Like a time capsule

[Sawset]

I got a call from dad, come over and cut up the huge triple tree in his yard. I had forgotten as a kid I nailed boards up those trees to tree forts we built. I found those nails, tore up a few chains.

Back home there was a silver maple. Three stems with many branches after that. Had a tree service take it down. It was over 100yrs old, but must have been a cutoff/sprouts to start, because the whole thing was 7ft in diameter, and three seperate trees grown together. They saved anything a ft dia or larger for me to chunk up. The base - filled a dump truck, 7ftdia x 10ft long. They just hauled it away. Back in the 60s it was home to my tree fort. Of course I had to hit a couple of the spikes with the saw. Thing made over 5cord. Kind of strange seeing iron stains halfway into a tree over 100yrs old and realizing they were mine. I kind of immortalize old pictures of the place, with ancestors model Ts and such, and sometimes see hardware from that time period too. And think gosh what was it like. Yet it wasn't long prior.

 

[MoDoug]

Back home there was a silver maple. Three stems with many branches after that. Had a tree service take it down. It was over 100yrs old, but must have been a cutoff/sprouts to start, because the whole thing was 7ft in diameter, and three seperate trees grown together. They saved anything a ft dia or larger for me to chunk up. The base - filled a dump truck, 7ftdia x 10ft long. They just hauled it away. Back in the 60s it was home to my tree fort. Of course I had to hit a couple of the spikes with the saw. Thing made over 5cord. Kind of strange seeing iron stains halfway into a tree over 100yrs old and realizing they were mine. I kind of immortalize old pictures of the place, with ancestors model Ts and such, and sometimes see hardware from that time period too. And think gosh what was it like. Yet it wasn't long prior.

Great story, nothing like a fond trip down memory lane. And you'll still be enjoying that tree with every split you burn. Time sure flies..

 

[mrd1995]

When I worked as a ground crew member for a tree service the owner of the tree service hit concrete that had been poured into a knot hole, never thought to look inside. Totally trashed the chain. Homeowner admitted to filling the tree about 5-10 years prior trying to stop the rot...

Coolest thing I saw was a water line that had been fastened to a tree with a spigot. Homeowner said it still operated although you could no longer see the pipe. She said she felt bad for who ever had to remove that one, had a metal hose reel bolted to the tree as well. Wish I would have snapped a pic.

 

[Dieselhead]

I found a couple nails today while splitting.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

I cut down a big old oak out back many years ago. I'm not sure why we cut it, maybe we just needed wood. Anyway, there must have been 1,000 nails in it, like someone opened the tree and poured in a few boxes. Balls of nails....just weird. Now I wish that tree was still there.......

 

[MoDoug]

I cut down a big old oak out back many years ago. I'm not sure why we cut it, maybe we just needed wood. Anyway, there must have been 1,000 nails in it, like someone opened the tree and poured in a few boxes. Balls of nails....just weird. Now I wish that tree was still there.......

Makes you wonder what was going on for someone to dump boxes of nails in a tree.

 

[peakbagger]

I knew of huge old pasture pine on some property that the family owned, it was a corner tree and was huge at the base. It had been used for decades as backstop for target practice. Its been years since I have been there but development has left it alone. No doubt there would be pile of lead in that one.

 

[Isaac Carlson]

I knew of huge old pasture pine on some property that the family owned, it was a corner tree and was huge at the base. It had been used for decades as backstop for target practice. Its been years since I have been there but development has left it alone. No doubt there would be pile of lead in that one.

We have a huge white pine, about 100 ft tall and an easy 4 -5ft across. It has been used as a target backstop as well. My wife told me there used to be a hollow hole near the base that she used to put rocks, a railrod spike, and a lot of iron into when she was a kid. She said it never filled up. It is now covered by new growth. The tree has eagles in it and we think it was hit by lightning some years ago. It has lost some branches in heavy snow, but is still a grand old tree. I often wonder how long it will live and if I will be the one to see it die. I counted 110 rings on one branch. Everyone says it has been here since before anyone can remember, back to at least 1860, and possibly the revolutionary war. We love the tree and hope it lives many more years.

 

[Solarguy3500]

While splitting sugar maple today I discovered an old piece of tubing from when it had been tapped for making maple syrup many years ago.



There was almost 2" of wood on the outside grown over it, so I'm guessing it has been in there a while.

 

[clancey]

It would be nice if you found a stash of gold in one of those trees or even silver--lol Hoping you find that some day..clancey

 

[Nealm66]

That’s cool

 

[peakbagger]

My woodlot was tapped back in the the late 1990s. It was an amateur operation. The Ice storm of 98 finished that and the person who was doing it just left a lot of hardware and tubing in the field. I have found several trees with the taps still in them and several trees damaged by loops of wire and tubing used to run the tubing. I usually remove them when I find them. Most of the trees that were big enough to tap were taken out by the ice storm or seriously damaged so I dont find much growth over the taps. I do salvage the black poly tubing when I find it. I have a thousand foot run that I need to haul out one of these days.