My Champion Tree is Dying..It's Dead...New One!

[Magicman]

BTW what is the official name of Cherrybark oak? 

That is Jeff,   :D  Oh you meant the name of the tree?   ??? 

Quercus pagoda.  It's named for the pagoda look of the leaves.

[kensfarm]

Wow that is an amazing tree to have to enjoy.. are there offspring tree's around it?

Maybe make a memento plaque.. my brother made one from a big old oak tree on my parents farm that had to be taken down.. he then carved a picture of the tree on the plaque.. it looked pretty cool.  Sorry about your tree..

[Magicman]

Life goes on and the "new" Champion Tree will just have to step up to the plate and accept it's rightful status. 

I do plan to save a few specimens next week to make something out of.

[killamplanes]

I am a betting man that ur trees alot older than 150yrs. I have found out atleast around here that the tree is always older then we think. Last winter I cut a burr oak that went veneer small end of first log 10ft was 44in flared but 52in. Anyway buddy started counting rings got lost at 125 I guessed 100 it was in good soil plenty of moisture. My 2c

[WDH]

When I was in Forestry School, cherrybark oak was considered a variety of southern red oak, Quercus falcata.   Since then, it has been given its own species status. 

It is very shade intolerant, so it self prunes quickly, producing clear logs, the very best of the southern lowland oaks.  Here is one on the mill.



 

[Ed_K]

 WDH, did the boards split where the heart wood and sap wood meet?

[WDH]

No Sir. 

[Magicman]

Yup, I now have a new Champion Tree.  Apparently it has been for the past couple of years because it was still growing and the old tree was declining.


 
Yup, that is 242" at breast height making it ~77"dbh which is larger than the old tree ever was.  It is the 5th picture in Reply #21 above.

Next I got my Tree Farm Inspection and review.


 
The Forester/Inspector is make an increment bore.


 
The core shows almost ½" per year growth and 3/8" for the past three years.  This suggests that these 11 year old trees are maintaining their growth target to be thinned at 18 years with the majority being chip-n-saw.



 
I was then obligated to carry the Inspector to our famous Fried Chicken restaurant.


 
And eat an unlimited amount of Fried Chicken.  This was the first of my three plates.   

[Peter Drouin]

That is to bad MM, Long live the new one. :D :D :D

[RHP Logging]

 The tree is definitely older than you think.  Unless you cut it down you'll never know and chances are you might not have rings to read. This white oak was on top of this hill for 250 years.  I hated cutting it and so did the landowner but it was in the way of his expanding gravel pit.  He felt really bad when I told him all old it was.  It was 40" on the stump. It made two tens and and 8 ft log.  A cord of pulp in 8 ft lengths and I'm not sure what they got out of it after they cut the rest.

 

[Jeff]

You guys in Illinois and Wisconsin forget to consider that Magicman is dang near in the tropics. The growing seasons are far longer than they are up here. He has also lived there his entire life and knows the history of the property. I can't imagine even thinking of second guessing his experience and knowledge.

[RHP Logging]

Typical harvest trees here are 100-150 years old.  That's 20-40" diameter stuff usually. I've cut 16" hickory that was 180 years old. I've also cut 16" hickory that was 60 years old.  It all depends on the tree, soil, sunlight, climate, etc. I'm not arguing with him. I will just bet it's much older than 150.  Probably never know for sure though.

[WDH]

Down here in deep grits and boiled peanut country, we can see growth rates of 1/2" radially or 1" in diameter. 40" oaks that are 60 to 80 years old are not uncommon on good sites.  That is not the average, though, for sure.  I posted a thread about a 45" diameter at DBH oak that died and I was able to saw.  It was 112 years old.  That is diameter growth of a little less then 1/2" per year.  Pretty good growth.  Here is the link.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,55404.0.html

[killamplanes]

Ya I forgot about the deep south. Here 20yrs growth is nothing. If I talk to a land owner and him or his family has ever heard of the land being logged I am hesitant to even walk it. Very seldom do I find worthy tree to log.  But of course are winters include snow haha..

[Magicman]

Curiosity plus conversation on another thread made me look at the deed today where my Great-Grandfather bought this particular 168.67 acre parcel of land in 1904.  Including 10% interest and 10% attorney fee, he paid $363.00 financed for three years.  There were three payments of $121.00 each due on the 13th of December, 1905, 1906, and 1907.

I am sure that the due date was by design because by then all of the crops would be in.  I inherited a portion and bought the remainder of the property in 2004, exactly 100 years later.  The original deed, which I have, is hand drawn on linen cloth.

[OH logger]

thats very cool magicman. how cool to pass that down to the next generation ;)

[Sixacresand]

I had the opportunity to see the champion tree and meet some mighty fine people at the Davis Farm and Chicken Crispin.

[killamplanes]

Curiosity plus conversation on another thread made me look at the deed today where my Great-Grandfather bought this particular 168.67 acre parcel of land in 1904.  Including 10% interest and 10% attorney fee, he paid $363.00 financed for three years.  There were three payments of $121.00 each due on the 13th of December, 1905, 1906, and 1907.

I am sure that the due date was by design because by then all of the crops would be in.  I inherited a portion and bought the remainder of the property in 2004, exactly 100 years later.  The original deed, which I have, is hand drawn on linen cloth.

Its amazing how things use to be bought and sold. know in days ever T has to be crossed and I has to be dotted. I'm glad to see land retained for that many years within the family. Money gets spent, and replaced, they don't make land anymore. I have bought several hundred acres in last couple years. I clear cut a creek, all soft wood overmature (cottonwood, sycamore). Grossed 24k in a 7ac plot on both sides of a creek. To bad the rest of the 160ac wasn't timber like that just tillable. Linen cloth :D :D