Wolf trees

[Peacock]

Ok, was recently reading the old oak thread and saw mention of creating a wolf tree thread....so here goes.  I've got a few more than this, but here is a grand old sugar maple.  Over 3.5' dbh and has a massive crown.



 


 


 

[SwampDonkey]

This thread has some.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,14621.msg206254.html#msg206254

Some of them are over 40 inches.

[mesquite buckeye]

Gnarly dude. ;D

[terry f]

    Been dropping the lodgepole wolfs, but I've been pruning the ponderosa, and the growth is crazy. Seems they get the best of everything needed to grow.

[grweldon]

Ok, was recently reading the old oak thread and saw mention of creating a wolf tree thread....so here goes.  I've got a few more than this, but here is a grand old sugar maple.  Over 3.5' dbh and has a massive crown.

Wow!  That's pretty stately!  Look at the burls!  I'd be tempted to mill that one!  I have zero maples on my property!

[Peacock]

Ok, was recently reading the old oak thread and saw mention of creating a wolf tree thread....so here goes.  I've got a few more than this, but here is a grand old sugar maple.  Over 3.5' dbh and has a massive crown.

Wow!  That's pretty stately!  Look at the burls!  I'd be tempted to mill that one!  I have zero maples on my property!

Yes it is quite 'burly'!  Haha

Have an old fence row that runs thru the woods.  Lots of old mature sugar maples there.  Will try to get some more pics up.  Have an old oak at another spot.

[Ron Wenrich]

I cruised a tract of timber that had a couple of age classes in it.  Some of the tulip poplar were quite a bit larger than the others and had poorer form.  I asked the owner, who was in his 70s if it was ever a pasture.  Sure enough, it was a pasture when he was a kid, and those were shade trees for the cattle.

Another time I was walking with a landowner and came across a 60" chestnut oak.  The largest tree in the stand.  I asked if it was an interior property corner.  It was. 

Wolf trees a usually there for a reason.  It gives you clues to past practices on the land.  Some are there because they are close to property lines, some because they're a poor species and the last guy didn't want to cut it, or it has metal.  Always fun to figure out why they're there, even if you aren't right.

[Al_Smith]

At one time it was said a squirrel come tranverse the tree tops fom lake Erie to the Ohio river and never touch the ground .In areas of northern Ohio when the land was cleared there still to this day standing amidst the corn fields large old oaks .They were left there on purpose as a place to rest the horses working the fields in the hot summer sun .I'd well imagine many a farmer got a nap or two also under a friendly old oak .

[SwampDonkey]

Up here in the north is was the American Elm left to stand in the middle of fields and along creeks and run offs in cow pastures. There are still a few old elm that escaped the dutch elm disease.

Many (not most) woodlots around here that had old narly white pine or hemlock, let them stand to because many were no log material. Many of the hemlock had been harvested for tannin, the quality were made into lumber. Most left to rot. On many landings on woodlots to this day a pile of hemlock logs is usually left behind to rot. Especially if there was no load and markets being a ways off. Don't pay to haul 4 cords 80 miles. Worth less than firewood. Where I live most hemlock are scattered or solitary. There are a few down the road growing in the hardwood on a hillside along the creek. They are taller than hardwood. Many 40+ inches.

32" largetooth aspen





36" northern white cedar



I think it was hollow in the but where a porcupine made it's home. There was no hole in the trunk, but I think it was going under the root ball, as it was raised some with a crawl space. Seen quills on the ground there. The top was blown out. The tree was very much alive though. Cedar are tough. ;D

[Peacock]

Have this oak that grows on the edge of the woods.  Not sure what type of oak it even is.  No acorns that I can find.  Looks like English or Durand to me.  Maybe just white?  It is 42"dbh.


  

  

  

  

 

[grweldon]

Knarly looking tree there!  Not really an expert on tree ID but it may be a chestnut oak...

[mesquite buckeye]

White oak group. Possibly and old gnarly bur oak. They are colonizers in old fields.

[mesquite buckeye]

Even MO Trees. Honey locust wolf tree at the forest edge. About 48" DBH. Maybe 6' above and below.



  

 

[SPIKER]

Man that is one Narly tree fitting for October!  lol


 

Not sure if I have any of the narly lookers on my place.    One of my old oaks died last year, still solid as a rock and probably 5'+ at the base.   No way I can cut it with my saw or move it once it is cut...   Would have to rent a 48" saw and then quarter it to take to the mill...


Mark

[mesquite buckeye]

It ate a fence. ;D 8) 8) 8)

[SwampDonkey]

Mark, it's interesting how that oak healed around those dead limbs. Never seen a hardwood make a swelling like that to protrude out the trunk. They were pretty big limbs.

The largest ironwood O. virginiana I ever saw was growing on a fence line down in the woods out of a rock pile. It had a huge trunk for a tree that rarely gets bigger than 8" as an understory tree. It was really limby to and not a dead branch. Narly old brute. Been there since early settlement I suspect. :D This area was only settled since the 1840 or 60's when the rail went through.

I have a big old yellow birch on the lot, that has a nice but log and no dead limbs. I'll never cut it, like to see a big old tree here and there. The yellow gold bark is long gone on the but of the trunk, you have to look up into the limbs to see the yellow bark. ;D

[Peacock]

The old oak has indeed tried to heal over the dead limbs.  Appears to still be making wood at a good rate. 

I will try to get back out into the woods this weekend for some more of the other TOUS's(Trees of unusual size) we have.

No fire swamps here, unfortunately.  :)

[Peacock]

Even MO Trees. Honey locust wolf tree at the forest edge. About 48" DBH. Maybe 6' above and below.



  

 

That's a big honey locust!  Have thorns in big numbers?  Around here the ones that get real big dot produce thorns are aggressively a as the smaller ones do.

[mesquite buckeye]

Not too many thorns anymore. No elephants to push over the big ones. ;D

[SwampDonkey]

There is actually a variety of honey-locust that does not produce thorns or very few. Same species, just some different genes I guess. ;D

Gleditsia triacanthos var. inermis

[mesquite buckeye]

All too true. But thorniness in many trees declines with maturity as well. I have an extra super nasty one on the farm that is definitely elephant resistant. Interestingly, the stem thorns taper out at about 15 feet. ;D

[SwampDonkey]

I guess no need to invest in armour above a certain height as elephants, for the most part, can't fly. But be ever watchful of evil flying pigs or cows launched on cowtapults. ;D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ8jGqdE2iw

[WmFritz]

I never get tired of those scenes.  :D :D :D

[beenthere]

Back to wolf trees....  ;)
A couple in my woods..

 


 

[mesquite buckeye]

Pretty cool.  Old like us. ;D

[Peacock]

Speak for yourself!  ;)

[mesquite buckeye]

You just wait, whippersnapper! ;D

[SPIKER]

"Run away Run Away! !"  8)

There is a old hard maple along US30 close to SR60 in Ashland County on the north side (1 mile or so east of SR60) that has a REAL good Halloween look to it, if I could get a pic driving by it would be nice to post here.   It has a perfect Dorthy from OZ kind of evil tree look.   It is on cornet of field/woods probably a cornet post tree.   Two large branches off each side and remnants with hollows for eyes and face near top that has been missing a long time.   One of these days would be great to stick a couple of those LED solar Night Lights in the top to freak out people driving by lol.... :D

Mark

[jwilly3879]

This one was called the 3000 year old tree by the grandkids when they were little.



 



 



    

[Left Coast Chris]

Ponderosa Pine in Lassen County (somewhat arid environment)



 

[grweldon]

This one was called the 3000 year old tree by the grandkids when they were little.

That is one strange looking tree!  If we had a contest, I think you should win!  What kind of tree is it?  Sweet gum?   :D

[SwampDonkey]

Those kind of white pine are commonly left behind on woodlots around here. Can't even put a value on them. Great future tree crop to be left behind they figure. :D

I kid you not, the new 4-lane highway had to be relocated to save a couple knarly pine just about like that, one was even bigger in girth. Great fortunes to be had. ;D

[Clark]

There is something very Suess-esque about that white pine.

Clark

[jwilly3879]

I'll get a foto from the road where you can see how it dwarfs the trees around it. My neighbor has threatened to cut it down as it blocks his view. He stupidly said this to several of my friends who gave him some good advice, "STAY AWAY!"

It is about 100 yards from where we are building our house and doesn't block our view.

The previous forester on the job we are cutting marked several trees like this and was upset when they weren't cut. We had showed them to the LO and there was no way he wanted them gone.

[NWP]

 

 

There are a few of these at the place we're cutting now. The surrounding trees are a lot smaller as you can see. Most of what we are cutting is around 50 ish years old by my count on rings. I would guess this was pasture once upon a time with a few white oaks scattered about.

[Magicman]

"Pasture" trees that are allowed to grow without any competition that forces them to grow tall and self prune.

[Small Slick]

If I were managing my forest, 160 acres almost all oak and maple, for mainly wildlife with financial gain a secondary goal. Would I want to leave the wolf trees?

John

[mesquite buckeye]

Good question. I used to think kill them all, as they won't ever produce much in the way of high quality timber. I think there is another purpose beyond things like den trees. When the big winds come, these big old veterans can take a lot more straight line wind than the tall thin forest trees, thereby offering some protection as embedded windbreaks in the forest. If they aren't everywhere, just here and there, I'd leave them. They will go away eventually and contribute to forest soil fertility when they finally expire. ;D

[Magicman]

I have many and they will stay.  They produce acorns for wildlife and also some acorns helps to seed/reseed as they are carried and dropped by birds. 


 
This is my second largest.  These old veterans have earned their place on Earth.  Above fishpharmer makes a visit.

[ancjr]

Not prime examples, but I have a few here

Old maple near the back corner


Tulip poplar near the middle of the lot


Black cherry, no longer with us, but man, was it a monster!

[thecfarm]

Them trees really take some room up around them. But than if you fall them,they need some room to fall.

[mesquite buckeye]

Well put. If felled they take out more than what growth you are losing to the space. Of course if they tip over on their own you have the same problem. When I do take one out I usually kill it in place and let it break up. Most of the branches fall straight down and don't hurt the rest of the stand. ;D

[ancjr]

Them trees really take some room up around them. But than if you fall them,they need some room to fall.

Purdue Forestry recommends girdling them and letting nature take its course.  Makes sense.. they become nesting trees for bats, woodpecker and insect fodder for a time before they become forrest floor habitat and finally mulch and fertilizer.  :)

[mesquite buckeye]

There was an old, huge white ash tree in Ohio in a little triangle of land that nobody ever bothered between a railroad track, Muddy Creek and the dirt mountain stripped off the limestone at the J. E. Baker plant near Helena. The ground around it was covered with knee high poison ivy. Checked it out closely in 1997. The trunk was about 9 feet in diameter, a real monster. Only had maybe an 8-12 ft long trunk, then split up into a bunch of very spreading branches. Wolf tree. It was quite decadent at the time and we wanted to get it measured to submit it as a possible national champion white ash. Very cool. I'm sure it is long dead now between the EAB and bad drought. Maybe the trunk or part of it is still standing. 8)

[SwampDonkey]

There is one of them ash on an old farm, that I assume was there before it was cleared 130 years ago, now the woods is all grown back up and the ash still stands. That thing has seeded the whole pasture around it in ash. Ash will produce a pile of seed at times. It's along a wet run that goes dry in summer, but lots of moisture in this country. It has a couple massive trunks near the ground that are over 4' wide each I never measured it, could be a lot wider. But 4' for sure. I've seen enough 4' sugar maple on crown land to gauge the size. It's gotta be real old. Anything that big is real old up here especially a hardwood.

[g_man]

I have one less now. Standing that is. This big maple blew over.  It was still producing lots of foliage even though it was hollow. My neighbor used to stand inside it and use it for a deer blind. I can walk right under it the way it is now.



 



 

[g_man]

Here is a White Birch 37"  dbh. I didn't girdle it but it is dead. You can see the pieces are starting to come down and litter the ground.



 

[thecfarm]

I got a yellow birch like that. I know I'm safe to say 3 feet across.

[SwampDonkey]

The biggest tree I have on the woodlot is a yellow birch. It grew with the white cedar. It has a really huge wide crown, not a dead limb on it. But, the last time I measured it about 7 or 8 years ago it was around 26" I think. The yellow is all gone from the bark on the but log. The bark has turned all platy. I got a picture of a white birch and yellow birch around 40 inches in diameter from "up Tobique" (as we used to say) on a hardwood ridge. Don't see much for big wood on woodlots, most people around here can't stand to let one get bigger than 10". :D

[Small Slick]

So I gather that sheer interest is why we keep the big fun to look at trees. I like them too I suppose the chances are decent that there will be rot anyway.  Do you guys think the lumber would be good. Could you even get these trees on the mill?  I will have to get a pic of the one at the old farm and post it.

John

[SwampDonkey]

My birch should have a nice stick of veneer on the but, but I'll never cut it. I like big trees, as long as some of them are nice ones. I think wolf trees are fine, but on a landscape level, one or two per hundred acres is lots for the raptors. They aren't that thick and would not likely get along too good to close to one another. ;D And them ones that get rot and hollow are just porcupine dens around these parts and are not so welcome. The wood peckers can have the fir and popple poles for home. ;D

[Ron Wenrich]

Some of the wolf trees in my area can be trees that were left over from the last harvests.  Quite often you would walk up to the largest tree in an area and it would be black gum.  Those get hollow when they get big, but are prolific seed trees.  Those are the ones that I would mark to girdle as you want to get rid of the seed source.  We'd also mark beech to remove or girdle due to marketability. 

[SwampDonkey]

100 % of them are left overs on woodlots around here. Most of the time knarly old pine or a hemlock. And sometimes left because the machinery can't cut and handle them. A 40" hard maple is heavy and I doubt any processor these days could even cut it, so they get left on crown. Not because they are critter trees. In fact a 40 incher is tallied as a 18"er in NB, as that is as high as their volume tables go. Quite a difference in volume I would say. Heck, ya gotta laugh when they say you need to be certified to cruise on crown, with shotty volume estimates like that. And you can't tell'm nothing either, they know more than anyone else.  ;D

[Magicman]

My Champion tree that I have documented here is slowly dying.


 
It certainly is a wolf tree by all descriptions.  I have no intention of sawing off and using any part of that old tree that was standing when my Great Grandfather bought the property.

[SwampDonkey]

What kind of vines are growing on that old bruiser? ;D

[Magicman]

Just the normal poison ivy and water vines.