Norway Maples.

[Eagle1]

Wondering if anyone else ever had this experience. I have removed a few, not to many Norway Maples up here in NE. People generally try to hold on to the hardwoods, but some times...they need to go.

Anyway, When I start chunking down after all the limbs have been removed, the trunk pops and splits to a degree with each piece I chunk. Not an entire split mind you, but a kind of pressure release with a snap and pop.
Has anyone ever had one of these really split?

What exactly is this?

 

[Mikecutstrees]

popping....

I finished removing one on friday. 28" and it did make a few pops. Nothing really split though. Very very brittle wood. Everything went well, wish I had some pics. It was on a 10th of an acre lot in the city. Alot of rigging and climbing. Mike

 

[Eagle1]

Yea, same here. Homeowner had a large redwood deck and an addition built onto the back of the house........than says...maybe that Maple should go.
This is very mature tree with height. There is one decay cavity from a large branch that broke off long ago on the main trucnk. It has rounded over nice though. Just to be safe, I will not hang any really heavy wood.

 

[Eagle1]

Mike. Nice website !! I especially love the line "minimal impact"

 

[blewgrass]

cut em all down. norways are the worst tree ever! they contain a phytotoxin that kills everything else that tries to grow around them, are extremely invasive and they hold tons of leaves late into the season. they don't even turn a pretty color when the leaves change, just black and brown. their regeneration rate is right up near 100%, all those little helicopter seeds will grow right up through the cracks in your foundation if you let them. i've offered to cut my neighbors down for free just so i could enjoy burning them through the winter. worst trees ever, but i might be a just a little biased.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

cut em all down. Norways are the worst tree ever!

Ailathus or tree of heaven is worse for that, even Siberian elm is worse for invasiveness.

That said, I've seen woodlots choked with Norway maple. It is a good firewood tree with its fast growth in both height and caliper. Coppice management is good.

As for the wood falling apart, I'm not sure if I'm reading your description right. I have had logs fall apart from "frost cracks", which is very common in A. plantinoides.

 

[tomtrees58]

Ailanthus or tree of heaven is worse for that, even Siberian elm is worse for invasiveness.A. plantinoides.

and they pop all the time its normal tom trees

 

[Dadatwins]

Norway will pop and split in the cold, they hold a lot of water and will freeze, the popping is most likely the sun getting on the wood after the crown is removed. Have seen this in willow and atlanthus also when it is really cold.

 

[Mikecutstrees]

Thanks Eagle1.... My cousin worked it up for me. It's still a work in progress though..... Mike

 

[OLD CHIPMONK]

Speaking of "brittle trees", look at Badford Pear & Florida Maple !opcorn:

 

[TheKid]

I have experienced this in bigleaf maples, but never in a norway. It seems like you are releasing compression forces when you chunk it down. my .02.

 

[custom8726]

I rigged a norway down from about 60' to 20' so I could flop the log, when I did the log split into four almost Identical 20' pieces. It was quite strange and a bit scary that I just roped out 40' of this tree off itself in small pieces. The trunk looked fine originally but had a spiral effect to it. I am guessing when it was young it was damaged badly but recuperated itself over the years on the outside anyways. Thats the only Norway I ever had do that and it was in the middle of the summer and showed no sign of decay.

 

[Eagle1]

Wow......Crazy. I have scene that also. But only splitting in two from a 30' truck.

 

[Wortown Mick]

Ive seen norway & silver branches explode hitting concrete or blacktop.

its gotta be that straight grained wood with preexisting cracks.

 

[treemandan]

Chop em all down! I know I won't stop till either I am dead or the norways are all gone but I am not limiting myself to just them. Dam trees!

 

[(WLL)]

compression wood being released. this happens in many hard woods and trees that get exposed to a lot of wind. locust seem to be the loudest,at times it will scare the crap outa me:jawdrop: . hope nothing bad ever happens cause this noise do a search on the boards ,i have disscused this once before.

 

[pdqdl]

I am astounded. The trunk splits AFTER you cut off the top, or does it split after you drop the trunk on the ground?

Maybe I've lead a sheltered life, but I have never seen anything like what you described. We only have a few Norway maples in our area, and I don't remember ever working on one.

I noticed that most of the comments in this thread come from the east coast states. Maybe this is a phenomenon limited to your area?

 

[(WLL)]

I am astounded. The trunk splits AFTER you cut off the top, or does it split after you drop the trunk on the ground?

Maybe I've lead a sheltered life, but I have never seen anything like what you described. We only have a few Norway maples in our area, and I don't remember ever working on one.

I noticed that most of the comments in this thread come from the east coast states. Maybe this is a phenomenon limited to your area?

the log makes loud cracking sound as u chunk down its wood. i have not herd much info about this but it is very real. i have noticed it happens more when im working close to the river. this is not just with the maple.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

the log makes loud cracking sound as u chunk down its wood. i have not herd much info about this but it is very real. i have noticed it happens more when im working close to the river. this is not just with the maple.

Must not happen to me because I use a bypass, then push or pull the chunk off. The only time I will salami cut is if I want a tear cut to hold ans swing down to the base.

 

[treeslayer]

I've got some good pics of a monster norway maple I took down in Leesburg VA, but the JPG's are all around a megabyte, how do I lower that, so I can post?