That’s why I think it’s scarlet oak. That thick bark is an adaptation to fire and this tree was growing on a warm, dry, south facing hilltop.
Good thread brother! We took down a big black oak last week and I saved the entire trunk for my personal stacks. Splits beautifully and cleanly. I've got four big standing dead oaks over on the farm to get to this fall/winter. If I end up doing maple syrup this winter I'll use some of that stuff for the boiling. The rest will go into the stacks that I use this coming winter. My stacks are about back to max capacity (7yrs worth/36 full cord) I'm running out of places to stack it....lol. so I'll probably take the splitters over to the farm and stack the wood where I drop the trees.
I bucked a few rounds of very solid dead ash on my way home today. Unfortunately the base of the trunk was too far gone, along with the top, but the center section was still good. The 455 rancher is my new “truck saw”
Good stuff there. Sounds like the one I cut the other day. Will that get used/sold this burning season?
Yeah I was surprised by the condition. Not much left like that around my area. Most likely it’ll sit until next year. It felt pretty wet inside.
That’s a snappy little saw for sure. If it’s like this in almost stock form, ported it will definitely bring a smile to my face. I love how light it is. I need to bring it on a few more scrounges to really get a feel for it.
A little more loco today. Not live, but not down long enough for the bark to rot away completely just yet. This was just the stuff that I could grab quick in the limited time I had. There’s still the main trunk left to grab at some point:
Its a beautiful thing when mother nature washes them completely clean and there no schmutz on there. Nice grab Eric!
I should’ve taken a before picture but I was in a hurry to clear the roadway. This standing dead red oak came down across the road near my work. I must’ve missed seeing it fall by mere minutes as there were no tire tracks through the debris yet. I had my little Husky 45 with me and quickly cut up the limbs, tossing them to the side. I’ll come back in a few days when it’s dry out and start bucking the trunk. Lots of good solid heartwood here.
This area is where I scrounge half of my entire inventory, and have only been beaten to a score once in the 8 years I've been scrounging here. That being said, even if someone else swoops in I won't be too heartbroken. Oh yeah, there are literally hundreds of standing dead oaks along the roads here, so even if I miss this one there will be more coming sooner than later. I'm sure today's winds and heavy rain will take down more than one.
