Tree ID & Suggestions...

[HisTreeNut]

So my neighbor cut a tree down and said I could get the wood.
Looking to ID it but also looking for suggestions on how to buck it I guess. I'm thinking my 18" bar probably isn't going to cut it...figuratively and literally.
It is in the ball park of 4' - 5' diameter at the base.
Thanks!

 

[begreen]

Hickory?

 

[HisTreeNut]

I am thinking it is. Sweetish smell to the wood and lots of spiky green puff balls on the ground.

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[begreen]

Hmm, spikey doesn't sound like hickory. That's more like a chestnut or osage orange. Open some of them up to check. The husk on hickory nuts is smooth if I recall correctly. The bark looks like it might be mockernut hickory, but the nut ID will help. Got a picture of some of them and more leaf shots?

 

[tadmaz]

Can you post a better pictures of the leaves? If you can't roll the base piece, will be tough to cut up

 

[HisTreeNut]

I will be heading there in a bit to get the smaller pieces. I have a buddy that works for the forestry service...I texted him also.

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[HisTreeNut]

I hope these help a bit. Chestnut may be correct...

 

[HisTreeNut]

There are 2 trees involved here.
Tree #1...Any guesses??? lol

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[begreen]

Yes, that looks like chestnut. It's a great shade tree.

Not sure about the split wood. Hard to id by just the splits. Red oak?

 

[HisTreeNut]

You would be correct sir...very large red oak...54" at the base where it was cut. My neighbor showed me video of when it fell. It took a 3' bounce.
Small chestnut damaged as it was cut down...that was scrounged already apparently. But I am good with red oak.

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[begreen]

Well that's a rare one when I can guess two out of two. Think I'll quit right now while I'm ahead.

 

[Simonkenton]

Chestnuts went extinct around here about 80 years ago. If that is a chestnut, and producing nuts, that is a real freak tree.

 

[walhondingnashua]

Chestnuts went extinct around here about 80 years ago. If that is a chestnut, and producing nuts, that is a real freak tree.

Or a Chinese chestnut. I have a few neighbors with them and they let my son and I collect all of them we want. I am going plant a few this year and see what happens.

 

[begreen]

Yes, the chestnut blight was terrible. It destroyed most of the huge spreading chestnut forests back east during the 1920-30s and an environmental disaster. It's estimated that about 4 billion trees were lost! The European horse chestnut was not affected and still grows back east today but unfortunately, the "chestnut" is toxic and not edible thus the Chinese chestnut was introduced with its edible fruit and good blight resistance.

Interesting to note that my wife grew up in an inn made entirely of chestnut. It was built by an enterprising fellow during the depression that used free locally available chestnut trees that were blight stricken.

 

[walhondingnashua]

The last American Chestnut that anyone I know knew of was just off the shore of seneca lake but its been dead for a while now. There is a great book about the science behind the blight, the environmental and economic impacts and what they are working on to reintroduce them. Pretty good book. Just titles The American Chestnut.

 

[TreePointer]

To be precise, the American chestnut tree is on "life support" in many areas, but it is not extinct.

 

[walhondingnashua]

There is reintroduction program going on right now. Not sure how much has actually been planted but they are genetically engineering a "modified" American Chestnut with the resistant DNA from the Chinese Chestnut. I read that at one point, American Chestnut made up around 50% of the canopy cover in some Eastern deciduous forests.

 

[Dtunes]

A lot of those old chestnut trees are still alive under the ground. The roots sent up shoots that live for a few years then die when the blight reinfects the growth. My property in NH is full of them, it's pretty cool to think they're lurking underground. One down the street actually produced nuts the last two years.

 

[Simonkenton]

I am in the NC mountains. I own 48 acres. Makes me sick to think of all the chestnuts that were on this property 100 years ago.
They said that, in the fall, the chestnuts lay on the ground 6 inches thick. Chestnuts are a rich food source, full of protein and valuable fats. Deer, turkeys, raccoons all gorged themselves on the chestnuts. Of course, the people filled up burlap sacks with the nuts.

My brother and I have restored the chestnuts to this mountain, we are planting Dunstan Chestnuts, a cross breed between the American chestnut and the Chinese chestnut. We have 30 trees, about 6 years old, we will harvest about 6 pounds of chestnuts this year.

 

[FTG-05]

There are 2 trees involved here.
Tree #1...Any guesses??? lolView attachment 247456

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The piece on the right looks a lot like Shagbark Hickory to me.

 

[walhondingnashua]

My brother and I have restored the chestnuts to this mountain, we are planting Dunstan Chestnuts, a cross breed between the American chestnut and the Chinese chestnut. We have 30 trees, about 6 years old, we will harvest about 6 pounds of chestnuts this year.

That is fantastic. I have not heard of that specific cross and it sounds like it is pretty successful. If you don't mind me asking, where did you purchase your trees from, were they how old were they when you purchased/ planted them, who much did they cost and how long ago did you plant them? I am a biology teacher and work with my local soil and water regularly. There might be some grant opportunities for me to not just do some planting on my property, but on some public ground in my area as a class project.

 

[Simonkenton]

We got our trees from an outfit in Florida named Chestnut Hill.

http://www.chestnuthilltreefarm.com/

It is hard to discern but this little tree is 4 feet tall. I bought this tree a year ago from Chestnut Hill.
Chestnut Hill likes you to plant them in the fall. They are about 3 feet tall when you get them.
They sell these plastic tubes four feet high to grow the plants in and I recommend these tubes.

My brother planted this tree in the fall of 2013. It is 20 feet tall. Probably 25 chestnuts on this tree.

It is harvest season! We picked these nuts up this morning.


The trees are 3 years old when you buy them. One tree costs $25 but shipping is $35 no matter how many you buy, so buy a bunch of them.
Also, Chestnut Hill has begun shipping saplings to certain select WalMarts. These trees are from 3 feet to 7 feet high, the big ones cost 60 bucks. You can look at the web site and see if they are available at a WalMart near you. The trees at WalMart need to be planted in May.

 

[Woody Stover]

You would be correct sir...very large red oak...54" at the base where it was cut. My neighbor showed me video of when it fell. It took a 3' bounce. Small chestnut damaged as it was cut down...that was scrounged already apparently. But I am good with red oak.

When I saw the glossy leaves, I immediately thought of Shingle Oak, which is in the Red Oak group, but without saw-tooth leaves. Have you got more leaf pics, like a branch with the leaf clusters still intact? Also, if you can get bark pics from further up the tree, it might help ID whether it's an actual Red Oak, or another Oak in the Red group.

Yes, the chestnut blight was terrible. It destroyed most of the huge spreading chestnut forests back east during the 1920-30s and an environmental disaster. It's estimated that about 4 billion trees were lost!

in the fall, the chestnuts lay on the ground 6 inches thick. Chestnuts are a rich food source, full of protein and valuable fats. Deer, turkeys, raccoons all gorged themselves on the chestnuts. Of course, the people filled up burlap sacks with the nuts.

It was a human as well as ecological disaster. I saw a show on KET a couple years back about it. The nuts were a big part of the rural economy, where they grew. It showed rail cars loaded with chestnuts. People would release their hogs into the hills, let them gorge on the nuts, then round 'em up later.
Not sure if that show was a KET production or what, but apparently they are airing it again this month.
https://www.ket.org/episode/KCHES 000000/
Here's a link to the video, in case you don't live in KET country. I'm gonna watch it big-screen when it airs here...I haven't gotten around to hooking up my TV to feed it from my compooter yet.
https://www.esf.edu/chestnut/background.htm

Interesting to note that my wife grew up in an inn made entirely of chestnut.

If you've got 'em, you know we love us some pics.

 

[TreePointer]

I am in the NC mountains. I own 48 acres. Makes me sick to think of all the chestnuts that were on this property 100 years ago.
They said that, in the fall, the chestnuts lay on the ground 6 inches thick. Chestnuts are a rich food source, full of protein and valuable fats. Deer, turkeys, raccoons all gorged themselves on the chestnuts. Of course, the people filled up burlap sacks with the nuts.

My brother and I have restored the chestnuts to this mountain, we are planting Dunstan Chestnuts, a cross breed between the American chestnut and the Chinese chestnut. We have 30 trees, about 6 years old, we will harvest about 6 pounds of chestnuts this year.

Congratulations to you and your brother. We need more people doing this. Bravo!

 

[Kevin Weis]

There are some true American Chestnut's around that even bear nuts still. Most of these are off shoots of old stumps and the nuts are usually sterile. I've seen them about 30' and 10" DBH. The desease does not kill the roots. There is still hope for a comeback.