So what's in your wood?

[Darin]

No this isnt an xxx rated post. I was visiting a buddy the other day though and he was cutting down an old japanese elm. It had a big barbware stake through it. Those big old green ones. It also had matchbox cars and about 5 gallons of water inside. Anyone here have something they have found inside a removal? Thought this might be interesting.
Darin

 

[treeclimber165]

The 2 most unusual things I have found in removals are a railroad spike and a truck tire rim. The rim was about 20% exposed so I knew where it was. Someone had leaned it up against that old oak about 40-50 years ago. The railroad spike was buried in the trunk of a Pine tree and I went through 3 chains trying to work around it so I could use the boom truck to snap off the stump.

 

[treeclimber165]

I just remembered. I also found a water spigot in an Oak tree trunk. Someone had run a water line and screwed a spigot to the tree. The tree grew completely around the pipe and handle so you couldn't turn it on, but when I hit the water line cutting the stump the line was still pressurized! It took 2 hours to find the shutoff valve so the line could be traced and capped.

 

[Darin]

Yeah, that would be quite memorable. That's one of the funnier things I have heard of in a stump.
Darin

 

[Deere John]

We've hit maple syrup spiles, square nails, bicycle chain and some clothes line hardware. Generally, I'm not too amused - My third cut with a new 30" bar and chain went right into a 6" spike the homeowner hung his clothsline with some 400 years ago. "Wouldj'a lookit that - I fergot that was there" was almost his exact answer. Can't print mine.

The worst stuff to deal with is chain link fence that the tree has grown around. Major danger doing surgery on that.

 

[Dave]

On removals I've never found anything other than nails that are attracted to that brand new chain, but during my 14 years in the sawmill it was easier to list what we didn't find! Every size and type of nail known to man including hardened contrete nails.All sorts of lags,screw eyes, phone company guy bolts,horseshoes,logs full of bullets ( must've been a nasty tree),not to mention what ceramic fence insulators will do to saw teeth :-( My favorite was an oak log - first slab cut showed an odd shape in sheetmetal. Nipped in all around with the chainsaw and popped out most of a clothesline pulley! Turned the log down, slab cut, guess what? Same drill, 'nother slab, number three,only now it's not funny anymore. We didn't look for the fourth one, used the chainsaw and our best bad words and made a six footer out of it.

 

[Treeman14]

We've found all of the usual hardware, but the most memorable items we've found have been alive(well, sort of).
This has happened twice to me. Cutting down a hollow oak tree. Half way through the chain binds up, I pull it out to find bits of hair and bloody stuff wrapped around the chain and sprocket. Really nasty. Turned out to be a possum living in the tree. I now try to remember to check out those cavities before cutting.
We've also found many snakes, squirrels, racoons, rats, owls, and bats. Most manage to escape unscathed. My crew called me the "butcher" for a while. Hey, it was an accident, I didn't know he was in there. Really, we do try our best to relocate any wildlife we run into.
I just remembered, I had a rat jump onto my chest while trimming a palm. I was on the top rung of a 30' ladder and tied in with a lanyard, nowhere to go. Before I knew it, he ran up onto my shoulder and then bailed out to the ground. Anyone else have any close encounters with animals?

 

[homelite360]

i hit a family of snakes in a 40" oak tree onceadn i have no clue where they came from cause i could nto find any holes. at first when i saw blood on the chain i instantly stopped cause i though tha ti hurt my self again cause i took a chuck out of my knee with a poulan 2 months earlier so i was getting all worried. and then i checked my self out and then starte4d to cut out pieces and pulled out the remains of 3 or 4 garder snakes not sure which cause they were so mangled. but other than that i have had a buch of squrils run at me and that is about it.

 

[Darin]

Man I am calling some animal rights activists on you too. We have two butchers in the forum area. Just kidding. I wouldnt do it. I just didnt think that being a butcher was common in the tree industry. So does this mean the tree still bleeds? Or with one cut can there be only one thing that bleeds? Also too you woodsman, Do bears fart in the woods? Ok, I am done with my lame jokes.:alien:

 

[Deere John]

If you can hear a bear fart in the bush, that's good, because that means momma is headed the other way. and you get to live another day.

 

[Dave]

I just got home from from a job that included trimming a red oak. Years ago somebody mounted a floodlight on it and the tree has covered one socket almost competely, the other has just the bulb sticking out and a goodly amount of wire disappeared. Reading the other posts I remembered a rotten pear tree I took down. When it hit the ground a half-dozen little pink baby squirrels went to squirrel heaven:angel:

 

[monkeypuzzle]

Just registerd here,great place to play in when the rains come.I think nails,wire,flying rats,wasps and bees top the list here in N. Fla.,but i find people,well these people are skydivers.We have a jump zone in my town and a few times a year I am called out to retreive a chute or some slick dude out of a tree.Another use for us arborists.These folk can be hard to deal with,could be because of the fact they fell into the unknown and survived,but the money is great,and I can do it with only my wife,they only call on weekends.Well,just thougt i would share this with you guys.

 

[treeclimber165]

How do you get a parachutist out of a tree? Do you have a 'discount rate' where you just cut the ropes for them? I did some airial rescue training at Davey but never had to use it. But I still think a sharp pruning saw is the fastest way to go!

 

[svrfsvp]

I found a beer bottle (empty!) in the crotch of a white oak not long ago - couldn't find the "glass" setting on my metal detector. Last week I spent an hour chiselling a hole to remove a piece of metal straping and the 16d nail holding it to the trunk of a cedar tree that I was slabbing on site. The owner said that he remembered when it got nailed on there, 40 or 50 years ago. Also, that the tree was live Christmas tree that had been planted by his grandparents back in 1928. Kind of cool to know the history of the tree...

 

[treeclimber165]

I never thought of using a metal detector on tree removals, but it makes sense. Might be a bit expensive, as well as taking up too much space. Perhaps a large magnet might work? Although not quite as well as a metal detector.

 

[monkeypuzzle]

90% of the time, it will only be the canopy.They are very daring folk,to climb or to just cut themselves free is what they will usually do.With 3000 $$$$ stuck up in the tree, in the middle of Gadsden Co. they come a callin.....its just a party for these people,...and 100% of these nuts already have a harness on,so it is just gravy.The attitude of the person is the key to pricing,their pride is hurt ,they can't jump anymore that day,but for the most part i treat them better than they treat me.I have jumped once,and will one day do it again,so i don't want to piss any body off. ............

 

[sgreanbeans]

2 things i have found that stick out to me!

1. Cuttin to big oaks for this farmer, 20' from each other, about 30 yrs ago he put this big pipe the crotch of each tree! he made a swing set out of it! the trees grew around it and now the grand kids swing on them! they had me cut the trees down to about 2' feet from the crotch, thought that was kinda neat.

2. Droped a huge elder, trunk was hollow and was giving a family of squirrels a home! they were MAD! the started coming after me! one ran up me leg! they wouldnt quit either! we got out the blower and that scared them off!(after about 20 min of being chased by 4-5 baby squirrels and their mom!) I havnt laughed that hard in a long time!

 

[Toddppm]

Cut up a few squirrels too unfortunately, once in a while we'll run into flying squirrels they're pretty cool. Have seen many of them jump (not the flyers) out of the tree and hit the ground running from 70 ft.+ up ! Tough little guys:blob4:

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I dont know ho many chains I've toasted on rocks in box elder stumps. I just figuer it will happen. Tree of heaven is about as bad. Most of these are in inner city lots.

I heard a story (did I post it here already?) about a guy who took apart a big willow. It was around 5ft at the but. He came back the next day to find that it had grown over a small spring that was now welling up into the clients yard.

The metal detector is a must if you ever start selling logs to small mill operations. Not the beachcomber type either. A number of the supply companies sell good timber metal detectors.

 

[monkeypuzzle]

Are there folk out there that would buy my trees?Ive put a few nice yellow pines on a sawmill befor,and wow!!!! but what about the nice red oak,I just got the ok to cut a large Red Oak,that is about 45" diam. and i know i can get a good 30' trunk.Do peole want that stuff? Could have god knows what inside,but it would make piles of boards.