Are large DBH trees worth it?

[Woodsplitter67]

I replied before I saw this reply...glad to see someone else defending the honor of the noble mulberry [emoji2]

I dont know why i put in mulberry, somtimes i brain fart, i want to put in somthing with.a low BTU like cottonwood

 

[Oldman47]

Just think of that pecan as walnut if that helps you decide. Pecan is a very close relative to walnut.

 

[Jags]

There are a couple of us on this site that routinely process big stuff. @Ashful is another member that likes the big rounds. It takes work and good methods to make it happen, but when one round produces a small mountain of splits, I find it worth it. Big rounds and American elm is two reasons I built and designed my big boy splitter the way I did.

If I had to deal with big rounds by beating on it with a stick with a chunk of metal mounted to the end, I would probably think differently.

 

[firefighterjake]

OK, I've been resisting for several days now whenever I see the large tree thread headline . . . but everytime I see that I think of large butt trees . . . and well that line of thinking kinda leads to this which I start singing . . .

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/...b147559e0293be0d58591f8a370ba616&action=click

 

[Rangerbait]

OK, I've been resisting for several days now whenever I see the large tree thread headline . . . but everytime I see that I think of large butt trees . . . and well that line of thinking kinda leads to this which I start singing . . .

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/...b147559e0293be0d58591f8a370ba616&action=click

L.A. Face with an Oakland Booty!

 

[HisTreeNut]

OK, I've been resisting for several days now whenever I see the large tree thread headline . . . but everytime I see that I think of large butt trees . . . and well that line of thinking kinda leads to this which I start singing . . .

https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/...b147559e0293be0d58591f8a370ba616&action=click

Shouldn't that be "Baby's Got Bark?"

 

[fishki]

Oh, My, God, Becky, look at that tree
Its so big, it looks like
One of those tree guys' girlfriends
But, ya know, who understands those tree guys?
They only cut it up because
It looks like a pile of firewood, ‘kay
I mean, that log, it’s just so big
I can’t believe it’s just so round, its like just laying there
I mean gross, look
Its just so, big

I like thin bark and I cannot lie
You other cutters can't deny
When a tree blows down it won't go to waste
and there's a root ball in your face
You get hyped, thinkin of all that cash
Cause you notice that log is ash
Deep in the yard she's fallin
I'm hooked and my saw is callin

Im just not even going there anymore... next

 

[Ashful]

Somebody cut a humongous pecan tree near me. It's, oh, 36" - 40" DBH... Is it worth it? That would be a lot of chainsaw runtime.

That is very manageable! I've brought home single oak rounds over 60" diameter, and 1500 lb. each, and I got through them.

This is medium wood (30" - 48" dia)





This is big wood (49" - 60" dia):




36" to 40" is actually very manageable. Stand it on it's side using a cant hook, or front-end loader if you're dexterous enough, and noodle it into 6" slabs. Then walk those slabs onto the footplate of your splitter set vertically, and split off nice 4" - 6" squares from the slab. Easy peasy!

Here's two examples:





Now, as to whether it's worth it... big wood always takes longer to process than the 12" - 16" stuff you can just hoist onto the splitter and split horizontally, but if it's free and you have the ability to process it...

 

[Ashful]

There are a couple of us on this site that routinely process big stuff. @Ashful is another member that likes the big rounds.

"Likes" is a strong word. My cutting partner, who you can see riding the Ford tractor above, is a co-worker in his mid-70's. I take the big stuff that he just doesn't want to deal with at his age, and leave most of the nice stuff under 24" diameter for him.

That monster tree in the photo with my chainsaw above, which was a white oak measuring 60" DBH, blew down in Sandy. Real sad to see that one go, as it stood over the picnic grove at my church for more than 150 years, but that single tree probably heated my house for most of one winter! I think I got almost 6 cords out of that one, some of those single rounds being over a third of a cord!

 

[Blazing]

You don't have to noodle through the whole round every time. Try just scoring or going 1/4 way and finishing with a wedge. I'd definitely say the biggest factor is the saw and of course it's chain blah blah is good. I get huge oak trees all the time and if I had to use a 026 sized saw I'd go crazy. Being you have a ported 3 series saw makes it better but something in the 4 or even better 6 series saw is ideal. Sure you can do anything if time permits but noodling down oak rounds with a little saw takes more time than I personally care to waste.

 

[Ashful]

You don't have to noodle through the whole round every time. Try just scoring or going 1/4 way and finishing with a wedge. I'd definitely say the biggest factor is the saw and of course it's chain blah blah is good. I get huge oak trees all the time and if I had to use a 026 sized saw I'd go crazy. Being you have a ported 3 series saw makes it better but something in the 4 or even better 6 series saw is ideal. Sure you can do anything if time permits but noodling down oak rounds with a little saw takes more time than I personally care to waste.

This is true, but with that 064 I'll have it noodled before you even bend over and pick up the wedge, let alone hammer it thru. I also sharpen my own chains, and set the depth gauges a bit below stock on my 33RS chains.

 

[Petstang]

Somebody cut a humongous pecan tree near me. It's, oh, 36" - 40" DBH. What a shame. The man said he's been sick ever since he moved to our town, and so was his wife, and she died. So, he's cutting that tree and two huge sycamores. Doesn't make a bit of sense to me. The neighbors have plenty of the same trees! Weird.

Anyway, I asked the tree service if they could dump it in my yard instead of taking it to the city dump and they said yes. But after watching what was being loaded into their dump trailer, I decided against that and just told them I would cut what I want from the dump. The chunks were just too big and cumbersome (and also the loads had small limbs to deal with) to handle if dumped in my yard. My gosh, that is a big trunk. Lots of huge crotches from big limbs. Glad I didn't have them dump it on me, lol.

So, I've cut rounds and hauled several truck loads home. But I haven't noodled a bit of the trunk and my gosh, that would be some noodling! Is it worth it? That would be a lot of chainsaw runtime.

I also ask because there is a huge red oak at the dump that has been there probably a couple of years but it's solid as can be. About the same size. Rounds would be way too heavy to handle without noodling into quarters. (All that is there is the trunk. But it's a lot of wood to be had if it's worth it.)

Just wondering do you guys do this or not? I have a Stihl ms362 with 20" bar. It's a bad boy, it has been ported and modded and it's strong, so, no problem with having power.

Side note... this pecan tree weeps upon cutting like I haven't seen. Just super wet with water on the cut.

I do large rounds too, although not that big. I've got one of these hand trucks. Works very well. I use ramps off the end of my trailer. I had a round that weighed about 300 lbs on it. My son had to help me push it up the ramps. Everyone that sees the hand truck wants it.

 

[CentralVAWoodHeat]

If you are going to roll rounds that size up ramps and into the bed of your truck, get some of these:

https://www.dgmtailgatesupport.com/product-category/tailgate-support/

Most truck tailgates are not rated to support more than several hundred pounds. Rolling rounds that size onto a tailgate may cause it to fail. That is not a situation I would want to be in when a 700+ pound round is involved. Money well spent.

 

[Tar12]

That is very manageable! I've brought home single oak rounds over 60" diameter, and 1500 lb. each, and I got through them.

This is medium wood (30" - 48" dia)

View attachment 195967

View attachment 195966

This is big wood (49" - 60" dia):

View attachment 195968


36" to 40" is actually very manageable. Stand it on it's side using a cant hook, or front-end loader if you're dexterous enough, and noodle it into 6" slabs. Then walk those slabs onto the footplate of your splitter set vertically, and split off nice 4" - 6" squares from the slab. Easy peasy!

Here's two examples:

View attachment 195971

View attachment 195964

Now, as to whether it's worth it... big wood always takes longer to process than the 12" - 16" stuff you can just hoist onto the splitter and split horizontally, but if it's free and you have the ability to process it...

Ashful this is exactly how we handle the big stuff..if I can figure out how to get some video on here of my son running the 660 on some 48 in plus oak I will.Its pretty fast to do this way and we employ this technique a lot.

 

[jaoneill]

After having a dozen or so go bad standing I have begun to harvest some of the 36"-48" sugar maples in our woodlot as they begin to show signs of failing. Butt logs are usually easy to process, sometimes requiring a bit of noodling down to a manageable size to wheel onto the splitter, but no extraordinary effort involved. What I have determined are hardly worth the effort are those sections where 4-5 or 6 18"-20" limbs come out at the same elevation creating 60" dia, or more, sections that are essentially one huge knot that is virtually impossible to split. I did a tree like this last year that had 3 of these blocks (24" length) that worked up to about a cord, but I had to noodle them completely down into 6"x6" blocks. I could have worked up 2 cord of reasonably splittable rounds in the same amount of time with substantially less effort.