Should I walk away from this wood?

[Brian Effinger]

I have driven by this downed tree several times lately and finally decided to stop and check it out.

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All of the little cracks don't bother me, but the cracks that follow the rings do. I have a funny feeling that this tree is no good, but would like a little confirmation.

Thanks guys! :)

[Steve Schlumpf]

I suppose you could chainsaw off a few inches (feet?) to see if there is any good wood left - but with just the 2 photos to go on - I would find something else to turn. JMO

[Frank Van Atta]

Hard to say without seeing the actual wood. I think I would try chainsawing off about 6 or 8 inches of the log in the first picture and see what the wood looks like inside. If nothing else, you might be able to get some decent smaller forms out of it.

[Brian Effinger]

Most, if not all, of the logs have the circular cracks on the ends. The other thing that worries me is that all of the bark is off and on the ground. I believe this came down last fall.

The wood is near the sidewalk on the opposite side of a chain link fence, so I was able to examine it easily, but I haven't approached the home owner yet. I may go over later in the week when it isn't raining and inquire about taking a few pieces and see how they cut up. While I am worried about it, I just can't seem to pass up possibly free wood. ;)

[William Bachtel]

Looks like wind shake, happens when the wind shakes the tree, and cause cracks another the growth rings.

[Jeff Rich]

If it has ring or wind shake leave it or cut it for firewood.
Cheri nearly had her head taken of by some box elder with ring shake.
Just my 2 cents

[Richard Madison]

Might make a difference what kind of tree/wood it is. Maybe worth some extra effort, maybe not.

[Ryan Baker]

You really can't tell anything from the end cracks. You need to cut back the ends and see how far the cracks go. Lob off 6-12 inches and you will either have something solid or you will know not to waste any more time on it.

[Joseph M Lary]

With all that sun light on it for all this time, the bark missing . Unless there is some logs with bark and in the shade I would pass . Life too short to mess with bad wood. :D That stuff look like it been there for some time .

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Unless you are really hard up for wood, I wouldn't bother.
Looks like that tree's been dead for a while with all the bark off it already, can't tell for sure but it could be Elm, anyway if you want it, cut some pieces off of it to look at the wood farther from the end, but it's probably like that all through, just the stump part there might have still some decent wood in it, but to me it wouldn't be worth going for it :-(

[Bernie Weishapl]

Sounds like wind shake to me and I myself would walk away from it.