Now THIS is a TREE!

[Redlegs]

I've seen where arborist specialty stores (online) offer for sale a sturdy two-wheeler hand truck with over size tires to move trunks and big rounds. Maybe you or someone you know has a standard two wheeler you could try...at least you woulnt have to carry the heavy pieces so far.

 

[Woody Stover]

Maybe you can pay them to cut the butt up for you?

I'd think they would be happy to do it for free, just so they have less wood to get rid of. I'm going to ask the guy across the street to give me a heads-up when the tree guys come back...I'll talk to them then. I'd like to see the trunk wood before I say I'll take it. I just wonder where I would put it all...processing area is pretty full.

You should be able to whittle away most of it with that 460.
Be careful.

I need to pick up a 32" bar and skip chain, but as it is I've only got a 25" (23.5" usable if you subtract for the spikes, etc.)
And yes, I will take care, thanks. The wood won't do me any good if I'm dead. Well, maybe they could make me a coffin from it...

I've seen where arborist specialty stores (online) offer for sale a sturdy two-wheeler hand truck with over size tires to move trunks and big rounds. Maybe you or someone you know has a standard two wheeler you could try...at least you woulnt have to carry the heavy pieces so far.

I've got a standard duty dolly but I would need the big pneumatic tires. The wheels I've got would sink into the ground; It's somewhat soft in that valley. I would like to get a better dolly at some point; They come in handy quite often. Plan for today is to take the quad over on the trailer, split the rounds with the 8-pounder and haul to the car trailer in the little quad trailer. I'll have to go back and pick up the quad when I'm done but it's only four miles over there...

 

[lukem]

I'd think they would be happy to do it for free, just so they have less wood to get rid of. I'm going to ask the guy across the street to give me a heads-up when the tree guys come back...I'll talk to them then. I'd like to see the trunk wood before I say I'll take it. I just wonder where I would put it all...processing area is pretty full.


I need to pick up a 32" bar and skip chain, but as it is I've only got a 25" (23.5" usable if you subtract for the spikes, etc.)
And yes, I will take care, thanks. The wood won't do me any good if I'm dead. Well, maybe they could make me a coffin from it...


I've got a standard duty dolly but I would need the big pneumatic tires. The wheels I've got would sink into the ground; It's somewhat soft in that valley. I would like to get a better dolly at some point; They come in handy quite often. Plan for today is to take the quad over on the trailer, split the rounds with the 8-pounder and haul to the car trailer in the little quad trailer. I'll have to go back and pick up the quad when I'm done but it's only four miles over there...

Some cold barley pop at quitting time or some sandwiches around lunch time will get you a long way with some crews, not just tree guys. They could buck that trunk a lot quicker than you.

I would mostly be concerned about pinching the bar on a tree that big, unless you have some equipment to help relieve the stress causing the pinch. You can just pry it, pick it up, or roll it like you could a "normal" tree....unless you are, in fact, the hulk. It can be hard to tell how they are being supported...some can be easy and others will shift without rhyme or reason.

 

[smokinj]

Thats very clean for 70 inchs. My back killing me on a baby 50incher! (I Never seen any hardwood yet over 55) Get a tape on it.......

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Do you mean you could't sit and split rounds that size???

Not at all

 

[Woody Stover]

Thats very clean for 70 inchs. My back killing me on a baby 50incher! (I Never seen any hardwood yet over 55) Get a tape on it.......

I didn't just pull the 70" number out of...thin air, Jay. I thought you were from IN, the Hoosier State not MO, the Show Me State. OK, I know, pics or it's not a reality, only a possibility.
I went over there this AM and got these pics. I also did a ring count...100 give or take. Look at the spacing...pretty wide rings. I'm tellin' ya, this thing must have been fertilized by the hog-poop runoff from the fields above! The guy across the street told me that the faller was running a big Husky with a 48" bar, and was hitting a bunch of that metal in there.

for the most part it looks pretty healthy. Why did they take it down. I hate to see a grand old tree brought down for no reason. i have a large oak that is at least that in the front yard. i love that tree and the other smaller oaks it has spawned.

As I said, you can see the bark starting to fail a bit on one side. The county guys said that the guy across the street had been wanting the tree taken down for years, worried that it might fall on his house. I don't really think there was much chance of that and I think the tree could have lasted quite a while before it became unstable. The tree was leaning away from the house, and there is a 30+ foot ridge shielding the lower section of the tree from the heavy weather, which usually comes from that direction. The top of the ridge is also covered with trees which I think would have further protected the giant. That tree shaded that guy's house until noon. Now the sun will be beating on him all day long. Just the sheer presence of that big tree was comforting to me every time I went past it. But I guess a freak micro-burst or something could have sent the tree toward his house, and I think Pins have a shallow root system. Nevertheless, if it was me, I think I would have taken my chances. That tree was a thing of majestic beauty.

I also stopped and talked to a guy I know who lives up the road from the giant Pin. I saw a BIG White Oak trunk there with all the easy pickin's taken already, but it looks like I could get more with the 460. Might be time to get the 32" bar and skip chain that you suggested,Jay... He's also got a Sugar, a Cherry and a bunch of other stuff lying around out there that has been cut recently. He told me he's paid out $9000 over the last couple of years to tree services!
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Soooo, after taking a break Sunday and letting another neighbor on the road have at it(and letting my body recover,) I went back yesterday. In talking to him, I was able to inform him of the slow-drying nature of Oak. Spreadin' the dry-wood gospel...
I swung by there early yesterday morning and saw the neighbor had gotten quite a bit of wood, but the big stuff I said I would work on was still there. This neighbor told me he had called the county garage and they told him they wouldn't be back until today at the earliest. Apparently they had a change of plans. !!
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I cut off a couple of big 16"-long rounds from that stub on top of the trunk. Not wanting it to be a wasted trip, I went to plan B.
When I talked to the owner about getting the wood, I mentioned that I had seen a couple other smaller down trees nearby...he told me to have at 'em. There was a BL about 50' up the hill from the car, so I hacked my way through the brush and dragged the wheelbarrow up there. I didn't get a full load so I went another 75' up the hill and, sure enough, found another sizeable broken-off BL branch. Man, I worked harder for these two total loads than I do for most. You guys would have been proud of me...or maybe you would have been pointing and laughing.
I saw a little broke-off tree up there, no more than 1.5" in diameter, yet the bark was thick and blocky. I thought maybe some type of Oak but I don't see an exact match in the book.Maybe the leaf shape was distorted as a result of it being in a lot of brush, and trying to capture more light. Any ideas on the ID??
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Here's the BL load. All the bark fell off or was easily pulled off, which was nice.
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Also found some "yaller trash wood"...not sure the ID but it doesn't seem particularly heavy. Ideas??
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Here's the total load including the salvaged Pin and yaller wood...
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Total Pin haul, a bit shy of two pallets (Shingle Oak from our drive is on the single pallet.) I was thirsty after bucking, loading, hauling and stacking. BL is still on the trailer...I'm tired today. Come to think of it, I'm thirsty too.
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[Flatbedford]

That is a monster. Lots of wood if you can deal with it. As said above, be careful! There is some serious weight there.

 

[smokinj]

I didnt think you pull it out of the air. Just asking if you did put a tape on it. That could be a state record!! Yes 32 full skipper clean air filter and let that saw rest a little between fill ups....Keep chain very sharp.

 

[Woody Stover]

I didnt think you pull it out of the air. Just asking if you did put a tape on it. That could be a state record!! Yes 32 full skipper clean air filter and let that saw rest a little between fill ups....Keep chain very sharp.

Well, even a 32 could not get that one. I got the pics fixed, check it out. You need to get the big saw back and come on down!

 

[Woody Stover]

Forgot to mention, when we went down for the tape pics, we climbed up on the trunk and dropped a plumb bob line down each side, then I measured between the lines. At about what I estimated to be 5' up from the ground, it was 64".

 

[smokinj]

Well, even a 32 could not get that one. I got the pics fixed, check it out. You need to get the big saw back and come on down!

32 will make it. It cant be a perfect circle I will find a flat spot to explot! But I want nothing to do with the splitter on that one! Anti-vibe gloves from start to finish.

 

[Woody Stover]

32 will make it. It cant be a perfect circle I will find a flat spot to explot! But I want nothing to do with the splitter on that one! Anti-vibe gloves from start to finish.

You can see from the stump pics, this thing is very round but yeah, further up the trunk I could probably make the 32 work. Yep, it would be work splitting up those rounds! I usually split dead wood though, and I couldn't believe how easy I was splitting up big rounds with just the 8-pound maul...

 

[jeepmedic]

Thats one huge tree. Think your going to need a bigger trailer !!

 

[Woody Stover]

Thats one huge tree. Think your going to need a bigger trailer !!

It's tempting to see what I could do with a 32" bar but it looks like it would be tricky to cut, plus now it's down in the dirt. And what would I do with the pieces I couldn't split? I would need a tractor with a grapple...hey, the owner might have one up at the farm! Even if the log was in its original position, I'm not even sure how you would go about cutting a round off of something that big. Also seems like it would be tough to make a straight cut all the way through the log.

 

[Thistle]

Pretty sure that yellow wood with the rough bark is Mulberry.

 

[Woody Stover]

Pretty sure that yellow wood with the rough bark is Mulberry.

I thought that was a possibility but I believe that's a fairly high BTU wood, and thought it would be heavier. This stuff was dead...maybe it's super-dry. It has a little punk on some of it too...

 

[smokinj]

I thought that was a possibility but I believe that's a fairly high BTU wood, and thought it would be heavier. This stuff was dead...maybe it's super-dry. It has a little punk on some of it too...

Yellow is always good in Indiana..........

 

[lukem]

Yellow is always good in Indiana..........

The only yellow trees I've ever seen around here are hedge (great), mulberry (really good) and persimmon (good). That is mulberry pictured above.

That oak tree looks to be about the same size as oakzilla from last summer. It was ~60" DBH if I remember correctly...the trunk is still standing.

 

[smokinj]

The only yellow trees I've ever seen around here are hedge (great), mulberry (really good) and persimmon (good). That is mulberry pictured above.

That oak tree looks to be about the same size as oakzilla from last summer. It was ~60" DBH if I remember correctly...the trunk is still standing.

I threw my back out again on the 50 inch white oak. Still got 3 cords to get out of it. (Got to give these big one up)

 

[mecreature]

big tree for sure.

The wedge and holding wood always looks weird on these big trees.
It don't look like it should work without pulling it.

 

[Woody Stover]

That oak tree looks to be about the same size as oakzilla from last summer. It was ~60" DBH if I remember correctly...the trunk is still standing.

I wondered about that and was going to dig up that thread, thanks.

I threw my back out again on the 50 inch white oak. Still got 3 cords to get out of it. (Got to give these big one up)

Yeah, I have to go slow, especially if I haven't done any work with my back for a couple of weeks. If I overdo it, she'll spasm on me. I've had spasms so bad that I couldn't even turn my head; I would have to turn my whole body if I wanted to look at something off to my side. Bending over? Forget it.
I stopped by a guy's house that I know close to the Pin to ask if a White I had seen was on his property. He said yeah, have at it. He claimed it was as big as the Pin but I doubt it. I didn't really look at the butt, I was looking at the top end to see what I could get to start. I'll try to get a measurement when I get over there, but that may not be for a while. Got a bunch of rounds to get split and stacked.

big tree for sure.
The wedge and holding wood always looks weird on these big trees.
It don't look like it should work without pulling it.

As you can see, he plunged into the middle of the hinge to make sure everything in back of it was cut. That holding piece was bigger to start, then after he had the back cut done he started taking wood off the holding plug until the weight of the tree tore it loose.

I saw the other neighbor's haul, the guy that was there Sunday. He skidded about ten 8' logs, around 16-18", up the hill to his place. I wanted to let him grab what he wanted Sunday since he had to work Saturday...and I needed to give my back a rest. Nice guy. I don't know him well but when I talked to him Friday to see what he wanted, he offered to leave his saw out Saturday so I could use it if mine got pinched. I told him I was bringing two saws, but thanks. I also mentioned "two years drying, split and stacked, on that Oak"...he didn't know that. Dennis would have been proud of me.
I think everyone got what they wanted, and I don't feel bad about missing out on the rest of it. I got a couple of nice loads and met some people. I got the name of the supervisor at the county garage. After I get caught up, I may contact him and see if he'll give me a call when they have some BL, White Oak or Hickory that's close to my house. And I'm still looking for my first Hedge score...

 

[mecreature]

I seen that plunge cut.
I guess with the size of that tree that holding wood is bigger then it looks.
A good work out for sure.

You have to spy out that hedge.
I have some in fence rows around me. I'll get some eventually.

 

[Woody Stover]

That oak tree looks to be about the same size as oakzilla from last summer. It was ~60" DBH if I remember correctly...the trunk is still standing.

I bet that Pin trunk will be there for thirty years or more. The jungle will engulf it and vines will obscure it from view, but I won't forget that it's there, and will walk back to check on it from time to time...

 

[Woody Stover]

You have to spy out that hedge.
I have some in fence rows around me. I'll get some eventually.

I see it around here too, but so far I haven't seen one that has died and could be gotten. A storm tore a few out last year several miles from me. I talked to the guy about getting some of it but he never called me. There were a few branches that were on the guy next door and he told me I could have it if his kid didn't take it. Then one night I was driving by there and saw a few glowing embers where the pile used to be. Thanks, buddy...

 

[woodsmaster]

Thats very clean for 70 inchs. My back killing me on a baby 50incher! (I Never seen any hardwood yet over 55) Get a tape on it.......

the measurement is at waist height. The tree did have some bell to it.