Late night last night....Asplundh was here from 830 to 1145PM cutting out a bunch of big limbs from the huge old Mulberry in SE corner of property.Apparantly the old beast is a safety hazard according to Mid American Energy.They took out the worst of it,now I have a huge pile of brush & limbs up to a foot or so to dispose of Mid American is to bring a chipper truck today or Monday. So I was outside again at 6AM rain or not cutting up this mess & keeping the good stuff..... And I just finished pulling the good stuff out from that pile of brush.... Time for a bite to eat,a quick shower & back to the sofa for a couple hour nap to catch up on this old man's sleep........... I got up early (for a Saturday) to beat the expected thunderstorms that are to show up in a few hours. The tree's trunk is at the intersection of 4 different properties,including mine.Its easily 100 years old,most the houses around here are 70 to 100,so it sprouted when most of the land behind me was bare ground.But since the neighbors to my SE took out almost 1/2 of that big beast's south side in September 2012 - Close to 3/4ths of the branches that remain are on my side of the property.The power company said the old beast should be removed pretty soon.Its got a split trunk (not really visible to the naked eye) & the roots are weak. We had a major storm 11 days ago with 60-70MPH gusts & heavy rain,hard to believe that it withstood that & the severe winter we went through also.At least now a lot of the weight on the NW side is removed & less likely for wind/snow/ice to pull it down. If it did come down before last night with all that extra branches - Not only would my shed be flattened & the east end of my big house sustain severe damage - but power & phone service would be out for 6 or 7 households including mine.Since 2 major poles are in my backyard,at the north & south borders...
Nice Score with Mulberry! If they end up cutting the whole tree down, you may have a really good score.
This old one is a male with no berries,about 20 feet to the SW of this there was a medium sized female that had loads of fruit every year.I removed it in summer 1992 cause it had some past storm damage/hollow spot near the ground + wanting the spot to build my 8 x 8 shed the next summer.SW corner of shed is just about where the old stump was centered. Still have a medium sized male along north fence,its had some damage over the years also.May have to remove it in a few years,that'll be much easier if/when that happens.Most is hanging over in neighbor's huge backyard,plenty of room to drop those big limbs. Only thing is the old beast is leaning/growing against the power pole - cable/electric power to neighbor 2 doors north & 1 to my east also I believe.So its a weird setup done many years ago. It does shade my swing very well (as if the 3 large Walnuts that tower over everything along my east fence don't do enough ) So I'd miss that pretty much all day shade on summer days for sure......
Got you got it down without damage. Any tree that could fall on my house or garage has been removed. My son just hired a certified tree removal service to take down this giant willow on his property. Branches were always falling off it. Cost about $700 to have it cut down and cut up. He told me willow was no good so he dumped it all.
No one complained about a chainsaw running at 2345? Around here I get the stink eye for doing anything that makes noise after about 8ish! Asplundh is a member on here?
I much prefer the wood from old slow growing Mulberries in a close enviroment compared to that from a faster growing more open area.Much denser/tighter grain,better for burning and/or woodworking projects. Lower part of main stem of the old beast - guessing its close to 30 inches diameter.That main stem has to weigh a couple tons most likely.
And a couple more.....trusty ol' PM 610.Plenty of power to zip through this dense stuff.... Removed neighbor's dead Eastern Redbud tree yesterday afternoon also,3 big wheelbarrow loads from that,90% is dry enough to burn immediately.
Nice scores thistle. I know of only one Mulberry around here. This one is right near the edge of Decheau Lake where we take the dogs to swim. Power Co. took down some White pine on the edge of my power line a few years ago, and I made the mistake of telling them to leave everything. ruh roe. Took me quite a while to clean up all those branches just to get to the 30" trunk. Still have some of the real gnarly chunks from that one.
There was a monster old mulberry on my property, before it was subdivided, and unfortunately they had to fell it to make room for a driveway. Had to have been at least 7 feet DBH, with surface roots 12" - 16" diameter , such that one could never mow around it. A very cool, and very old tree. Wish I had photos of it. Actually, I wish we still had the tree! They never seem to get very tall, but they do get very wide. We still have a white mulberry, maybe 16" DBH, growing almost sideways out from under the canopy of some larger walnuts. The berries are dropping right now, which aren't too bad for eating, but not so good you'd want to buy them at the store, either.
Making me jealous. I left a PM610 at a junkyard in Jacksonville, NC in March, 1999 because I couldn't get it to start and I was moving to San Diego. Wish I had lugged that baby along with me to resurrect it later in life!!!
Lots of them still out there in great condition for a decent price with a little searching. Saw was sold from 1978 to 1994,this is my 2nd one.First one I bought new in summer 1992,it was the later version with the more commonly seen ''flag'' style chainbrake/handguard,compared to the earlier wraparound style like in the pic.First one I used heavily until Spring 2000,it had a 24" bar/full chisel chain,would pull that in oak/hickory all day long.... Only thing I didn't like about it was whenever I'd shut it off to refuel or take a break you could be guaranteed to wait 30 to 45 minutes before it would start again,some kind of vapor lock issue that I never figured out.Always started 2-3 pulls cold,no matter how long it sat in the shed.Finally drained the gas/oil one day,parked it under workbench in garage at parents acreage.Sold it as a ''parts saw'' on Ebay in March 2011.Kinda missed the old beast,so I started waiting/watching for decent one at a good price a while later.Seen mine on local Craigslist last July,Seller had it with another late model mostly plastic McCulloch saw with missing parts @$70 for the pair. I didn't want that other piece of junk...lol So I asked him what his bottom price for the 610 alone was since it had a couple minor issues.It was an estate find,from a storage shed clear out I was told.That saw had no more than 2-3 tanks of fuel through it,someone broke the rope & it sat in a garage unused for over 25 years!!! Seller had put the rope from the other saw on it (too small of diameter,didnt engage the pawls on pulley properly ) The original 16" .050 gauge bar/semi chisel chain was great,very little paint loss on bar,other than a minor scratch or two,rest of saw was almost perfect . Only few I'd seen over the years in better shape were new old stock in original box with all paperwork & sales receipt! Seller said "I'll take $40 for it." So I handed over the cash & that was it.That 610 got more use in the next 24 hours after I bought it than it had in its previous 25+ years! This one starts 2-3 pulls cold,1 pull warm EVERY TIME.So guessing this one was was set up/adjusted properly when new at the McCulloch dealer all those years ago.Where as my previous 610 with the vapor lock issue was just bought in a box from a mail order hardware retailer,with no factory or dealer set up. I put the 20" bar from my older Poulan Super 380 on it recently cause I have some medium Hickory to buck up soon.They both take the same chain (60 drivers for 16" & 70 drivers for 20") but the holes for the chain tensioners on their bars are an inch or so apart.Since drilled a pair of holes to remedy that problem,now same bars fit either saw perfectly
Nice haul there Thistle. I've never had any experience with Mullberry but it sure looks/sounds like nice stuff!
