Nice score :) Finally about through processing cemetery wood.

[Intheswamp]

Ok, so I've been kinda bummed out over the splitter situation lately so today I got something to cheer me up...but makes getting the splitter all that more necessary (nice necessity, though!).

I passed by a local old church Tuesday and noticed a limb down on one of the ancient oak trees. I figured I'd call the mayor and see if he minded me cutting it up for firewood. Well, right after I passed the church I saw him coming down the ROW on his 4-wheeler (he lives across the road from the church). Anyhow, to make a long story somewhat shorter...he told me they were going to be taking the whole tree down the next day...someone had already spoken for the wood, but...it was some of his guys and some of my neighbors. Yelp, I could have some of it!<BIG OL' GRIN> There's a little punk here and there but LOTS of good wood! I'm HAPPY!!

This old tree was struck by lightening about a year ago. I hate to see a sentinel like this go, but I'm glad to get some wood from it. They ground the stump up but I wished they'd left it....kind of a testimony to this giant.

This is what I saw when I drove up the next morning...

This is about as much as I got to watch them cut...I had to get on to work.

That evening they had it completely down and was working on grinding the stump. Here they are moving pieces of trunk around...

To put this tree in perspective. (Good guy right there...he brought the wood that I got to me.

Old leaf and acorn...red oak of some kind...

The pile of wood that they left me! Got plenty of cuttin' and splittin' to do Pile is roughly 15'x8' and probably around 4.5' at the to tallest point. That's a 4' level laying on that log...

A cut end of a limb...well over 50 rings, I think I counted up around 55...

 

[smokinj]

Thats A Big Monster there!

 

[thewoodlands]

The stories that tree could tell, nice score and if I lived close enough the splitters wOOd be there to help you out.







Zap

 

[smokinj]

The stories that tree could tell, nice score and if I lived close enough the splitters wOOd be there to help you out.

TNT!





Zap

 

[bogydave]

Great post.
Great pics.
Thanks
What's the 4' level for, size reference?

 

[Intheswamp]

I figured this would be a hoot for ya'll. I'm tickled to get it especially since it's been dead and standing for a year. It looks pretty dry, but when I get some cut up and SPLIT I'll stick a moisture meter to it and see if it'll make it for this winter.

I just used a log calculator and figured the diameter of those trunk pieces at 6' and the length as 3'.....came up to 5025 pounds...over a cord per round I'm not sure what they did with those giant rounds or what could be done with them...they were way out of my league...Dennis, those would definitely be split vertically but you'd have to re-adjust the splitter rather than move the round

I'm like you Zap, ain't no tellin' what tales that tree could tell...all the funerals of landowners, civil war vets, politicians, all kinds of folks...I've got a few friends it's witnessed get buried...and even before the church was there. I'll have to check and see when it was built. Thanks for the splitter offer Zap and I'll keep the TNT in mind Jay if I happen to decide to assault one of those monsters.

I'm curious... How does the rings of limbs relate to the rings in the trunk in regards to age? Like I mentioned, I counted probably around 55 in the butt of one of those limbs and it was only a foot or so in diameter.

Dave, yelp, the 4' level is for size reference. It's old and been abused. I keep it out at the woodpile to measure my stacking..4' high and 12' long = 1/2 cord for me...it has a sharpie mark every 6 inches. I guess I need to find me a good stick and notch it but the level works pretty good.

Anyhow, looks like the saws and the cant hook will be working at home rather than the clearcut this weekend. YEAH Of course, I've been trying to hit that clear-cut as much as I can because sooner or later they're gonna burn it off. I've pretty well got the easy to get stuff that I can drive fairly close up to...next trip I'll be dragging the chain, tow straps, etc., out into it a bit. There's one big oak there that's probably 24" around and probably 40' long...if I can stretch enough line to it I can pull it out 8 or 10 feet at a time....only problem then is hauling it out on the trailer because they've built some very tall water-bars on the road. We'll see. For now I'm tickled with today's gift

Ed

 

[Intheswamp]

Anybody want to make a guess on how much wood is in that pile? I'm thinking 1.5-1.75 cords.

Ed

 

[weatherguy]

How do you guys cut up such a big piece like the one thats as tall as you?

 

[Woody Stover]

What kind of Oak is that?

 

[NH_Wood]

Great tree and great score! I don't think I'd plan on burning for this coming season, even if it was dead standing for a year. Show us the stacked results of that score when you are done! Cheers!

 

[Woody Stover]

OK, just saw your other thread; Is that another Water Oak? Bark and leaf look similar...

 

[certified106]

Very Nice Score! That's some great btu's right there

 

[Thistle]

Great score,one of the biggest Red Oaks I've seen.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Woody, I don't think it is water oak because I think water oak are in the white oak family so have rounded lobes rather than pointed. So this is some type of red oak.


Ed, those things will be a beast trying to split. Good luck to you on that one! And no, I would not be able to roll those to the splitter by myself! I also would not bet on too many being able to split them horizontally. lol

 

[Creekyphil]

How do you guys cut up such a big piece like the one thats as tall as you?

Just grab your Fiskars and work your way around the edges, I guess. If you want to drop off a round, I'll give it a try and post the results.

You could make a cool table top with a cookie from that thing.

 

[Intheswamp]

weatherguy, I missed getting to watch them cut the trunk into sections...would've loved to have seen it. I do know that the guy in the bucket was using probably a 32" bar...one-handed at times and hanging out over the edge of that bucket!! (I'll keep my day job, thank you!). The only way I could imagine cutting it is with a LOOOONNNGGGGGGGG bar!

Woody, I concur with Thistle that it was some type of red oak from looking at the leaves...sharply pointed. I'm not sure which red oak, though....a BIG one for sure.

NH_Wood, I'm hoping some will do for 11/12 as I'm very short on good wood for this year. If it's not I'll do otherwise. I don't know if there's any of the very top in my pile or not but there was one stem that bark was peeling off...I think it must have been the actual lightening struck stem. When I get it cut up and some split I'll check it with my MM and see what it looks like. Just gotta get my splitter situation straightened out!

Dennis, for some reason I have been thinking that water oak was in the red oak family...end of rounds turn mighty red after cutting and pigmentation in the wood has a red speckle to it. I really hadn't thought about the leaves just being lobed and not pointed, but that is interesting. The little bit of white oak that I have doesn't have the red color. As for splitting those BIG rounds...no thanks...I can see it now, "But Mr. TSC Manager, I only split ONE round with this and the ram's all bent out of whack!".<GRIN>

Creekyphil, I'm not sure where the big rounds went to...I would hope someone had something special to do with them but they're so big...one round probably weighed over 5000#. It could be a good way to spend a summer vacation, I suppose. I might just inquire about them...out of curiosity.

Ed

 

[mayhem]

Those are some big rounds...week worth of wood in each one I bet. Make sure to count the rings in the biggest round too.

 

[billb3]

How do you guys cut up such a big piece like the one thats as tall as you?

I would probably need a couple more wedges for that one , but that's what I use on oak rounds. Wedges.

 

[smokinj]

How do you guys cut up such a big piece like the one thats as tall as you?

I would probably need a couple more wedges for that one , but that's what I use on oak rounds. Wedges.

I would noodle them....Those are Monster rounds. Being hardwood I would have atleast got a couple dinning room table out of it!

 

[Intheswamp]

I feel like I should've asked for a round or two of that big stuff but I honestly don't think I could do much with it...maybe noodle it some, but swinging a maul or my SS is about over with for me...this shoulder and elbow is shot. The shoulder and elbow is one reason I'm trying to get as far ahead as I can...I'm not sure where all that's going. It's also the primary reason for trying to get a splitter.<groan>

Ed

 

[Thistle]

How do you guys cut up such a big piece like the one thats as tall as you?

I would probably need a couple more wedges for that one , but that's what I use on oak rounds. Wedges.

I would noodle them....Those are Monster rounds. Being hardwood I would have atleast got a couple dinning room table out of it!

You & I both... Or one MASSIVE bowl "Hey...does anyone need a salad bowl that holds 2 bushels of lettuce & spinach? ;-P "

 

[smokinj]

How do you guys cut up such a big piece like the one thats as tall as you?

I would probably need a couple more wedges for that one , but that's what I use on oak rounds. Wedges.

I would noodle them....Those are Monster rounds. Being hardwood I would have atleast got a couple dinning room table out of it!

You & I both... Or one MASSIVE bowl "Hey...does anyone need a salad bowl that holds 2 bushels of lettuce & spinach? ;-P "

lol it may go 4!

 

[Intheswamp]

I did notice this morning there's a few burls on those logs that I got....a few fist sized, one or two dinner plate size. I'll get a couple of pics of them later if anybody's interested.

Ed

 

[smokinj]

I did notice this morning there's a few burls on those logs that I got....a few fist sized, one or two dinner plate size. I'll get a couple of pics of them later if anybody's interested.

Ed

OH YEA!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Dennis, for some reason I have been thinking that water oak was in the red oak family...end of rounds turn mighty red after cutting and pigmentation in the wood has a red speckle to it. I really hadn't thought about the leaves just being lobed and not pointed, but that is interesting. The little bit of white oak that I have doesn't have the red color. As for splitting those BIG rounds...no thanks...I can see it now, "But Mr. TSC Manager, I only split ONE round with this and the ram's all bent out of whack!".<GRIN>

Ed

Hey Ed, don't fall into the trap thinking just because something is big that it will be that hard. The only hard part would be getting those suckers on a splitter. The splitter could handle it with no problem, but I would not want to be the one who moves them.

Splitting by hand I'd just go for a sledge and 3 or 4 wedges and that would get the job done. Yes, it would take quite some time to finish the job buy if you measured the amount of wood you get vs how many other logs you'd have to split to make the same amount, you'd probably be surprised to find that splitting those big logs is actually faster than splitting small ones. It is sort of like a woman; there may be some big ones but that doesn't make them difficult to handle...