Rebar in 3' silver maple round

[op_man1]

Rented a splitter this week to take care of the biggest stuff that I have lying around. One round was a real pain in the a$$ - just getting it in place took considerable effort, help from my wife and the use of a 6' metal bar. After messing around with it for a good hour (if I was in the country I would just have dumped it!), I finally got it open, only to find a 2' rebar in it. I somehow missed it with the chainsaw and just grazed it with the splitter.

I saw earlier the tread about funny things you find in wood you split - still, you don't expect to find a rebar like that in wood you split, completely embedded in the wood.

 

[Bubbavh]

Without pictures it didn't happen.

 

[smokinj]

yep we need some pic's

 

[op_man1]

My wife can take credit for being smart enough to take pics. Hope these upload all right...

 

[smokinj]

My wife can take credit for being smart enough to take pics. Hope these upload all right...

nice!

 

[rathmir]

i wonder what the purpose was...

 

[op_man1]

i wonder what the purpose was...

I really can't figure that out... Anyone here ever put a rebar in a tree? It looked like the trunk was kind of splitting - would someone do that to keep things together? Anyways, no damage done.

 

[twitch]

An old property marker pin?

 

[Slow1]

Someone REALLY didn't want you to split that round now did they? Reinforced rounds... Now you have seen it.

I can't see the ends in the pictures - were they straight or bent? Anything on them that might give a clue to the purpose? If it was there to help keep the tree together I would expect the ends to at least be bent, but more likely have some sort of plate/washer or something to expand the ends then a bend or something attached to them.

You don't live somewhere were the tree huggers have been spiking trees to keep loggers out do you?

 

[fyrwoodguy]

gotta keep your eye peeled for metal......or else you get big surprise!
here's a couple i've found so far, and talked to the guy who said" i remember when i pounded in that flat file" :bug:

 

[blades]

Yep, crotch piece, 3/4" threaded rod with 3x5" flat plates on either end about 2' between the ends totally overgrown by the tree. Made mince meat of a brand new 32" loop. And just this after noon a 3" dia rock in a another crotch, Oh well I can get one more sharpening from that chain. Big sugar maple main trunk is right around 3ft dia.

 

[iskiatomic]

Those are some mighty clean saws, fyrwoodguy.


Mine will get a little TLC in the AM.


Do you wax them?


KC

 

[Farmer Sue]

An old property marker pin?

+ 1

 

[rathmir]

Those are some mighty clean saws, fyrwoodguy.


Mine will get a little TLC in the AM.


Do you wax them?


KC

LOL! I should probably keep my saw cleaner, but I think a coat of wax is beyond my level of cleanliness

 

[billb3]

My Stihl dealer has an orange counter with shiny clean saws on them, too.


Some day someone is going to cut up a certain tree on Converse Road in Marion and wonder why there's a long 3/4 inch threaded rod in the crotch of the tree.



Holding the two split halfs together after a hurricane .

 

[bigtall]

Back in the day, deer hunters commonly used rebar, gutter nails, etc, for steps to get up into deer stands. 20 years ago we did not have all these portable climbing stands and had to build them, and create access to get up in them. Although it was mostly illegal on public lands, people did it anyway. Those climbing spikes become real nasty projectiles when those trees are run through a mill, and ruin a lot of blades too.

 

[LLigetfa]

That doesn't look like rebar to me. It looks like Ready Rod. AKA All Thread Rod.

 

[op_man1]

That doesn't look like rebar to me. It looks like Ready Rod. AKA All Thread Rod.

Just did a quick internet search - I think you're right. It was probably used to keep the trunk together. You'll notice the crap in the middle of the trunk - it wasn't exactly rotting in the middle but something was definitely going on. Wasn't a property marker - this bar was in the tree paralel to the ground. Also wasn't for hunting - we're in the subarbs here and the tree was on church property.

I was able to get it out by unscrewing it. I think the mystery is solved...

 

[LLigetfa]

It was probably used to keep the trunk together...

Yes, standard procedure for tree surgeons.

 

[op_man1]

Do you know how they get it in? The ends aren't sharp, so I assume they would drill a hole in the trunk and just screw it in. But wuthout sharp edges, my guess is that it could be a challenge.

 

[LLigetfa]

Do you know how they get it in? The ends aren't sharp, so I assume they would drill a hole in the trunk and just screw it in. But wuthout sharp edges, my guess is that it could be a challenge.

Pull the crack closed on the tree with a come-along and drill an undersized hole through the tree. Grind a point on one end of the rod. Put a double nut on the other end, screw it into the tree and then cut it off flush.

 

[DBoon]

All makes sense - field grown Silver Maples are pretty famous for growing but and multi-trunked, but their weak wood can't support what they do. So it's not unusual for a half or a third of a tree to peel off the main trunk in a windstorm. If the Silver Maple is near a house, it's not uncommon for people to try to provide some better support for it as a preventative measure, or to fix a developing problem.