# Sugar Pine board feet



## Palaswood (Oct 13, 2016)

I spent that last 20 minutes figuring out how many board feet there are in the largest known Sugar Pine tree in the country.

So I happened upon the Champion Tree national register at AmericaForestry.org - WOW! What a wealth of knowledge.

So there is a Sugar Pine in Calaveras Big Tree park that is 241 feet tall and 362 inches in circumference.

I did the math based on a what I could remember of 8th grade math, and some googling. Feel free to correct my math if I made any giant errors in calculating. 

Volume of a right cylinder is π x R(squared)H - so 3.14 x Radius(squared) x height. To get the radius, I had to plug in the circumference into C=2π(r). I ended up with 17,444 cubic feet (after converting from inches), and converting that to board feet yields a whopping 209,348 board feet of pine lumber, before milling of course. 

That's a lot of wood in this here tree. (its the fatty in the middle)

Reactions: Like 2 | Way Cool 4


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## Palaswood (Oct 14, 2016)

@ripjack13 Hey Marc. Would you find the proper forum for the above post? I want people to see it

Reactions: Like 1


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## ripjack13 (Oct 14, 2016)

Here ya go....

Reactions: Like 1


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## Palaswood (Oct 14, 2016)

Is it inherently wrong to be calculating the resulting lumber quantities of a majestic tree that should never be cut down?

Reactions: Funny 2 | Sincere 1


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## vegas urban lumber (Oct 14, 2016)

Palaswood said:


> Is it inherently wrong to be calculating the resulting lumber quantities of a majestic tree that should never be cut down?



not wrong, just in advance of strong wind advisories

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 1 | Creative 1


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## Schroedc (Oct 14, 2016)

We've got a couple of really old Burr Oak trees up on top of the bluff in town, rated as the 3rd or 4th oldest still living in the state, every time we get a big storm I go check on them....

Reactions: Like 2 | Funny 3


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## Palaswood (Oct 14, 2016)

These organisms wont live forever. I saw a pic today on instagram of a huge ...20ft diameter x 20ft redwood stump getting cleared out of norcal when it fell over. That's a lot of slab tables...

Reactions: Agree 1


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## LTCM (Nov 15, 2016)

Palaswood said:


> So there is a Sugar Pine in Calaveras Big Tree park that is 241 feet tall and 362 inches in circumference.
> 
> I did the math based on a what I could remember of 8th grade math, and some googling. Feel free to correct my math if I made any giant errors in calculating.
> 
> Volume of a right cylinder is π x R(squared)H - so 3.14 x Radius(squared) x height. To get the radius, I had to plug in the circumference into C=2π(r). I ended up with 17,444 cubic feet (after converting from inches), and converting that to board feet yields a whopping 209,348 board feet of pine lumber, before milling of course.



I think, by my calcs at least, you are off by a factor of around 3. I don't think the problem is in your arithmetic, but rather in geometry. That's to say your answer is 100% correct - it's just not the answer to the question you asked.

I'll start your research by saying a tree is not a cylinder, at least not when measured from ground to tip.


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## rocky1 (Nov 17, 2016)

When in doubt Google calculators... http://www.rdconcepts.net/StandingTree.aspx

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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