Advice on cutting up a damaged tree

[dave11]

Just brought down a huge old Poplar on my property, which had reportedly been struck by lightning many years ago. It healed partially, by wrapping itself around the damaged area. It's bucked into pieces, but the pieces won't split with any maul or ax I've tried. The wood seems twisted and springy, and even small pieces won't split.

There's a pic attached. You can see the tree in cross-section is almost heart-shaped, with the inside being punky and somewhat rotten.

So I tried cutting the bucked pieces with the chainsaw, the long-way, parallel to the trunk, though it's slow going, and the chain goes dull after about 5 minutes of cutting, I assume from the punky middle.

Any advice? I might be inclined to let it all rot, but I've got nowhere on my property where I could dump all that wood. On the other hand, there's a lot of good wood there.

All help appreciated.

 

[dave11]

Here's another pic

 

[thewoodlands]

Just brought down a huge old Poplar on my property, which had reportedly been struck by lightning many years ago. It healed partially, by wrapping itself around the damaged area. It's bucked into pieces, but the pieces won't split with any maul or ax I've tried. The wood seems twisted and springy, and even small pieces won't split.

There's a pic attached. You can see the tree in cross-section is almost heart-shaped, with the inside being punky and somewhat rotten.

So I tried cutting the bucked pieces with the chainsaw, the long-way, parallel to the trunk, though it's slow going, and the chain goes dull after about 5 minutes of cutting, I assume from the punky middle.

Any advice? I might be inclined to let it all rot, but I've got nowhere on my property where I could dump all that wood. On the other hand, there's a lot of good wood there.

All help appreciated.

Let it dry out then give it a try, I had one come down in a wind storm in 2008 and there was so much water in it when I tried to split it with a maul the water came out all over the front of me.


Zap

 

[dave11]

Just brought down a huge old Poplar on my property, which had reportedly been struck by lightning many years ago. It healed partially, by wrapping itself around the damaged area. It's bucked into pieces, but the pieces won't split with any maul or ax I've tried. The wood seems twisted and springy, and even small pieces won't split.

There's a pic attached. You can see the tree in cross-section is almost heart-shaped, with the inside being punky and somewhat rotten.

So I tried cutting the bucked pieces with the chainsaw, the long-way, parallel to the trunk, though it's slow going, and the chain goes dull after about 5 minutes of cutting, I assume from the punky middle.

Any advice? I might be inclined to let it all rot, but I've got nowhere on my property where I could dump all that wood. On the other hand, there's a lot of good wood there.

All help appreciated.

Let it dry out then give it a try, I had one come down in a wind storm in 2008 and there was so much water in it when I tried to split it with a maul the water came out all over the front of me.


Zap

I guess that would help, but there are lots of pieces from higher in the tree that already split easily. It's just that most of the trunk is like what's in the pics. The grain is all curvy and twisted.

 

[smokinj]

noodle it!

 

[dave11]

noodle it!

Wasn't that what I was already doing, when I cut parallel to the trunk and grain? Since the middle of the round is empty, I cut it from one side. But the problem was the chain went dull in less than 5 minutes of cutting, after maybe 5 cuts, from the punky middle.

Would a full-chisel chain stay sharp any longer?

 

[smokinj]

noodle it!

Wasn't that what I was already doing, when I cut parallel to the trunk and grain? Since the middle of the round is empty, I cut it from one side. But the problem was the chain went dull in less than 5 minutes of cutting, after maybe 5 cuts, from the punky middle.

Would a full-chisel chain stay sharp any longer?

no full chisel will dull quicker in bad wood unless you get into clean wood then it would stay sharp longer noodling...it always comes down to one skill or another good time to wook on sharpening skills! lol

 

[dave11]

Well, I guess I'll play around with it, maybe try a wedge and sledge next. I'm not sure if that might be faster than stopping to sharpen the chain every 5 minutes.

 

[wooddope]

Place an ad on CL for free rustic flower pots hah! May be worth renting a hydro splitter due to the labor and hassle of hauling it away.

 

[KB007]

Get a spliiter or have a big bon-fire

 

[Tony H]

know anyone with a splitter ? If not run an ad on CL and make a deal if they bring the splitter share the wood .

 

[yanksforever]

Maybe you could make a heart shaped potty chair! :lol: Seriously....go buy a hydraulic splitter!

 

[stuigi]

In that first pix that you posted, even though I didn't see an image of Jesus, I did see what appears to be batman. Put it on Ebay!