I've had a medium size dead oak tree out behind my house for the past 5 or 6 years, but I never got around to harvesting it for one reason or another. It's off to the side of a trail we use and hard to see once the other trees leaf out, so out of sight - out of mind. I noticed it again a few days ago and when I went over to inspect it I could see it had slipped most of its bark and only had a few large limbs left on it at the very top. It stood nice and straight and I had a small opening to drop it in the direction I wanted it to fall, so today I decided to bring it down. I didn't think to get any before photos, but here are a few of it once it was down and bucked up:
![[Hearth.com] An old oak finally comes down!](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/102/102415-373116d43540d7e4f47fe92eae0d5e21.jpg?hash=qdXGACMxT7 "[Hearth.com] An old oak finally comes down!")
It is about 16" at the base where I cut it.
![[Hearth.com] An old oak finally comes down!](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/102/102416-947b2af387bcd4f92ec0f42e50bfa1e2.jpg?hash=cpKeuaLo5P "[Hearth.com] An old oak finally comes down!")
As you can see in this picture most of the bark has rotted off.
![[Hearth.com] An old oak finally comes down!](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/102/102417-97d2bb1e63f38bcfba071995a0060f11.jpg?hash=vGZAyDVtso "[Hearth.com] An old oak finally comes down!")
However, as you can see it was nice and solid onside all the way to the top. It looks like it will make some nice firewood. In the above photo you can see a small amount of moisture still visible in the center. After standing dead for some many years I'll be interested to see how quickly if finishes drying out.
![[Hearth.com] An old oak finally comes down!](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/102/102418-d3619bb9f7cbde0818d2b5af705521c3.jpg?hash=nSpRydtr-V "[Hearth.com] An old oak finally comes down!")
As you can see in this photo it fell between that crooked tree and the large tree to the right. That is only about six feet wide! I had intended for it to fall to the right of the big tree to far right in this photo, but where it did fall worked out even better.
![[Hearth.com] An old oak finally comes down!](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/102/102419-a3c955bdf515f742e72387337158de23.jpg?hash=2tB5tx60kh "[Hearth.com] An old oak finally comes down!")
It's a little hard to tell from this photo, but I'll have to carry the wood by hand down a small ravine and then back up to a trail about 100 feet away where I'll be able to load it into a wheelbarrow. I"m guessing it should produce between a third and a half of a cord once it's worked up. The tree was about 50 feet tall.
It is about 16" at the base where I cut it.
As you can see in this picture most of the bark has rotted off.
However, as you can see it was nice and solid onside all the way to the top. It looks like it will make some nice firewood. In the above photo you can see a small amount of moisture still visible in the center. After standing dead for some many years I'll be interested to see how quickly if finishes drying out.
As you can see in this photo it fell between that crooked tree and the large tree to the right. That is only about six feet wide! I had intended for it to fall to the right of the big tree to far right in this photo, but where it did fall worked out even better.
It's a little hard to tell from this photo, but I'll have to carry the wood by hand down a small ravine and then back up to a trail about 100 feet away where I'll be able to load it into a wheelbarrow. I"m guessing it should produce between a third and a half of a cord once it's worked up. The tree was about 50 feet tall.
I've got a few like that. Hoping they don't fall before I get the ones cleaned up that have already fallen. 
