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General Forestry => General Board => Topic started by: jim king on January 25, 2011, 08:01:48 AM

Title: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 25, 2011, 08:01:48 AM
I have taken shoots off of burls and had them cloned thinking that possibly I was going to have burl trees.  Long story short they are regular trees and no figure.

Does any one have any experience with any type of damage or any other factor that has ever made a burl form ??

If I could get a couple of acres of exotic burls growing my great grand children would have a very valuable nest egg from their crazy old ancester that lived in the  jungle.. 
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 25, 2011, 08:35:34 AM
On my farm I made cherry burls out of the scrub choke cherry trees that were growing there.

I was cutting firewood one day and saved a burl out of the scrubs I was sawing up.

When I turned the burl there was a .30 caliber bullet in the center. My brother is a rotten shot and carried a .30-.30 for deer. In one of his magazine emptying tirades he must have shot this tree.

I took my .22 and went out and selected some test trees and shot them.

Out of 10 trees 9 had volley ball sized burls in 2 years!

I harvested quite a few burls from those trees in 10 years  ;D ;D ;D

Ya might give that a try it worked well for me
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Papa1stuff on January 25, 2011, 08:38:23 AM
 smiley_crying smiley_crying
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: doctorb on January 25, 2011, 08:41:16 AM
Is it the bullet itself that causes this reaction (lead?)or is it just the penetrating damage of the impact?  I have got to think that it's a reaction to the bullet.  If not, you could just take a drill to the trees to cause this malformation.  Maybe you could drill the tree, then implant something to cause the tree to grow like that, like culturing a pearl.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 25, 2011, 08:45:21 AM
I believe that the penetration is what does it.

In these cherry's,in the natural burls, I have found lots of bug damage in them also

I came to the determination that damage makes the burl.

I am kinda old and prolly all wet too!
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Patty on January 25, 2011, 08:46:51 AM
So I could go out and drill some cherry trees and get cherry burls? How cool is that!   8)
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Jeff on January 25, 2011, 08:47:54 AM
I doubt if the hole is the trauma, but the shock of the impact.  Maples are drilled all the time for tapping for syrup, but that does not tent to cause burls, however maples can be a great source for burls "in the wild". so to speak. :)
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 25, 2011, 08:48:09 AM
Burlkraft:

I can try that with no problem.  Did you only try it on small trees or on larger ones also ?

What size worked for you?

That system could make an acre worth a few million if it works here.  Did you try more than one per tree ?
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Patty on January 25, 2011, 08:50:44 AM
Yes we need details.....
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 25, 2011, 08:55:08 AM
Do we now address him as Professor Burlkraft ¿  Is he running out there to take a picture ?
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 25, 2011, 08:56:17 AM
Jim.....The trees I was shooting were scrubs.

Tall and spindly.

I have gotten basketball sized burls from 8" trees
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 25, 2011, 09:00:48 AM
I am sending out for some 410 slugs.  I cant wait for the look on the guys face when I tell him to go out and shoot a couple of hundred baby trees.

Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Left Coast Chris on January 25, 2011, 10:16:28 AM
Hi Jim,

I have a 3000lb flail mower for my English Walnut orchard and hit a few trees.   It does seem to produce some burls.    The root stock is black walnut and that is where the burl starts.   The trees need to be young.  The bigger ones are growing slower and not much happens.   

Another type of burl is all around the whole base in the ground.   Im not sure but I believe that it is caused from the black walnut being more vigorous than the English grafted to it.  The Black Walnut then begins to sucker.   The suckers must be trimmed so as not to ruin the burl.    The trees get fertilizer making them want to grow also which could be a factor.

If there was a slower growing tree you could graft to the stump you may get some burls going that were not just the basket balls but all the way around the stump.  They are the prize burls for veneering.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Bill Gaiche on January 25, 2011, 08:26:15 PM
I cant wait for the look on the guys face when I tell him to go out and shoot a couple of hundred baby trees.

Jim that funny. Makes me wonder when the feds read this what kind of rules will have to made to protect these poor little trees from gangester style loggers. bg

Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: isawlogs on January 25, 2011, 08:37:58 PM
 No small tree in the States is safe now  ::) :D :D :D

Time to buy shares in the .22cal market!!!!
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: SPIKER on January 25, 2011, 09:01:31 PM
hummm  how small a tree we talking here? 2" 4" or 10"?

:)

Mark
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: CX3 on January 25, 2011, 09:40:57 PM
Hey burlkraft how many times did ya blast that tree youre standing by in your thumbnail?? :D
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Jeff on January 25, 2011, 10:11:29 PM
I allowed him to stand next to that tree. ;)
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: CX3 on January 25, 2011, 10:24:23 PM
While you shot at it? :D
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Jeff on January 25, 2011, 10:27:42 PM
No, while I tried to ride it.  :) 

  This one didn't need shooting. It grew that way on its own.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 25, 2011, 10:58:23 PM
Quote from: SPIKER on January 25, 2011, 09:01:31 PM
hummm  how small a tree we talking here? 2" 4" or 10"?

:)

Mark

I cut some pretty nice burls from 8" trees.

They grow like that here 8" X 60'
I have gotten a beach ball sized really nice solid burl from a tree like that.

One in every 3 or 4 are like that it seems

If I don't have some pictures somewhere I can take some.

I know Pasbuild gets 'em like that in the UP on the west end there
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Jeff on January 25, 2011, 10:59:37 PM
They wanted to know what size they should be when you shoot em.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: pigman on January 25, 2011, 11:06:18 PM
If I was doing the shooting, the tree would have to be big or I would miss the tree. ::)
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: isawlogs on January 25, 2011, 11:15:10 PM
Bob , alls ya need do is aim at the tree next to the one ya want ta hit  ;)


  Marcel shootin' adviser
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: SwampDonkey on January 26, 2011, 06:47:30 AM
Around here you don't even have to touch or even breath on any of these black cherries (different than a choke cherry), they all get burls once the black knot drifts in the wind and germinates on the cherry. :D


(https://forestryforum.com/images/04_01_03/blackknot%20005.jpg)


Jim see if you can train a wasp that stings buds of trees to change their morphology. But, then again, do tropical trees have a resting period to form a bud? :D
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Ron Wenrich on January 26, 2011, 06:53:12 AM
So, are you saying that shooting a cherry tree will give an entrance for the black knot spores? 

What species have you tried shooting on?  If shooting is the trigger mechanism, then it should work on multiple species.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: isawlogs on January 26, 2011, 08:11:50 AM

Use a shotgun and pepper the forest  smiley_smug01
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 26, 2011, 08:15:48 AM
Jeff and I tried to secure a burl the size of a VW in Da UP

We cudda got it if we were dealin' with the guy....The woman wanted waaaay more than we offered  ::)  ::)

The Burl is gonna sit in the sun in front of their garage for years and just degrade right before their very eyes  :-\ :-\
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: isawlogs on January 26, 2011, 08:25:34 AM
Quote from: Burlkraft on January 26, 2011, 08:15:48 AM
a burl the size of a VW in Da UP

  Did ya use a 50cal. on that one ...   ;D :D
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 26, 2011, 09:09:53 AM
It will be a slaughter out there this morning.  Absolute randam indiscriminate shooting of adolecent and baby trees.  Some gut shot some in the foot and some high.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Jeff on January 26, 2011, 09:12:01 AM
Jim are you going to record the data on this, or is it truly going to be indiscriminate?
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 26, 2011, 09:52:18 AM
I have a 40 hectare test plot 46 KM outside of town and  a 6 KM walk in where we are measuring growth of various species, the amount lost every year by simply falling over to rot ect.  For this escapade each entry hole will be painted with enamel paint and a yellow ring painted around each tree shot so we can find them again.

Six man operation for the day, they left at daylight.

Two live chickens
4 kilos spegettii
1 kilo salt
2 kilos sugar
4 machetes
1 liter cooking oil
1 kilo rice
6 packages of spegettii sauce
220 410 shotgun slugs
A bag of bread

10 gallons of enamel paint and brushes.



I am interested most in Bloodwood, Tigre Caspi, Pink flame and Dalmation plus they will do several species.  If this works Burlkraft in a couple of years will have lots of nice toys to work with .


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14293/1298/RAINBOW_BLOOD_WOOD_II.jpg)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14293/1298/Copia_%282%29_de_Tigre_Caspi_Cookie_Jar.JPG)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14293/1298/7-ARTESANIA_DE_MADERA_DALMATA.jpg)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14293/1298/NEW_PINK_FLAME_IIA.JPG)

Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Ron Wenrich on January 26, 2011, 09:58:13 AM
I wonder if major battlefields have an overabundance of burls. 
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 26, 2011, 10:02:28 AM
Quote from: Ron Wenrich on January 26, 2011, 09:58:13 AM
I wonder if major battlefields have an overabundance of burls. 

I know the mall in DC has lots of burl trees. I could hardly contain myself   ;D
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 26, 2011, 10:25:25 AM
Here are a couple of the bigger ones I have got to town.  The table was cut very bad and had a 5 inch curve to it so the only option was to cut it into sections.

The other two we rolled like a tire for a couple on kilometers .  Not a pleasant day.  If this works it is a multi million dollar business.

We dont have the excellent figure as you in the north are used to.  I assume it is because everyting grows so fast here.


(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14293/1298/Foto_Exotic_Burl_Table_Kit1.jpg)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14293/1298/BURL_TABLE_TOPS_i.JPG)

(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/14293/1298/Geralds_Table.JPG)
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Jeff on January 26, 2011, 10:31:23 AM
I wonder if you are making a mistake painting the entrance wound.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: beenthere on January 26, 2011, 10:39:46 AM
I think Greenpeace is heading to Peru as we speak........ ::) ::)
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 26, 2011, 10:57:46 AM
QuoteI wonder if you are making a mistake painting the entrance wound.

Jeff:

They are not going to seal the wound but are putting a large ring around it so we can find  where the slug went in.

It will be interesting to see if the moss and other gargage that grows on some trees and blown into the hole has more of an effect than a clean tree.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 26, 2011, 11:01:39 AM
Right now I'm hoping that it works for ya and we don't say down the line, "Who was that idiot that suggested this?"
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 26, 2011, 11:09:34 AM
Burlkraft:

Nothing ventured nothing gained  , I am open to trying anything.  I have been on some crazy escapades in my life.  This is quite mild by past standards.   When I came here a long time ago I was told by experts there was no wood here with figure or unusual colors.

One day with firewood cutters showed me a supermarket of colors and grain patterns and it became my business.

Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Clark on January 26, 2011, 05:50:01 PM
Quote from: jim king on January 25, 2011, 08:01:48 AM
I have taken shoots off of burls and had them cloned thinking that possibly I was going to have burl trees.  Long story short they are regular trees and no figure.

I like your ingenuity, Jim.  I would have never thought of something like that and it's a funny story!

Have you checked out what Alex Shigo says about burls?  He did all sorts of crazy things to hardwoods and recorded it all, I would think he would have written something about burls...?

Clark
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 26, 2011, 06:07:25 PM
Quote from: Clark on January 26, 2011, 05:50:01 PM
Have you checked out what Alex Shigo says about burls?  He did all sorts of crazy things to hardwoods and recorded it all, I would think he would have written something about burls...?

Clark

I forgot about him. He is the authority if there is one!
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: beenthere on January 26, 2011, 06:18:31 PM
He was a legend.

http://www.shigoandtrees.com/index.php?_a=viewDoc&docId=5
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 26, 2011, 07:07:30 PM
Quote from: beenthere on January 26, 2011, 06:18:31 PM
He was a legend.

http://www.shigoandtrees.com/index.php?_a=viewDoc&docId=5

If I remember right you are a bit of a legend yerself   no_no  no_no  no_no

You otta have some burls growin' in them trees by now   :D :D
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: SwampDonkey on January 26, 2011, 07:58:43 PM
Was? Some legends never die. ;)
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 26, 2011, 08:00:01 PM
Quote from: SwampDonkey on January 26, 2011, 07:58:43 PM
Was? Some legends never die. ;)

You my friend are working on your legend status  ;D  ;D
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: SwampDonkey on January 26, 2011, 08:04:05 PM
Me. I'm nothing more than an insect, you know what happens to insects. Sometimes....if you don't miss. :D I suppose you could call it the ..... expiration date?
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 26, 2011, 08:06:26 PM
Quote from: SwampDonkey on January 26, 2011, 08:04:05 PM
Me. I'm nothing more than an insect, you know what happens to insects. Sometimes....if you don't miss. :D

That's not what Jeff thinks!
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Jeff on January 26, 2011, 08:10:31 PM
insect  Alien  ;)
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: isawlogs on January 26, 2011, 08:22:18 PM
Alien .. Canadien.  Close enough ! :)
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: SwampDonkey on January 26, 2011, 08:22:57 PM
Yeah, but they look like aliens.  :-\
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: PC-Urban-Sawyer on January 26, 2011, 08:45:32 PM
Yeah, my wife was a resident alien (Canadian) but the naturalization process fixed that!

Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Jeff on January 27, 2011, 08:20:13 AM
I mean alien as in from another galaxy. :)
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: woodhick on January 28, 2011, 07:18:52 AM
Following this thread with great interst.  My luck I would forget I shot it and complain about hitting metal in a few years. :D
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 28, 2011, 08:12:45 AM
Lead saws up pretty nice  ;D
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: iffy on January 28, 2011, 12:46:44 PM
Quote from: Jeff on January 27, 2011, 08:20:13 AM
I mean alien as in from another galaxy. :)
Isn't that still canadian?  :D
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 28, 2011, 01:38:43 PM
Well the Assassins got back and shot over 150 trees, some had to be shot more than once.  Now it´s all up to BurlKraft crossing his fingers.

I am going out in a few days for photos.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: pigman on January 28, 2011, 02:34:08 PM
Quotesome had to be shot more than once
What, were some of the trees fighting back?
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 28, 2011, 02:58:52 PM
QuoteWhat, were some of the trees fighting back?

They had tree huggers in front of them  8)
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 28, 2011, 05:50:45 PM
Quote from: jim king on January 28, 2011, 02:58:52 PM
QuoteWhat, were some of the trees fighting back?

They had tree huggers in front of them  8)

:D :D :D :D :D

I am anxious to see how this works out   ;D

What kind of trees did they shoot?

Will they grow fast? Hardwood...softwood?

You probably already said, but I am getting very forgetful.

It's either my meds, my age or maybe it's because I got married?  :-X
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 28, 2011, 06:17:24 PM
I am anxious to see how this works out   

What kind of trees did they shoot?

Will they grow fast? Hardwood...softwood?

You probably already said, but I am getting very forgetful.

QuoteIt's either my meds, my age or maybe it's because I got married?

No need to explain , we understand your circumstances.

High figure hardwoods and we shot the ones in puberty.  In ten years they will be at least 24 inches DBH.  I will probabably 180 inches below DBH.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 28, 2011, 06:19:37 PM
Quote from: jim king on January 28, 2011, 06:17:24 PM
High figure hardwoods and we shot the ones in puberty.  In ten years they will be at least 24 inches DBH.  I will probabably 180 inches below DBH.

Is there some one there that's going to keep us updated?  :D :D
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 28, 2011, 06:46:27 PM
BurlKraft:

As I said before, I have done a lot of crazier things.  I will have DBD measurements, photos of each gunshot and it progress every six months etc. etc...  If this is going to be something you will never have to look for burls again.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: fuzzybear on January 28, 2011, 07:15:19 PM
   I finally got to read this and boy is it interesting.  It was brought up about battle fields, well that triggered something in this old mind.  Years ago I was very into the Battle at Gettysburg, I toured the battle field from top to bottom over the course of a month. And I do remember their being alot of burls in the trees around the battle field.  I remember one  I believe was a walnut tree very close to "Devils Den". It was a massive burl. and there were others around.
  It would be interesting if some of you guys who live near the battle fields have noticed anything.  My wife also brought up the big burls around Harpers Ferry WV.  Another battle area.
  So the point of all this is....I think maybe you guys are onto something.  I think I'll load up on .22mag shells and start blasting away at some of these Birch trees. ;D
FB
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 28, 2011, 07:36:07 PM
QuoteIs there some one there that's going to keep us updated?

I can´t promise as the doc told me not even to buy green bananas but I have a good group of people and they are as interested as I am.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Bill Gaiche on January 28, 2011, 08:44:47 PM
When you shoot a tree with lead does this cause lead poisning? Or do the trees now have a cancer where shot which turns to a burl? bg
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on January 28, 2011, 09:15:52 PM
Best answer I can come up with is ?¿?¿
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: SPIKER on January 28, 2011, 09:21:33 PM
Quote from: jim king on January 28, 2011, 06:17:24 PMI will probabably 180 inches below DBH.

I guess as long as ya are not 72" below ground level :o   Any day ya wake up on this side of the dirt is a good one for the most part.

Mark
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Burlkraft on January 29, 2011, 10:17:22 AM
I like the lead causing a cancer burl  ;D  ;D
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: jim king on June 15, 2011, 11:24:38 AM
The gaurd just came in from the shooting site for his pay and said many of the trees are swelling and look unusual where they were shot  8).   I hope to be able to get away to go out and take photos soon. 

For me it is a one day walk in , one day on site and one day walking out .  Old.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Bill Gaiche on June 15, 2011, 11:36:35 AM
Jim you may want to take the medical examiner with you to make a full investigation, bg
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: MesquiteSawyer on June 18, 2011, 12:36:33 AM
Very entertaining thread guys. 

I had to add that I was visiting with an older farmer the other day at his house and I noticed he had a 30" mulberry covered in burl in his yard.  I asked him about the tree, and he mentioned that the tree had many boxes of bullets shot into it over the last thirty years.  Didn't think much of it at the time, other than it was a shame it was so full of lead.  Go figure.

I am headed into the woods to test this myself.  It did occur to me that you guys are all going to corner the market on burl in a year or two and we won't be able to give it away!   High class worry I suppose.  :-)

-Mark
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: asca65290 on September 17, 2011, 09:25:11 PM
I got a kick out of reading this thread.  I never would have guessed about shooting trees and creating burls!  Since there haven't been any postings on this topic for a few months, I thought I would ask: Is there any update?
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: wesdor on December 24, 2013, 09:44:34 PM
Trying to get this thread started again to see if anyone can report. I believe we have lost Jim King, but hopefully someone else can provide some information

Do any of you have "man made" burls starting to grow? 
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: SPIKER on December 24, 2013, 10:33:33 PM
Does not seem like the thread was this old, when I saw it I remembered it right away.   Did not remember Kim King passing but see the Forum has him listed in memorandum?
I have some shot up red oak, no burls yet after a year or two...

Mark
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: SwampDonkey on December 25, 2013, 04:41:57 AM
Yeah, we lost pour Jim some time ago. I think he and the wife had a great life down in Peru though. And he was always talking about the struggles down there with 'outsiders' trying to influence forest activities. The WWF's address down there was an abandoned building. He used to tell us about how some gringo, once in awhile, would show up down there to make a new life for themselves. Most never made it.

Miss Jim being around. He could sure write some long posts about his ordeals. :)
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: wesdor on March 01, 2015, 03:34:19 PM
Trying to bring this topic up again.  Wondering if anybody has progress to report

Thanks in advance
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: mesquite buckeye on March 05, 2015, 09:22:00 AM
Superdave does a lot of wood turning and he says he has never found a bullet in a burl. He says this is probably 50 mesquite burls and quite a few cherry burls from New Jersey. :) :snowball:
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: dean herring on March 05, 2015, 03:59:28 PM
Just how much are burles worth?
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: SwampDonkey on March 06, 2015, 05:34:05 AM
Depends on grain pattern, species, and what's hot at the moment of sale. ;)
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: mesquite buckeye on March 06, 2015, 10:46:15 AM
If the burl is for turning stock, the price is limited by the selling price of the bowl or other items and the value of labor/artistic ability of the turner and a profit for the store that sells the bowl. It all works backwards from the selling price of finished products. :)

Highly valuable burls are a bit like highly valuable black walnut... ;D ;D ;D :snowball: :snowball: :snowball:
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: mesquite buckeye on March 12, 2015, 04:41:31 PM
I believe it should be possible to create burls with grafting techniques. I'd think a walnut burl would be highly valuable. ;D ;D ;D

If anybody is interested I can explain how you could do it. :)
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: aehartle on March 02, 2016, 03:42:11 PM
Any update to the progress of the trees? I am brand new to this forum and couldn't stop reading...
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Jeff on March 02, 2016, 03:48:57 PM
I'm sorry to say that Jim King passed away several years ago and we will most likely never know the answer.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: WH_Conley on March 02, 2016, 04:33:02 PM
I sure do miss Jim's stories.
Title: Re: Growing burls
Post by: Magicman on March 02, 2016, 07:10:05 PM
Hello aehartle and Welcome to the Forestry Forum.  How about an intro and sharing some of your tree/log/lumber interest.  Adding your location to your profile helps with questions.   :)