Wood pile

   / Wood pile #1  

L3650

Silver Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2003
Messages
230
Whew-
Took down two large, standing dead trees. One a white oak and the other a shag bark hickory. Growth rings on the oak numbered 112 and the hickory count was 147. Outside diameter on the stump for the oak is 27 inches and the hickory is 31.

About 40 years ago someone nailed a snow fence to the oak tree, all the wood is iron stained. A large population of carpenter ants did in the Hickory. None of it is suitable for the sawmill.

It is now all cut, split and stacked. While it was pretty dry from standing dead for over a year, none of it will see the fireplace until 2006-2007 burning season. I love the smell of fresh split wood almost as much as the smell of a wood fire on a cold evening.
 
   / Wood pile #2  
Congrats on the nice wood pile. I too leave it dry for at least 2 years.

Just FYI, but the carpenter ants only move into wood that is decayed. They won't (or can't) eat solid, sound wood. They are a good indicator of some damp, decayed wood if you see them in and around it (like in a house, one knows to look for a water leak).

It's fun to think about what was going on in the area when those trees of 112 and 147 years old started growing. Good things to think about, IMO. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
   / Wood pile
  • Thread Starter
#3  
In my part of the planet there are still family farms that go back five and six generations. The adjoing land is owned by a 80 year man whose grandfather cleared their farm and sold hand hewn oak ties to the railroad for $0.03 each.

Another farm up the road has been in the same family since 1846, two years before Wisconsin became a state.

A third farm is being split up to developers. They have fascinating newspaper articles about their farm through the years. It's very interesting to see the trees in the yard at various stages of growth. One newspaper article from 1889 talks about the fertile farms of the area and shows their great grandfather standing in a wheatfield that is almost up to his neck. My woods was the farms junkyard. After almost 8 years I still find things. No treasures, just junk.
 
   / Wood pile #4  
One man's junk...

/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
 
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