Big ol tree down in the yard...

Storm took down a big maple last night. The main trunk is 20+ feet long and the butt end is close to 30" its hang 6' up hanging on its branches and stump and just screams bear trap. Im going to call some tree guys to get everything to the ground and chunked up for firewood. At this point I do not have the time, storage space and finances to start milling wood. I'm considering having the main trunk cut into 6 foot logs and breaking them down further with wedges. If I can lift the timbers I will be able to get them blocked off the ground and tarp tented over. Since moving to the Eastern Shore of Maryland I have been watching mushrooms grow on everything I haven't been able to get under cover, so I have to be careful about putting energy into things that will immediately start composting.

Any thoughts?

James,

Be sure to treat the ends of the sections, once you have split them out, with material to prevent the ends from drying faster than the middle sections of the broken down logs, after you do the splitting with wedges and gluts. If you don't treat the ends with a moisture stopping paint, or other equivalent treatment, the rapid drying of the end sections, while the middle sections stay wetter and dry out much more slowly, of the split out sections, will cause the sections to have splits, ruining much of the lumber.

They sell special paint that is made especially for that task, but I don't have any, so I use a 50/50 mix of bees wax and canning wax. Some one on this site will be able to tell you what paint to use, and where it is available. I intend to pick up some the next time I am in Oklahoma City, thinking that the woodworking place there probably has that special paint. You might want to go to the forum on Sawmills and Kiln Drying work on this site, that topic has probably come up a zillion times.

I heat the wax mixture in a tin can using a butane torch, and keep a cheap disposable natural fiber paint brush in the can. When everything is melted nicely I use it to paint the end grain on the section to be treated. The wax cools rapidly, and often does not soak into the end grain, but instead forms a layer on the surface. For that reason I play the butane torch flame over the surface of the end grain which is now coated with wax until the wax and end grain are hot enough that the wax soaks into the end grain. I don't use the wax with a micro thin layer, I use a nice coat. If I did not have some bees wax, I would probably use 100% canning wax, which is available at the grocery store.

Stew

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Originally Posted by James W Glenn

Storm took down a big maple last night. The main trunk is 20+ feet long and the butt end is close to 30" its hang 6' up hanging on its branches and stump and just screams bear trap. Im going to call some tree guys to get everything to the ground and chunked up for firewood. At this point I do not have the time, storage space and finances to start milling wood. I'm considering having the main trunk cut into 6 foot logs and breaking them down further with wedges. If I can lift the timbers I will be able to get them blocked off the ground and tarp tented over. Since moving to the Eastern Shore of Maryland I have been watching mushrooms grow on everything I haven't been able to get under cover, so I have to be careful about putting energy into things that will immediately start composting.

Any thoughts?

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Woodturners often like to get fresh, green maple. You might contact a woodturning club in your area and someone may come out and help in trade for some big chunks. Maple cut into lumber, of course, will air dry nicely if stacked off the ground and stickered. You probably know this be be sure the tarp just prevents rain and sun and doesn't keep moisture in. Some boards, old tin roofing, or plywood will work as well or better than a tarp. Powder post beetles seem to be attracted strongly to it so any stock you save might need to be protected with chemicals or moved indoors.

Sugar maple, red maple, ??? (look at the leaves if needed) Breaking down a 6' long 30" dia hard maple log with wedges might be a real challenge.

Some people take shorter sections of logs, say 2' or so, and stand them upright on the dirt to promote spalting. Spalted chunks are sought after by woodturners.

JKJ

That was quite a storm front, wasn't it? My trees agave up available limbs last year, so I didn't get anything this time.

I use "storm wood" limbs from my two giant broadleaf maples for different projects - they make very strong spoons, if you want to try that. The wood will be very wet these days, and with the temperatures and humidity, especially on the Eastern Shore, you're almost guaranteed to get spalting of one kind or another, especially near the ends. You can either embrace it and intentionally get spalting on small pieces as John mentions (you don't have to be a turner - spalted boxes and accent panels are nice too) or you can just accept that the ends and some channels in the wood may have it. I get it in the summer from just keeping the wood in a plastic bag after splitting spoon blanks, so secret recipes involving burying it in warm cow manure for 6 months aren't always needed.

Oh, and you want to get the outer bark off as soon as you can - beetle grubs appear pretty quickly on those sugary trees, and I've had carpenter ants colonize loose logs as well.

In my experience, even on the trunk maple doesn't split very easily, and limb wood is always twisted and unbalanced. Maybe other species would split better than mine, but be prepared for a fight. I did notice it split better after aging a few months - maybe there is something to that?

good luck,
Karl