Stringiness looks like Elm. But the bark looks different than the Elm here. How big a diameter was the tree?
Have your wife do it. I ask my wife to smell my wood all the time. my excuse is her nose is better than mine.
Didn't see that coming.... (FWIW, I was thinking oak too) There appears to be red oak in both pics but seldom see it split like that....
Based on what's left of the bark, and the beige heartwood, and the curly grain/strings of the top pic, I'm all-in with White oak. No sniff necessary. But helpful in putting it to bed.
Bark looks like white oak, one whif will tell the tale if that is true......can you say whiskey barrel
I love the smell of red oak...it's undeniable and distinct, folks either love it or hate it but then I love the smell of circus elephants so go figure.... I really get no smell from white oak
The bark does look similar. This was some of the nastiest splitting wood I have seen. I'll have to see if I can dig up some more pieces tomorrow.
That's a tough ID. Almost anything can get that stringy, given the right conditions. Unfortunately, doing an ID by pictures alone is often difficult. My initial reaction based on the bark is that is red maple. I've had pieces of maple do that to me before, the bark looks right, you say there is no distinct smell, and the wood does not show the very distinct grain characteristic of the oaks. The colors of the sapwood (bright white) and heartwood (brownish) also indicate maple to me. It might also be hickory but again, hard to tell. It definitely isn't elm.
