I'll sure miss this oak tree...

[Fuddyduddy1952]

A 43 year old oak is 60" in diameter? What did you fertilize it with? Or did my pre-coffer brain not get 2 when adding 1+1?

Growth rings are spaced wide...I counted about 50 so although very small planted it must have been a few years old.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I guess it depends on where the measurement is taken?

I measure at the point where the log base starts, i.e., approximately where this tree was cut above the stump.

Some people measure at ground level.

Yes...ground level.

 

[gstrom99]

$1,500 to just drop it, $2,500 total cut & haul everything off, grind stump and grade it level. I started to rent a bucket truck but they had another truck with trailer & tractor. I'd still have to hire helpers. I thought price was OK. Plus they got two more jobs from neighbors seeing them work.

Price seems about right. I paid $2k last year to have a large elm taken down - used all 60' of his bucket truck. I did the cleanup (I burn for supplemental heat). I will need to call them back out, to grind the 48" stump. I will miss the afternoon shade on the house, but it was split and I'm real glad it didn't fall on my LP tank or pole barn.

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

Yes...ground level.

5ft at ground level. Some pieces I saved.

 

[yanmars]

It is hard to imagine that much growth in 43 years even if he put in a large oak with a tree spade. Around here in the woods about 1/4 inch per year on the diameter is standard growth for an oak tree. In town with no competition perhaps a 1/3 inch or a bit more.
I really did not see much in the way of rot, perhaps the base got nixed in mowing and that was a "repair" by the tree. Certainly since it was close to the house and it gives you piece of mind good to remove it. I had a maple fall once and just clip my house and my father had 2 oak tops fall on his house and punch a holes in the garage roof.
He got 4 or 5 taken down for $1300 near the house (but this is Ohio). Just cutting them down, we had to remove all the wood and branches but the neighbors did that for the wood. The cutter did take one oak just for the wood. I thought it was a bargain for dad.
My neighbor in town had a 60 inch at the base oak taken down near his house. I got a slab to make a live edge table top. He paid either $3000 or $6000 as I recall. I will have to ask him for sure. It was a big project with a bucket truck etc. They also took out his stump for him.
If you could plant oaks and harvest them at that size in 43 years you could do great. I had 5000 red and white oaks planted in the early 90s and I think only about 500 or less survived. Most are 6 to 8 inches in diameter now, one near a cherry tree that gets little sun or water is only about 1.5 inches in diameter and 3 feet tall. The others may be 15 or 20 feet tall now. Good write up and photos.

 

[3Ts]

We had a really nice oak in a really nice spot on our property with a big horizontal branch just right for a swing. So we built our cabin next to it. Then as we got the brush cleared out around it we realized that the tree was hollow. So 2 years later the tree was gone. The tree was not only close to the cabin, but the power company felt it was to close to the power lines and trimmed it a little. We had a logging company come in to harvest some of our pines, so as part of the contract they used their tree shear to cut it down so the direction of fall could be controlled. It was more hollow than we expected, there was only 2" of wood under the bark at the base of a 30" diameter oak.

As for the rate of growth of an oak, it depends on the environment. We planted a 1 yr live oak seedling from the forestry service and 25 yrs later it was 36" in diameter and well branched. It was planted near a pond so it had plenty of water and I fertilized it occasionally.

 

[2manyrocks]

5ft at ground level. Some pieces I saved.View attachment 792555View attachment 792556View attachment 792557

As for what you might do with these, is there something that would be a meaningful reminder of something special about your grandfather? He planted it. Did he have a particular hobby or would he have used this oak to build something?

 

[ovrszd]

I have many large oak trees. Some are very symbolic to me and have been thru my whole life.

This picture was taken by my Aunt who was a Barnstormer Pilot in the 40s. This picture was taken in 1948. The year my parents bought this farm. To the right end of the pond dam you can see a young oak tree slightly leaning to the left. The lean got worse with age. I love this tree and it's diligence to overcome obstacle.

Here's a pic of the same tree, taken from the back side of the pond dam in 2014. Clearly it's "lean" got worse with age. I still loved this tree. One of my favorite large oak on my farm. In later years it got a wound on the side which caused rot in the core of the log.

Today my Son and I were burning our timber to control unwanted scrub brush. You need wind to burn a timber. Today was 25mph out of the West. After the fire burned past the oak I wet it down and soaked the interior that I could reach. I went back to the shop to refill my sprayer tank and when I returned the outcome was inevitable. The tree's outer layers and bark prevent you from infiltrating with water. So the decayed part of the inner core simmers and you can't put it out. I expect to go check on the tree in the morning and find it on the ground. This greatly saddens me. I place a value on these old oaks beyond money. This tree has been a part of my life since I was a child fishing in that pond....

 

[BnRidge]

I have many large oak trees. Some are very symbolic to me and have been thru my whole life.

This picture was taken by my Aunt who was a Barnstormer Pilot in the 40s. This picture was taken in 1948. The year my parents bought this farm. To the right end of the pond dam you can see a young oak tree slightly leaning to the left. The lean got worse with age. I love this tree and it's diligence to overcome obstacle.

View attachment 792884

Here's a pic of the same tree, taken from the back side of the pond dam in 2014. Clearly it's "lean" got worse with age. I still loved this tree. One of my favorite large oak on my farm. In later years it got a wound on the side which caused rot in the core of the log.

View attachment 792885


Today my Son and I were burning our timber to control unwanted scrub brush. You need wind to burn a timber. Today was 25mph out of the West. After the fire burned past the oak I wet it down and soaked the interior that I could reach. I went back to the shop to refill my sprayer tank and when I returned the outcome was inevitable. The tree's outer layers and bark prevent you from infiltrating with water. So the decayed part of the inner core simmers and you can't put it out. I expect to go check on the tree in the morning and find it on the ground. This greatly saddens me. I place a value on these old oaks beyond money. This tree has been a part of my life since I was a child fishing in that pond....


View attachment 792887



View attachment 792888

I used to be very sentimental about old oaks. They were witnesses to so much. But here, one would die, and we would mourn, then another, and we would mourn, then a dozen, then two dozen. It's sad to take a chainsaw to a 200yr old oak, but the sadness is now more like a sense of utility - all those that passed beneath it would want it put to something useful. It doesn't look like oak wilt has made it very far into Missouri, time will tell. In Wisconsin it's become common all over.

 

[yanmars]

3TS That rate of growth is just amazing to me. I can only guess if they are that wide they may not get too tall. Some of my walnuts in the woods are nearly 40 feet to the first branch. That is a best guess, I did not climb up to measure them.