Oak Tree identification help

[David B Thornton]

So my dad is getting this tree cut down today on his property and I'm trying to figure out what it is and if it's worth trying to save anything from it and what it actually is. It's an oak and I think I've narrowed it down to the following species by looking through my wood book:

Texas red oak
Spanish oak
Scarlet oak
Red oak
California black oak

I don't think it's a red oak as the leaves are more pointy than those, but wanted to see what everybody thought. The tree people will have to cut it into smaller pieces as it can't just be fallen due to the drain field that is in the back yard. Depending on what type of tree it is, I might try to have him keep the base to just above the first set of branches to potentially get some slabs made out of it. I also do a little work on the lathe, so may also keep some of the more interesting sections of the tree.

It's approximately 4' in diameter.

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[John Vernier]

The shape of the leaves, the acorns, and the tree overall resemble the Pin Oak, of which I have two large examples in my yard in central Indiana. I've raked enough of those leaves to know them very well. I know they aren't native to your region, but like so many species they are a commonly planted shade tree well outside of their native range.

[Mel Fulks]

It's a red oak,there are about twenty kinds used for lumber,and perhaps others that are not used.

[Todd Burch]

I'm with John. Pin Oak. Had one at a previous house.

[Rich Riddle]

My vote goes to pin oak as well. Not very useful for furniture but makes good firewood and pallets.

[David B Thornton]

I had originally ruled out pin oak due to the info I read/saw in my wood book, but now that I look at pictures online, it seems like it could be.

[John TenEyck]

If it turns out to be a pin oak it likely will be nearly worthless for furniture unless you like a very rustic look. I milled one a couple of years ago. It had so many little knots (hence the name I suppose) that there was hardly any clear wood in the thing. Pin oak to me now = firewood. I hope your tree turns out not to be a pin oak.

John

[Bill Adamsen]

The genus Oak has somewhat under 1000 species (depending on who is asked) of which perhaps a significant percentage (50 or so in the USA?) are of the Red Oak (Erythrobalanus) identified by hairy insides on the acorns (White oaks are hairless), pointy leaves and absence of tyloses on the endgrain. Sawyers I know typically use sodium nitrite to "color" white oak which is a quick and positive test. Not having soium nitrite handy, I usually cut the endgrain and used compressed air to blow-out the pores to verify if tyloses exist. There are exceptions to this rule so it is not a totally positive test. Tyloses are the reason White oak is used for boat building. There are also a bunch of asian and european oaks that I'm not sure how they are identified. I rarely get non-native species. There is so much hybridization and introgression within each of the sections, that the term "species" really requires disambiguation.

Based on that leaf .. this is definitely in the Red oak section of the oaks. The Pin oak (Quercus palustris) is a Red oak. This leaf looks like it could be a Pin oak. If it is, as someone else mentioned it is not one of the better Red oaks for woodworking. But Pin oak makes nice firewood.

[David B Thornton]

So here's a few pics of the tree as they're cutting. The larger piece is about 16" diameter and the smaller piece is about a 4" diameter branch that I sawed in half with my bandsaw. Does this help any?

[Ole Anderson]

The leaves have a large sinus like the pin oak I (think) I have, but on mine the lower branches droop. From one source:"A recognizable trait of pin oak is that its lower branches hang down." so I don't think yours is a pin oak. Plus it is primarily found in the Midwest and associated with wet or poorly drained soils. Mine is next to the lake.

[Jim Andrew]

In the middle of Kansas we have Burr Oak. The color of your wood looks like the color. It is under rated, as I like it for projects. You can finish it natural and it looks good.

[Justin Ludwig]

In the middle of Kansas we have Burr Oak. The color of your wood looks like the color. It is under rated, as I like it for projects. You can finish it natural and it looks good.

Burr Oak has an easily identifiable leaf. And the OP's pic is definitely not Burr.

If the OP weren't in WA, I'd bet money it's a Shumard. Pin oaks with hold their leaves until spring new growth begins. It is very similar to Pin.

[Dennis Ford]

Once it is cut down; it does not really matter. It is definitely a member of the red oak family and the wood would be called red oak regardless of which genus it was. If the wood looks good, saw it up for lumber, otherwise split it for firewood.

[Danny Hamsley]

Definitely not a pin oak. Not enough lobes on the leaves, and the acorns are wrong, much too big. Because the sinus extends more that halfway to the midrib, it is not northern red oak, although the acorns look right. I believe that it is a shumard oak, Quercus shumardii. This is a commonly planted oak as an ornamental. In its native range, it is a fine timber tree, grows in the bottoms, and is one of the best of the Southern oaks in the red oak group.

Justin is dead on the money.

It does resemble texas oak, but there is no reason for it to be in Washington State, and it is not commonly planted as an ornamental. Scarlet oak also has the sinus extending more than halfway to the midrib, but the acorns are wrong. The acorn cup in scarlet oak covers over half the nut.

Here is some info on shumard oak.

http://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=169

[Jim Dwight]

I don't know what it is but I agree it is in the Red Oak family. The branch looks nice. I like red oak more than white oak because I like the color better. Your's has nice red color. I'd like to make a large slab table for our dining room and a four foot diameter trunk would slab out nicely. The place where the branches come out of the trunk will have some very interesting grain but be more difficult to work with because of that interesting grain. I would want that in the slab. Another place where there will be interesting grain is in the stump. But it is difficult to get cut up. You need to have heavy equipment to push it out of the ground so you can cut off the roots, then clean it, and then find someone that will risk their blade cutting it (rocks, etc). Trees from the yard are not favorites for cutting up due to nails and other material often found in them.

Limb wood tends to be unstable. OK to experiment with, however. I would look for somebody with a bandsaw mill who could come to you to cut it up (Woodmizer has a listing on their website). I'd get the trunk cut up, at least. There is a lot of good wood there and the fact it came from family property would add to it's value.

[Scott T Smith]

David, it's clearly a member of the red oak family and the second photo that you posted shows a lot of defects in at least one face of the trunk. I'm with the others re pin oak.

Typically the deciding factor regarding milling is log quality. If you can snap a photo showing each face of the bottom 12' of so of the tree, either myself or one of the other sawyers on SMC can share some advice regarding log (and resulting lumber) quality. If you have 2 or 3 clear faces, then it is probably worth milling.

[Allan Speers]

Whatever it is, it grew really fast. I love the color, but I'm not fond of those wide growth rings.

I'd bear that in mind when deciding if it's worth milling.

Then again, "free" wood is free wood. Do you have a local sawyer who can cut it on the cheap?