well, I cut one down.

[aarcuda]

And it was pretty rotten. the whole bottom 7 feet of the tree had 1/4 of the side rotted away. it was just waiting to fall. its was leaning pretty bad too.

 

[rebelman]

Looks like you cut that one down to size. Looks like it needed it. Any clue to what originally caused the crack and hollow?

 

[aarcuda]

i dont know. i just moved in in august and that tree has been here a long time. I see a lot of these tress have damage near the base (probably from kids with 4 wheelers since theres a lot of tracks around the property).

 

[pbtree]

Good move in dropping it now, rather than waiting for the tree to decide when to drop itself...

 

[treeseer]

Those wounds don't look like 4-wheelers, more like bobcats used in clearing.

Sorry you had to lose your trees; what will you replant there?

 

[aarcuda]

the property has oak trees all around it and behind it in the woods. I was thinking that I may take some of the small ones from near the house and move them around into places where I want them to go.

I'm not too sure how well, oak trees like being replanted. any suggestions on the size of the trees I should try an move. there are a bunch of brand new ones sprouting up everywhere (like 10" and smaller)

 

[gumneck]

I've moved 10" size with good results. Just dig it deep and a wide circumference. Try a couple and if you dont see leaf wilt in a week than you know you dug it right.

Good luck.

 

[Manco]

A hot fire too close to an oak tree will cause that too. Cant see the damage for a long while. The bark will dry and break off first, then wood will rot out like that.