A little farther/son time.....big mulberry.

[warno]

Today dad and I started cutting on a huge mulberry that was on his friends property. It's been standing dead for about 5 years but this past fall half of it finally fell down. Apparently carpenter ants had their way with it and that's what did it in. The base was made up of 2 pieces, one about 24" and another about 30". I'm no good at guessing but dad is thinking is about 3 cords worth.

The stump



A panoramic of the work area



Dad's never been picky about saw brands. Most of them have been given to him from people that get tired of working on them. There's Poulan, Stihl, and McCulloch. The pride of the fleet is on the left, Pro Mac 700.

 

[tigeroak]

That is one big mulberry and it is darn good wood in about 2-3 years from now. I had a Poulan 20 before I got my 2 husky's . Gave the Poulan to a friend that needed a saw. Nothing wrong with any saw that will do the job.

 

[heavy hammer]

If it cuts then it is a good saw. You guys will love that mulberry.

 

[neverbilly]

At least I was glad to see it was a dead tree! Mulberries are wonderful trees for birds; they flock to the fruit when bearing. I saw a guy whack down a 20" mulberry because his wife said it was 'ugly.' It had tremendous character; it had a severe lean and squirrels romped on that thing all the time. I told him a golf course would do everything they could to save that tree, due to its unusual shape. Trees that grow straight up, with no variation... leave that for pine plantations.

 

[Paulywalnut]

Give the mulberry a full three years of wind and sun. You'll be glad you did. Lots of blue- purple heat.

 

[Stinkpickle]

What type of mulberry is that? I haven't seen any with light heartwood like that.

 

[warno]

I had to Google it but it seems "red mulberry" fits the bill.

 

[warno]

Dad stopped by today with a load of this mulberry for me to start burning. I told him there was no way it was ready yet. He insisted it was close enough. I figured it would be about mid 30s on moisture. I was way wrong, it came in between 21-25%. Which I know is still not quite there but that's pretty good for a fresh split. Granted this tree had been without leaves for a few years now.

 

[heavy hammer]

Nice I'm burning some right now it is a great wood.