Yep. Not on a bet.
That’s a solid 30 foot of 0ak, easily 30″ in diameter at the base, and it was leaning toward the house.
Because I’m paranoid, I chiseled a spot on the tree and measured it to a nail driven in the side of the house. The first twelve years we lived here, it always measured within an inch or so; two years ago, it moved two inches, it moved 4″ this summer alone. It was headed for my picture window and the living room. And these boys put it on the ground. The Mexican that climbed this tree and literally put it all on the ground himself was 36. Half the time he was hanging onto that tree by his fingernails and a pair of Buckingham spurs.
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Now split it up into firewood for next Winter.
That’s what I’m, working on.
Amazing how fast they fall isn’t it? Not like the popular depiction, gradually tipping and falling almost gently.
During Superstorm Sandy a couple years ago I was outside when our neighbor’s tree went over. One moment there was nothing there, the next a tree laying in the road, and then the crash registered. A town cop nearly got nailed by it, and trust me no matter how quick he was, had he been where it was landing he wouldn’t have stood a chance of getting out of the way.
Arborists are a special breed of madmen.
God bless ’em.
(Mark – 9.8m/s^2 doesn’t fool around!
Though I think trees cut less completely probably do start slower, because they have to tear or bend the wood at the base…)
Man, that must have made a THUD! I am always amazed at how they rock the world when they hit. Once felt that thunk and knew what it was but had to walk 2 blocks to find the culprit. Lost some middling sized oak limbs during Sandy. The ones that hit the ground rattled us bad enough but the one that landed on the roof scared the living s**t outta me.
That could make some nice thick planks, maybe a swell book-case to two, a mission style table…or a sailboat mast.
I really do wish I could find a sawmill close by. And yes, it made the earth move, Knucklehead, in a way you can’t believe. Big bloody tree, that was. Glad I won’t be sharing my living room with it anytime soon
And when you DO share your living room with it, it’ll be in manageable chunks and ON FIRE. Win-win.
Dad was a wood-shop teacher, he could not let it go to waste or to burn. He had a sawmill-guy come out with a big rig-truck that had a moving band-saw blade mechanism that did the job on our old Black Acacia in the front yard.
Cut it into board-feet that dad blocked up to dry.
The stump they cut down was only about 14-feet after all the other trimming but it made a helluva noise and thump when it hit the dirt – heavy as rock. Reportedly Noah’s ark was made of Acacia.
A number of years ago, was almost nailed by a full-grown saguaro cactus when it fell. Heard it popping, and was able to get out of the way by about 2 feet. For a cactus, they are damn heavy, not to mention the thorns.