Stinky SPF 2x4

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truckjohn

New User
John
Hey guys,

Got a strange question... Hoping for some identification help.

I found a scrapped piece of an SPF 2x4 that I was going to use for a project...
Looked a whole lot like Spruce or Fir -- Med rays not particularly prominent, even on split out stock.... Wood color.. Looks like light greenish/brownish/tan-ish Spruce or Fir...

Weight/Stiffness -- It is quite hard/dense... It feels quite a bit more dense and stiffer than the same piece of most 2x4 spruce... It also seems kinda splitty compared to most spruce.

The thing that throws me off is the smell... or more correctly the Stench! I split out a section... and it smells totally rancid.... Awful, sour, horrible smell whenever cutting or working it... I have never smelled any Fir or Spruce that smells quite like this before.

What could this be?

I googled it up and it indicated maybe Yew?? Anyone heard of Yew ever being sold as SPF 2x4?

Thanks

John
 

Ray Martin

New User
Ray
John,

I'll defer to the folks who are a lot smarter than me on the actual identification but... SPF is generally what the name implies; spruce, pine, or fir. Since pressure treated is meant to be structural rather than pretty, cheap but structurally sound stuff is used. The greenish tinge is from the pt chemicals... specifically the copper. Weight can just be moisture. I've picked up two sticks from the same bundle of pt wood and found significant differences in weight... and moisture.

Smell could certainly be the species... it could also be mold or bacteria. If it's just one 2X4, I think I'd toss the one you have and go to the BORG for a new one... for just a couple of bucks.
 

Joe Scharle

New User
Joe
Anyone heard of Yew ever being sold as SPF 2x4?

Actually you may have picked up a stick of Western Phew :rotflm:
 

CrealBilly

New User
Jeff
Every once in a while a rancid pine log hits the mill... I just throw it in the slab pile to be burned later. IE - what I'm saying is, trash it.
 

truckjohn

New User
John
Not pressure treated....
I don't usually have any trouble telling the difference between PT and untreated SPF 2x4's...:eusa_danc

This is also Kiln Dried... (Marked as such..) so I wouldn't expect it to be green... and usually green wood is pretty soft stuff... this is quite hard, kinda like Douglas.

At first, I thought it was Sitka because of the color.... but it doesn't have the strong Medullary rays like Sitka always has....

It is currently pretty close to becoming fire... and moving on to the next piece... I just hate to buy a whole 2x4 when I only need 6" worth.

Thanks

John
 

Dragon

New User
David
Hey guys,
The thing that throws me off is the smell... or more correctly the Stench! I split out a section... and it smells totally rancid.... Awful, sour, horrible smell whenever cutting or working it... I have never smelled any Fir or Spruce that smells quite like this before.

What could this be?

I googled it up and it indicated maybe Yew?? Anyone heard of Yew ever being sold as SPF 2x4?

Thanks

John

Okay, since you didn't specify what the intended use is...........
1. Project for Mother-in-Law? Use it.
2. Project for someone you don't like? Use it.
3. For personal use where ya gotta deal with it everyday? Toss it out and go buy a chunk of 2X4.
 

petebucy4638

Pete
Corporate Member
John,

I'll defer to the folks who are a lot smarter than me on the actual identification but... SPF is generally what the name implies; spruce, pine, or fir. Since pressure treated is meant to be structural rather than pretty, cheap but structurally sound stuff is used. The greenish tinge is from the pt chemicals... specifically the copper. Weight can just be moisture. I've picked up two sticks from the same bundle of pt wood and found significant differences in weight... and moisture.

Smell could certainly be the species... it could also be mold or bacteria. If it's just one 2X4, I think I'd toss the one you have and go to the BORG for a new one... for just a couple of bucks.

SPf does not absorb PT materials very well, that is why you never see SPF PT in any lumber yard. I had to have some SPF treated years ago for a roof deck. The outside of the boards were a light green signifying that it had taken in some of the treatment, but the inside was virtually unaffected and was was still the natural SPF color.

I don't know what could cause this issue, though I agree that tossing it is probably a good idea.

Pete
 

FlyingRon

Moderator
Ron
SPf does not absorb PT materials very well, that is why you never see SPF PT in any lumber yard.

Huh? PT wood around here is almost always southern pine which is often what is being sold as SPF. Of course if it's doug fir in your SPF, you will have a harder time treating it. It's really more an issue of the sapwood vs. heartwood component (the latter does not absorb well).
 

vdubnut62

New User
Ron
I have 25 acres of hemlock, sawed a bunch of it into lumber- sawed dead, green,storm downed etc.
never ran into any that stunk! :dontknow:
Ron
I have sawed a BUNCH of stinky red oak though.
 

petebucy4638

Pete
Corporate Member
Huh? PT wood around here is almost always southern pine which is often what is being sold as SPF. Of course if it's doug fir in your SPF, you will have a harder time treating it. It's really more an issue of the sapwood vs. heartwood component (the latter does not absorb well).

Southern Yellow Pine is never sold as SPF or even SPFS; they are graded by different bureaus. Virtually everything in this part of the world that is pressure treated is Southern Yellow Pine. Go to any lumber yard in the east and SPF will almost invariably be spruce. The fact that they include fir within that grading bureaus jurisdiction is mostly an artifact of the days when fir was much more abundant. You will find fir much more common in the western states but even there it has mostly been supplanted by spruce.

Spruce does not absorb pressure treating materials well and it is not because it is a sappy wood, as SYP is.

Pete
 

Scwood

New User
BigJoe
Did it look like this?
GEDC0873.jpg



I have some lumber like that.I posted this pic a couple of months ago and almost gave the same description.I want to say the guys here mostly thought it was ash.I will say the smell is VERY dominate.
 
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