The services I have contacted were only interested in turning the tree into a “coat rack” (leaving the trunk and base of main branches). They wanted to take all of the firewood and still charge me $3k for the effort, while leaving the tree in place.
That solution may sound great to a capitalist tree trimmer, but was not very attractive to the capitalist tree owner. If the core of the tree is free of rot, it could be conservatively worth $12k in 2.5-3.5 inch slabs. Probably another $1k-$1.5k in fire wood.
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I’ve NEVER seen a large old oak tree that was solid. They always have a rotten core. I have a large old oak tree very similar to yours in my yard. It is definitely rotten, maybe a foot of somewhat solid wood then rotten for about 2.5 feet before the other side of the tree. A very intense wind storm last year broke several large limbs off of it, meaning limbs up to 2 feet diameter. Every limb was rotten at the core too. Some day I’ll have to take it down or maybe just cut it up after another storm. I’ve cut down trees over 3 feet diameter over the last 2 years just to get them away from my house. I don’t like having anything that big in a position to wipe out my living space. No, I’m not a professional tree trimmer, but I worked sawing timber when I was a lot younger and I have the necessary skills to take big trees down. If I had your tree to deal with, I would have a crane and a bucket truck with at least 40’ lift and I would attach the limbs to the crane and saw them off. Done properly, it is safe and efficient. I won’t say how much your tree will cost to take down, but it will be expensive. Balance that by estimating how much it will cost to repair your house if it falls just right.
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“I’ve NEVER seen a large old oak tree that was solid.”
We are insured, but the tree also blocks sunlight. This is an old growth tree from the hardwood forests of Northern Ohio. You may not have seen a large old oak tree that was solid, but now you have.
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I don’t see a hardwood forest around that tree. I see 60s-70s era suburbs, indicating that tree has had 50+ years of soil compaction, major roots getting hit or damaged and rotting, nails being driven into it, objects striking and damaging the lower bark, limbs falling out being cut off and introducing rot etc.
No way that tree is totally solid.
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This neighborhood was created in the late 50s. It does not take any forensic work because I have the title to the house.
You can tell the age of the trees by the trunk diameter.
That tree was at least 120 years old in the 1950s. And yeah, no nails driven into the bark.
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In that case, it’s almost two hundred years old. I’d recommend you get in contact with the authorities, as you’ve got the third oldest red oak in the entire state of Ohio in your yard.
https://www.monumentaltrees.com/en/agerecords/usa/ohio/
If that’s the case anyway. Personally, I’m skeptical that tree is actually the third oldest red oak in all of Ohio.
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Red oak tends to grow about an inch every 2 years. Based on 54 inches diameter estimated from the truck in the background, I would put it around 108 years old. I’m used to oak here in the southeast which probably grows a bit faster than in Ohio. Still, I would not expect that tree to be 200 years old.
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An inch every 2 years? Have you ever seen lumber that was harvested before the 1970s? The older a tree gets, the smaller the rings. Look at how many rings you see per inch of pine lumber from the 60s/70s and compare it to lumber today. I was probably one of the last generations of Americans to take the “wood tech & mass production” class in High School in the 90s.
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Only when it is surrounded by competing trees. When an oak gets big enough to dominate its environment, it will consistently average an inch every 2 years. Keep in mind this is 1/2 inch a year which means 1/4 inch of growth on all sides.
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Please show me a single example of an oak tree that produces 1/4 inch new growth rings on a trunk that is over 48 inches in diameter. I would love to see something so rare.
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My least favorite trees I planted are the ones that died too fast for me to save them. That would be 4 of my 5 cherries! I also have lost 2 peaches that were supposed to be curl free and 2 Japanese plums. All of these seemed to turn black overnight. Probably my fault because I pruned all of them in winter and early spring when it’s very wet here.
I also have a love/hate (mostly hate) relationship with an Italian type plum that has spread by suckers everywhere. None of my family want the fruit that much and I’m not selling yet so I am giving it away and I swear it makes the rodent population explode every summer I don’t pick every last one. I cut out a few of them and I also planted a few up a hill far from the garden. Then the deer waited until I had labored up that hill with buckets of water for several dry months to strip every damn leaf off those trees in the hottest part of the year. So this year I’m going to separate some of the suckers and use them as rootstock for other more desirable scions.
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Here are a few quotes relevant to red oak growth rate from the forest service.
“Much variation in height growth was present and performance of the provenances was not consistent in all tests. The only consistent difference was the slower growth of the northern provenances in areas farther south.”
“On good sites in the Appalachians, dominant and codominant northern red oaks in even-aged stands may attain average annual diameter growth rates of about 10 cm.”
Your tree, which has no significant competition, will be at or above the range of trees which experience competition. Converting for simplicity, 12.7 mm is about 1/2 inch.
Putting some numbers together, if your tree averaged 10 mm/year over 130 years, it would be 1300 mm diameter (51.2 inches)
I’m giving the benefit of the doubt because as stated above, northern trees grow slower. Now you can do some due diligence and measure your tree to see if the numbers are reasonably accurate.
Re one of my statements above, I said I have never seen an oak without a rotted out core. I have actually seen a very large black oak 4 feet diameter that was solid. I have never seen either a red oak or a white oak that was solid. With the number of oak species worldwide, I’m sure there are others that can attain large size without internal decay.
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I don’t care about red oak trees in literature, I care about the real-life monster that is dominating my front yard. When most people see the tree, they comment that it looks more like a Live Oak.
It was left alive when the land was cleared for crops. You can tell that it had reached full height before the surrounding trees were cleared. That is the origin of the super long branches. You can also see that the tree was cut back around the time the house was built in 1958.
When the tree is eventually felled, I will let everybody know how old it is.
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So red oaks gain 4 inches in diameter per year? Do you even read this shit before you post it?
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I have checked a couple of other non-scientific sites, and they estimate the age to be 190-240 years old.
I clicked that link and it was bullshit. Try again.
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I’m guilty. I copied and pasted a forestry service link where someone put cm instead of mm. Here is the entire sentence which gives a little more context and makes clear that cm is a typo.
“On good sites in the Appalachians, dominant and codominant northern red oaks in even-aged stands may attain average annual diameter growth rates of about 10 cm (0.4 in) and on average sites about 6 mm (0.25 in) by age 50 or 60 (32).”
I make a point to learn something every day. Maybe slow down on being angry and instead focus on learning something about trees. I did.
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Haha you put cm again by accident
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It was deliberate both times. I cut and pasted exactly as written from the forestry service publication. However, the second time shows .4 inches which can only correlate with mm.
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10cm isnt .4 inches, 10mm however is. I was just saying in your correction you still left cm
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As I stated above, in context, you can see it is a typo on the forestry service publication. We are all human, including forestry service writers. I’m not changing a quote when I copy and paste. When a typo is found, I point out the typo.
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