Worst tree form

[nativewolf]

I thought a thread re the worst of the worst might be interesting.  I'll do a best of the best later as well.

We've been scouring around the mid atlantic for a partner to help us work on hardwood forest genetics and nursery stock.  More on that in another thread as well.  So anyway, we are looking at an awful lot of trees and sometimes you just find a tree that you say..boy that one should get culled asap.  

The first I'll post is a WO on my own farm.  It is a cross a stream without a crossing so i need to solve that before we cut it so the firewood doesn't go to waste because it's going to break records for firewood.  My internet is just terrible so I'll hold off on the pic to tomorrow but if anyone has a good tree or two lets see the worst of the worst.  

[longtime lurker]

Rancher type I used to work for way back when used to say that (talking about cows) "90% of good genetics was what went down its throat", which is to say that environmental considerations like weather conditions, nutritional plane, age at weaning, parasites etc would have a greater impact on carcass quality then who it's father was.
Smart guy, good operator, knew his stuff.

I think trees are pretty much the same... soil nutrients, soil type, moisture profile during critical growth phases, cold snaps or droughts during formative years, the presence of competition to make the sapling chase light rather than branch early, the lack of competition for available resources, site exposure to wind, hurricanes or tornadoes or wildfires... you give the best seedstock the worst start and it's going to make an ugly tree, or vice versa.

Which is not to say I don't think genetics are important, but I don't think looking at a good tree is necessarily an indication of better genetics. For some of them just surviving could well mean it's superior.

But I got some photos for ya, when I've got time to dig them out.

[Walnut Beast]

Great thread. Looking forward to some interesting pictures 👍

[wisconsitom]

@ longtime lurker, great point.  I agree completely.  It's genotype//phenotype.

I always look at the world as a default mechanism.  It's not what could happen, or not that alone.  It's also what is allowed to happen by other factors.  More that actually.👍

[Roundhouse]

Interesting topic. I've got a picture. This is the first tree that came to mind right away as soon as I read this post. 

I'm not sure what causes this sort of mis-shape to a tree, looks like there could have been a blow-down across it years ago that has since fallen and rotted away. It arches out and over the driveway of my new camp. It would have been at the top of my cull right now list if not for a couple other factors. I was racing the calendar last fall when I moved the cabin in here. I took out a bunch of "threatening" trees and cleaned them up. As ugly as this one is it didn't threaten the building site and I would be able to take it down later. It will probably come down this summer. If I had power out here I could hang a yard light from it!

[longtime lurker]

One man's trash is another man's treasure... You see useless log with a major bend in 'im... I see natural bent bows. 

I don't know species there but here - in the right species - I'd chase that log for boat building timbers, even that tightly radiused curve which is perfect for knees.

[mjeselskis]

I think these two siblings were fighting for the sunny side.

[Roundhouse]

One man's trash is another man's treasure... You see useless log with a major bend in 'im... I see natural bent bows.

I don't know species there but here - in the right species - I'd chase that log for boat building timbers, even that tightly radiused curve which is perfect for knees.

Hmmm, good point. I just may have to see if this fits on my mill. I could see a nice set of footbridge timbers coming out of this. I believe it's birch, not all that weatherproof but if treated properly and sheltered by decking it could work.

[nativewolf]

Rancher type I used to work for way back when used to say that (talking about cows) "90% of good genetics was what went down its throat", which is to say that environmental considerations like weather conditions, nutritional plane, age at weaning, parasites etc would have a greater impact on carcass quality then who it's father was.
Smart guy, good operator, knew his stuff.

I think trees are pretty much the same... soil nutrients, soil type, moisture profile during critical growth phases, cold snaps or droughts during formative years, the presence of competition to make the sapling chase light rather than branch early, the lack of competition for available resources, site exposure to wind, hurricanes or tornadoes or wildfires... you give the best seedstock the worst start and it's going to make an ugly tree, or vice versa.

Which is not to say I don't think genetics are important, but I don't think looking at a good tree is necessarily an indication of better genetics. For some of them just surviving could well mean it's superior.

But I got some photos for ya, when I've got time to dig them out.

Some of that might be true but we've proved the opposite with pine and euc genetic improvement programs.  Take lob pine genetics and tree improvement. The improved plantations of today grow nothing like the native stands.  Management has done a lot too but @wdh and others can attest, genetics played a big role.  The branches have better stem angles, they grow faster in the early part of the season, etc etc.  I wouldn't say management is responsible for 90% of growth improvements.  Maybe Danny  will correct me.

[WDH]

It is a tough question to deal with.  Nature versus nuture. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_versus_nurture

A real rabbit hole for sure.  With some things, there is evidence that genetics play a huge role, like in plant breeding.  Who can dispute that crop yields are significantly improved over historical performance even 100 years ago.  I have seen it first hand in lobllloy pine in intensively managed plantations.  The genetically improved stock outperforms unimproved stock as there is much research to attest to that. 

But in people?  I have certainly met people who needed better breeding and some that did not ever need to breed at all  .  That has not been the case for trees, at least not to this point.  

[nativewolf]

 



So this is my first picture.  It's a white oak.  In this species we want a tight crown, self pruning branches, branches at 90 degrees, a small buttress.  There are some other phenotypes but that's what we want to start (like more acorns and other things but measuring that is difficult).  

This tree had it all, didn't self prune, branches up like a broomstick, and some buttress- not actually the worst buttress.  But anyway, I don't want this tree providing acorns for my clients properties.  The sad and funny thing is it is on my own.  I need to get that bridge going.  When we thing this little 20 acre woodlot it will meet a firewood pile.  

[mike_belben]

i suspect it was once a beautiful pasture tree.  

[nativewolf]

Mike I love trees.  I mean...I like them more than many people.  I have some great old field trees that have had to reach for the sun.  This isn't one of them.  I have  a 50" CO that is just a sight, I have a 60" SRO that is quite the tree.  Then there is this thing that won't shed and has a limb every foot and now is broomsticking it up.  

Even years ago the branch angle wasn't 90.  It had too many limbs.  It is ugly but I'll save the good trees for another thread.  I have a black walnut witch tree if I can get to it..spookiest tree i own.  

[nativewolf]

It pine improvement one of the big changes they have made is the branch angle, FYI.  In nature many branches would not be at 90 degrees to the trunk so the knots would be longer and deeper.  Smaller limbs with branch angles at 90 was a big improvement.  Helps pines shed and self prune faster and keeps energy going to the crown.

[mike_belben]

i found out recently fruit trees with a horizontal or downward slope (mimicking a branch heavy with fruit is the guess) do not sucker any more. i guess when the tree knows it is heavy with fruit it can stop trying to be so vegetative, content in its reproduction.   

so the ones under my care have been pruned to retain any low angle branches.  im eager to watch that unfold.  the shoots i brought home are all flowering in a bucket of water right now to see which will root for transplant. 

[47sawdust]

By and large I am much more at ease with trees than people. Thanks for starting this thread.Much more fun than the "worst person " thread which probably would end up in the wood shed of all places.

[woodroe]

Here is one of my bigger pasture pines gone wild. Probably 3' dia and 100' tall.
Got another dozen 75' pines similar and taken down probably a dozen or more over the years but have no plans for cutting the one in the picture.
Lots of firewood in one of these multi top trees.

[nativewolf]

i found out recently fruit trees with a horizontal or downward slope (mimicking a branch heavy with fruit is the guess) do not sucker any more. i guess when the tree knows it is heavy with fruit it can stop trying to be so vegetative, content in its reproduction.  

so the ones under my care have been pruned to retain any low angle branches.  im eager to watch that unfold.  the shoots i brought home are all flowering in a bucket of water right now to see which will root for transplant.

That's neat mike, I didn't know that and I'm curious if it is the same with WO?  That would explain a lot actually. 

[mike_belben]

Im not certain. 

I think it was poplar, sourwood and black gum that sprouted the most vertical suckers out of the main stem most prolifically, headed straight up as new leaders, when a young main stem is pinned or hinge cut.   Like a tomato plant.    

[wisconsitom]

One thing to know about trees-their vertically oriented parts are growing faster than their horizontally oriented.  Otherwise, they'd be groundcovers😄.

Orchardist routinely prune for horizontal orientation, for branch union strength, sunlight on ripening fruit, and relative ease of picking.  Since suckering is heaviest right after pruning, maybe after a decade or so of setting the tree up this way, the big suckering days are long ago.  I only did tree work for 40 years, so maybe I'm wrong, but never in my born days did I hear that one.  Probably just old trees that haven't needed much pruning recently is my bet.  Hence, few suckers.

[mike_belben]

:shrug: 

Dunno tom. Learned it from some old orchard tender on youtube who kept a few trees with vertical branching to show the constant suckering.  The rest of his had downsloped branches that he just didnt need to prune.  His explanation was the tree knows when its heavy with fruit by the bending limb and then stops trying to grow vegetatively and puts its energy into reproduction.  Ive seen others tying their limbs back to their trunks for the same effect. 

Didnt seem like bunk to me.  Maybe look into it.

[wisconsitom]

What we call suckers are just new branches.  Prune a young-ish tree with normal average vigor and it will respond by making new branches-suckers.

I'm looking at my 20-yr old crab out the window.  I did tiny-and I mean tiny-bits of pruning on it, about a month ago.  Yes, mostly a few suckers, coming from last year's pruning cuts locations.  There ain't anything more to it.  A crab is, of course, an apple tree, but really, maples, ash, most any broadleaf behaves similarly.  

If a tree is left alone long enough, there won't be much for suckers.

All this said, I'm not an orchardist and it's not a burning issue with me, plus sometimes folks do something that helps, but misidentify the reason why it has helped.

  Finally, I can't vouch for something going on on some video, where I have no idea of the history behind what's being presented.

[nativewolf]

:shrug:

Dunno tom. Learned it from some old orchard tender on youtube who kept a few trees with vertical branching to show the constant suckering.  The rest of his had downsloped branches that he just didnt need to prune.  His explanation was the tree knows when its heavy with fruit by the bending limb and then stops trying to grow vegetatively and puts its energy into reproduction.  Ive seen others tying their limbs back to their trunks for the same effect.

Didnt seem like bunk to me.  Maybe look into it.

Science has shown that stressed trees also respond with epicormic budding.  We also know that trees with too much sun/heat respond by the buds exploding through the bark and forming a branch.  Certainly branches that slope downward would reduce this issue and keep the trunk cooler especially in the summer.  

[beenthere]

Years and years (back to orchards established in the 40's) of pruning family orchard trees in the midwest (7-40 acre orchards) and the rule every spring before bud break was to prune everything new that grew "straight up and straight down". 
Took care of the annual sucker growth and kept the horizontal limbs in shape for easy easier picking and better fruit production. 

Sometimes hard to see that over a short period of time. 

[Hogdaddy]

 

.   Actually on one of my farms, pretty good size ash

[Walnut Beast]

I like it 👍

[Southside]

You have to define the parameters for what is considered an "improvement" in todays Loblolly Pine vs the "un-improved" varieties. Does it grow faster?  Yes.  More biomass per year?  Yes.  Branch angle - whatever the ice storms will still snap them off.  The real issue though is what is the true value of that fiber compared to that of older varieties.  I would say the fiber value has actually regressed.  Wider rings, bigger knots, weaker lumber.  Good luck getting clear lumber out of a "mature" Lob today that has been harvested.  Not what I would call an "improvement" in the species overall.   Especially when you consider that SYP was desired for it's strength, not for it's ability to grow Amazon cardboard boxes per acre.  In days gone by Foresters would have culled the SYP that is desired to plant today.  Who or what is really winning here?  

[SwampDonkey]

The woods up here is full of white pines like Woodrow's. In fact there was a big dispute over the location of the 4-lane highway because it was going to run right down one's path. They did relocate the road. But man that pine has about 6 tops starting at about 6 feet up giving it the largest diameter pine status. It's no prize, but hey, it moved a highway. The stuff of legends. :D


As to tree improvement genetics, the last time I talked to those folks, they had only achieved a 3% genetic gain in black spruce. And provenance trials showed that black spruce in NB had superior qualities to those in PEI and NS. Probably because NB is not cut off from the main continent by water bodies.
Optimal tree spacing and age will do a lot for wood strength and knot free rings. The more open and younger the tree, the longer the limbs persist, even if it grows wood faster. We used to think 80 year rotations, that got thrown out the window in the early nineties and they are cutting trees down every 30-40 years. Low quality, low paying wood.

I'll take lumber from these 100 foot old growth red spruce over 40 year old plantation spruce any day. :D The snags are dead fir.

[GRANITEstateMP]

Got a real cherry of a cherry between the house and the road

 

[nativewolf]

That's what I'm talking about @Granitestatemp!  :D  Cherry of a cherry indeed.

[nativewolf]

You have to define the parameters for what is considered an "improvement" in todays Loblolly Pine vs the "un-improved" varieties. Does it grow faster?  Yes.  More biomass per year?  Yes.  Branch angle - whatever the ice storms will still snap them off.  The real issue though is what is the true value of that fiber compared to that of older varieties.  I would say the fiber value has actually regressed.  Wider rings, bigger knots, weaker lumber.  Good luck getting clear lumber out of a "mature" Lob today that has been harvested.  Not what I would call an "improvement" in the species overall.   Especially when you consider that SYP was desired for it's strength, not for it's ability to grow Amazon cardboard boxes per acre.  In days gone by Foresters would have culled the SYP that is desired to plant today.  Who or what is really winning here?  

Well I just mention branch angle.  In Lob they look for sweep, forking, branch size, rust resistance, branch diameter and a few others.   Academic literature says they can push value up 160% from wild stock based on fairly recent studies.  
Lets be honest, you are a craftsman making craftsman grade lumber, it is a great product.  But for treated 2x4 at lowes this junk pine works and it is ...fast and high volume.  
In White Oak, my problem child, I am worried because the wild stock is just so...degraded.  Here in the mid atlantic we've been selectively cutting the WO based on the best traits for centuries with no effort to preserve any.  I can find a stand here or there that's is great but man it is rare.  Almost all of what I see is degraded, stands show multiple instances of selective removals.  We don't go to a herd of cattle and take the smallest slowest growing won't gain weight or give more than a qt of milk a day dairy cows do we?  No, those go to hamburger and we keep pushing for something more...more milk fat, faster growing, healthier, disease resistant..etc  whatever the breeders look for they don't actively try to get less.  It's usually a plan to try to get more or at the least just cull the worst.  In many of our forest the result of the disjunct between managers and owners is that we have ...less.  Every year...less.  So anyway, I have a few more pics of less.  I'm putting together some of "more".

[Oddman]

I'm enjoying this thread nativewolf, and looking forward to the "good" stuff you've got to show. 
I am managing the timber on our farm here in the Ozarks, about 600 acres of hardwood/ERC. Im in my early 30's, the stands have been high-graded or clear-cut depending on terrain since we acquired it back in the 50's/early 60's. We have had sawmills and a firewood operation of varying sizes since owning the land so it has been ridden hard and put away wet if you know what i mean.
It's very interesting seeing the effects of high grading vs clear cuts...also seeing much what you mention of the lack of good WO stock, and the presence of junk specimens. 
I've only been interested/informed about forest management for about 5 years so I havnt made alot of progress yet but am continually cruising/taking inventory of our stock and pulling out junk or atleast trees that are at the point of decline or diminishing return. I will admit the shear amount of forest is daunting. 
Thanks for this thread, please carry on.

[woodroe]

Two White Pines in a row here. Hard to find a 8 ft saw log in either of them.

[nativewolf]

I'm enjoying this thread nativewolf, and looking forward to the "good" stuff you've got to show.
I am managing the timber on our farm here in the Ozarks, about 600 acres of hardwood/ERC. Im in my early 30's, the stands have been high-graded or clear-cut depending on terrain since we acquired it back in the 50's/early 60's. We have had sawmills and a firewood operation of varying sizes since owning the land so it has been ridden hard and put away wet if you know what i mean.
It's very interesting seeing the effects of high grading vs clear cuts...also seeing much what you mention of the lack of good WO stock, and the presence of junk specimens.
I've only been interested/informed about forest management for about 5 years so I havnt made alot of progress yet but am continually cruising/taking inventory of our stock and pulling out junk or atleast trees that are at the point of decline or diminishing return. I will admit the shear amount of forest is daunting.
Thanks for this thread, please carry on.

You really should check out Pioneer forests LLC, there in MO.  Long long history of trying to fix broken forests, what they did is all documented, public, they do extension type stuff.  Great read and they are "local".

[Old Greenhorn]

Two White Pines in a row here. Hard to find a 8 ft saw log in either of them.
.....

Ture, but they have a lot of personality. You know, like that 16 y/o girl your Aunt set you up on a blind date with in High School?  :D :D :D :D :D

[beenthere]

Still feeling sorry for the girl?
:D

[GRANITEstateMP]

Still feeling sorry for the girl?
:D

my aunt sure is  :D

[Old Greenhorn]

Still feeling sorry for the girl?
:D

my aunt sure is  :D

:D :D Now that's funny right there, I don't care who you are. :D :D

[Oddman]

I'm enjoying this thread nativewolf, and looking forward to the "good" stuff you've got to show.
I am managing the timber on our farm here in the Ozarks, about 600 acres of hardwood/ERC. Im in my early 30's, the stands have been high-graded or clear-cut depending on terrain since we acquired it back in the 50's/early 60's. We have had sawmills and a firewood operation of varying sizes since owning the land so it has been ridden hard and put away wet if you know what i mean.
It's very interesting seeing the effects of high grading vs clear cuts...also seeing much what you mention of the lack of good WO stock, and the presence of junk specimens.
I've only been interested/informed about forest management for about 5 years so I havnt made alot of progress yet but am continually cruising/taking inventory of our stock and pulling out junk or atleast trees that are at the point of decline or diminishing return. I will admit the shear amount of forest is daunting.
Thanks for this thread, please carry on.

You really should check out Pioneer forests LLC, there in MO.  Long long history of trying to fix broken forests, what they did is all documented, public, they do extension type stuff.  Great read and they are "local".

Ya know, i actually have been on their website but its been a couple years or more, thanks for the reminder

[Southside]

SYP dimensional lumber has been downgraded for span too, so it's not just me. 

[woodroe]

Two White Pines in a row here. Hard to find a 8 ft saw log in either of them.
.....

Ture, but they have a lot of personality. You know, like that 16 y/o girl your Aunt set you up on a blind date with in High School?  :D :D :D :D :D

There are some similarities with all the curves and all.

[thecfarm]

woodroe, I did have a lot of trees like that. But add on another 2 feet across. Had many an easy 3 feet across. Many could not even get an 8 foot log out of, without a crotch in it. But Irving was desperate for pallet pine grade. This grade they cut out the bad and dovetail it.
Yes we sold them some crotch wood. 
I was cutting with my Father on the land I have now. My Father was born in 1923 and could not believe the "junk" they bought. As soon as the trucker convinced him they would buy it, we chased down every ugly tree we had. As my Father said, you can sell good logs any time.
This was when the pay was pretty good, twice what pulp was paying. We was doing the cutting, so we got all the money. We even would haul out the limbs too. Many was more than 4 inches across.
We only had a tractor, so getting rid of the big limbs made it easier to get around he slash.
Most trees were 80 years old.

[woodroe]

Good you got rid of that stuff when you did.
Can't give it away around here today. Pine pulp $2.50 -$5.00 ton .
Might as well burn it.

[thecfarm]

I meant to say this was '93-96.
They still buy pallet grade, but it's the same price as pulp.

[Ianab]

Here's a little Port Orford Cedar in the local park.  I'm thinking it's had a pretty traumatic life  :D

 

[Walnut Beast]

Not exactly a poster black walnut 

 

[woodroe]

A couple more funky looking Pines on the back 40 but that 
one in the middle is straight as can be .



 

[Peter Drouin]

I have W Pines around here with the 2 to 4 stems. All done by a bug a weble I know I did not spell that right.
They eat the top sprout, then the next branch takes over and goes up.

[sprucebunny]

Loop-de-loop



 

My other choice for worst form: beech.

[cutterboy]

Another tree confused as to which way to grow.

 

[Walnut Beast]

Sprucebunny and cutterboy you guys have some wild ones 👍

[beenthere]

I have W Pines around here with the 2 to 4 stems. All done by a bug a weble I know I did not spell that right.
They eat the top sprout, then the next branch takes over and goes up.

White pine weevil I suspect. Takes out the terminal bud.
 
Had similar problem with black walnut seedlings that I planted in '71. 
Was a borer (similar to the corn borer) and laid an egg in the terminal bud. When hatched, the larvae bored into the pith and ate the terminal growth from the inside out. Such that the terminal dominant leader died after a month and the other branches took over the spot. 
Was a mystery to the experts. 
I sprayed the plantation with a systemic (Sevin I think) and wiped them out. The following spring, there was a gathering of half a dozen experts meeting in southern WI with a field trip planned just to see this critter at work. They were very disappointed when they could not find a single one in the 800 walnut trees. That was when I explained that I sprayed the plantation the year before. (but I was happy) 
But the borer left nearly every walnut tree with a crooked stem that can be seen to this day (50+ years later). 

[wisconsitom]

Yeah no doubt white pine weevil.  Anyone looking to control this pest, you can time your application of bifenthrin or other pyethroid plus sticker with blooming of forsythia bush in your area.  Good control can be achieved if you're able to do all or most of your young stock, up to about 15 feet height.

Only leader and anything that's trying to be a competing leader need be sprayed.  Not whole tree.

[Ed_K]

 Here's a w/pine that split into two trees then grew back together then split again.



 

 Look just above the hole, it's one bole at that point.

[Walnut Beast]

Pretty cool Ed. It's pretty amazing of the trees coming back from injury and survival plus the crazy odd ball stuff in nature 

[Ljohnsaw]

This poor incense cedar is in the campground next to my cabin property.


 I have a cedar that I sliced up that had something similar but much smaller/less dramatic in the early growth that could not be seen from the outside of the mature log.  I slabbed it up and will make an interesting table top.


 Look at the pith crack and just to the left of center in the picture the pith makes a 90° turn towards you, corrects as it goes to the left (top of tree).  There is just the subtle bend in the trunk.  I cut this 5' section off the butt of a log that became a deck beam.

[barbender]

I've been surprised by how a lot of red oak I've sawn, looks to have poor form in it's early growth but as the tree matures it really smooths and straightens itself out.

[ehp]

There is so much that goes into this lots do not even think about , I find the ground the tree grows on makes a very big difference as here if I travel say 30 miles east, north or west I get back into clay and the wood is totally different , on clay we get alot more defects , rot on the stumps and in most cases a shorter tree and the timber just is not as high of quality , I find heading east from here is the worst thou.  The rejects need to be cut to get them out of the stand and leave some of the best to use their seeds to grow nice high grade trees .  Money drives everything so some just think of now not 15 or 20 years down the road 

[Walnut Beast]

Hackberry and Ash lovers

 

 

[Treeflea24]

Here's my cherry of a cherry. Its convinced a walnut on the left to try to meet it half way.

[g_man]

Here's a nice 28" HM



 

gg

[Log-it-up]

A couple inner tubes and with the right wind you could launch a pumpkin into Canada looks like a giant sling shot

[cutterboy]

A couple inner tubes and with the right wind you could launch a pumpkin into Canada looks like a giant sling shot

:D :D :D :D

[g_man]

A couple inner tubes and with the right wind you could launch a pumpkin into Canada looks like a giant sling shot

Indeed it does   :D :D

[WDH]

I am sure that @Metalspinner will give it a try :D.

[metalspinner]

Heck, yeah!!


 



 

[Andries]

Lat: 49
Long: 94
Fire when ready.
I have a catchers mitt.
🪖

[Ljohnsaw]

Ran across this old picture when posting to another thread.  Maybe not good for saw logs but great for looking at:


 

 

[Otis1]

 

 




 

This one is at my shop. About 48" dbh and 90' tall

[wisconsitom]

Man Otis 1, that's one urgly pine.  My arms and back hurt just looking at all those limbs.

[jimbarry]

There's two like this by our house.



 

[jimbarry]

Another on our property line.



 

[jimbarry]

Do these count?  



 

[cutterboy]

 

 
This is an old picture. The tree has since fallen over, been cut up for firewood and burned in my wood stoves.

[customsawyer]

Andries once we walk it in with proper trajectory and distance of pull on said inner tubes, we will then fire at will. Your job at that time is to find us some one named Will.  

[Walnut Beast]

I saved Pinocchio from getting mulched 😂. Actually the guy ran over to the guy running the machine to tell him to leave that one. 

 

 

[cutterboy]

 

 
Black birch in a grown up pasture.

[rusticretreater]

It wanted to grow up to be a magnolia tree.

[bitternut]

Cutterboy I can't believe that black birch is not in your fire wood pile. For sure it would be in mine. Don't think I have ever seen a crotch that low.

[cutterboy]

bitternut, it's on my list. I hope to get to it this fall. All the stems are good firewood size. (8-12") and black birch is a great firewood.

[cutterboy]

 

 
The horizontal section is not touching the ground. Think there might be any tension there? 

[Nealm66]

Was falling timber on the coast, south of forks Washington and saw massive devastation of about 15 year old Weyerhaeuser Doug fir super trees after one of our ice storms. Grew too fast with not enough established roots and not enough girth in the trunk was my take. They definitely grow fast and tall though. See a lot of stands that have snow break signs like spike nots or school marms where the naturally re seeded trees showed how Mother Nature sometimes knows best

[Ljohnsaw]

Was at Disneyland over the weekend.  So, not a natural growth but still pretty amazing.


 

Any idea what it might be?  I'm thinking a type of eucalyptus.

 

[cutterboy]

ljohnsaw, only a hardened FF member would go to Disneyland and take pictures of a tree! :D :D
I don't know what kind it is but I don't see any good saw logs in it.

[bigblockyeti]

ljohnsaw, only a hardened FF member would go to Disneyland and take pictures of a tree! :D :D
I don't know what kind it is but I don't see any good saw logs in it.

Are you kidding me?  Home Depot and Lowe's would be drooling over that for dimensional framing lumber!

[thecfarm]

cutterboy,  :D

[cutterboy]

 

 

 
Red maple. I think that tree might make some good live edge slabs.

[TN King]

 

 
Red maple. I think that tree might make some good live edge slabs.

That's a bowl makers tree.

[caveman]

 

 

 

[jimbarry]

 

 

[Old Greenhorn]

That tree just wanted to be in the middle of the road, NO MATTER WHAT. :D :D

[Ljohnsaw]

Interesting oak near me. How about that upper branch?


 
On my cabin property. I believe it is Aspen and will not be using it for my flooring!


 
Was on the Rubicon rafting last week. At one of the lodges.