What free wood did you find today?

That looks like a Grimm situation there.

When I go into the desert where there are a lot of trees, I never see any that have been blown over from a storm.

When I go into town, if I'm in a neighborhood that just had a storm, there will be a bunch of trees down.

My thoughts on that is the desert trees have to send their roots deep underground in order to collect the moisture required to keep them alive. The city grown trees do not need to send their roots very deep as the water they usually get comes from sprinkler systems, thereby keeping the roots from going deep, causing trees to blow over. ............ Jerry (in Tucson)
Agree with you Jerry. Just look at the root structure of the tree in that photo. Not very extensive at all. And add to you thoughts about shallow watering, the concrete and asphalt also restricts root formation.
I'm going to be argumentative about this one, at least about the reasoning... Looks like there are some large roots there that just broke away. I won't argue all the concrete/paving and destruction of the soil biome isn't bad for the tree and maybe the roots took some damage but, I know coastal weather very well. Sustained winds over 125 miles per hour with even higher gusts are not at all uncommon. Areas with large multistory buildings make it even worse by focusing that wind into a tunnel. Sometimes a tree can only take so much. Looks like it was pretty old, probably predates even the first thought of a modern sprinkler system. Likely laughed off a lot of serious storms through the decades.

I have zero experience with desert environments but I tend to doubt the trees there see the kinds of storms & winds coastal areas do. Having hiked/camped the deep woods & mountains up and down the east coast, I see lots of large trees in wilderness areas laying on their sides with giant root balls upturned and craters where they once sat. Superstorm Sandy in 2012 snapped two foot diameter healthy trees in half ten feet and more up the trunk, the roots still in the ground.
 
That looks like a Grimm situation there.

When I go into the desert where there are a lot of trees, I never see any that have been blown over from a storm.

When I go into town, if I'm in a neighborhood that just had a storm, there will be a bunch of trees down.

My thoughts on that is the desert trees have to send their roots deep underground in order to collect the moisture required to keep them alive. The city grown trees do not need to send their roots very deep as the water they usually get comes from sprinkler systems, thereby keeping the roots from going deep, causing trees to blow over. ............ Jerry (in Tucson)
Agree, totally, And that tree is likely very much older than the road and sidewalk and when they were built, the roots were probably damaged and likely severely limited due to lack of moisture and air. And who knows about the side we cannot see - easily have been cut and other wise damaged.

Most trees around here are not all that old. In mid 1860's most trees were cut down for the goings on of the Civil War. For things like forts, abatis, breastworks, corduroys, palisades and such. When they grew back, it was en masse' - they are acting together to keep each other upright. Now that over the decades some of those trees have been cut down, the remaining ones don't have others to lean on and they come down. A (and I hate to degrade the term) developer, a few years ago, lopped off half of a mature (60+ yo) walnut tree (against my wishes), but the limbs he cut were on their side of the property line, Did not need to, but either for spite, or guess because he could. Now occasionally, a limb will fall onto my neighbor's yard. He has complained, but I told him he needs to talk to the developer - he cut down all their support, and that if he corrects the rainwater on my property (even in my garage a time or two) that now has increased because of his house, I might help him with the phone call, but until then - good luck.

No, I'm not bitter - but thanks for asking!
 
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Doug, my best friend lives in Bend. He was very happy about his weather this morning/
Yeah, we warmed up to 16F today and even saw a little sun. The bad news is we might be getting some rain tonight and with the roads packed snow and the ground still frozen, it'll turn to ice and slick as can be.
 
I'm going to be argumentative about this one, at least about the reasoning.
And I'll agree sort of. The oaks around here are getting hit hard with root rot an black ants. I had a huge 30" oak come down in my yard due to root rot. The tree looked great, full of leaves and no dead limbs. We decided to take out a bunch of trees because a couple definitely needed it and the others I didn't want to have the same problem and end up on the house.
 
They showed that same tree on the TV news being cut up and removed from the car. Never said much about the tree. Portland gets plenty of rain and stays damp most of the year so I'm sure it wasn't lack of water. Portland isn't on the coast but they are close enough to the Columbia River gorge to see some wind, but rarely hurricane force. I'm pretty sure this tree was weakened somehow before it fell. We had a huge Ponderosa fall two years ago up the road in Sisters. It was kind of famous in town because it grew inside the porch of a local restaurant. Now it fell because of wet soil and wind.
 
I’ve been down at our house in Southern Maryland on the Chesapeake for the last few weeks and just this morning heard a chain saw next door.

I certainly don’t need more wood at this point, but who can resist when a cherry tree comes down 😱. Unfortunately my chainsaw is back in VA….time for a round trip road trip later this week. I’ll be taking a break from what I should be doing and processing some cherry 💪

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I’ve been down at our house in Southern Maryland on the Chesapeake for the last few weeks and just this morning heard a chain saw next door.

I certainly don’t need more wood at this point, but who can resist when a cherry tree comes down 😱. Unfortunately my chainsaw is back in VA….time for a round trip road trip later this week. I’ll be taking a break from what I should be doing and processing some cherry 💪

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Congrats! Always need to take full advantage of free hardwood! Chuck
 
Similar thing happened to me. Plenty to do, plenty of wood - but a neighbor took out a Texas Mt. Laurel ( Sophora a small legume) stump and all. Of course I had to turn around grab the goodies and head home. Free wood is free wood!
Whatever it was that I was headed to do will come to me soon - I hope it wasn’t to pick my wife up from the airport. Jim

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Similar thing happened to me. Plenty to do, plenty of wood - but a neighbor took out a Texas Mt. Laurel ( Sophora a small legume) stump and all. Of course I had to turn around grab the goodies and head home. Free wood is free wood!
Whatever it was that I was headed to do will come to me soon - I hope it wasn’t to pick my wife up from the airport. Jim

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Congrats! Tremendous pick! Chuck
 
Similar thing happened to me. Plenty to do, plenty of wood - but a neighbor took out a Texas Mt. Laurel ( Sophora a small legume) stump and all. Of course I had to turn around grab the goodies and head home. Free wood is free wood!
Whatever it was that I was headed to do will come to me soon - I hope it wasn’t to pick my wife up from the airport. Jim

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I see some no longer list it as a Sophora....
Dermatophyllum secundiflorum

Either way, yet another wood I have never worked. Nice score.
 
NOPE that's a Maxi lathe and he was picturing a Midi! :sofa:

Ha!!! My Nova Galaxi is supposed to be in that spot, but it’s still up in VA. After @William Tanner made his comment, I had to clean up and move this one to that spot just to see how it would look. I need to finish up some electrical work, put a ceiling on, and then I’ll get to that pile of cherry 🍒
 
A long time ago I used to grow Mountain Laurel. There were a bunch of trees around the Library at Texas A&I (back when it was Texas A&I). I picked a bunch of seeds one afternoon and stuffed them in my back pocket. When I got home I shelled them and put them in a jar of water to soften the seed coat. A few days later I drained the water and scarified them and planted in gallon pots. Got sick as a dog that night and didn’t feel much better the next day. About a week later I picked another batch of seeds and stated the process again. As soon as I started scarifying I got that same sick feeling. I knew they were poisonous but up to that point had only messed with them long enough to rub them on concrete to burn my friends. I started wearing rubber gloves after that. They don’t call them Mescal Beans for nothin…. supposedly they have an extremely narcotic effect on horses and the Indians used them in certain ceremonies. Three years ago I had some Fillet knives made for myself and my sons and sent the guy some Texas Moutian Laurel for the handles. It is also the handle on the small fixed blade I carry every day. I’ll see if I can find some pictures.

Alan
 
This is an old Kabar I found on the highway. It had been there a while. I put a Mountain Laurel handle on it.
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These are the fillet knives and the Bird&Trout that I carry every day. The B&T doesn’t look like that anymore. It’s been used.
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the 4 knives at the top are the ones for my sons and myself and the one at the bottom left was for a friend. The “pointlessness” of the four are by request. I broke the point off my old fillet knife and liked it better since I wasn’t sticking it into my thumb, so I asked the the four did not have points… Crashblades are fine working knives that look good too!

Alan
 
This is an old Kabar I found on the highway. It had been there a while. I put a Mountain Laurel handle on it.
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These are the fillet knives and the Bird&Trout that I carry every day. The B&T doesn’t look like that anymore. It’s been used.
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the 4 knives at the top are the ones for my sons and myself and the one at the bottom left was for a friend. The “pointlessness” of the four are by request. I broke the point off my old fillet knife and liked it better since I wasn’t sticking it into my thumb, so I asked the the four did not have points… Crashblades are fine working knives that look good too!

Alan
Those are right handsome knives! Good to hear you use them! Chuck
 
Found a lady giving away this Red Cedar that blew down in her yard. It was already cut up,,,just had to drive an hour and load er’ up!


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