Cutting Cypress

[Randy]

I am going to need to cut some cypress tree's in a few months that are in the water. A few months back we discussed ways to get the cypress to dry land. One of you guys mentioned a way to cut the tree enough to kill it, but still let it stand and dry some, Can some of you tell me how the best way to do this? Do I insert the tip of the blade into the tree then pretty much cut all but a 1" or so of coming through to the bark then let it stand. Then how long would it be the best to allow it to stand?  What percentage of it's weight will it loose doing this? Thanks Randy

[beenthere]

Might be talking about 'girdling' the tree, by chainsaw cutting a couple inches deep all around the tree (not the inside out, but the outside in). This should kill the tree (didn't once when I tried to do that to a big elm tree  ). Only assuming it will work on the cypress.
Not familiar with how this will work or to what advantage it will be to you removing it.

[ellmoe]

Randy,
  I doubt if anyone here is old enough to have actually done this (well, there are a couple that might be close ), but girdling of cypress was done in order for the tree to floatdown a river. The river cypress was girdled one year and harvested the next. Most of the trees would float on to the mill, but not all. This is why Florida Deadheader has a business! ;D I think if you cut through the cambium layer around the entire tree you will suceed in killing it :'(. This past year I sawed some drought-killed logs that came from a lake near Clermont , Fla.. These trees had been dead for up to two years. Some of the cypress were so dry that the sapwood was of no value, and made for extremely nasty sawing. The heartwood of these trees were OK though. My guesstimate was that these trees weighed about one third lighter than when green.
Mark

[Randy]

My main purpose for wanting to do this is to lighten the logs, because they are going to be 100 to 150ft out in the water after down and have to be pulled up a 45% incline and my tractor is not real big, might be best to get a bigger tractor and one of those cone/shids that go over the end of the log would be nice too. Randy