Hollowed-out walnut tree for firewood?

[Gark]

A friend has offered a 2.5' DBH walnut (sorry, no pictures) hollow inside with one remaining branch 11" dia. about 20' high. Squirrels live in it. He says the main trunk has about 6" of solid wood around the outer shell keeping it standing and alive. With the tree hollowed, is it probably too bug-eaten to bring into the house for winter heat? We propose to remove the branch before falling the tree.
What precautions can be taken to drop the tree safely?
I am a firewood scavenger who burns about 5 cords yearly and walnut is better wood than the lesser stuff I often get.
Have MS290 w/18", wedges and friend has BIG LOUD old Homelite with 20" bar.
Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[buckwheat]

Some considerations:
- Is it worth the work, or is it more about doing a favor for a friend that needs a dead tree removed?
- Is there that much burnable wood in the tree, or is it pretty much punked out?
- How close is the tree to anything that could be damaged if it decided to do its own thing when you attempt to drop it?
- Is it a job that a pro should drop and you take over from there?
- What is your experience level with dropping trees - do you feel comfortable with one this size and in this condition?

 

[1CallLandscape]

definately get the walnut! it burns real hot when seasoned. very hard wood. if the hollow log only has 6" around it that means easier splitting....just knock off 4" pieces ( yeilding a 4 x 6" log) perfect!

-mike

 

[Gark]

Thanks buckwheat- all good points:

It's worth the work even if little usable wood is hauled into the house for woodstove- this friend has done me many favors that I hope to repay.
The tree is in an open area of the property except for 2 volunteer silver maples (they're 'weeds' here).
Is it a pro job and we chunk it from there? -borderline, judgement call. We have 3 falling wedges for the backcut, will 'tap' the trunk with hand sledge hammer listening for weak sidewalls. Will use a long strong rope tied over the single limb and pull that with a Ford Ranger 4X4 to test the tree's solidity before proceeding. Will drill into the trunk first around the circumference with brace/bit to check sidewall thickness. THEN we'll decide if it's pro work.
I feel confident to proceed only IF this testing proves it SAFE. We've dropped hundreds of trees but never this large and seldom this hollowed.
Thank you for your inputs.
Safety first.

 

[turnkey4099]

A friend has offered a 2.5' DBH walnut (sorry, no pictures) hollow inside with one remaining branch 11" dia. about 20' high. Squirrels live in it. He says the main trunk has about 6" of solid wood around the outer shell keeping it standing and alive. With the tree hollowed, is it probably too bug-eaten to bring into the house for winter heat? We propose to remove the branch before falling the tree.
What precautions can be taken to drop the tree safely?
I am a firewood scavenger who burns about 5 cords yearly and walnut is better wood than the lesser stuff I often get.
Have MS290 w/18", wedges and friend has BIG LOUD old Homelite with 20" bar.
Thanks for your thoughts.

I wouldn't give anyone advice on how to, or how safe is it, fall a tree. I make enough mistakes on my own.

As to the 'bugs in the house' question. That is usually a non-problem. Most bugs will abandon the wood once it is fully cured with the bark off. Then if there are bugs to worry about, just bring in what is going straight in the stove. I had one tree that I had to do that with (carpenter ants).

Harry K

 

[Gark]

We dropped the tree safely- there was enough solid wood to make a hinge. Unfortunately, the tree was a locust, not walnut. The leaflets look somewhat similar. Got a truckload of that from solid limbs, but had to leave behind all the main trunk because it was too punky. Had it been walnut, I would have hauled it home and knocked off the junk because walnut is so good for burning. The owner will burn it up outdoors because they live outside any towns.
The trunk had billions of big black ants.
Thanks everyone for your replies.

 

[begleytree]

sure, blk walnut makes good wood, but locust is better, imo. Never pass up locoust!! knock the punky stuff out and split it up! but with the ants, maybe not, givem time to move out first.
-Ralph

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I've recently gotten a few pickup loads of locust from an Arboristsite member. Splits nicely, though a bit stringy. I'm looking forward to burning it this winter.

 

[1CallLandscape]

i burn locust on a regular basis here. it is REAL PLENTIFUL on the cape ( 55% of trees i cut are locust)...burns real hot when seasoned...it burns well green believe it or not, get a hot fire goin with some pine and toss in a locust log and whammo! kind of a stinky wood when green and wet ( smells like cat piss and dog sh**) it will go away when seasoned , i recently cut a locust down that has been standing dead for 20+ years according to the homeowner. man that stuff was hard as woodpecker lips! dulled chains like no tomorrow!
KEEP IT- BURN IT- YOULL LOVE IT

-mike

 

[PA. Woodsman]

You got a better deal!

Don't be disappointed that you got Locust rather than Walnut. Locust is a better, hotter, longer burning wood than Walnut-I'd take that trade any day!

 

[laynes69]

I burn locust at night, or if it is real cold out. It splits very easy when its been dead for a long time, or green. I think it burns like coal. Great Stuff!!
I have cut stuff up that has been dead for over 10 years.

 

[buckwheat]

yup. Locust over walnut any day. Burns hotter with a lot less ash. Locust is the gold standard. Used to be used for making fence posts. Get that truck emptied and head back!

Glad the tree came down OK. Nothing gets the heart pumping faster than the feel of a big tree hitting the dirt.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

i recently cut a locust down that has been standing dead for 20+ years according to the homeowner. man that stuff was hard as woodpecker lips! dulled chains like no tomorrow!

Yeah, I was warned to split it while it was still wet... I guess I'd better get it finished up!

At least it's all cut.

 

[turnkey4099]

Yeah, I was warned to split it while it was still wet... I guess I'd better get it finished up!

At least it's all cut.

If it is Black locust or the like, it will split both green and dry but easier dry as it checks badly. Let it dryi long enough and the knot free pieces willalmost fall apart. Doesn't affect the burning quality though. The chain dulling is caused by the hardness, not the splitting characteristics. I have seen sparks coming out of the cut when working up dry locust logs.

I'm with the others. Give me locust above all. Too bad they are few and far between here. I did luck out about 10 years ago when a near tornado went through the county. Got about 10 cord off one patch that was blown down.

Harry K

 

[Gark]

Hey I was thinkin' that I got shorted for getting locust instead of the expected walnut, but after reading these replies, looks like I made out fine after all! Cool.

 

[begleytree]

Hey I was thinkin' that I got shorted for getting locust instead of the expected walnut, but after reading these replies, looks like I made out fine after all! Cool.

Yeah, you did good.
-Ralph

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Addendum..

Hey I was thinkin' that I got shorted for getting locust instead of the expected walnut, but after reading these replies, looks like I made out fine after all! Cool.

I just cut some Black Locust into rounds tonight that I know has been cut down for a little over a year, and this stuff was heavy and hard to cut-it really is GREAT firewood, and TOUGH wood! Enjoy it...:greenchainsaw:

 

[mactel]

anyone have pics of locust? the bark, leaf and a split. would appreciate it.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I can get you some pics of rounds with bark on tomorry when we have some light... Don't have anything with leaves on it.