I have been cutting red oaks for thirty years and have never seen any thing quite like this. This tree is a big'un and was blown down fifty feet beside the house as part of the havoc wreaked by a tornado that spun off of Hurricane Ivan and touched down in our yard in 2004. The "yard" is four acres of woods. I have avoided the tree because it fell pointing downhill into a gully and getting those huge red oak rounds up the hill by hand was going to be a killer. Well, a new mid-size saw joined its Poulan cousins today, yep all three Poulans can't stand the color orange and grey is a depressing color, so I decided to break it in on the problem tree.
The last round I cut is maybe eight or ten feet from the base. When it fell off the cut I looked down and water was pouring, not seeping - pouring, out of the remaining part of the tree base. I have seen wet red oak before but never anything like that. The strange thing is that none of the rounds have even a hint of the classic red oak smell.
A half hour later and it hasn't slowed down a drop. My well may go dry tomorrow.
The last round I cut is maybe eight or ten feet from the base. When it fell off the cut I looked down and water was pouring, not seeping - pouring, out of the remaining part of the tree base. I have seen wet red oak before but never anything like that. The strange thing is that none of the rounds have even a hint of the classic red oak smell.
A half hour later and it hasn't slowed down a drop. My well may go dry tomorrow.
