Me see big tree. Me cut down.

[johnnylabguy]

Just finished loading out the last of the white oak I cut down with the neighbor. Whoo! over four truck and trailer loads yesterday. Had to get it out before the ground thawed again. His dad took the log so at least we didn't have to cut and split that monster! Hope the pics work ok. They're from my cellphone camera(kinda crappy but the files are small!)

 

[thejdman04]

Looks good from what I can see

 

[Orange Hill]

That is a nice tree.

 

[savageactor7]

Damn I can't expand any of them Jonney but from what I can make out it looks humongous...bigger than any tree I've ever cut.

 

[johnnylabguy]

yeah, She was as big as I'll ever cut! It was in the middle of a field and a quarter mile from my house. After staring at it on my way home from work for a month I said "screw it! she's comin' down!"

I'll try to repost some pics a little bigger. If I can make this work it would be great. Just sending pics from my phone to the internet would be way too easy!

 

[rngrchad]

I hate to see a big ol' lonely tree like that go down. Looks like it still had a nice top and some solid years ahead of it. I see those big ol' oaks still standing by themselves, exposed to the elements years longer than I've been alive and I think to myself: wow, that is one tough tree....to think of the storm's it has stood strong against is just a testament to the strength beyond what the mear mortal human can fathom.

But I guess if it had to come down for one reason or another; job well done.

 

[johnnylabguy]

I thought of that too, rngerchad. The one pic is of my neighbor counting the rings. 118 of 'em. And there was almost no dead wood on that 'ole girl. She will serve her purpose keeping my family warm next winter though.

 

[Circle B MN]

I thought of that too, rngerchad. The one pic is of my neighbor counting the rings. 118 of 'em. And there was almost no dead wood on that 'ole girl. She will serve her purpose keeping my family warm next winter though.

Just out of curiosity, why would one cut a tree like that if it were still "alive and well"...?

 

[Shmudda]

If only those old trees can talk.....the stories they could tell!

I have some trees up the hollow from my home that I know are bigger then that, they are all very large oaks. Seems to me they were here when the indians were. I just marvel at they size of them.......

Personally, I would never cut a tree down like that just for firewood. Now if it was dead then let the saws loose, but thats just me.

Trust me, I'm not a tree hugger or anything like that, but one has to see the beauty in something that large, and has been on this earth for a few generations.

To each his own, just use it all.........

Craig

 

[savageactor7]

Just out of curiosity, why would one cut a tree like that if it were still "alive and well"...?

I target bigger trees around my place cause that's what DEC told me to do...let 'em go to long and they all become widow makers.

Dead trees, forked multi-trunked trees, the biggest trees etc.

 

[johnnylabguy]

MNGuns, I can see where your coming from but I don't have unlimited access to firewood like so many here do(I am envious!). This tree was close to my house and a friend of mine offered that his uncle who owns the field didn't care if it came down. I certainly didn't cut it down just to watch it fall, it was way to nice a tree for that.

Any guilt I have cutting it down is relieved when I don't see my 20 month old shivering on a cold January night!

 

[flotek]

sucks to cut down a tree like that ..but humans have alot more value than just a tree and we need heat dammit lol so bring out the big saws :greenchainsaw:

 

[AIM]

Those lonely old trees are in every other field around me. When they do come down it's usually because the farmer is tired of farming around them. It takes a large excavator to dig out the root base and by the time it's all over it'll be a $500 bill for the farmer. That's why so many are still standing out there.

 

[MJR]

The white oak stay at my place for the deer.

 

[johnnylabguy]

The deer do love the white oaks! Now its time to fill the woodbin! C'mon spring!

 

[Haywire Haywood]

That log would have been an easy splitter... noodle half way to ease getting the first split done and then the rest would have been cake.... and a lot more wood for the stove too. Looks like fun!

Ian

 

[willsaw4beer]

If only those old trees can talk.....the stories they could tell!

I have some trees up the hollow from my home that I know are bigger then that, they are all very large oaks. Seems to me they were here when the indians were. I just marvel at they size of them.......

Personally, I would never cut a tree down like that just for firewood. Now if it was dead then let the saws loose, but thats just me.

Trust me, I'm not a tree hugger or anything like that, but one has to see the beauty in something that large, and has been on this earth for a few generations.

To each his own, just use it all.........

Craig

I leave trees alone unless they are sick. I like to catch them right when they start to get sick so that the wood doesn't get punky and go to waste, but I don't even think of cutting the huge majestic old trees that have stood the test of time. In the long run they're better off staying up so they can spread their seeds and make a whole woods full of nice trees. Call me a treehugger but it makes me sad seeing nice trees axed down.

 

[johnnylabguy]

Alright guys, here me out. I'm getting a good chuckle out of the sad feelings for that poor old tree! It was over 700 yards from any woods in the middle of a farmers field that they plow,plant,harvest and do all over again every year. It wasn't going to reproduce real easily there and the farmers like it because they don't have to deal with getting around the thing with their 50 row grain head. It was a nice tree, but so are all the smaller and crippled dying ones too. ask a woodpecker or squirrel how they like it when you take out there highrise hotels! It's an interesting debate. ...When should a tree be condemned to death?

I just hope i don't get put on trial for tree homicide.

That being said if it were in my woods(if and when I buy some) I would definately have let it live!

 

[AIM]

If it doesn't bother the farmer to farm around it, then let it be. If it does bother him then I have no problem taking it down.
Very few creatures benefit from a lone tree in the middle of a large field. It won't reproduce a woods cause the farmer will plow it all up each year. (unless he no tills but even then he won't let sprouts grow up)
If it's an oak (most of them around here are) the deer will have picked the ground clean of acorns in about 2 days.
Grand ole majestic trees they are but everything has it's end.
The deer would rather have the corn the farmer plants anyways.

 

[rngrchad]

sucks to cut down a tree like that ..but humans have alot more value than just a tree and we need heat dammit lol so bring out the big saws :greenchainsaw:

I think your method of thinking is flawed or ignorant.

I need heat: therefore I'm entitled to cutting them all down. Hangers, leaners, windfall, deadfall; I can see that for heat but c'mon man. Be real.

Another thing about some feeling that the tree is "useless by itself away from the forest":

I used to climb trees limb by limb when I was younger. Still do just not on a daily occurance anymore. Anyhow, I climbed an old Oak once on a buddies farm. It had a huge opening about 4ft up the tree that I could fit into. I stuck my head into that oak's cavity and YIKES...there were a whole den of coyote pups and momma. I remembering looking eye to eye with her she didn't growl or anything just kinda cowered into a ball ontop of her little ones. On the same tree there was racoon scat, owl pellets and deer droppings at it's base. Red-tailed hawks would sit in it's limbs overlooking the fencelines ready to prey on field mice.....YOU try to tell me a tree like that has little importance. Maybe I'm just in an edgy mood but I got to say....wake up and be more observant of that tree's surroundings. You would be suprised how many creatures use it as a safe haven, or for food, shelter or a high-rise with which they use to find another mate.