Roadside tragedy

[CDM]

Today I was driving my usual slow route to pick up my daughter at pre-school and had to circle back.

Off to the side, next to someone's driveway, was a huge sawn-up tree trunk.  I pulled into the driveway and jumped out to see if there were any pieces I might be able to acquire.  The homeowner came out with her digital camera to photograph the remains, informing me it was an elm killed by Dutch Elm Disease, condemned by a city forester, and just cut up by a tree crew.

The thickest trunk piece was 34 inches in diameter, and I had this crazy idea that I would find a (slightly) smaller piece that I could saw into slabs for a rustic table and stools.  Unfortunately, even a 16" log proved too heavy for me to lift into my trunk by myself, and I had only 10 minutes to spare before my pre-school stop, so I had to drive away empty-handed.

Alas!  This beautiful tree will end up being firewood or mulch instead of a cool furniture project.

 

[Kodi Crescent]

And to think I thought you were going to tell of someone getting killed or something.

 

[shoe maker]

You couldn\\\'t lift a 16 inch diameter trunk length log?

My 70 year old father would of thrown it over his shoulder and carried it home.

Hit the gym

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

The only thing Elm is good for is firewood.

It is some ugly stuff.

 

[mattfc]

The only thing Elm is good for is firewood.
It is some ugly stuff.

Ugly???

 

[CDM]

I drove by again today.  In less than 24 hours, every last piece of the wood disappeared.

@ mattfc

I like the project, especially the waterfall miter from the top to the side and the wild-edge door.

@ shoe maker

The 16" diameter log was probably from pretty high up the trunk.  All of the logs were random 2 to 4 foot lengths.  The housing density on that street is somewhat high, so they probably had a guy up in the tree with a chainsaw cutting sections above him that could safely be "guided" with a steel cable on the way down.  The homeowner didn't seem like a lady who'd have appreciated a log-shaped skylight.  Hopefully they still yelled "Timber!", if only for the sake of form.

 

[woodguy7]

Trying to acquire some Cats Paw Elm just now.  Beautifully stuff once oiled up.

Shame you couldn't have got some, wasn't meant to be.

 

[Jesse Cloud]

I really identify with that tragedy.  When I used to work as a bureaucrat in DC (read coat and tie, shined shoes, white shirt), I drove to work through Rock Creek Park, a heavily forested urban national park - a real jewel.  Park maintenance for some reason always did tree cutting first thing in the morning and I often found lovely logs of maple, oak, ash, and sycamore felled by the side of the road for thinning.  I always had a big meeting first thing every morning, couldn't turn back, get the chainsaw, take the wood, and shower and dress.  And there was never any wood left by the time I drove home. [crying]

I would think about that wood all day long - probably would have been more productive if I had just took the morning off!  [embarassed]

 

[WarnerConstCo.]

Yes ugly. We call it swamp oak here. Nasty looking stuff if you
Try to put a finish on it. Not bad for painted exterior stuff.

 

[peter halle]

As someone who used to cut down trees as a job, I find it sad that so much of the wood is converted into shredded mulch or burned.  The value of the timber to the commercial world is from the ground to the first branch.  But for the hobbyist, it extends far past that.

My area was hit hard by a hurricane in 2003.  Thousands of 200 year old trees became shredded products.  The issue is the cost of taking those trees and converting them into something useable that someone will buy.

In my opinion it is sad when an elm tree dies.  Dutch elm disease destroyed so much and continues today.  But there is hope for new varieties. 

Peter

 

[rmwarren]

The guy I used to buy lumber form would "accept" trees from the guys who cut them down so long as they were in 10 sections and not covered with mud. He said that it was questionable if the lumber was worth it because so many urban/suburban trees had metal buried in them that he ruined blades too often, the  free wood was too costly. Eventually he stopped taking them except those suitable to use as firewood.

 

[spikfot]

I keep a 32" bar with a skip toothed chain just for this reason, last year I happened upon a crew cutting down a 85-90cm dia. oak, i was given the first section, free of knots, no visible scarring from fencing wire.  I ripped it into 8 pieces, quarters, then 1/8ths, 4 foot sections were around 100kilos each, barely lifted them into my truck. They're drying nicely in my dryer (dead Volvo 745)