girdeling an Oak tree.

[bucksnbears]

i have some HUGE burr oak i would like to take down to open up the canopy for wildlife management.
if i went in now and cut 2-3 inches deep all around to kill the tree's, how long do you think it will take for the bark to fall off and when it does fall off, will it be good enough to fell them and cut up and burn right away?.

 

[Pelorus]

No more acorns = interesting wildlife management.

 

[timbrjackrussel]

i have some HUGE burr oak i would like to take down to open up the canopy for wildlife management.
if i went in now and cut 2-3 inches deep all around to kill the tree's, how long do you think it will take for the bark to fall off and when it does fall off, will it be good enough to fell them and cut up and burn right away?.

Deer habitat

 

[bucksnbears]

No more acorns = interesting wildlife management.

well that answers my question..

i have LOTS of acorn bearing trees. just a few biggies i want gone

 

[bitzer]

Why not cut them down while alive? Dead trees make more dangerous work. It would have to be dead standing for about 5 years (maybe more) before its ready to burn. Get it cut n split and burn it in a year.

 

[zogger]

I am forced to mostly cut dead trees and it sucks! Dulls the chains fast, every single bug poop under the bark, called frass, has silica in it, sand in other words. Even semi chisel goes dull fast. Forget full chisel. Then, once it is cut up, the outside wood and half gone bark has to be shaved off, the rotten punky stuff, before you even get to start splitting, as you do NOT want to stack up wood with rot all over it. It won't last. I am burning stuff like that now, sure the inside is still good, but man, I have learned my lesson....oakzilla..man, this is a lot like work, takes three times longer to split because of having to clean it first.

Cut it live right now before it gets heavier with leaves and even more sap and be done with it. Plus what the other guys said, you really want to be standing under tons of dead branches once it starts moving? Dead branches aren't called widow makers just for funzies..

Good luck, pics! We like big trees...

 

[bucksnbears]

never thought of the "widow makers".
ok, i'll scrap that idea

 

[Jere39]

I cut dead trees exclusively. Mostly red oak. I usually cut trees that have long since lost its bark. And still, the moisture content runs in the high 30 to 40%. Left in rounds, the moisture drops very slowly. Once split and stacked in sun and open air, they will lose about 1-2% per month. Means they sit about a year before the hit 20% where I consider them ready to burn.

 

[muddstopper]

Cut them down and fence the area. Buy some goats and they will delimb and debark the trees for you.

 

[flotek]

Ringing or girdling does very little and just makes it dangerous just drop the thing before it gets leaves on it

 

[Saddle Mander]

Buy some goats and they will delimb and debark the trees for you.

When you're done, start a fire with all the smaller stuff and roast the goats! Yum!

 

[Woody912]

i have some HUGE burr oak i would like to take down to open up the canopy for wildlife management.
if i went in now and cut 2-3 inches deep all around to kill the tree's, how long do you think it will take for the bark to fall off and when it does fall off, will it be good enough to fell them and cut up and burn right away?.

I would like have about 1,000 big burr oaks where I hunt. I have to shoo deer out from under them to get to my stands

 

[WoodTick007]

Why not cut them down while alive? Dead trees make more dangerous work. It would have to be dead standing for about 5 years (maybe more) before its ready to burn. Get it cut n split and burn it in a year.

Don't be fooled by Donald Trumps above statement/advice. If storing it standing up in the woods is easier than storing it near your house... Then leave it standing in the woods.
Also, It will NOT be ready to burn in a year. . .Oak takes a very long time to season properly. . 24-36 months from wet cut/split. Some old timers would let it leaf out and then cut it. The thought being the leaves are going to draw a lot of moisture from from the tree. Either way 24-36 months

 

[muddstopper]

Oak will season just fine in one year if cut when the sap is down and split to a decent size, and stacked where it get good air flow. It wont season in 3 years if left in rounds laying on the ground.

 

[olyman]

i have some HUGE burr oak i would like to take down to open up the canopy for wildlife management.
if i went in now and cut 2-3 inches deep all around to kill the tree's, how long do you think it will take for the bark to fall off and when it does fall off, will it be good enough to fell them and cut up and burn right away?.

story. when I first started to burn wood,,the ex fil,,had a tree in the woods, that had been girdeld 40 years previous.....all the branches were long gone..but it was a burr oak tree.......when I cut it down,, sap ran out the cut on the bottom!! that tree was as wet as the day it was alive!!! I cut it, split it, and stacked it in rows....with space in between the rows.. it was dry that fall....in direct sunlight in the summer,,and where the wind could always get at it.........

 

[mallardman]

I never see any burr oaks in my neck of the woods. Saw one in Indiana during a road trip last year. It had the biggest acorns I've ever seen. Had to stuff a bunch in my cargo shorts. Hoping I can get a few to grow.

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[Woody912]

I never see any burr oaks in my neck of the woods. Saw one in Indiana during a road trip last year. It had the biggest acorns I've ever seen. Had to stuff a bunch in my cargo shorts. Hoping I can get a few to grow.

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They take a very long time to bear. Don't let them dry out too much or they will not germinate

 

[Oldman47]

I never see any burr oaks in my neck of the woods. Saw one in Indiana during a road trip last year. It had the biggest acorns I've ever seen. Had to stuff a bunch in my cargo shorts. Hoping I can get a few to grow.

Good luck with that. A bur oak belongs to the white oak family so it must be fall planted ASAP after the acorn falls. If you PM me I can probably mail a few acorns to you this fall when they start dropping but any you collected last fall are sterile by now. I have tons of bur oak in my wood lot so it is no big deal for me to collect a few acorns. In PA they should be able to grow just fine. My winters and yours are probably similar as a zone 5/6 and they do just fine in average soils. My summers get into the low 90s and I get a bit over 20 inches of rain each year. I have one in my back yard that I grew from an acorn that I planted about 3 inches deep in the fall but they are not really good yard trees. Look at the acorns you have and think about running over them with your mower and you will know why.

 

[NSMaple1]

Sap doesn't go down. The tree has water inside year round.

 

[Westboastfaller]

never thought of the "widow makers".
ok, i'll scrap that idea

God hates a coward, now back to your OP.
You are just going through the white/yellowish cambium layer under the bark. The Beetle larvae actually girdles trees and kills then. You don't have to go deep at all. Too deep with some species can cause snaping in the wind as the SAP wood is the strongest part (not the hardest) A tree can survive by a little thread still in tact of the Cambium layer.
Just saying. I don't have an opinion of how you go about it. I don't have oak experience. Generally with softwoods standing trees like Pine Beetle attacks are dry at the butt in 6 months and the top take longer but Birch, Cottonwood, Aspen are opposite. and defoliate and decompose from the top and take way longer.