Tree Id

Any idea what type of trees these are? They hinge incredibly well!
Is it either a basswood or ash?

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master of the saw

Just from seeing the bark I’d have to guess basswood. Ash is a harder wood and doesn’t seem to hinge well, likes to snap off.

Nice job on the hinge cutting!! I’d be curious to see how they continue to grow come this spring. Well done

sktrwx2200 wrote:

master of the saw

I plan to cut more on Friday! I have another two acres left to get done before everything starts turning green and the area becomes alive with insects!

The diamond shaped bark looks like ash.

Bassn Dan wrote:

The diamond shaped bark looks like ash.

I thought that too, but all the pictures I googled I didn’t see any ash with the moss on it. Most of the basswoods did have it as well as most of the basswood at our place. Also the really white wood looks more like basswood, ash has some color to the wood in my experience.

Ranger is the wood soft or hard? Basswood is pretty soft and easy to cut, where ash is pretty hard and cuts slower.

White ash??

Looks like the ash we have around our deer shack. That typically has moss on it.

Bob Carlson wrote:

White ash??

this would be my guess, too

Doesn’t Basswood usually grow in clusters of 3-5 trunks coming up?

prieser wrote:

Doesn’t Basswood usually grow in clusters of 3-5 trunks coming up?

Yes it does, I think all you guys are correct, gotta be ash.

All of my ash trees have moss on them. They look exactly like those pictured. I would bet you have great results with those trees and your hinge cutting. I had one of my trees severely damaged by a storm in 2010. Many of the large limbs were broken off and I thought fore sure it was a goner. Well, it has tons of new growth and I think with some thoughtful pruning it could be shaped normally again.

Sadly due to the emerald ash borer invasion it wont be very long until all the ash trees are dead and gone.
In a way like the American Chestnut

Those trees actually cut like butter, so now I’m puzzled.

If they are ash trees, I might as well start cutting as many as possible. I’ve heard the emerald ash borer does not kill the younger trees.

It will be interesting to see how big of a problem the ash borer does here in Central and Northern MN.
Ive read that in temps reaching -20 in the winter they cannot survive so I am hopeful that with a few hearty cold snaps each winter it would kill them off. Granted that doesn’t stop them from coming back up the next year, but maybe it would slow them down.

It’s ash.

ranger777 wrote:

Those trees actually cut like butter, so now I’m puzzled.

If they are ash trees, I might as well start cutting as many as possible. I’ve heard the emerald ash borer does not kill the younger trees.

When the trees leaf out this summer gets some pics of the leaves, then we can identify them more accurately.