The Big Maple

The large bigleaf maple grew just behind the old house. I kind of hated to take it down because it was like an old friend. I had spent a lot of time under it as a kid. It had watched me grow up.

It provided good summertime shade and let sun through bare limbs in the winter so rather than cut it down completely, my dad cut the top out of it about 40 years ago. Unfortunately it was too close to the old house. During the last several years it became apparent that the tree was rotting out where the old top had been. This would have made an excellent wildlife tree in the future as the center rotted out creating a cavity. Unfortunately, wildlife trees don’t mix well with buildings. The rotted area created a weakness in the tree which could result in a large limb breaking off and crashing through the house.  

I traded a friend a cow and calf for some work with his bucket truck. He took all the limbs off, then we fell the remaining shortened trunk.

The tree was spalted from the rotting  old tops all the way to the roots. Spalting is created as a fungus inhabits the wood and begins to decompose it. Spalting creates interesting colors and patterns. These colors and patterns often occur while the wood is still quite sound and if it is dried and preserved before it gets too punky, it makes a very beautiful wood to work with. The spalting in this tree didn’t appear to be the most impressive and I talked to a number of people who work with this type of wood but none were interested. Finally I talked to another friend of mine, Dan, who has a sawmill. He thought there was enough potential to take a risk on a time investment to cut it into lumber rather than me cutting it into firewood.

Dan came over Sunday and we spent the day ripping the log into quarters and chipping the limbs, getting soaked from numerous rain showers. 

The start of the process. Unfortunately I don't have a before picture of the tree standing. I took about 5 hours with the bucket truck to reach this point. Note the rotted old tops in center of clump of branches.

Large limb pile generated in taking tops out of tree. Limbs on the far side of the log were dragged out of the way to create a working space on that side of the log. 

View of the butt end of log showing spalting.

The start of the next step which will be cutting up the log. 

Beginning the cut. I wanted to cut the top out so my friend Dan could see how much it was spalted or rotted at the top of the log, the part closest to the old rotting tops. 

Going over the top with the cut. I have to be careful because this log and the top I am cutting out is big enough to crush me if it rolls on top of me. I have left a number of large limbs on the log so it will be less likely to roll. 

Getting the bottom "corner". I want to make sure the cut is all the way through on the bottom so my saw won't pinch. I  also want to make sure this area where I am in an awkward position is cut all the way through so I can be in a better position when I finish the cut.

Finishing the cut. I am in a better position to get out of the way if the log should roll when I finish the cut. 

Firewood rounds cut all the way to the part of the log to be sawed for woodworking. I ruined a saw chain on a nail and porcelain electrical insulator on my second cut here. 

My friend Dan inspecting the end of the log. The firewood rounds have been moved out of the way. 

Starting the first rip cut. Note the large limb left on the log for stability to my left. 

Dan starting on the butt end of the log. 

Rolling the log to finish the first cut. 

The saw cuts didn't match exactly so we drove wedges into the log to split it apart. 

First cut complete. What this doesn't show is that the wedges weren't enough so I had to cut a little more with the saw. I expected the log to fall apart but it happened so suddenly that I couldn't react. I took a little ride bouncing off the flat slab and onto the ground straining my ankle slightly in the process. Fortunately neither me or my saw got smashed and I didn't land on top of the running saw or some nearby dog doo doo. 

View of the grain and spalting in the vertical slab. I dulled a saw chain on a nail in the black spot near the center of this frame on the left edge. 

Dan ripping the log into quarters. 

Loading quarter onto trailer.

Dan hauled two quarters to his place while I ripped the remaining slab into quarters. 

Starting to chip the limb pile.

Chipping job finished. It took three or four hours to get all the limbs and brush chipped. Don't let the sunlight fool you. It was dark and rainy until about a half hour before this photo was taken. We had both shed our raingear at some point and were soaked. 

Photo of site taken Monday morning. 

The remaining logs and rounds will be one of my projects for this coming weekend-cutting firewood.