# What is the most wood from one tree?



## Normande (Jun 25, 2012)

I was just curious how many cords some of you have gotten from a singal tree. I am about done with one maple ( hand splitting all of it), I figure I got about 2 cords from that singal tree, boy I'm glad I am having the good log sawed still got the biggest stump to cut and split yet


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## lukem (Jun 25, 2012)

I cut 5 cord from the branches of one back oak.  The trunk still stands and has another 3 cord or more in it.


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## Normande (Jun 25, 2012)

Yikes that's a monster tree, although if I got to hand split it I'd take oak over sugar maple any day.


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## woodsmaster (Jun 25, 2012)

Aprox 9 cord from a white oak. It was a old yard tree.


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## Locust Post (Jun 25, 2012)

My BIL and I cut a large beech quite a few years back and both burnt on it all winter. I'd guess we each burnt 5 cord. We could not hook hands with one on each side wrapped around the tree.


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## scroungerjeff (Jun 25, 2012)

I helped my sister cut up a big northern red oak from the October snow disaster last year and it yielded about 3 cord of premium firewood.  Nine cord from a single white oak is incredible(more btu's too).  How old do you think that sucker was?


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## bogydave (Jun 26, 2012)

First guy don't have a chance.
I got 10-1/2 cords from a big cottonwood. When it hit the ground it Recored 5.1 at the earth quake center & caused an avalanche 5 miles away. 
Fell it with an axe up hill, carried it up hill, into 40 MPH wind &  snow, then slide it down a glacier, floated it up river then used sled & dog team to the house. LOL 
That was before I owned a camera of course.

An  cord of birch here takes about 6 - 7 trees average.


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## TimJ (Jun 26, 2012)

anybody that lives in Alaska has to be tough


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## Adios Pantalones (Jun 26, 2012)

about 2.5-3 cord out of a red oak in my yard. Not near what I have seen on the board here, but it's really satisfying to get half a year's heat out of one tree in the yard.


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## Ironwood (Jun 26, 2012)

bogydave said:


> First guy don't have a chance.
> I got 10-1/2 cords from a big cottonwood. When it hit the ground it Recored 5.1 at the earth quake center & caused an avalanche 5 miles away.
> Fell it with an axe up hill, carried it up hill, into 40 MPH wind & snow, then slide it down a glacier, floated it up river then used sled & dog team to the house. LOL
> That was before I owned a camera of course.
> ...


I can back you up on this one. I was the guy that shot 5 bull moose with a .22 and cut them up with a pen knife while you were going by on the river.


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## Jags (Jun 26, 2012)

Take a guess?
	

		
			
		

		
	





We had to call in the old boy with the mac110 and a big bar to get this one knocked down. A little over 4 cords split and stacked from this tree.

Gotta love a saw that should really have a kick start.


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## bogydave (Jun 26, 2012)

Ironwood said:


> I can back you up on this one. I was the guy that shot 5 bull moose with a .22 and cut them up with a pen knife while you were going by on the river.


 
I thought that was you. 

Would be fun to cut up large trees, but an 18" green birch round is all I want to handle as it is.
But when I see the nice splits youns get from the big trees, I'm jealous. It's amazing how much premium CSS wood is in one big tree.


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## Wood Duck (Jun 26, 2012)

My personal record is around half a cord.


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## rdust (Jun 26, 2012)

5 cord from a 48"+ DBH white ash,(yard bird) it had branches the size of 30 year old tree trunks.


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## Ncountry (Jun 26, 2012)

5 cords out of the top of a huuge white oak. This was after 16' of log was off. I worked for a logger as a feller for a while, but he loved to cut big trees . Every time a tree like that oak came along he would come out of the skidder or loader for a bit to knock it down.


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## Corey (Jun 27, 2012)

bogy is clearly winnin'.  Best I can claim is working 3-4 years on the same hedge 'tree'.  The central 'trunk' is probably around 50-55" diameter where it comes out of the ground and there are five 20-24" 'branches' - each really a 'tree' in it's own right-  coming immediately from that.  Over the years, I've worked on the four scraggly branches.  Finally got to the last one in the summer of '10...straightest piece of hedge I've ever seen...forced to grow straight up by the other four branches.  When cutting, I finally got to yell 'timber' and everything!  It hit the ground with a 'thud'!  

Usually cutting hedge is more like hacking away at a tumbleweed.  You cut the trunk and the tree sags a few feet.  Then you start cutting the branches on the ground and it sags a few more...cut more branches and it sags a few more!  But WOW is that heat ever worth it!


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## blacktail (Jun 27, 2012)

My neighbor had a very large old growth fir fall on his beach property. I've seen pictures and the tree was at least 6' thick and a couple hundred feet tall. He had to hire someone with the right gear to cut rounds off it. I won't say how many cords he claims have come from it so far, because I don't know that his estimate is based on any measurements. But I know it's a lot. He and a couple of friends have been heating their homes with that tree for a few years and it ain't gone yet.


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## rkshed (Jun 27, 2012)

Got about 3.5 cord from a Silver Maple down the road. Free too!
Split it by hand too.


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## woodsmaster (Jun 27, 2012)

scroungerjeff said:


> I helped my sister cut up a big northern red oak from the October snow disaster last year and it yielded about 3 cord of premium firewood. Nine cord from a single white oak is incredible(more btu's too). How old do you think that sucker was?


 
 I don't Know. The bottom was hollow so I couldn't count the rings.


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## mikefrommaine (Jun 27, 2012)

17 cord. 

Should have seen the one that got away.
Oh, wait we are not talking fish stories here?


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## smokinj (Jun 27, 2012)

More than I wanted to deal with!


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## mecreature (Jun 27, 2012)

LOL at Smokin... You wont be doing that tomorrow.

Best I have done on my own just under 2 cord on an ash tree. 
It was only about 24" round but went up for a long way.
I thought I was living it up. I gave a couple face cord to the neighbor for next year.
He thinks I am silly for drying my wood for a whole year.
I am going to clean his chimney too.


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## woodchip (Jun 27, 2012)

Someone I know has several willow trees that they coppice, so as far as I can see, someone could keep cutting more and more wood from the same tree as it regrows.
So theoretically, you could get an endless supply of wood from one tree.....
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Coppiced trees below:


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## Jags (Jun 27, 2012)

woodchip said:


> So theoretically, you could get an endless supply of wood from one tree.....


 
Well...that would just be cheating.


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## smokinj (Jun 27, 2012)

mecreature said:


> LOL at Smokin... You wont be doing that tomorrow.
> 
> Best I have done on my own just under 2 cord on an ash tree.
> It was only about 24" round but went up for a long way.
> ...


 

No Iam retired until mid sept. That pic with the 880 was last Aug. and it was 98 out. After 14 rounds off that we took a break. I then set the choke and told every body get my saw running and we will finish this thing. After about 40 pulls they gave up and we went home! (Best trick to have for tomorrow)


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## jeff_t (Jun 27, 2012)

Not sure about a single tree, but I got between seven and eight cords from the trunks of two red oaks. That was after my neighbor came over with his tractor and hauled a half dozen gnarly rounds back to the woods, that I really didn't feel like dealing with. Couple of big b!tches.


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## ScotO (Jun 27, 2012)

I did a HUGE ash tree three years ago, it was easily 50" across at the base, and every bit of 80 to 100 foot tall.  I can't be sure on the exact measurements as I was not as ANAL about documenting such things back then (it was long before I joined Hearth.com).  I can tell you I got almost 18 heaping truckloads of wood from that tree (it was all split on the spot and neatly stacked in the truck.  So that probably works out to around 7-8 cord.  I still have a bit of that ash in my stacks, it will be burned this coming winter.


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## smokinj (Jun 27, 2012)

Scotty Overkill said:


> I did a HUGE ash tree three years ago, it was easily 50" across at the base, and every bit of 80 to 100 foot tall. I can't be sure on the exact measurements as I was not as ANAL about documenting such things back then (it was long before I joined Hearth.com). I can tell you I got almost 18 heaping truckloads of wood from that tree (it was all split on the spot and neatly stacked in the truck. So that probably works out to around 7-8 cord. I still have a bit of that ash in my stacks, it will be burned this coming winter.


 
Never forget those kinda trees. I in the begaining was amazed at what a 460 can do. (Had a 290 from about 13 on) Wish I had pic,s of the crap I use to drag out of the woods right up to the back door. Start cutting stacking and burning all in the same day. I would have that farmall super M doing wheel stands on some of the bigger ones.


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## infinitymike (Jun 27, 2012)

bogydave said:


> First guy don't have a chance.
> I got 10-1/2 cords from a big cottonwood. When it hit the ground it Recored 5.1 at the earth quake center & caused an avalanche 5 miles away.
> Fell it with an axe up hill, carried it up hill, into 40 MPH wind & snow, then slide it down a glacier, floated it up river then used sled & dog team to the house. LOL
> That was before I owned a camera of course.
> ...


 
And you did it bare foot, wearing only a polar bear fur.


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## Locust Post (Jun 27, 2012)

smokinj said:


> View attachment 69296
> View attachment 69297
> View attachment 69298
> View attachment 69295
> ...


 
Should have  known that pic was coming out. Everytime we start talking big Smokin comes along with that picture. LOL Just sayin. He da man


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## Backwoods Savage (Jun 27, 2012)

This one gave about 50 cord. Took a while to figure how to notch it. Made a racket when it fell....


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## woodsmaster (Jun 27, 2012)

Nice work dennis !


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## mecreature (Jun 28, 2012)

woodsmaster said:


> Nice work dennis !


 
He probably had it stacked that day too.


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## woodsmaster (Jun 28, 2012)

here is the wood from the oak. One cord worth on the end of the long row is cotten wood, the rest is from 1 tree. I burnt a cord a half of the oak allready from the ends of the branches and some punky stuff that was dry. there is 2 1/2 cord out back on the pallets ( the tall grass picture).


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## firefighterjake (Jul 9, 2012)

Backwoods Savage said:


> This one gave about 50 cord. Took a while to figure how to notch it. Made a racket when it fell....
> 
> View attachment 69308


 
Even I would go vertical to split this wood!


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## skyline (Jul 9, 2012)

Backwoods Savage said:


> This one gave about 50 cord. Took a while to figure how to notch it. Made a racket when it fell....
> 
> View attachment 69308


 
I didn't want to be greedy so I only took about 20 cords from this tree so I didn't have to worry about notching it.


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## golfandwoodnut (Jul 9, 2012)

rdust said:


> 5 cord from a 48"+ DBH white ash,(yard bird) it had branches the size of 30 year old tree trunks.


That gives me an idea of what I am going to be dealing with, my monster Ash trees are almost dead and I have one that has 4 trunks each about 48 inches in diameter.  I will take a picture of it soon, what a shame and it is scarey to think about cutting something that big down.  Does anyone know how long it takes for the dead ash trees to start falling on their own?  I figure this one tree probably has at least 10 cords in it.


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## woodsmaster (Jul 10, 2012)

golfandwoodnut said
Does anyone know how long it takes for the dead ash trees to start falling on their own.[/quote]



Yes anytime after about 3 years. Mine died about 5 years ago and in the last storm a lot of them had limbs or whole tops snap off and a few snapped towards the bottom. sometimes the bark falls off first and sometimes it don't.


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## golfandwoodnut (Jul 10, 2012)

woodsmaster said:


> golfandwoodnut said
> Does anyone know how long it takes for the dead ash trees to start falling on their own.


 


Yes anytime after about 3 years. Mine died about 5 years ago and in the last storm a lot of them had limbs or whole tops snap off and a few snapped towards the bottom. sometimes the bark falls off first and sometimes it don't.[/quote]

Thanks woodsmaster, that is pretty quick so I may wait.  The dead Oaks seem to stand forever, I have some still standing from the gypsy moths that went through over 20 years ago and killed a bunch.  It is a shame not to sell some of the Ash trees for lumber but around here they make it damn near impossible to sell trees in my township.


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## Backwoods Savage (Jul 10, 2012)

golfandwoodnut said:


> That gives me an idea of what I am going to be dealing with, my monster Ash trees are almost dead and I have one that has 4 trunks each about 48 inches in diameter. I will take a picture of it soon, what a shame and it is scarey to think about cutting something that big down. Does anyone know how long it takes for the dead ash trees to start falling on their own? I figure this one tree probably has at least 10 cords in it.


 

Our ash started dieing about 8 or 9 years ago. We are still cutting and have had only one fall on its own.


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## golfandwoodnut (Jul 10, 2012)

Backwoods Savage said:


> Our ash started dieing about 8 or 9 years ago. We are still cutting and have had only one fall on its own.


 Dennis take a look at the Ash I posted under "what to do with a big Ash", have you ever seen one this big?


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## Backwoods Savage (Jul 10, 2012)

Holy smokes Golf! That's a lot of wood.


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