This Big Ash will be in the record Books

[golfandwoodnut]

A real nice forester came out to measure the Big Ash I have been writing about. He was quite amazed by it. There is actually two seperate trunks that ended up growing together to form a single trunk in one section, he never saw that before. It turns out this most likely is the largest Ash ever measured in the state of PA it what they call the Champion Trees. It is over 120 feet tall, it has a total crown of 128 feet (that is almost 40 yards) and he estimated the total cords at 7 and a half cords. He will be sending the board feet as well. The unfortunate thing is that it will only get an honorable mention as it is almost dead from the Ash Borer. I guess I should have registered it a few years ago. We were talking about Copicing that Billy had wrote about in my other thread and he agread that it probably arose from a stump and had ideal growing conditions and all of the new trunks were able to thrive.

I also mentioned to him that I had several other monster speicies. While the Oak and Cherry are huge they are not records but the Sassafrass may actually be. He never saw a Sassafrass over 12 inches in diameter and I showed him one that was 26 inches. We will see how that measures up.

He also explained how PA has several programs to help manage the forest and the state will actually help pay to manage it. Including food plots, harvesting timber, setting up an Orchard, etc. I have to actually register my land as a farm and I would be considered a new farmer. Found out a lot of information I never knew before.

 

[jwoair23]

Awesome you took the time to do this! I am from Pittsburgh, PA also, pretty cool that our state has those programs!

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Awesome you took the time to do this! I am from Pittsburgh, PA also, pretty cool that our state has those programs!

Thanks JW, let's hope the Pirates are for real this year.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Good for you! Sad that it can't be in the books just because it is dieing. I should think that as long as there is life.....

There may be other benefits of registering as a farm. Then having a forester write up a plan may also help you tax wise. No doubt in your area ag land is less than residential land for taxing.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Good for you! Sad that it can't be in the books just because it is dieing. I should think that as long as there is life.....

There may be other benefits of registering as a farm. Then having a forester write up a plan may also help you tax wise. No doubt in your area ag land is less than residential land for taxing.

You are right Dennis, that is what I said, at least it is still alive.

Also having a farm status may allow me to get some logs out of here without the township rules ruining everything. The forester told me there is a law about "The right to forest" but at the price of lumber it is probably not worth going to court over. Can you believe I am not even allowed to have a portable saw mill here? It always seems some board members have their own personal agenda. I have just recently registered the land as "clean and green" which means I will not develop it and hopefully will get some slightly lower taxes. You don't even want to get me started on property taxes.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Wow, that's nuts! Gives politicians the bad mouth that they deserve....

 

[Gasifier]

That is some nice cord wood right there golfandwoodnut. To bad to see it go because of the bugs. But, maybe, just maybe, some new ones will sprout up around it and start a new generation. How long will 7 and a half cords last you?

 

[golfandwoodnut]

That is some nice cord wood right there golfandwoodnut. To bad to see it go because of the bugs. But, maybe, just maybe, some new ones will sprout up around it and start a new generation. How long will 7 and a half cords last you?

Gasifier you are right there is some hope because the root system is still vibrant and trying to send up new shoots. You can imagine the size of that root system. 7 and 1/2 cords would last us at least 2 years, probably 3 as I do not heat my whole house with wood, but we have a fire going every night. The good or bad news is that I already have about 23 cords cut, split and stacked and a lot of other dead trees that need cut. I was shocked to see a trophy oak tree has also died. I am not looking to get into the firewood business but I may be forced to sell some.

By the way gasifier I recently bought quite a bit of property in NY, but a long way from you near lake chautauqua. Both pieces I bought were somewhat recently logged and there is even more wood up there from the tops that I really have no real use for. Fortuneately one guy has a farm tractor and splitter on the one property and cutting and splitting year round. I am glad someone is getting some use out of it and it is cleaning up the mess.

 

[TimJ]

A lot of info there Woodnut. I will see how all this applies to the state of Indiana. I have quite a few specimans as well. I know the Sassafrass get diseased early on but I have one huge monster that I would venture to say is over 26". I will measure it in the today or tomorrow and report.

 

[certified106]

Seems like a load of stuff that it can't go in the record books. What is the reasoning behind that decision? I mean it's there and it grew so it should be a record.........It just seems ridiculous to me. I guess on the upside you will get a bunch of wood out of it and Ash doesn't take as long to season (not like you are worried about that with 23 cords)

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Seems like a load of stuff that it can't go in the record books. What is the reasoning behind that decision? I mean it's there and it grew so it should be a record.........It just seems ridiculous to me. I guess on the upside you will get a bunch of wood out of it and Ash doesn't take as long to season (not like you are worried about that with 23 cords)

I am with your certified, I will wait for the official report. By the way I see you are in Athens Ohio, my daughter went to school at Ohio U, she loved it and it is a nice town.

 

[smokinj]

Get the big saw, not that one THAT ONE!

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Get the big saw, not that one THAT ONE!

Jay you are welcome to do some milling. More than I can handle. It is a bit of drive though.

 

[smokinj]

Jay you are welcome to do some milling. More than I can handle. It is a bit of drive though.

Last one I done it had a lot holes in it....So I did this with it!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Nice Jay. A solar clothes drier.

 

[Gasifier]

Looks like a nice job smokin jay. golfandwoodnut, 7.5 cord at about 200/cord (I am assuming full cord) is about $1500 in those Ash. Is that about right?

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Last one I done it had a lot holes in it....So I did this with it! View attachment 70461

How do you cut those 4X4's or 6X6's is that with a mini mill? That picture must have been in the spring, the grass is very green and looking good.

 

[golfandwoodnut]

Looks like a nice job smokin jay. golfandwoodnut, 7.5 cord at about 200/cord (I am assuming full cord) is about $1500 in those Ash. Is that about right?

That would be the going rate if I were to sell some. It is ashame you can get more for firewood that you can get selling the wood for lumber. If I could sell it for lumber. It is still a lot of work for the money, but it is my hobby so it is nice it can earn some money while providing excercise and heat. Some people think I'm crazy when they see all my woodpiles, but I look at it like it is money sitting in the bank and instead of going to the gym I can see my progress by the amount wood I have.

 

[Gasifier]

That would be the going rate if I were to sell some. It is ashame you can get more for firewood that you can get selling the wood for lumber. If I could sell it for lumber. It is still a lot of work for the money, but it is my hobby so it is nice it can earn some money while providing excercise and heat. Some people think I'm crazy when they see all my woodpiles, but I look at it like it is money sitting in the bank and instead of going to the gym I can see my progress by the amount wood I have.

Damn straight. My neighbor, who was a great guy, use to tell me the same thing. Your wood piles are just like money in the bank. And if you have the extra money kicking around, same with having your oil tank full. Even if you don't need it. More than likely, the price is not going to go down.

You could look at those trees like this. To bad to lose the trees, but you could put it to good use if you c/s/s and then sell it. Lots of work, but like you said, good exercise. And you can do it a little at a time. No rush. All the while planning on what would be a good thing to put the money to use for. Need a generator for your house? Need a wood splitter? Need a new lawn mower or attachement for your tractor? So many tools and options out there. Not enough money to buy them all.

 

[smokinj]

How do you cut those 4X4's or 6X6's is that with a mini mill? That picture must have been in the spring, the grass is very green and looking good.

Yes you start with a thick slap and mini mill it.

 

[woodchip]

That's a lot of cordwood there, but I always feel slightly sad when a champion tree dies.

Still, there will always be another one somewhere waiting to take the record

 

[mecreature]

I have a cheery tree that is something like that a friend wants me to cut down.
Not that dang big though. I wondered how it ever got started off to end up the way it did.
it has 6 good size trees out of it. A couple branches seem to go 30 ft before it gets 10 ft off the ground.

It is sad to see a tree like like yours go golfandwoodnut. Good job doing all the homework too.

We do get some pretty good size Sassafrass in southern Indiana

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Mecreature, how about posting some pictures of your sassafras trees?

 

[TimJ]

Forgot that I said I would measure a big Sassafrass that I know of in the woods. Went out with tape measure in hand and camera. It is very dark out with storms brewing so sorry for the lousy pictures. The tree is 98 inches in circumfrence. I was able to hook on the bark and get a good reading. Divide that by pie which is 3.74 and the tree has a diameter of 26.2
I thought it was bigger and I was not quite down to the base of the tree when I measured it.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Forgot that I said I would measure a big Sassafrass that I know of in the woods. Went out with tape measure in hand and camera. It is very dark out with storms brewing so sorry for the lousy pictures. The tree is 98 inches in circumfrence. I was able to hook on the bark and get a good reading. Divide that by pie which is 3.74 and the tree has a diameter of 26.2
I thought it was bigger and I was not quite down to the base of the tree when I measured it.

That is a big tree for sassafras!

btw, pi is = 3.14159