iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Favorite Tree?

Started by lxskllr, November 18, 2018, 07:37:37 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

lxskllr

What kind of tree you all like? I guess for the purposes of this discussion it can be interpreted any way you like. Wood, a living tree, dead tree, fruits/nuts...

I love oak. AFAIC, it's the king of trees. Huge, long lived, attractive shape, and a good home for critters. I also like the wood for creating objects. I especially like the old government issue office furniture that was always solid oak. The open grain is attractive, and it takes a beating well, gaining character as it ages.

My father liked walnut. I don't get it. The wood's kind of bland. and black walnuts are terrible to use as food. The nut tastes too strong, and they're almost impossible to open. My father had to go to hospital twice with burned hands from shelling walnuts. He had a bad reaction to a chemical in the husks. I have them all over the property courtesy of the tree rats  :^D

thecfarm

Good question.
I have butternut here. Only 3-4,but my father would always talk about them.
And the snag barh hickory too. Only have a clump of 3 of them. Than there is the elm tree coming up what is the driveway now,use to be the woods road. The cherries trees has died. But there are a few more growing as crooked as they can. Can't forget the big rock maple that shaded the farmhouse.Really these few trees got all the attention on The Farm.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

lxskllr

I don't have a keen grasp of hickory. I see them in the woods on jobs, but I guess I don't pay particular attention. For job site trees, I really like beech. They get some interesting shapes, and the smooth bark is nice. Close to civilization, they can accumulate a nice collection of graffiti carved into the bark. I like to imagine the people from 1972, and wonder what they're up to today, and if Tina still loves Mark  :^D

Southside

My favorite would be the one that a customer is paying me for.  After that I don't know that I have a favorite but I do have an appreciation and soft spot for Eastern Red Cedar.  Such an under appreciated tree in this area, and so slow to grow, provides food and shelter, along with beautiful lumber.  On my own land I do everything I can to avoid harvesting them.  
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

lxskllr

ERC is nice. My favorite native conifer. I have them lining my driveway. I transplanted them from job sites. I have a dead one I brought home from work. It had a really neat shape, but the limbs have broken off beating around over the years. It's on the front porch now, but I used to have it propped up in a corner in the house.

WV Sawmiller

   Either white oak or dogwood. White oak is big straight grained. durable wood, with good food for assorted wildlife. Dogwood is great for most all wildlife. It is the first thing to bloom in the spring, make a great little shade tree, has pretty red berries/fruit up into the winter, is strong forgiving wood if you to climb one and it never gets big enough to fall on and damage your house when planted as a yard tree.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

petefrom bearswamp

Mine is of course the Family Tree
My second is the Sugar maple
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

SawyerTed

I love oaks for their shade and wood for lumber and firewood.  Hickory, Apple, Pecan, Peach and Cherry for their flavors in BBQ.  Peaches are my favorite fruit.  Altlantic White Cedar is a favorite because of their aroma and rarity.  Eastern Red Cedar is always a favorite even though they grow like weeds here.  Tulip Poplar is one of my favorite trees to saw.  I love maples for their brilliant fall colors!
Woodmizer LT50, WM BMS 250, WM BMT 250, Kubota MX5100, IH McCormick Farmall 140, Husqvarna 372XP, Husqvarna 455 Rancher

lxskllr

Small poplar is super satisfying to cut with a machete. Straight through with one strike. They also make good survey stakes when they're flawless. Hard and light. When flawed, they break easily.

florida

Cypress, nothing I love better than a nice cypress head full of bald and pond cypress. Always remind me of Japanese bonsai

 
General contractor and carpenter for 50 years.
Retired now!

Texas Ranger

Any of the trees I planted, I know, but it is a forester thing.
The Ranger, home of Texas Forestry

firefighter ontheside

For me it's conifers of almost any species.  I'm not too fond of ERC trees, but I love the wood.  My house is built of red pine from Minnesota.  I live among a stand of loblally and shortleaf pine that were planted about 60 years ago.  I have one that's about 40" diameter.  I brought home sugar pine cones from a fire that I went to in California.  Those are awesome cones.  Of course seeing the sequoia in Yosemite was awesome.  Give me. Nice spruce or fir or pine and I'm happy.  Oak trees don't do anything for me, but I'm happy to cut them into great lumber.
Woodmizer LT15
Kubota Grand L4200
Stihl 025, MS261 and MS362
2017 F350 Diesel 4WD
Kawasaki Mule 4010
1998 Dodge 3500 Flatbed

Pulphook

ASH --the only one that can be burnt semi green.
Unfortunately the EAB is killing them.
Two wood stoves ( Jotul Rangely ,Jotul Oslo ) heating 99 44/100%
24/7. No central heat. 6-8 cords firewood from the woodlot /year. Low low tech: ATV with trailer, 3 saws, 2 electric splitters, a worn pulphook, peavy, climbing line for skidding, Fiskars 27, an old back getting older.

alan gage

Being from the heart of the tall grass prairie region (not that there's really any of it left) I have a soft spot for Bur Oak. Unfortunately instead of the wide crowned examples that used to grow on the open savanna most now grow in heavily forested (but narrow) riparian areas along the river where they're forced to grow up instead of out.

But once in a while you'll see a beautiful example growing out away from the crowd. And it's always a treat to be walking through the relatively young forest and suddenly come across a big old bur oak with low wide spreading branches that was old and established before the rest of the trees sprung up. The young trees have to give it a wide berth if they want any sunlight of their own so it's like a little clearing.

Haven't had a chance to mill any yet but I've got about 35 logs waiting for spring. Hard to get a good log over 12' with a lot of them 8' and under.

Alan
Timberking B-16, a few chainsaws from small to large, and a Bobcat 873 Skidloader.

moodnacreek

In a perfect world, American chestnut but in the real world its Atlantic white cedar.

John Mc

I've always been partial to Shagbark Hickory, mainly because I can still remember my dad pointing it out to me one winter when I was about 9 years old, as we were skating along the Ottawa River near Toledo, Ohio. I still remember that day whenever I see one. I've only got a few of them on my property here in VT. Several of them died a few years ago, all in the same year. I'm not sure what got them, but the rest seem to be doing OK.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

John Mc

Quote from: moodnacreek on November 21, 2018, 01:47:35 PM
In a perfect world, American chestnut but in the real world its Atlantic white cedar.
I've been waiting for years for the blight-resistant American Chestnut that the American Chestnut Foundation has been developing to become more readily available. I can't wait to plant a few on my property.
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

BradMarks

A stand of orangish bark Ponderosa and white bark Quaking Aspen. Okay it's two trees but really pretty.

Stephen1

The big EWP that I have in my area. I love the monsters that are tall and are growing on the bare rock . I am amazed on how they last.
IDRY Vacum Kiln, LT40HDWide, BMS250 sharpener/setter 742b Bobcat, TCM forklift, Sthil 026,038, 461. 1952 TEA Fergusan Tractor

SwampDonkey

Butternut here, I have planted lots of the nuts. Next is sugar maple. Sugar maple is like a sacred tree around here for the fall color.  I have seen maple with just a single live limb left on people's lawns. They won't cut them down until they are stubs. :D

Three different sugar maples, all different colors. :)

Full color of a sugar maple canopy - YouTube
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

lxskllr

Quote from: SwampDonkey on November 21, 2018, 06:02:24 PM
I have seen maple with just a single live limb left on people's lawns. They won't cut them down until they are stubs. :D

I have a weeping cherry out front that's all but dead. I've cut most of it off, the bark's missing, and it has carpenter ants, but it's gonna stay as long as it turns green in the spring. That was my daughter's favorite tree, so I'll keep it as long as there's a bit of life left  :^)

lxskllr

Oh, too soon to tell at this point, but I've been really hot on dawn redwoods. I picked up a couple for my property, and once they get some size, I'm gonna propagate them via cutting, and spread them around. I got the idea from here I think. Someone mentioned giant sequoia in England. Never occurred to me I could have something like that outside PNW. Looking them up led me to dawn redwoods. I'll have a better chance of seeing those grow to spectacular size, and I can get them locally. One of my two is especially pretty with its fall colors. I'm hoping it lasts, and isn't simply due to youth.

moodnacreek

Quote from: lxskllr on November 21, 2018, 07:14:37 PM
Oh, too soon to tell at this point, but I've been really hot on dawn redwoods. I picked up a couple for my property, and once they get some size, I'm gonna propagate them via cutting, and spread them around. I got the idea from here I think. Someone mentioned giant sequoia in England. Never occurred to me I could have something like that outside PNW. Looking them up led me to dawn redwoods. I'll have a better chance of seeing those grow to spectacular size, and I can get them locally. One of my two is especially pretty with its fall colors. I'm hoping it lasts, and isn't simply due to youth.
Every so often I get to saw one into lumber, people have them removed because they get so big.

Maine372

sugar maple, locally called rock maple.

aesthetic shape, fall colors, stubborn as a mule (ive seen them split in half and still growing), excellent fire wood, strong beautiful grain, and did I mention syrup?!

its the tree that can keep a logger busy through mud season!

yard tree or woods tree, firewood or furniture, they are just the best!

scgargoyle

White oak is a favorite, but my favorite individual tree is a little beech I call 'Dave', for the buddy that helped me get it. I have a huge variety of trees on our land, but didn't have a beech, even though they are common here. Dave and I went out in his woods to get me one. The land was so full of rocks and roots that we couldn't dig it up, so we ended up just yanking it out of the ground. I found a good spot behind the barn and planted it with little hope it would survive. It never even slowed down; been growing fast and strong for 5 years, and I go out every winter and clear the competing brush away. Someday, long after Dave and I are worm food, there will be a big handsome beech tree there.
I hope my ship comes in before the dock rots!

Thank You Sponsors!