…that is, Kerplunk number 2, not Karakoram Mountain #2, the second highest peak in the world above sea level. After the first tree fell without warning, being a seemingly healthy tree and not on a particularly windy day, my friends began to suspect another White Oak tree in their front yard. Was it similarly diseased and fated for freefall? They had a company drop the tree and then called on me to cut it up. I observed that the outer dozen or more rings were indeed darker as if diseased, which you can see in the first picture. It took me over six hours to cut up the branches and part of the trunk. It would have been longer but the local ironworks/woodworker agreed to get the main trunk. Because the tree felling company did not report grounding until late morning, I did not start cutting until 11:30. My friend, the homeowner, came home from work early to clear away brush and firewood. I was cutting pretty much non-stop for 6 hours. My forearms were very weak and achy the next morning.
My stance indicates to me that I was cutting upward to prevent pinching of my saw by the weight on the branch.
Because I knew the iron/woodwork was coming, I cleared the branches off of the main trunk first. I left outriggers to keep the trunk off of the ground and prevent it from rolling over. Then I began to clear the driveway.
I spend a considerable amount of time working outside for which I am thankful. I have however, began wearing light, long-sleeved SPF-50 shirts and hat to protect me from the Sun. My forearms indicate that I spent far too many years baking in sunlight.
There were many forks up the tree because it had been severely topped some time long ago. Don’t trim more than a little from a tree, especially oak trees. It uglifies them and shortens their life.
The ironworker/woodworker has all of the toys. Below he is clearing the smaller pieces in order to drag the trunk down to the driveway. The front and rear wheels of the forklift steer. It is not quite “zero-turn” but close.
I thought that my Husqvarna Rancher 460 with the 2′ bar was quite a lot of saw, but the Stihl was far more powerful and appears to have a 30″ bar.
He cut two logs, a ten foot one and a twelve foot one and loaded them in 30 minutes. I estimated the larger of the two logs to be 3500-4000 lbs based on size and typical weight of green oak wood.*
While I was editing the next picture, I zoomed in to count rings. This is about 22 feet up the trunk on the smaller of the two trees (2 1/2 feet in diameter instead of 3 1/2 feet in diameter of the larger tree). I counted 70 rings. Even if the base revealed 90 years of growth, this was a mere youngin’ in White Oaks trees that can live for 500-600 years.
*60 to 70 lbs per cubic foot- wow! Especially amazing considering the dried oak is 48 lbs/cu.ft
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