Big Timber

[Brmorgan]

I've been digging through all the photo folders on my computer the last few days, and came across this one from last summer:

I guess it's a little off-topic since I definitely won't be milling that tree, but I thought you guys might enjoy the pic. The pictures don't do justice to the size of the tree though. I took that with my wide-angle lens at 21mm, which makes the foreground look bigger than it is, and I'm only standing about 2/3 the distance between the camera and tree in the first shot, which was maybe 10 feet. I'd say it was about 10' diameter. Beautiful big Western Red Cedar, though not very healthy - it's the biggun on the far left in the second pic (note the size of the tree in relation to the outhouse about 1/3-1/2 the distance away). This tree is right next to an old logging landing on nearby Quesnel Lake in the inland mountain rainforest, and I remember seeing a big Ford Super Duty truck parked under it a few years ago - it looked like a Hot Wheel on shore.

 

[arbadacarba]

I`ve got one of those about 50' from my house. If it comes down in a westerly then the house goes. Doesn't bother me one bit - I'm hoping its still there when I'm gone and the house is gone, and still there many generations into the future. We're getting into the habit of putting in redwoods around the property as commemoration trees. It feels good to see the spirit live on in a different form!

 

[Brmorgan]

A couple years ago we had a hail storm which spawned a freak windstorm about a half mile up the road from my house - witnesses claimed it was a brief twister touchdown, and the evidence would support it. About 10 acres of 30" Douglas Firs completely uprooted, some around 2' snapped right off a few feet off the ground. It demolished some small outbuildings, and toppled a ~2' tree right on top of a house. Luckily it was a log house with a huge ridge pole of similar size to the tree, and the tree only destroyed the roof itself, not the structure of the house. My neighbor's best friends live there and the wife was home alone at the time. Scared the :censored: out of her.

Yeah, there's a part of me that would like to live down there on the coast or the Island - I love Tofino - but the rain... But it's nice to know I can still drive a couple hours east into the mountains and get the same experience. The lake and mountains are so big it's just like being on a fjord on the coast anyway. And an hour west of here there is desert complete with sand dunes and cacti.

 

[Backwood]

Thats a mosnter for sure.

This was the biggest thing I tackled last year. 1/4 white oak

 

[chainsawboy1996]

i think i can top that. and all i have to do is walk 100 yards of the front porch.

 

[BobL]

Here's a nice one for you'all.

It's a Red Tingle tree (Eucalypts Jacksonii) with the world's biggest diameter (up to 15 ft) for any eucalypt. The vast majority of these remaining biguns (this one is about 10 ft in diameter) are in national parks so cannot be milled. They grow in a tiny area of the south west of Western Australia and mostly were milled out last century. The wood is actually pretty ordinary compared to most other eucalypts.

 

[Brmorgan]

Thats a mosnter for sure.

This was the biggest thing I tackled last year. 1/4 white oak

My back hurts from here...

 

[Rockfarmer]

Cool pics!

Wow!

 

[Brmorgan]

Found this one too:

That's a little closer to home. Just the furrows in the bark on that tree were probably 8" deep. We have quite a few big Douglas Firs around here that were left as seed trees when areas were first logged during the 20s-50s. They're pretty much all dying now from drought fatigue and/or pests. There's a patch practically a stone's throw behind my parents' place with at least 18 (I may have lost count) big dead Douglas Firs between 24" - 60" diameter in less than an acre of space. There's enough firewood in those trees to last me literally the rest of my life, but I don't want to waste them for that. I plan to mill the bottoms and cut the knotty tops for firewood.

 

[Burlhunter13]

Here's a nice one for you'all.

Cool pic!
Look at all of the burly figure!!!!!! ahhhhhhhh...Australia

 

[Brmorgan]

Went for a walk with the family today out behind my parents' place and took the camera. This is one of the big firs I'll be going after this summer:

It's almost up to my chest at the very butt end. The five larger trees off the end of the one on the ground are also all dead. The official count is up from last fall - I counted at least 24 dead total all within maybe two acres' area. Too bad it's absolutely impossible to get a bandmill in & out of where they are though (without heavy equipment, anyway). I might try to get a salvage license for them, but I'm not sure if they would allow it. There's a big movement right now to leave big dead trees like this in the bush as "wildlife trees" even though it's completely obvious that there is a pest in the area killing them. Also a small scale salvage permit only covers 50 cubic meters, which would be equivalent to two or three of the biggest of these trees.

 

[RPM]

Went for a walk with the family today out behind my parents' place and took the camera. This is one of the big firs I'll be going after this summer:

It's almost up to my chest at the very butt end. The five larger trees off the end of the one on the ground are also all dead. The official count is up from last fall - I counted at least 24 dead total all within maybe two acres' area. Too bad it's absolutely impossible to get a bandmill in & out of where they are though (without heavy equipment, anyway). I might try to get a salvage license for them, but I'm not sure if they would allow it. There's a big movement right now to leave big dead trees like this in the bush as "wildlife trees" even though it's completely obvious that there is a pest in the area killing them. Also a small scale salvage permit only covers 50 cubic meters, which would be equivalent to two or three of the biggest of these trees.

Root rot and douglas-fir beetle are probably the responsible factors for giving you such a nice find. Talk to the small scalle salvage people at the FS. One method for geting all of that timber is to have each of your family members put in for a salvage permit as well....you, your dad, mum...etc. You want a cash sale for the wood and a quick look at the pictures says it looks like grade 4 wood to me which will be $.25/m3. Grade 4 wont make a sawlog grade due to defects (checks,twist, rot). If they are in better shape - grade 2 which is dry sawlog then you'll pay more. They have table rates for that - maybe $15-20/m3. The piece on the ground is grade 4 for sure. The other thing with cash sales is that they should only require a volume estimate and not an official scale (weight or hand scale).

Someone from the FS will more than likely want to come out and see what your after. If you have to create access for a skidder then the process will get more complicated so make sure you have a plan in place for getting at the timber before someone comes out to look or you apply for the licence. Existing trails are your friends and don't mention making new bladed trails to the FS at all. The other thing they (FS) don't want to see are openings > 1ha created - 24 stems over a 1 ha shouldn't be an issue either.

As for management objectives, unless they are in an identified area already like a riparian management zone or wildlife tree patch, or other retention area there shouldn't be an issue. But thats part of the back ground work the FS will do in approving the licence. The only other road block these days seems to be the natives and thats an entirely differnet game there. If you can get them offically thats great.......if 1 or 2 go missing over the summer - I don't think anyone will notice either :greenchainsaw:

 

[Brmorgan]

Yeah i wouldn't need a skid trail. There's already an ATV trail right to them, and I'd be taking the Alaskan in there and canting them down to where I can haul them out with the quad. So, the environmental impact of removal would be minimal, about the same as horse logging.

The one on the ground is probably the worst log of the whole bunch, it has big ~6" branches pretty much all the way down to the ground. There are some there though approaching 5' diameter (with bark) and pretty much clear for 50-80 feet, and poker straight for that length. One has a split top about 60 feet up and each top is still at least 30" dia. after that.

 

[pastryguyhawaii]

I thought I'd add this picture of my wife next to the biggest mango tree I've seen. It's down in Waipio Valley here on the Big Island.

 

[chainsawboy1996]

i came through on my word

 

[BobL]

I thought I'd add this picture of my wife next to the biggest mango tree I've seen. It's down in Waipio Valley here on the Big Island.

Awesome - how big are the mangos?

 

[pastryguyhawaii]

The mango on this tree looked normal size. I don't think anyone picked them because the branches are so high up. We do have a variety called "kite" that grows south of Kona that gets huge. I've seen five pounders and have heard of up to eight. And they tell me the tree is small.

 

[Can8ianTimber]

Big Trees

Here is a couple of mine,

 

[Can8ianTimber]

Big Oak

 

[wavefreak]

Here is a couple of mine,

HOLY CRAP. That's one big tree. It would have been easier to move the house.