oak tree

[Riles]

I think yer gonna need a bigger chainsaw...

[SwampDonkey]

I could picture you two looking at that big oak, all eyes.  And here Furby was gonna fall it for ya with a 24" bar.  Looks like it's been dead for a little while eh?

Just kidding. 

Now that hat, that took some clever carving to make that happen. Turningfool, did you work your magic with air dry wood? I sliced some really thin cherry veneer on my band saw once, it was only 4 or 5 inches wide, square. I put one on the hot heater stove and watched it curl, never did crack though. I wonder where that piece ended up.

play safe. 

[turningfool]

for swampdonkey..not carved at all..made of one solid 150 pound block of black cherry on my lathe..lots of shavings and about 7 ounces left before bending and ovaling of the crown..unfortunately heads are not round..fun to make too!

[turningfool]

apologies to all on here.. turns out the oak i mentioned is not that big..but it sure looks like a monster to me

[Brad_S.]

TF,
I've gotten phone calls about "humongous, 3' diameter" walnut trees only to find it to be some scraggly toothpick of a tree, so I take all claims of size with a grain of salt. You, however, have nothing to apologize for in my book. That is truly an impressive tree and I certainly would have over estimated it as well!

[SwampDonkey]

Turning, carving, all semantics.  Still a cool hat and one of a kind. I can imagine the shavings. Turning cherry, birch and hard maple are fun. The open grain woods are more of a challenge, but oak, ash and black walnut aren't as bad as butternut, which is quite a bit softer. Talk about burs, it's better if ya have a reversible lathe. I don't. Shavings make for good fire starting material in the shop stove.  Wooosh like pouring kerosene.

[Furby]

Um Donk, my bar is 72", just don't currently have a saw to run it.

I don't belive the tree has been dead all that long. Some of the pieces on the ground from the top did have some spalt in the sap wood, but the bark is still stuck tight to the trunk. I dug in a bit with my knife.


I do belive some helpful advice is needed on how to fell this trunk.
Right where the little boy is standing is where the notch needs to be and is also where there is a patch of rot.
Don't know how far in or off to each sides the rot goes.
This is a backyard, but the trunk is far enough away from everything other then the house. It might just nick the house if it went the wrong way.
I do belive Turningfool mentioned he has a 36" bar. How hard is it going to be to cut the notch on a tree this size with that bar?

[SwampDonkey]

Where did the top end up? That in itself must have been a big chunk of wood. If it's white oak it's a little more resilient to the elements I suppose.

As far as felling big stuff, that's out of my league. Then there's the handling of that monster. You might need some super sized LogRite tools.   

[Reddog]

I might be able to help with the felling and bucking. But what are you going to load it on?
I am about 60 miles from GR. So not out of the question to drive over.

[Furby]

A DOUBLE size A.S.S.
Some of the bigger pieces of the top were lying around.
I saw two places where the top contacted the lower part of the trunk and took off the bark.

I'm currently trying to decide if it's worth my time to "try" and mill it.
16' log weighs in at over 17,000 pounds. Even an 8' log will weigh more then my trailer can handle.
Quartering it a real possibility.


Oly 60 miles Reddog
Where the heck you at?

[Reddog]

North of Lansing.

[WDH]

TF,

That is some tree!  Depending on species, might have been a champ if the top had not broken off.

If you and Furby get couple of very sharp axes and cut you each a notch for a springboard on each side to stand on, and if you and Furby then proceed to hack yourself a front cut about 1/4th to 1/3rd deep into the front face, than ya'll can move around to the back, cut 2 more springboards, get a two-man crosscut saw, proceed a sawing and a wedging, ya'll should be able to get that beauty down in a couple of days!

Just kidding (of course)........But it does bring to mind of those guys in the old days that did not have chainsaws.  Thank the good Lord for chainsaws.

Definitely a bigger job than the 2 maples and 1 red oak that I felled today.  Good Felling!

[Furby]

Yeah, that's a good one WDH, but I'm already educated in the use of them two man saws.


I'll have to remember that Reddog!

[Jeff]

That looks like a lighting strike to me Furb.  Hey, did you get any close up photos of our new friend's hat?

[Furby]

Shoot, no I didn't Jeff, sorry.
Lightning was the other thought, and I'm leaning more towards that myself the more I think about the small matching scar above the rot. As if the bolt came out both sides at the base of the tree.

[Stump Jumper]

hmmm i'll need a bit more powder

[Ianab]

I do belive Turningfool mentioned he has a 36" bar. How hard is it going to be to cut the notch on a tree this size with that bar?

It's not too bad, but you will be cutting your notch from both sides and lining up the cuts takes a good eye. However if you do get things a bit out of line you can allways trim it up properly once you get the notch roughed out. I'd suggest drawing your notch and back cut on the tree with a crayon before you start cutting. It's good to have those level reference lines when you go to the other side of the tree and expect your cuts to match up.

As for milling it, thats a swingblade sized log there 

Cheers

Ian

[Furby]

The only swingblade I know of around is set up at his house and he don't move it.
He takes a backhoe to the sight, loads the logs and goes back for the hoe later.
Makes some $ for the effort I'm told.
Next closest option would be Oakiemac's MD.

[SwampDonkey]

Get out the chalk line Furby. 

[Reddog]

Furby,
How long you thing of for logs?  Any lean to it?