# Salvaging a FBE Tree Damaged in Storm



## whitewaterjay (Feb 5, 2019)

Working on salvaging as much material as I can from this Flaming Box Elder tree that fell in a storm here last week. I love seeing the red shavings coming from the chainsaw, but my back really isn't thanking me for this. Now is when I wish I had some big equipment like a crane or something to help me move some bigger pieces onto my car hauler!

I'm always amazed at what has been created when cutting into different species of logs and seeing the grain or color.

Reactions: Like 6 | EyeCandy! 8 | Agree 1 | Way Cool 4


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## B Rogers (Feb 5, 2019)

Agree, some of God's handiwork.

Reactions: Agree 4


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## whitewaterjay (Feb 5, 2019)

B Rogers said:


> Agree, some of God's handiwork.



Yep, that's for sure!


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## woodtickgreg (Feb 5, 2019)

Great color in those! Be sure to get them sealed up asap.

Reactions: Agree 3


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## whitewaterjay (Feb 5, 2019)

woodtickgreg said:


> Great color in those! Be sure to get them sealed up asap.



Yeah I hope to get out there and get some anchorseal on them this evening on the end grain at least.

Reactions: Like 1


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## woodtickgreg (Feb 5, 2019)

Nice score man!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## whitewaterjay (Feb 5, 2019)

There's a good bit more I'm trying to get to before the city turns it into mulch this week, but I'm running out of time. Plus I think the wife is ready for me to be home for an evening to help with the little guys instead of out cutting up this tree....

Reactions: Sincere 2


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## FLQuacker (Feb 5, 2019)

Oh my!!


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## Nature Man (Feb 5, 2019)

Need to strike while the iron is hot! Scoop up as much as possible -- don't see this kind of beauty every day! Chuck

Reactions: Agree 2


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## whitewaterjay (Feb 5, 2019)

Nature Man said:


> Need to strike while the iron is hot! Scoop up as much as possible -- don't see this kind of beauty every day! Chuck



I know, I just wish I had a crane or hoist on my trailer! Thought about trying to hire a local tree company, but I'm sure that'd be a ton of cash I don't have and not sure how that would go since it's on someone else's property in the city. I got permission to use my chainsaw from the property owner, but asking for more might be pushing it.


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## barry richardson (Feb 5, 2019)

Primo stuff!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Karl_TN (Feb 5, 2019)

Nice find. Box Elder is a soft maple that's real easy to cut with a good chainsaw. My suggestion would be to use this as an excuse to buy yourself a better chainsaw & blade so you spend less time and energy getting the tree cut into movable chunks. Btw, what is the make and model of that yellow chainsaw because I'm unfamiliar with chainsaws having a side exhaust like this one?

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Nature Man (Feb 5, 2019)

@gvwp is somewhat close -- might be able to lend a hand. Chuck


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## whitewaterjay (Feb 5, 2019)

Karl_TN said:


> Nice find. Box Elder is a soft maple that's real easy to cut with a good chainsaw. My suggestion would be to use this as an excuse to buy yourself a better chainsaw & blade so you spend less time and energy getting the tree cut into movable chunks. Btw, what is the make and model of that yellow chainsaw because I'm unfamiliar with chainsaws having a side exhaust like this one?



That saw is a classic, it's a pioneer partner P75 with a 32" bar on it. Does good work but its crazy heavy. I do most of the work with a Husqvarna 257 with a 20" bar. A decent balance of power and weight.

Reactions: Like 1


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## whitewaterjay (Feb 5, 2019)

I spent the evening putting 3/4 of a gallon of anchorseal on the logs and chunks i got so far, and the took the family roller skating. I might try to get back out there tomorrow to see if I can manage to haul more.

Reactions: Way Cool 1


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## Mlyle (Feb 5, 2019)

Beautiful wood.....I have never seen box elder being cut up or freshly downed....

So........someone has to say it.....or ask......

is any going to be avail for your good friends....here on

wood Barter?????

just asking ol buddy ol pal

Reactions: Agree 1


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## barry richardson (Feb 6, 2019)

whitewaterjay said:


> I spent the evening putting 3/4 of a gallon of anchorseal on the logs and chunks i got so far, and the took the family roller skating. I might try to get back out there tomorrow to see if I can manage to haul more.


You will be happy later if you do, that stuff will be easy to sell, make you some nice$$$

Reactions: Agree 1


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## whitewaterjay (Feb 6, 2019)

barry richardson said:


> You will be happy later if you do, that stuff will be easy to sell, make you some nice$$$



I could use the $$$ that's for sure... I'm trying to build a workshop this spring, and I'm getting sticker shock from the prices of a pole building!

Reactions: Agree 1


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## whitewaterjay (Feb 6, 2019)

Mlyle said:


> Beautiful wood.....I have never seen box elder being cut up or freshly downed....
> 
> So........someone has to say it.....or ask......
> 
> ...



Yeah, I'm sure I'll offer some of it up here to the WB community. I know I'm not allowed to post interest threads due to the rules, but it'd be good to know what kinds of sizes people would want so I could know how to process the logs and chunks.


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## barry richardson (Feb 6, 2019)

whitewaterjay said:


> Yeah, I'm sure I'll offer some of it up here to the WB community. I know I'm not allowed to post interest threads due to the rules, but it'd be good to know what kinds of sizes people would want so I could know how to process the logs and chunks.


In my experience, you can't go wrong with 3"x 3" x 12". Folks like bowl blanks too, 6x6x3 on up to 12x12x6.....

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Agree 5


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## Karl_TN (Feb 6, 2019)

whitewaterjay said:


> That saw is a classic, it's a pioneer partner P75 with a 32" bar on it. Does good work but its crazy heavy. I do most of the work with a Husqvarna 257 with a 20" bar. A decent balance of power and weight.



Seems I didn't give that older P75 saw enough credit at first glance. Was this saw designed with anti-vibration by chance?


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## Mlyle (Feb 6, 2019)

Boxes small boxes . 4 x 4 x 5" for lidded box size . Or any vessel size

Reactions: Like 1


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## Bigg081 (Feb 6, 2019)

Absolutely stunning! I'll sit back and wait patiently for the FOR SALE ad! LOL. Great find.

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Mark. (Feb 10, 2019)

Just seeing this has put me to having second thoughts on what I was fixing to post up a new thread on. If You were inside a 100 mile radius, I would be there inside of one & onehalf hours. Can't say I have ever seen a more beautiful piece of wood. Truly One of Gods Handi Work. Love it. I will be in search of the Flaming Box Elder. Thanks for Sharing

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Alex Beck (Feb 12, 2019)

When the trunk is cut into such short pieces, its has a tendency to split/check quickly as it is drying extremely quickly due to the increased surface area, particularly via the endgrain. Anchorseal or an oil based paint will help slow the drying process but the wood will likely still crack. If the pieces are small enough, you can put them in a trash bag and open the bag every day or other day to allow moisture to slowly exit. It may have a tendency to spalt the wood using this method as well. After a few months it should be stable enough to leave out in the open. You can also cut the log in half, directly through the pith, this in itself relieves alot of the stress but obviously shrinks the size of your potential workpiece. Beautiful stuff.


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## Bigg081 (Feb 12, 2019)

Alex Beck said:


> When the trunk is cut into such short pieces, its has a tendency to split/check quickly as it is drying extremely quickly due to the increased surface area, particularly via the endgrain. Anchorseal or an oil based paint will help slow the drying process but the wood will likely still crack. If the pieces are small enough, you can put them in a trash bag and open the bag every day or other day to allow moisture to slowly exit. It may have a tendency to spalt the wood using this method as well. After a few months it should be stable enough to leave out in the open. You can also cut the log in half, directly through the pith, this in itself relieves alot of the stress but obviously shrinks the size of your potential workpiece. Beautiful stuff.


So your saying to promote spalting, you can put a fresh/wet piece of wood in a trash bag to keep in the moisture?


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## Alex Beck (Feb 12, 2019)

Pretty much, spalting is just fungal growth, which keeping it in a wet environment promotes. I wouldn't keep it enclosed in the bag forever as it would inevitably become rotten. I learned this trick from a guy that throws pottery, he wraps up his pieces in plastic bags to stop them from cracking before he does his first firing in a kiln. Leaving a log on the ground will also promote splating. I had a client that wanted blue heartpine beams which is just splated heartpine. I just leave the logs on the ground for a few months and sure enough the pine gets a blue spalted color in the grain.


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## naynay (Jun 2, 2019)

We have nothing like this in So Cal. You all are so lucky.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Tony (Jun 2, 2019)

naynay said:


> We have nothing like this in So Cal. You all are so lucky.



Renay, @justallan might have some if you ask nice!

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## justallan (Jun 2, 2019)

For how and what to cut your tree into....I try to get the biggest quality pieces possibly and work down from there. In my experience with box elder the red desirable part of the logs grows in a circle basically, leaving the center and outside of the log less desirable, so I try for slabs or large blanks from two apposing sides and then cut what is left of the red into your smaller blanks, but always shooting for the biggest blanks and working your way down.
Hope that helps a little.



Tony said:


> Renay, @justallan might have some if you ask nice!



Thanks Tony, but I'm horribly busy right now branding calves and then I'm taking a little time off to go on vacation. WOO HOO, we're down to about 700 calves left to brand!

Reactions: Like 1 | Thank You! 1


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## rocky1 (Jun 2, 2019)

Down to? What did you start at??

Reactions: Agree 1


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## rocky1 (Jun 2, 2019)

I love Montana Ranch stories, just got to hear it. 

Had a business acquaintance in ND that I got to be friends with, was from out there around Bozeman somewhere. Was visiting with him one night over supper at a convention and he said his family had a little ranch out in Montana. We inquired, "How little is 'little'?" In reply he told us there were 9 sections in the main ranch body, 2 unattached sections of hay land down in the river valley, and a few smaller out lots. (_For those of you that don't deal with it and understand, there are 640 acres in a section, so this "little" ranch is over 7,000 acres._) We're all sitting there saying, "A LITTLE RANCH?" And, Stu is saying, "Well, yeah! By Montana standards that's just a little ranch."

Reactions: Like 1


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## Woodworking Vet (Jun 2, 2019)

My personal experience is that keeping fresh wood in a plastic bag didn't work. It only promoted mold which isn't the same thing. Fungus needs oxygen and fungus spores. What's worked for me is either placing the log on the ground and covering both ends with dirt, keeping it moist, other times I'll use plastic tubs, place the wood inside, cover half way with dirt, keep it moist and in a dark area. Both methods work great on maple and birch. I've heard that adding a mushroom or two that is expelling its spores will help, but I haven't yet tried that.

Reactions: Informative 1


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## justallan (Jun 6, 2019)

rocky1 said:


> I love Montana Ranch stories, just got to hear it.
> 
> Had a business acquaintance in ND that I got to be friends with, was from out there around Bozeman somewhere. Was visiting with him one night over supper at a convention and he said his family had a little ranch out in Montana. We inquired, "How little is 'little'?" In reply he told us there were 9 sections in the main ranch body, 2 unattached sections of hay land down in the river valley, and a few smaller out lots. (_For those of you that don't deal with it and understand, there are 640 acres in a section, so this "little" ranch is over 7,000 acres._) We're all sitting there saying, "A LITTLE RANCH?" And, Stu is saying, "Well, yeah! By Montana standards that's just a little ranch."



We generally keep 2,000 cows, but this year we were just shy of that. We cull out anything not prego plus some old, ornery and sick ones every year, then bring in a new set of heifers to replace them. I call it the one chance ranch, if it aint knocked up it's shipped out!
The ranch is right at 80,000 deeded acres and they have leases on another 5,000 acres for summer grazing. I believe our biggest pasture is either 8 or 10 sections, depending on the day you ask. We use 4-wheelers here and it takes all 6 of us 6-8 hours to gather it and then we go back and check it again the next day.
I have to say that it's easily the best job that I've ever had. The money is good and the benefits are just plumb friggin' awesome!
Tomorrow we'll brand the last of the calves and put some others in their summer pasture, Sunday we'll do our longest trip trailing another bunch and Monday I'm heading out on vacation.WOO-HOO!

Reactions: Way Cool 3


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