Tree identification help and turning info about said tree.

[Ian Parish]

Around the corner from where I live here in Bluffdale, which is a suburb of SLC Utah, I have seen a number of big and very old, meaning large trunks of 36+ inches in diameter trees that I need help identifying. The trunks are dark black and have deep bark that looks like a maple or deeper. From about a 3rd or half way up the trees trunk and branches are paper birch. Are these birch or a variation?

Is this good turning. I saw one of these taken down today and there is a semi truck load of bowl blanks on a front lawn. Should I beat the door down for as much as I can load? How does it turn?

Thanks
Ian

[Dennis Ford]

I can't help with ID but highly recommend that you get at least one piece and try it; if it is any type of birch then it is good for turning.

[Olaf Vogel]

Um...if you have any experience in turning green wood, or would like to have said experience, then.... Go for it!
However, those sizes are heavy, so (unlike me) be smart about moving 200 lbs blanks. Don't ask how I know....

If the stuff is free, why not try it?

[Thomas Canfield]

I can't help ID either, but the suggestion to try a chunk is a good one. I was loading some Elm limb wood (15 to 16" D x 2'L) yesterday and was offered more after I had my truck mostly loaded. Discretion told me to pass on the additional wood and I just have to say there will be more. So far I have cut and sealed 10 of the 15 sections and have about 5 hours in the preparation and a big pile to work around. Good luck with your decision and let us know how it "turns" out.

[Al Wasser]

Suggest you visit a local library. Find a book on the trees of Utah or similar. Your tree might also be sycamore

[Robert Henrickson]

Contact a local university or agricultural extension service -- they would be able to ID local trees.

[Reed Gray]

There are birch that look like that, black coarse bark at the stump, and more typical birch bark higher up the tree. Sycamore can be similar. Most of the sycamore that is west of the Rockies is London Plane. It also can have coarse bark near the ground and be more typical higher up. Most of the Plane here looks more calico in its bark patterns, while the sycamore from back in Missery (Missouri, or Missoura as Grandma used to say) will be more light/white colored. If you quarter saw the log sections, sycamore/plane will have beautiful medullary ray patterns. The birch, not so much. I know there are a lot of big cotton wood trees out there as well.

robo hippy

[Jim Burr]

If you have a USFS office in town, they can give you a positive ID 100% of the time.

[Mike Cruz]

Pictures of said tree are your best bet for tree ID...

[Ian Parish]

There are birch that look like that, black coarse bark at the stump, and more typical birch bark higher up the tree.

robo hippy

They are Birch for sure then. I know they are not London Plane, and not Cotton woods. Thanks for the help, I will go see if I can load the truck, wish me luck.

Ian