Wood ID

Exactly. Of all the box elder I've cut, only a very small percentage of it has had the red inner section. That red goes away quickly upon seasoning too.

 

Yeah, box elder is much lighter than any maple, even though it's in the maple family.

 

According to the chart BTUs are a little higher than silver maple, much better than Cottonwood I have.
The ash is running out around here so I got to get what I can get

 

Yeah, it's decent burning wood. Much better heat than poplar, cottonwood, etc.

I'd take silver maple over box elder for the way that silver splits vs elder. Elder is much harder to get nice uniform splits from.

 

Well, these smallish rounds I have here split real nice, pop quick n nice

 

I think most of the elder I cut is trunks that are growing at crazy angles, unlike most tree trunks do. These act more like branches than trunks. So that might explain it.

 

Could it be cottonwood?

 

Nope, different grain, not as stringy as Cottonwood, different bark, burns a lot longer, doesn't smell like Cottonwood

 

That's definitely box elder. I cut about three cords of it a couple weeks ago. Except for the largest trunk, near the base, none of it had red streaks. It splits easily if it's fresh and often will split cross-grain because it is a very weak wood. Decent heat value although it's stinky if it's not thoroughly dry.