With the snow melting and "warmer weather" I hit up the city landfill. Scrounged some Ash, Locust, Aspen, Cottonwood and Elm. I'm curious, what are the tell tail signs of Locust? I feel at times I confuse Locust and Elm. I think Elm is easy to identify by the coffee colored dark center in the wood. How are other identifying Locust? I'll head back this week to pick up more Elm logs.
Identifying elm is easy. Look just up and a little to the left, and you’ll usually find an FHC member complaining about how hard it is to split.
Siberian Elm and BL can look alot alike Ive been fooled once before. BL can have a darker center ( think of dried mulberry) its not always yellow. SE has a cinnamon smell imo, and sometimes has the white stains on the bark. If the tree is stranding the structure of it is also good indicator since elms usually have the classic V shape. Expierence is really the best answer I can think of. I have some darker BL in this picture but have seen it even darker than this.
The bark looks like the black locust i scrounge around here. Ive only encountered it with darker colored heartwood once. Try splitting one and youll know its locust as it pops rather easily. Nice score BTW!
One way i id black locust is bark that comes off like a "rope". Very fibrous, chunky, and usually thick. Well over an inch normally.
Stopped at my local stump dump this morning to get rid of some yard waste ; I checked the piles as always = I got nothing. Good score for you , I always check when I go there to see if there is anything worth loading. Not today.
Was this in Town? The few times ive gone with brush theres nothing or i may have been tossed in the dumpsters.
There's a lot more of it at the dump. Some bigger 24-32" logs. I'm stumped on whether it's Elm or BL. It is VERY dense, heavier than Ash. I smelled some of it today and it's got a slight manure smell. Thick bark
Have you tried splitting any? Locust splits rather easily by hand. Can you section those big rounds at the dump to load?
Glad someone scored at the dump. I haven't seen a decent log at the city green waste dump for months. Too cold, muddy, wet, and the wood that has showed up is mostly sweet gum and Bradford pear that was planted all over town 30-40 years ago. I've pulled a few oak logs out and by the time I get back the next day they're gone. I guess if someone needs wood now vs me planning for year 3 I won't get too upset.
