I need to save my barn

[DonT]

 8) Well done Jeff.   A masdam rope puller is a handy tool for trees like that

[SwampDonkey]

Great job! Sometimes you just have to brave it and get'r done. It's not like your a green horn at cutting trees.  Another plus is getting outside in the fresh air for awhile, and then some by the time you get'r cut up. 8)

The but of that oak still looked pretty strong.

When I took down my maple, because of what looked like a lot of rot on one corner, only had a slice of pie sized rot in the stump. The big limb that had died about 10 feet up was the source of the rot and had only about 4 feet left as a stub. But that tree was still lots strong, that rot was certainly not growing in size very fast.

[Jeff]

Yea, I expected that stump to look far worse than it did. I figured the entire center was going to be gone. When ever it rained, water would run out of the hole on the bottom.  Turns out, the there was only a small rotten passage running near the edge of the tree about the diameter of a golf ball.  It may be worse lower on the stump, as thatis why I cut it high, to tyr and get the best hinge wood.

[petefrom bearswamp]

Glad it went well Jeff.
Good job!
Pete

[RynSmith]

Yea, I expected that stump to look far worse than it did.

That is very interesting to me - given what it looked like from the outside I would've expected much worse too.

[loggah]

Yup, you done good !!!!thats the kind of tree the forest service would have us save out in the forest!! habitat tree ! ;D

[Jeff]

She's all blocked up as of this evening and the brush burned.  There is some splitting to be done yet, and some picking up and stacking, then tree number two and I have a date.

[thecfarm]

May tree #2 treat you as good as tree#1.

[Jeff]

Its smaller a straight and has a place to go now.

[Al_Smith]

Ya done good .Generally speaking they'll fall with the hinge .Every so often it might be off a little bit .About the time it breaks over and commits gravity has it .You get that sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach you might have miscalculated  but there's nothing you can do about it .Cross your fingers and hope for the best .

[Jeff]

I was really concerned about the hinge holding in this very frozen red oak. It did break, but only after the tree's direction was committed. It was warmer the last couple days, but these trees are all frozen hard from all of our sub-zero weather.  Even the butt chunks on this tree are easily splitting with a maul. My arms only let me do a little at a time, but its pretty satisfying watching a round almost fly apart when you smack it. 8)

[Al_Smith]

Even in warm weather it's kind of hard to hinge an oak so it holds all the way to the ground .At least that's been my experiance .

[SwampDonkey]

Ah, just as I have said before, winter frozen wood is easy splitting. 

[Al_Smith]

Swampish ,aren't you the guy that buys it already split and have in all stowed away in the basement about the first of June ?

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, that's even easier when it's already split. ;D

[Jeff]

To bad I don't burn wood.    Looks like by the time this is said and done, there will be well over two, maybe even three face cord of split oak firewood from this one tree. We were getting low on Pig roast bonfire wood!

[SwampDonkey]

Nothing wasted. Will make nice bonfire wood for sure.  8)

[terry f]

   What's a face cord?

[SwampDonkey]

16" sticks stacked 4' high by 8' long. I'd say if that tree was handy to 20" there would be at least a cord. Depending on their being more than two major limbs above a crotch, there could be a little more. A lot of wood in a cord. ;D