Could lightning caused this

[Mike W]

Cut some Tamarak (Larch) yesterday for some much needed posts here on the farm's new pole building.  Tree was approx 75 feet tall and roughly 26" diameter at the base.  Tree had a split top into two at approx 40' up and the two tops ran another 35' or so.  When first dropped, noticed a huge amount of sap pouring out of the center of the stump.  There is a straight split running straight through the core from just inside the sap wood to the opposite side just inside the sap wood.  This crack traveled the entire length to the crotch.  The two tops had no sign of this.  Never seen it before and most trees around here when struck are killed or show significant signs of the hit, this had no outside indication of any type of strike.  Any thoughts?

Stump - widest part of the crack is approx. 1/4" tapers to zero just before the sap wood


 


Butt end of the tree


 

[wisconsitom]

Mike, I'm wondering about the double top...and the fact that defect could have somehow caused this....or been caused by this.  I have not seen lightning do that.  In any and all trees with "v-crotches", this is precisely the problem...the likelihood of splitting down that seam.

tom

[Mike W]

Tom,

Thank you for the reply, I didn't think lightning would do this without at the least showing significant other signs as well.  I agree with you on the v-crotch is a likely cause, I have cut several of these Tamarak with the v-crotch as I am thinning those out to let the others without such grow a bit more, this is the first I came across this, lucky I suppose.

Thanks again,

Mike

[wisconsitom]

Good going doing that thinning...even if pre-commercial.  Larch are such fast growers that it pays to give them a bit more space than say, your pine or spruce.  In my hybrid larch (Larix x marschlinsii) plantation, I have considerable thinning work to do, beginning likely next year.  Trees are too crowded in some places.  I want to get them to roughly a 15' by 15' spacing, or slightly less than 200 trees per acre.  In my case, I may have to just flop and drop some.  Others, maybe I can make fence posts or poles out of them.  We're leaving the best trees to grow on.

Thanks,
tom

[doc henderson]

I had an ERC that was blown over in high winds.  split in the center as it flexed and sheared in the middle.  the whole main trunk was like that.  usually lightning will show signs at the entry and exit areas ( unless exit under ground).

[Mike W]

Hi Doc,

That's what I was attempting to elaborate on, no signs of a strike like I am used to seeing, and tree was still standing strong and straight, didn't have any signs of internal stress aside the v-crotch.  I have cut several of these off the property and was the first I had encountered.  Did have a large Aspen split like this, but that was just a bad fell job on my part and could clearly see it split at the hinge and didn't want to come down so split a large section of the main trunk, should add this part to the "what I did dumb today" thread... :

[doc henderson]

I guess you can look at the upper end near the crotch and see if the split is oriented perpendicular to the crotch.  my ERC tree with 24 inch diameter, showed no out ward signs.  kind of like standing a deck of cards up on end and then lean them over and see all the planes of the cards shift.  that is what I think happened at least.  I only know due to cutting cookies that all fell apart along the same plane

[Mike W]

I did just that, with the crotch laying flat, the crack is vertical, which makes me think it is most likely the cause even more so.  Just amazed it traveled the entire 40+ foot into the stump, not sure what caused the crotch in the first place.  I have several of these trees just like that, hope my luck holds out like the rest of them thus far not having this issue as I continue to harvest these types of trees.  What I thought was particularly interesting is it was only the heart wood, the split stops just inside the sap wood the entire length. ???

[doc henderson]

could still be shear from wind ect., i assume the crotch you are referring to is where it split into 2 branches?  It runs right through the pith, so it may have been weakened along the pith in line with the crotch.  If you saw the wood, you can avoid the pith but line up the split with the bed of your mill.

[wisconsitom]

Something caused a multiple top....an insect chewed the main leader, or wind damage destroyed same.  Or even a bird or porcupine perched atop the tree could have done that.  True, most pine-family member are adept at "re-leadering" back to one main stem when such disturbances arise...but every now an then, this doesn't happen.

In deciduous, broad leaved trees like say, maples, if they are open-grown, like all yard and street trees are, they will develop many low branches.  Depending on type, these may be "v-crotches" which are simply branch junctures with narrow angles of attachment.  These junctions are well-known to split out in heavy snow, ice, or wind events, and the crack often extends deeply down into the main trunk.  Silver and Freeman maples are most likely to display this tendency....if not "subordination-pruned" while young and developing their structure.

tom

[RPF2509]

A likely culprit is frost crack.  A very cold spell will freeze and expand the water in the bole and split the trunk.  Sometimes its only from the pith out one direction, other times all the way through.   Almost always on the radial lines of the grain.  In cold weather you can hear the popping as trunks split.

[Mike W]

RPF2509,

Good call, didn't think of this as a possible cause.  We do get really cold "cold snaps" in our area, even more so up on the mountain these Tamarak are located.

As a follow up, I did start to cut a 16' section which I intended to get 4 6x6's and some side boards off the first section of log cut.  Trued up a couple faces then decided to cut the pith out in line with the split to remove the defect out of the finished lumber.  About 14' though the cut, it sounded like a 12 gauge shot gun was fired next to my ear, the log was under such stress, it split the fibers the remaining 2' of the cut, looking back at the log, there was a 2" gap 'crown' in the log as the top half heaved upward and the bottom half bowed downward.  It came off the mill, so I could continue with other Tamarak, making straight 6x6's with no issue (different tree and the two tops).  will get a couple pic's of the log and how it blew apart during the cut and post those as an update.

[wisconsitom]

Never in my born days have I seen tamarack exhibit frost crack.  More likely on non-native species like Norway maple.  I'm not saying the non-native status is somehow a causative factor...but that by observation, that particular species is very prone to same.  But tamarack?  Hmmm...not impossible, but i have not seen it.

Still believe that v-crotch, as is the case on numerous other trees, is responsible for this failure.  On the other hand, there is the possibility that wetwood formed in the general area of the heartwood in this stem...and that resulting pressures from potential gas production (by microbes in the wetwood) may have caused that wood to split apart.  I just don't think we can ignore v-crotches though....any time they are observed.  Way too many cases of failure at that point...all over the world.  Nor do your photos seem to indicate wetwood.

tom

PS...in my neck of the woods, there would be many white pines-for example-with split and multiple tops...if not for the chemical treatment I apply to the growing tips of young stock in spring.  There are numerous ways for a tree to have its main leader broken, chewed, died, split, etc.  In this case, it is the white pine weevil.  But each tree type has its pests, let alone birds, etc.

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, not lightning. I have seen lightning strikes in evergreens and it destroys the apical meristem. So no new leaves/needles since the buds are fried.

Lightning damaged (killed) fir buds



I wouldn't call it frost crack, but mechanical damage. Frost crack is a freeze thaw thing from warmer aspects in relation to the sun. It will not usually cross the pith of the tree and there should be some wound tissue around the injury. I have seen tamarack so thick, tall and slender that when thinned out they can barely stand. They will bend down low near the stump and fracture the stem wood.