oak tree

[SwampDonkey]

Turning, carving, all semantics.  ;D Still a cool hat and one of a kind. I can imagine the shavings. Turning cherry, birch and hard maple are fun. The open grain woods are more of a challenge, but oak, ash and black walnut aren't as bad as butternut, which is quite a bit softer. Talk about burs, it's better if ya have a reversible lathe. I don't. Shavings make for good fire starting material in the shop stove.  Wooosh like pouring kerosene. ;D

[Furby]

Um Donk, my bar is 72", just don't currently have a saw to run it.

I don't belive the tree has been dead all that long. Some of the pieces on the ground from the top did have some spalt in the sap wood, but the bark is still stuck tight to the trunk. I dug in a bit with my knife.


I do belive some helpful advice is needed on how to fell this trunk.
Right where the little boy is standing is where the notch needs to be and is also where there is a patch of rot.
Don't know how far in or off to each sides the rot goes.
This is a backyard, but the trunk is far enough away from everything other then the house. It might just nick the house if it went the wrong way.
I do belive Turningfool mentioned he has a 36" bar. How hard is it going to be to cut the notch on a tree this size with that bar?

[SwampDonkey]

Where did the top end up? That in itself must have been a big chunk of wood. If it's white oak it's a little more resilient to the elements I suppose.

As far as felling big stuff, that's out of my league. Then there's the handling of that monster. You might need some super sized LogRite tools.  ;)  8)

[Reddog]

I might be able to help with the felling and bucking. But what are you going to load it on?
I am about 60 miles from GR. So not out of the question to drive over.

[Furby]

A DOUBLE size A.S.S. ???
Some of the bigger pieces of the top were lying around.
I saw two places where the top contacted the lower part of the trunk and took off the bark.

I'm currently trying to decide if it's worth my time to "try" and mill it.
16' log weighs in at over 17,000 pounds. Even an 8' log will weigh more then my trailer can handle.
Quartering it a real possibility.


Oly 60 miles Reddog ???
Where the heck you at?

[Reddog]

North of Lansing.

[WDH]

TF,

That is some tree!  Depending on species, might have been a champ if the top had not broken off.

If you and Furby get couple of very sharp axes and cut you each a notch for a springboard on each side to stand on, and if you and Furby then proceed to hack yourself a front cut about 1/4th to 1/3rd deep into the front face, than ya'll can move around to the back, cut 2 more springboards, get a two-man crosscut saw, proceed a sawing and a wedging, ya'll should be able to get that beauty down in a couple of days!

Just kidding (of course)........But it does bring to mind of those guys in the old days that did not have chainsaws.  Thank the good Lord for chainsaws.

Definitely a bigger job than the 2 maples and 1 red oak that I felled today.  Good Felling!

[Furby]

Yeah, that's a good one WDH, but I'm already educated in the use of them two man saws. ;)


I'll have to remember that Reddog!

[Jeff]

That looks like a lighting strike to me Furb.  Hey, did you get any close up photos of our new friend's hat?

[Furby]

Shoot, no I didn't Jeff, sorry.
Lightning was the other thought, and I'm leaning more towards that myself the more I think about the small matching scar above the rot. As if the bolt came out both sides at the base of the tree.

[Stump Jumper]

hmmm i'll need a bit more powder ;)

[Ianab]

I do belive Turningfool mentioned he has a 36" bar. How hard is it going to be to cut the notch on a tree this size with that bar?

It's not too bad, but you will be cutting your notch from both sides and lining up the cuts takes a good eye. However if you do get things a bit out of line you can allways trim it up properly once you get the notch roughed out. I'd suggest drawing your notch and back cut on the tree with a crayon before you start cutting. It's good to have those level reference lines when you go to the other side of the tree and expect your cuts to match up.

As for milling it, thats a swingblade sized log there  ;) ;D

Cheers

Ian

[Furby]

The only swingblade I know of around is set up at his house and he don't move it.
He takes a backhoe to the sight, loads the logs and goes back for the hoe later.
Makes some $ for the effort I'm told.
Next closest option would be Oakiemac's MD.

[SwampDonkey]

Get out the chalk line Furby.  ;D

[Reddog]

Furby,
How long you thing of for logs?  Any lean to it?

[Phorester]

If lightning strikes a tree hard enough to cause a crack the entire length of the trunk like this one, it also most often spirals down a tree.  This one looks pretty darn straight from the top to the bottom. Frost crack is only in the first few feet at the bottom of a tree and always on the south or sw side. I'd guess these cracks were caused by wind twisting the tree. That would also account for the short crack on the opposite side of the tree from the long one.  Big thunderstorm or a small tornado. I wonder if this might have also been what took the top out.

[turningfool]

the top was taken out last year from high winds off from lake michigan..but the twists,lightning strikes,or frost crack or whatever have been healed up for years judging from the pics

[Furby]

Yeah I agree, that scar was pretty old.
The trunk is standing pretty DanG straight.
I see one 16' log or better (depending on how high of stump is left) that would be clear lumber.
The only draw back is the rot and scars, so I'm saying there are two sides that are clear.
One side looks like it would make some real nice slabs with slabber. ;)
Not knowing how much solid wood is left on the two good sides is the problem.
After that 16' or better, there is probly another lower grade 16' or better.
Hard to say as I can't tell how much damage was done when the top ripped out.

[pigman]

Furby, I think you should just dig the tree to get all of that great wood in the root ball. ;D

Bob

[rebocardo]

> I do belive some helpful advice is needed on how to fell this trunk.

On anything with obvious damage that could be hollow or punky with an open trunk, or have unseen wind damage I always wrap the trunk with chain. On this tree I would put 3-4 complete wraps of transport 5/16 chain.

It will prevent barberchair.

It would take some work, but, I would put deadman lines on it since a straight tree with no limbs might be inclined to fall any which way if the trunk is defective in the cut. My main concern with the lines would to be sure it does not fall towards me as I am making the back cut or on me as I am making the notch since you might have to do both the notch and backcut from both sides.

I would probably make the notch an open face notch as close to the ground as possible to save wood. Make it maybe 1/4 deep at most, but, make it almost vertical on the top cut. Then do the backcut two inches above the center of the notch like a humbolt. This way the tree will stay on the stump all the way down, the notch will not close, and you will not pull as much fiber from the good butt end.

Just be careful when cutting it from the stump because of tension. This should prevent the tree from splitting like a star pattern from the hard impact a tree without limbs makes. The other reason is as the face closes, it can make a crqack all the way up the tree like a barberchair, even though it does not separate completely. Which ruins a slab.

Just keep it fairly balanced on wedges while working towards the hinge. Then once you have it cut where you know the hinge is forward enough to create a nice pivot AND not wreck the sapwood you can drive in hard head wedges or even steel splitting wedges to lift it.

With the hinge more towards the front it is easier to lift to tip it then if the hinge was more towards the middle.

Put 4" branches or saplings on the ground all around the front of the tree,  so you do not have the trunk directly on the ground when it falls. Plus, put some along the expected path 20-30 feet away.

If this tree hits a pine tree it will surely take it out and snap it like a twig, so if there are any in the intended path, make sure you have a big hardwood to hide behind, on its way down,  on along your escape route.

Plus, a big tree will throw debris a good long way and knock down trees you thought were good that will just topple over because a big oak without branches hits the ground without cushion and that oak weighes a min. of 8 tons, and will make a good earth quake.  8)

That looks like a great tree! Sure wish I was turning it into lumber.  8)

[Furby]

Actually Bob, I brought up that very subject on the ride home after looking at the tree.

The one big branch that is still up there will contact a nearby pine or two and I am pretty concerned about that.
Concerned enough that if I was dropping it, I'd take that branch off before dropping.

[SwampDonkey]

Keep us posted on your progress turningfool and Furby and anyone else who gets involved. This is a great thread.

[Phorester]

Yep, those scars are pretty old.  I'd still say they were caused by wind though, probably decades ago.  With another wind that took out the top last year.

Was the tree dead when the top came out last year, or still alive?

[leweee]

Probable dead from the lightning strike. :

[Furby]

Ok, to give this thread a little spin.
Is there any way to tell for sure what caused the scars once the trunk is on the ground?
Maybe once it's opened up.