As soon as I can figure out what kind of wood this is it’ll be a clock.
I thought you didn’t like to cut wood.
Allergies, I think. Or, maybe that was someone else…like me.
@George_Allen your right brother, but with access to a dust boot now… I’ve always been jealous of the amazing things guys make in wood! But do want to know what it is before I get into it.
@Brandon_Satterfield 
. I don’t know about the wood. I’m sure they wood on the wood working forums.
Wood looks somewhat like cedar but bark doesn’t, start cutting and the smell will provide a hint 
Great thought @donkjr I thought the same before I started cutting last week. It had none of that pleasant aroma. It actually had s bit of a sour smell. The tree grew very odd as well multiple branches slowly grew together over the years and became the trunk. It kills off one main branch about every 3-4 years after they grow together.
Other cedars on my property grow like normal trees.
Was it completely dead or do you have some leaves? Showing smaller branches would help. Did the tree produce anything like a pod or spiky balls perhaps? Where are you located? If I had to guess from looking at what’s presented, I would go with Some type of maple Maple.
If you are going to cut it into rounds, I would let it dry as long as possible before cutting from the log. From the way you describe the growth, there are going to be some stresses on there and the rounds will split and check.
@Kelly_Burns thank you for input. We are in Houston, native pine, cypress and Oak. Not seen a tree grow like this. I am letting sections dry now. I had images of leaves I was going to use but phone issue happened.
It was very much alive with new branches but killed off old ones as it grew.
The residents prior where a couple of PhDs from India. There are plenty of fruit trees and curry (can’t get rid of this plant) and this tree. Oddly enough it is cracking as it dries. Maybe time to throw in the towel on this one.
@Alex_Krause you are wood guy…
Hard telling. Looks like a hardwood to me. Possible oak, but that wood looks pretty yellow in the pics. The pics of smaller branches definitely look like oak. Can you slice one of the branches into in half longways? Regardless, always fun to make something with wood from your own yard. If it were me, I would slow down the drying by sealing them and keeping them out of the sun.
There you go. Awesome @Kelly_Burns so slow down the drying now to stop the cracks?
Think you see where I’m coming from. Told my 13 yo to haul it off till I saw the inside. Would make something nice I’m sure. Got a lot of character. Now I have a good sized stump sitting out there till I figure out what I’m doing with help of you guys.
Seal it with something like Thompson’s? Don’t laugh if that’s far left field. :-).
Will woods cross pollinate like fruit? Maybe the curry that’s around it added to the aroma?
Any type of sealer you have. I seal the ends of logs before i them with anything from old leftover paint to thinned down poly. I’ll eventually cut the ends off of the slabs so I don’t care what it looks like. Since you are going to make something on the face, I would use a clear finish on both sides. Thompson’s will work.
I won’t guarantee that It won’t check and crack, but I can assure you it will reduce it and make it less likely.
Definitely don’t take them inside where the AC is on bad humidity is low. Put them on some strips of wood so Air gets to both sides.
@Brandon_Satterfield as for cross pollination, I haven’t ever heard of that. Otherwise, I would assume at this point in the earth’s history, there would only be a few species.