Joe Emel. 47. From an old logging and pioneer family here…Scandinavian origins, of course. High Climber. Arborist. Good friend. Son Joey on a full academic ride at Univ Idaho in Forestry…with a minor in Wetlands Science.
Danger tree… developing root rot and too close to the house. 52” Diameter at Breast Height (DBH)…120’ tall…already limbed and topped the hard way and a bed prepared for falling.
Face Cut…people and dogs out of the house at a safe distance…
Back Cut and Driving Wedges…that’s a falling axe for wedging the tree down in helper Billy’s hands…he’s waiting for Joe to signal him when to drive based on Joe’s “feel” on the depth and shape of the hinge neither can see, as accuracy of fall is crucial here…
Finishing Hinge as the bole tips…
Falling (I was too close and the camera shook.) Boom!
Bucking and Trimming…notice the hinge was cut fatter on the side away from the house? Think thru how the tree was wedged down (not cut down completely) and you’ll understand why. The tree could have been turned during the fall in either direction based on the shape of that hinge.
Loading for the Trip to the Mill
The tree was a disappointment…and it went to the commercial mill at the request of the owner. Construction wood. Sun-grown, rough (big knots) 100 year old second growth….4-6 rings per inch on inside and 8 rings per inch on outside. Dimensional structural lumber from the lower logs and beams from the rough upper logs.
Wasn’t a forest tree….the coastal strip here (Hood Canal in the background) was logged beginning in 1850 from the water, and the subsequent full-sun and full-wind trees are wide-ringed, pitch-pocketed and rough.
The second one we did later in the day…slightly smaller but much better…I’m moving the mill to…and will post pics in the future of milling the logs for 85-year-old Earl Johnson on shares. If you’ve never made boards starting from a standing tree, you may find it interesting.
Copyright 2003. Bob Smalser, Habitat Biologist, Sprague Pond Wildlife Refuge, Camp Union, Washington.
Edited 12/4/2003 10:04:28 AM ET by Bob
Edited 12/5/2003 2:33:04 PM ET by Bob
Replies
thanks for posting, Bob - how many board feet? - - I've done some fair sized mid-western trees, but that one's 25' taller and a foot bigger diameter - quite a k-rump as it hit, I'm sure - - it is a special feeling to make a project out of a tree -
13,000 BF or so.
But DF that rough is sold as "studwood" by the ton instead of by the BF. And this one will only bring $60.00 a ton.
"Export" grade logs grown in forests with tighter rings and fewer large knots are sold by BF measured by the Scribner Scale and sell for $.60 to $.90 a BF.
Also remember that these log scales were devised in the last century for wasteful mills...when I cut smaller logs, my efficient Lucas Mill yields up to 200pct of Scribner...the bigger the log, the closer it comes to 100pct of scale.
Bob,
Really enjoying the pictures and your laying out of the process...of this "Extreme Makeover"...lol. Looking forward to the next step...(wonder if the trucker will stop at a greasy spoon on his way to the mill)
thanks
Look at the lower right log on the truck...an upper crown log...that discoloration is Phellinus weirii (Poria Root Rot )...and the crown was dying.The entire pith would have rotted in another 20 years...and then it truly would have been hazardous to take down.Bang your questionable trees hard with your falling axe and make some plunge cuts to test soundness, first....if they barber-chair on you during the face cut while you are on your knees, you may not live to meet your grandchildren.Better, smarter and safer to take the tree down and market the logs to offset the arborist costs...and also provide somebody somewhere some lumber that would have had to come from a healthy tree someplace anyway.“When we build, let us think that we build forever. Let it not be for present delight nor for present use alone. Let it be such work as our descendants will thank us for; and let us think...that a time is to come when those (heirlooms) will be held sacred because our hands have touched them, and that men will say, as they look upon the labor and wrought substance of them, ‘See! This our father did for us.’ “ --John Ruskin.
This forum post is now archived. Commenting has been disabled