mikeb1079
ArboristSite Operative
a week or so ago i responded to a craigslist ad about a giant red oak tree nearby that had to be taken down for safety reasons. the homeowner had posted that anybody could have the wood if they would come get it. so i cruised over there and yikes! it's a red oak just about 5' in diameter and very very tall. the tree service was in the process of taking it down and i figured they'd just chunk it up into firewood rounds so i kinda gave up on it. fast forward til yesterday when the homeowner reposted about this tree with a pic of 20' of trunk on the ground! turns out they just felled the bottom 20' into her yard.
i went over last night to check it out and i could see cracks on both the bottom and top but no huge rotten section so i figured on quartering it in line with the cracks and sawing up the quarters. so now i'm psyched about 20-30" quartersawn red oak slabs and i get all my gear out and ready to go. get over there today and start digging into the middle of it figuring on about 2 8' sections and one 5' piece.
that's a 32" bar on an 066 for scale. looks kinda tiny...
pop off the first quartered piece and.....
blast! it's rotten almost completely thru! there was about 8" of solid wood on the outer perimeter of the tree and that's it. the pic makes it look more solid than it was, but that darker colored wood that looks solid is all rot. i've heard this is common with large oaks but i thought i'd be in the clear (get it? :msp_rolleyes b/c the ends looked solid albeit cracked. ah well, such is life, i cleaned up my mess and made a little firewood pile for the next guy. on the plus side i now have my weekend back!
i went over last night to check it out and i could see cracks on both the bottom and top but no huge rotten section so i figured on quartering it in line with the cracks and sawing up the quarters. so now i'm psyched about 20-30" quartersawn red oak slabs and i get all my gear out and ready to go. get over there today and start digging into the middle of it figuring on about 2 8' sections and one 5' piece.
that's a 32" bar on an 066 for scale. looks kinda tiny...
pop off the first quartered piece and.....
blast! it's rotten almost completely thru! there was about 8" of solid wood on the outer perimeter of the tree and that's it. the pic makes it look more solid than it was, but that darker colored wood that looks solid is all rot. i've heard this is common with large oaks but i thought i'd be in the clear (get it? :msp_rolleyes b/c the ends looked solid albeit cracked. ah well, such is life, i cleaned up my mess and made a little firewood pile for the next guy. on the plus side i now have my weekend back!