Monster tree in my backyard.

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Avery24

New Member
Jul 18, 2019
15
CT
Been dead for a while so I’m not sure what kind of tree this is. To me it look like a big oak tree. I know it’s impossible to tell but how many cords would you guess. And hopefully it’s not too dead to give me no wood. Hoping Mother Nature knocks a few big branches off every now and then for me just not on my head.
 

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From the small pics, I'd guess sugar maple. Cut it down!
 
pics too small, but looks like Beech to me
 
There’s a lot of wood there. By my eye, there’s a good chance a bunch of it just got back from the ‘be a better widow maker’ conference. It looks like the twigs have rotted off and it’s starting to drop smaller branches. Be very careful if you drop it. Personally, I’d look into hiring a service to drop it in place with no cleanup. A larger tree in worse shape cost me $200 to get dropped last year. It was well worth it!
 
Could be an oak. Hard to tell. Lots and lots of firewood, that tree would last me a couple years and I burn a lot of wood.
 
There’s a lot of wood there. By my eye, there’s a good chance a bunch of it just got back from the ‘be a better widow maker’ conference. It looks like the twigs have rotted off and it’s starting to drop smaller branches. Be very careful if you drop it. Personally, I’d look into hiring a service to drop it in place with no cleanup. A larger tree in worse shape cost me $200 to get dropped last year. It was well worth it!


Wow, really only $200 that’s a bargain. Any pics of what it looked it?
 
If it's dead, the wood condition is getting worse the longer you leave it there. It appears to be an easy take down. Not sure what that cost. But it's is a lot of work bucking that thing up.
 
That tree doesn’t look like it even has bark.

I would take a look at some of the smaller trees around it, most likely they’re it’s offspring. I want to say it’s maple.

I don’t think I’ve even seen diseased elm get that dead. Definitely a job for a pro... If it’s oak the wood will resist rot for a while. Anything else the wood will succumb to rot. Might not be able to tell from looking but that tree might be completely hollow. Never seen one so big get that naked.
 
White Oak for sure
 
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You will get one screaming pile of firewood from that
Wish it were mine :)
 
Need some kind of reference to see just how large that is. A person standing next to it or a Tape Measure would do!
 
Thanks guys, more firewood than I know what to do with. Thinking about keeping a good portion of the trunk and making a sweet tree house. If it’s not hollow or rotted out obviously.
 
Looks about the same size as the largest on my property but thats one is very much alive. I did think about a tree house but the first branches are pretty far up although thats not a deal breaker.
 
Is there steel cable coming out of the trunk in multiple places in the first image of the trunk? If so, another reason to let a pro drop it for you.
 
Is there steel cable coming out of the trunk in multiple places in the first image of the trunk? If so, another reason to let a pro drop it for you.

Yes I forgot to mention that. Previous owner must have had that done. That’s meant to brace the tree in some sort right?
 
Maybe I’m just failing to appreciate the scale, but that doesn’t look big to me. What’s the DBH? I’ve cut white oak up to 60” diameter (15’ 9” circumference) around here, and 40” diameter is downright common for white oak.

There’s one at the end of my street that, if it is ever cut, I’m convinced I could park a Volkswagen on the stump. Truly magnificent trees.
 
Maybe I’m just failing to appreciate the scale, but that doesn’t look big to me. What’s the DBH? I’ve cut white oak up to 60” diameter (15’ 9” circumference) around here, and 40” diameter is downright common for white oak.

There’s one at the end of my street that, if it is ever cut, I’m convinced I could park a Volkswagen on the stump. Truly magnificent trees.

I will get a reading for you!
 
I will get a reading for you!

Sometimes scale is hard to read in a photo, unless someone is standing next to it. Here’s what our white oak look like, that’s a 36” bar on the Stihl, for scale. The largest of these three rounds was a little oval, but measured 49” across the diameter at the widest.

[Hearth.com] Monster tree in my backyard.


Our red oak can get big to, like this one I cut below, but not as big as the white. This red oak is probably a little over 36” diameter:

[Hearth.com] Monster tree in my backyard.
 
Been dead for a while so I’m not sure what kind of tree this is. To me it look like a big oak tree. I know it’s impossible to tell but how many cords would you guess. And hopefully it’s not too dead to give me no wood. Hoping Mother Nature knocks a few big branches off every now and then for me just not on my head.

maple looks like. Looks to have hollow trunk. Should be fairly simple fell, just watch for widow makers.