buffalo bill
ArboristSite Lurker
I have heard that the wood from trees struck by lightening does not burn. A myth I am sure, but is there any truth in it?
lightening and wood
- Thread starter buffalo bill
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If you get a bed of coals going, Anything will burn. I would say a myth.
i would agree you can burn anything if you want to bad enough lol.
Rookie1
Addicted to ArboristSite
Doesnt someone on here have a signature that says "if you get it hot enough anything will burn". 
I have burn't things that i never thought would burn. Only because of a hot bed of coals.
Now that i think about it , I have burned wood killed by lightening. Burned normal.
mga
wandering
not a bad rumor to start.
that way, people will throw out alot of wood that you can glady take off their hands.
smokechase II
Addicted to ArboristSite
Make a living
I made a living working on fires started by lightning.
The dry wood that gets a spark burns right now.
Green live trees are often killed by the lightning or die within a year. When those dry out they burn just like any other dead tree.
I made a living working on fires started by lightning.
The dry wood that gets a spark burns right now.
Green live trees are often killed by the lightning or die within a year. When those dry out they burn just like any other dead tree.
There is absolutely truth in this! This wood can be dangerous. If it is Oak, Ash or Maple, don't touch it or burn it. Have it delivered to my house and I will properly dispose of it. Oh, there is also a fee for disposing of hazerdous waste that you'll have to pay!
Also, All kidding aside, I have notice that wood with lightning scars splits harder than normal.
mga
wandering
well, that's because the heat from the lightning heat treats the wood....much like metal when you heat it, and it hardens the wood.
lol...how did i do?
I sure hope it burns. I have 4 nice red oaks within 10' of each other that took a shot of lightning and like posted earlier; died the following year. I plan on cutting them up this winter. It's pretty amazing how the lightning peeled individual strips of wood from top to bottom around the 4 trees. Most of the tree(s), were unharmed with the exception of the strips.
iowawoodcutter
ArboristSite Operative
Neighbor had a 24" red oak hit by lighting. The tree guy that came to take it down said it was the most dangerous hit he had ever seen. It was split three ways down all of the trunk. Which was absolutely perfect for me, since i got the wood after the tree guy took it down and it was cake to split. He also mentioned that wood burns BETTER after being hit by lightning. I did not buy that, but since I got 1-2 free cords out of the deal, I was very agreeable to anything he had to say.
avalancher
Arboristsite Raconteur
Two years ago I got a oak tree that had been hit by lightning, and it burned just like normal. There was only one downside. the main trunk was split right down the middle, and so I missed out trying to load all those big rounds in the trailer, they were all split almost right in the middle. It also cut down on my splitting time, the part that I like the most, so i was very bummed out.
Okay, just kidding. It was a wood harvesters dream tree. Cut and loaded that tree in the truck in a little more than an hour per load, took four trailer loads out of that tree at a little more than a cord per load.
I would give a lot to be able to direct lightning to every tree that I wanted to haul home.Maybe some good lightning rods in the tree before takedown?
Okay, just kidding. It was a wood harvesters dream tree. Cut and loaded that tree in the truck in a little more than an hour per load, took four trailer loads out of that tree at a little more than a cord per load.
I would give a lot to be able to direct lightning to every tree that I wanted to haul home.Maybe some good lightning rods in the tree before takedown?
mga
wandering
so, get a DC high voltage generator, around the 50,000 volt range, wire it up to a tree, stand back and hit the switch......
like this one....
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/circ/hv/hvdcgen/hvdcgen.html
bang...split...tree down.
lol
like this one....
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~antoon/circ/hv/hvdcgen/hvdcgen.html
bang...split...tree down.
lol
dean06919
ArboristSite Operative
My father wanted a large black oak removed due to it leaning slightly toward his house and propane tank. In addition to the slight lean, there were two branches acting as counterweights that would pull the tree toward the house. Due to the difficulty, I passed on the tree for two months and then as luck would have it, the tree was struck by lighting. The strike was so powerful, the two branches, each over 12 inches, and acting as counterweights, were literally blasted off the tree. The strike also striped the bark off a good portion of the tree and split the tree down one third of the way. In fact, the only limb left was on the opposite side of the tree, away from the house.
It turned out to be an easy tree to cut down after all! It was also easy to split as the lighting had caused cracks throughout the trunk. I was pretty lucky on this one.
It turned out to be an easy tree to cut down after all! It was also easy to split as the lighting had caused cracks throughout the trunk. I was pretty lucky on this one.
Evanrude
Addicted to ArboristSite
Someone once told me that a tree hit by lightening would be a lot harder to cut. Meaning that the wood would be hard. Dont know anything about it, I havent had to cut any trees hit by lightening yet. So, do they cut hard or no?
BrotherBart
ArboristSite Lurker
A few years ago my neighbor had an big oak struck by lightning in his front yard. The insurance company wanted to pay less than the tree service guy wanted to take it down because my neighbor would benefit from the firewood. The tree service guy called Allstate and told them that lightning takes the btus out of the wood and the idiots believed him and paid up.
mga
wandering
LOL....nice one!!
avalancher
Arboristsite Raconteur
Trust an insurance company to try and find a way out of paying.I bet they will pull the same stunt down in Texas.
"We cant pay you the full value for your home because of all the scrap wood is good for firewood and has value. Here is the remainder from our calculations. 300 bucks.":censored: :censored:
"We cant pay you the full value for your home because of all the scrap wood is good for firewood and has value. Here is the remainder from our calculations. 300 bucks.":censored: :censored:
smokechase II
Addicted to ArboristSite
strength
You can tell if the temper has been taken out of a pine tree that has been hit by lightning by the blue color to the outer few inches of wood.
You can tell if the temper has been taken out of a pine tree that has been hit by lightning by the blue color to the outer few inches of wood.
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