That tiller is about perfect, isn't it? Wow
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Hophornbeam and hornbeam are close relatives and really similar wood, but Hophornbeam grows much bigger and straighter. I used to see it more in the deeper woods among the Maples and Beech. I found hornbeam more on the edges along fields, and it was much more schrubby in it's growth. I've only seen a couple that were large and straight enough to make a bow out of. Hornbeam has smooth gray bark that shows off the "muscle" appearance really well. Hophornbeam has shaggy bark, so you don't see the muscling as well. They are both really tough woods, and you'll be sharpening your chainsaw pretty often if you get into alot of it. I made a hornbeam staff once, about 66" long, and 1" to 1.5" in diameter end-end. It could support all my weight suspended from the middle, and hardly flexed, with me weighing 200# at the time. It was way to heavy for a walking stick though
