Yeah check it next year - you might be looking for something you can burn anyway right? That why maple is always a good score. You can either burn it almost right away, or you gotta wait a bit, but its as good as oak. I'm almost 100% sure though. I got pretty good at spotting the bark; I had 11 of them tapped last year, and I'm going to have twice that this spring. I know Scotty Overkill did too though - wonder if he'd care to weigh in again with the new pics?
Yep, those leaves are definately sugar maple.......it likes are on 2 years from optimal MC. And its every bit as good as most oak.....just doesn't give the coal bed that oak does. I love love LOVE me some sugar maple!!!
Red maple leaf on left, sugar maple leaf on right. Hope it's sugar but either way it'll heat the house.
Those are both sugar I think. Red maple leaves are highly variable though. Red on the left, sugar on the right.
It was left in longer lengths which was nice so I'm css'ing some of it today. Using the cart I snagged for the first time too..
The black trailer is exactly that.. It was bought as a car hauler and has some nice features. It has a winch and some nice brackets that keep the ramps from tipping when loading a car or tractor.
I think that both of your leaves are red maple Shawn. The crook between the lobes on a sugar maple is cupped. The way I was taught was to think of it as a sugar bowl. Look at LP's post. The sugar has the bowl between, the red is cut sharp.
I drive over the rounds and they shoot out of the tube right into the trailer. Who knew there was such an easy way to split and load wood???
Hoping it's sugar but I stacked it with the oak from last month regardless. I should be in good shape for next year anyway so it won't be used till 16/17 at the earliest. The stuff under the tarp is ash, silver maple, Bradford pear, and a little black walnut for next year. The stuff in the rack is oak and mulberry for next year.
Well I got the last of it today and it was a debacle..lol.. The wood was in a backyard at the bottom of a hill - last two times I was there there the fence was down for equipment access so I could back right up to the pile. This time I had to carry them up a hill then a narrow set of rickety stairs to the driveway where my truck was. I brought two sharp chains and on my first cut I hit a chunk of metal. Put on the second chain and started noodling them up with my ms251 and an 18" bar..lol.. I really appreciate the wood but I could tell the mess I was making was bothering him - told him I would clean it all up when I was done but he busted out his leaf vacuum and was just way to close to me for comfort sucking up chips while I was running the saw. I wanted to noodle or rip all of them one more time but my chain was getting dull and I just wanted to get out of there so I got one heck of a workout carrying these bad boys..
Drvn, Stacks are really filling up now, you've been at it this year! Miller time tonight. By the way, I'm glad I'm not the only one that can occasionally confuse sugar and red maples. I had one this summer that the leaf looked slightly bowl shaped in the lobe, but still a little V shaped too... Silver maple on the other hand, has pretty distinctive shaped leaves. Either way, it's good to have some softer wood to light your fires and for shoulder season.
Looks like some good exercise! Some pretty looking wood there too. Should fill up that stack nicely. 110% sure that's sugar maple.
I ended up on the scrounge like that one time had to Haul the wood out of the backyard with a steep hill in my buggy, the worst part was there was an inch of snow on the ground
