how to identify between soft maple and hard maple logs?

[CDN Farm Boy]

How do I tell the difference between soft and hard maple when it is still in logs? I can tell when it's still a tree, when it's lumber and when it's a split piece of firewood but not the foggiest idea when it's still in log form. This will be my first year buying logs and splitting myself and currently in our 5th winter of only heating with wood. The biggest thing I have learned so far is that 5 out of 5 suppliers of split wood I've delt with are crooks in one way or another.

While I'll likely be buying from the same guy that KiotiKen uses and not worried about him but if I'm dealing with other loggers I want to be sure. I've been burnt too many times and don't want to end up with a stack of soft maple that might as well be pine

 

[strum456]

Hard maple will be notably heavier. It is slower growing, so its growth rings are generally closer together. It will tend to be a little lighter in color as well, but the color of maple can range.

 

[Garandman]

Differences Between Hard Maple and Soft Maple | The Wood Database

We harvested some Sugar Maples. FWIW I mark cut lengths with a machete and you can tell as soon as you hit it.

 

[DieselnHooters]

I've been burnt too many times and don't want to end up with a stack of soft maple that might as well be pine

Red maple a.k.a soft maple is only soft in relation to sugar maple, it is still fairly dense and heavy and preferable to pine by a wide margin as far as firewood goes.

How can you tell the difference with split pieces and not with logs ? Or have those logs been debarked ?

 

[Looking4new]

How do I tell the difference between soft and hard maple when it is still in logs? I can tell when it's still a tree, when it's lumber and when it's a split piece of firewood but not the foggiest idea when it's still in log form. This will be my first year buying logs and splitting myself and currently in our 5th winter of only heating with wood. The biggest thing I have learned so far is that 5 out of 5 suppliers of split wood I've delt with are crooks in one way or another.

While I'll likely be buying from the same guy that KiotiKen uses and not worried about him but if I'm dealing with other loggers I want to be sure. I've been burnt too many times and don't want to end up with a stack of soft maple that might as well be pine

Can you get Oak, Beech and White or Yellow birch instead and skip the Maple?
I generally start my fires with White Birch, then graduate to Oak and use Beech for all nighters. Yellow Birch comes in handy when the fire is down to coals and you want it going again.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Hard maple will be notably heavier. It is slower growing, so its growth rings are generally closer together. It will tend to be a little lighter in color as well, but the color of maple can range.

I know its heavier but when it's still a log, they are all heavy. Lighter color? I find the opposite - soft is generally whiter while hard has a pink tint to it and very often a bit of fleck in to color but can't judge colour till it's split.

Width of growth rings, check. I'll keep an eye on that.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Differences Between Hard Maple and Soft Maple | The Wood Database

We harvested some Sugar Maples. FWIW I mark cut lengths with a machete and you can tell as soon as you hit it.

Thanks for the link, I'll take a look at that. I'm buying logs so no chance to mark them as they are cut...that would be the easy way

 

[Jstpssng]

The bark on a hard maple is lighter colored, plus it's tight and doesn't flake off easily, whereas on a soft maple it has long scales which easily come off. Can you tell the difference in a standing tree with no leaves? If so, go check out a few to see the difference in bark. Small tree can be tough in winter... I once had a licensed professional forester with 30 years of experience insist that the soft maple we were looking at was hard. (The fact that we were in a cedar swamp should have been a giveaway.)

A useless piece of trivia; on a per pound basis all wood has the same amount of BTUs.

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Red maple a.k.a soft maple is only soft in relation to sugar maple, it is still fairly dense and heavy and preferable to pine by a wide margin as far as firewood goes.

How can you tell the difference with split pieces and not with logs ? Or have those logs been debarked ?

In my stoves, there's a huge difference between soft and hard. Hard easily lasts twice as long and puts out much more heat while doing it. The pine reference was figurative not litteral.

Sounds like you can ID from the bark. This is what I need to learn. All my research either IDs by leaf and tree structure or colour/grain when in lumber (which can be useful looking at the side of a split)

Do tell...

 

[CDN Farm Boy]

Can you get Oak, Beech and White or Yellow birch instead and skip the Maple?
I generally start my fires with White Birch, then graduate to Oak and use Beech for all nighters. Yellow Birch comes in handy when the fire is down to coals and you want it going again.

Yes, that's all available in mixed load here but maple is very common and often the majority