Tree worth much?

[Richard]

We have a handful of these large, I presume Oak, trees. I'm first wondering is this a "Pin Oak"? (picture of leaf which was under said tree) If so that means it's a red pin oak?

You can see the right side of the fork....has snapped off at the top. I'm debating on cutting this 'branch' off....but now what? sell log outright? Have cut into an oak beam? Cut into dimensional lumber for future use? It's large on its own, fairly straight however, I have no idea if there is rot working its way in.

All these trees seem to be dropping tips of branches that appear to have died. Maybe it's just what the tree does, maybe it's in the latter stages of its life. They will be massive projects to remove (I like to get the root ball out) and I have NO plans as I'm currently sitting here to take them down, unless there is more value to take them down today rather than wait 4-5 years for them to die and then they're worthless from internal rot or something.

In the end, I'm wondering just what do I have here?

These are large trees, I have four of them within a Joe Montana heil Mary pass distance of each other.

 

[Jstpssng]

The only thing they would be good for is firewood. For anything like a sawlog they would have to be straight and relatively knot free. Mills generally don't like houselot trees anyways, as they often contain nails, wire, dog chains, and who knows what other foreign objects.

 

[Richard]

I probably have 8-10 foot lengths that are straight (if not maybe leaning) with very few if any branches/knots. One of the trees probably hits near 20 feet (as estimated from the ground) with one/two branches but those could be cut points making it two 10 footers verses a 20.

Is it the type that makes you think they're firewood or moreso that they're off private property. (I totally get they won't want to ruin a saw with an errant nail or dozen)

I can vouch for only the last 50 years while (my wife's) family has owned the farm.... prior to that, no idea what might have been done but, given their location, they do NOT make good fence lines.

I DO like nice fires too!!

 

[dodge man]

There is an oak wilt that is killing oaks in my area, I’ve lost a few. Red oaks are more likely to die from it. Sorry I can’t help you on any value.

 

[Egon]

There would be some nice long lumber slabs in those trees plus a lot of Smaller lumber.
Check with local sawmills For pricing and sawing

 

[old and tired]

Twig Girdler could be the cause of small twigs that fall off. I agree, firewood is best use... Pin oak of the red oak family.

Twig Girdler | NC State Extension Publications

This Entomology Insect Note describes the biology and control of twig girdlers, a common pest of pecan and hickory trees.

content.ces.ncsu.edu

 

[Code54]

We get a bunch of oaks that I have to drop every year due to the tops starting to die and drop branches. 99% of the time the tree is bad in the middle somewhere. We often find, what looks like, big slugs in the tree when we are cutting them up. They are mostly pretty decent for firewood but most pretty poor for saw laws. We can get some 8-10 sections out of some but not close to what you would normally want out of a tree.

 

[2manyrocks]

A logger generally wants to cut enough trees to justify bringing the equipment necessary to cut, remove and haul the logs to the sawmill.

If you personally have access to the machinery, trailer and truck needed to haul the logs to the sawmill, then they could have some value at the sawmill if you can haul them yourself.

Another option is to look for someone with a portable sawmill who could cut them into dimension lumber. A friend cut up one spruce tree for me some years ago. We both came away with a lot of very useable lumber from one tree after a day of sawing.

 

[Yander]

I have a gigantic oak tree on the front corner of my yard I thought about cutting it down because it is a very messy tree with branches every spring.

Then I watched an episode of growing a Greener world where they talk about how much habitat a tree that size supports between insects and animals.

I'm not a tree hugger by any stretch but I do like providing habitat for critters, so I'm leaving it.

Curious as to why you want to cut those all down?

 

[Eagle1]

I'm not a tree hugger by any stretch but I do like providing habitat for critters, so I'm leaving it.

I'm with you, I cut a lot of firewood but mostly blow down. I have bunch of standing dead that are home to bats, squirrels, woodpeckers, raccoons,etc. Unless they threaten something I leave them until they tip over.