Big Ash Tree

[ArborJake]

 Hey all, A customer of mine just sent me some pictures of us taking down a big Ash last fall. When we got there to do the job he informed me that his neighbor was installing an irrigation system and the property border would be torn anyway up so we were able to drop the trunk after topping out the tree. Then when we went to fell the trunk it was hollow a good way through. Made removing it from the back yard through his narrow walk way alot easier. For jobs like this I try to use my little ford tractor with the turf tires so as not to tear things up. Thought you guy's might enjoy the pics.

  

  

  

 

[WDH]

Did you realize that there was someone trapped inside that tree all these years ???.

That was a big old ash tree for sure!  Good job.  (I hope everybody came out OK  ).

[thecfarm]

I'm surprised that was the only critter living in that tree.   ;D ;D

[ArborJake]

  The cavity in that tree was all closed in. Must have had a wound that closed but continue to decay inside.

[DeerMeadowFarm]

I had a big ash tree come down this year (unfortunately hitting my 10' lime spreader in the process) and this one was hollow as well. Is this common with big ash trees?


 

[lumberjack48]

When we put logging roads in, my dad would hunt the woods for hollow trees to use for culverts.
That was a one nice Ash tree.
I've cut a lot of Ash, never seen a hollow one or one with a hole, if there a little bad there black in the center.

[ArborJake]

 Ive taken down quit a few large old ash and most of them were solid too. Not like cherry or sugar maple.

[Al_Smith]

I've flopped some big ones and only found one hollow one .

Last summer I helped a buddy trimmer slice up the fattest ash I've ever seen or ever heard of ,63" .Solid as a rock .A 18" slice of it weighed about 1600 -1800 pounds .Two slices would equal close to a cord .Imagine that .

[ArborJake]

 That was one big ash tree. The biggest ive ever cut measured 54" on the large end and 46" on the small end. Found an iron closeline pulley in it, but not until I was burning it for firewood.

[DeerMeadowFarm]

Found an iron closeline pulley in it, but not until I was burning it for firewood.

Much better to find it then than with the saw!  ;)

[Okrafarmer]

Wish I had some nice ash to mill here.

[ArborJake]

 I offerd that tree to someone with a band mill and he did not want it because of the risk of metal. Guess he was right. The tree grew with a twist and was very hard to split. Really weird for Ash right. I never found the pulley in the tree untill I went down to throw some wood on the stove and saw it glowing in the coals. Always wonderd what the lumber would have looked like with that twist in the grain?

[beenthere]

.............Always wonderd what the lumber would have looked like with that twist in the grain?

Think airplane propeller.....

[Al_Smith]

Oh ash makes some dandy lumber .They used to call it the poor mans oak .Quarter sawn it does resemble quarter sawn white oak .

I for one am saving every good lumber log I get because once it's gone it will be gone for who knows how long even if it does by some miracle come back .

If I can get a pic through this is one of those monster 60 plus inch we cut up last fall .Myself with a souped 038 Mag and a 32" bar and my bud with a 660 sporting a 36" over an hour just to buck the mains on these things .

 

[ArborJake]

 Yea,  thats definately a big old Ash. Who got the honor of splitting it up?

[MHineman]

  In this part of Indiana, most areas with trees were wet and also used to shelter livestock.  Most of the time there hasn't been any livestock around the trees for 30 to 40 years, but you can still see the signs at the base of the tree.
  Those trees are very often hollow.  Sometimes it goes up 20 feet and sometimes only 2 or 3 feet, but you do lose some of the log.
  I cut an Ash about 34 inch DBH last year where hogs had been kept until about 30 years ago.  At 24 feet up it was about 24 inch DIB with 8 to 10 inch hollow all the down to about 14 inch hollow at the stump.

[Al_Smith]

Yea,  thats definately a big old Ash. Who got the honor of splitting it up?

There were two of them that size right along the road ditch .The farmer kept the wood ,I suppose he split it .

I think there were about 6 -8 trees on that job all ash .The smallest was about 3 feet across .It was in the neighborhood of 4500 bucks but they had a whole crew and three days doing it .Chipped the brush ,bucked the wood and left it ,ground the stumps .

In addition there was a 20 acre woods right behind those big ash that had 4 feet oak,nice ones .

[Jemclimber]

I'm sure you appreciated the hollow when getting it out of the back yard.

[ArborJake]

 Yea , everyone had the same thought when we saw it. Everyone kinda had the same type of grin.