Giant English Elm Tree Question

[Bill Grumbine]

Greetings all

A tree trimmer friend of mine just called to ask me a question which I am passing on to the group. He has been asked to bid on the removal of a very large English elm tree. His size comment was that he would need a 6' bar on his saw to get through the bottom of the stump. Apparently this tree is on some sort of register and dates back to the War Between the States. He called to ask me if there was some way to research the tree for economic viability. He does not want to just cut this thing up and heat the house with it. He would much rather see the wood go to some good use, preferably lumber, although I suspect there will be turning blanks aplenty for those who desire them.

If anyone here has any ideas on how to research this thing, I would be interested to hear them.

Thanks.

Bill

[Mike Cutler]

Bill.
Not sure about Elm as a species. However I know that the Mystic Seaport in Mystic Ct is interested in large growth trees, such as those, for historical restoration purposes for wooden ships.
I know that a few years back they went down and got some trees that had come down when the hurricane hit the Norfolk Va. area. I think they were oaks though.
Just a thought.
Don Abele, here on the board, is/was the Senior enlisted on the USS Constitution in Boston. He may know of a society that looks for these trees.

[Greg Stanford]

We had the same thing here after Katrina, the wooden ships folks came for a lot of the downed Live Oak. Any ideas about the traditional uses of Elm? Not something I see a lot of in the south. I do know that old growth trees are looked for in the making of musical instruments.

g

[Dan Gill]

When I was at Colonial Williamsburg several years back, the guys in the wheelwright's shop told me they use elm (American elm, I believe) for wheel hubs. You might contact Colonial Williamsburg to find some info.

[Daniel Thompson]

You might contact these folks:

http://www.historictrees.org/ht_m/natreg_co.htm

[jeremy levine]

How about a photo just for fun.

[Al Wasser]

The American Forestry Assoc. maintains a register of the big trees by species. A quick search of their website show the champion American Elm to be in Tenn. and they show nothing for English Elm. That makes me wonder if English Elm is an accepted name or a regional name. Being a westerner you would know better than I

[Paul Turner]

When I was at Colonial Williamsburg several years back, the guys in the wheelwright's shop told me they use elm (American elm, I believe) for wheel hubs. You might contact Colonial Williamsburg to find some info.

A tree that will require a 6' saw will probably require Paul Bunion and Babe(his Blue Ox) to pull the wagon with a hub that big...

[Dan Gill]

A tree that will require a 6' saw will probably require Paul Bunion and Babe(his Blue Ox) to pull the wagon with a hub that big...

Think of the mortise chisels you'd need to make it!

Actually, I think it would just make a LOT of regular sized hubs.

The reason they use elm, I was told, is that the twisty grain helps prevent splitting. If you've ever tried to split elm for firewood, you know all about that. I brought home a couple of elm sections to split and they the stumps I split everything else on.

[Gary Lange]

Here is on in Maryland they say is the Champion. Most were devestated by Dutch Elm disease back in the 70's.

http://www.championtrees.org/champions/elmenglishMD.htm

[Jim Becker]

There is a fellow just outside of Doylestown in Danville that specializes in slabing big trees...he supplies some of the stock for Mira Nakashima, I understand. His name is John Kirlen and his number is 215-766-8760. If anything, he can certainly advise on how to cut the tree (or be sub-contracted to do so) If that tree is sound, it could be quite valuable.

[Adam Grills]

Up here in the great white north we se lots of things made from Elm. Elm Disease was the cuase for the large use of the wood from what I understand. My pressback chairs are Elm and the table they sit around. Looks much like white oak without the fleck cut on the quarter. Its hard- tends to tear out. Any wood of some size is worth saving from the fire.
Adam

[Bill Grumbine]

Thanks for the responses everyone! I will be sure to pass them on to my tree trimmer friend, who of course, will remain anonymous.

Bill

[Ian Abraham]

See if you can find someone with a Lucas or Peterson portable sawmill. And a good metal detector, there is likely to be all sorts nails, maybe bullets and who knows what else in there

They will be able to saw the logs up where they lay into nice boards and perhaps some WIDE slabs. Like the others have said the elm is a good timber, although it can be difficult to dry straight. The historic significance of the tree should bring a small premium on the timber too

Sorry I'm just too far away to help you guys out

Cheers

Ian

[Jim Becker]

Ian, the fellow I mentioned to Bill above has a Lucas (indoors) that he uses for both cutting and surfaceing. He has a very large band-mill outdoors, too. There were some 6" thick slabs outside the door that were about 14' long and 5' wide drying in the breeze...