running non stop yesterday so my responses were quick but without any attitude. I find it interesting how many people have terms that are identical for very different trees. The forester I had out marking logs referred to ash as white maple, and basswood as some other form of maple. My apologies again if I came across wrong as it was not my intent
Those would be the biggest HopHornbeam I've ever seen. Looks like you've got the soil and climate for them. Around here they are primarily understory trees, taking what light gets through the oaks, ashes & Hickory. I've four on my property, none over 4" diameter but very shallow soil over bedrock and alkaline soil at that. Same for the American Hornbeam/Blue Beech, over a dozen that must be 50 years old and you would think they are saplings. Largest I've ever seen of those was cut from my neighbors property at roughly 7" diameter. Very interesting wood to work with.
Amazing. I've never seen blue beech get that big. Also it grows mainly in clumps rather than alone. Hard as a rock but the wood does not keep well at all once it is cut. Best to burn it within a year.
This is what I enjoy about our hobby/lifestyle: Most people see a rotting log; we see free heat and an excuse to use power equipment. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk