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In 1990-1991 segments of boles from felled sugar maple (Acer saccharum), yellow birch (Betula alleghaniensis) and American beech (Fagus grandifolia) trees were placed in the field to study the rate of decomposition and nutrient loss (or gain) over time. The segments incubated in the field, ranging from 0.5-1.3 meters in length, were paired with fresh segments from the same trees. The fresh segments were taken to the lab shortly after felling, dried, weighed and subsampled. Fresh samples of wood and bark were collected separately. Incubated bole segments were collected in 1993 (T1), 1997 (T2), 2001 (T3), 2007 (T4) and 2015/2016 (T5). The whole bole segments were transported to the lab, measured, dried and weighed to determine mass loss. Subsamples of the bole wood and bark were collected for chemical analysis, including C, N, H, Ca, Mg, K, Si, Al, Pb, Zn, Mn and Fe. Chemical analyses were conducted concurrently on the fresh (T0) and incubated samples. This data set includes the masses of the fresh and incubated boles along with the concentrations of the chemical analytes. Element pools in the boles can be calculated by multiplying the concentrations by the mass values. This data set includes chemical data for samples collected in 1993, 2001, and 2007 and their paired fresh samples. Samples from 1997 were measured for mass, but inadvertently discarded prior to chemical analysis. These data were gathered as part of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study (HBES). The HBES is a collaborative effort at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, which is operated and maintained by the USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station.