toasted trees

[Glennbear]

When the builders cleared the land for my house they carved a hole in the woods in the back of the property and shoved all the cleared timber into a huge pile :


When I visited the property a few days before closing the pile still existed despite the contract clause calling for removal I expressed my extreme displeasure at this oversight and several other unaddressed issues so the sellers "solved" the problem by having the local fire department come in the night before closing and torch the pile as a drill. Predictably all they did was create a huge pile of semi-charcoal money was held in escrow and the pile was hauled away.
Now my question...............around the perimeter of this debacle several trees were killed from the heat and the bark is still intact. Can this wood be salvaged for small project use? There is some oak amongst them and I would hate to see the wood wasted. The trees have been standing dead for less than a year. In the good news department, the property owner next door has given me free rein to "treasure hunt" in his similar pile (unburned)

[Glennbear]

Last count there was 424 active members, no one can take a guess as to whether I can salvage some of the standing dead trees? Any help from the tremendous brain trust we have here would be appreciated

[JackLeg]

Glenn, one of the sawyers can probably speak to this knowledgeably. But, personally, I'd take the old Husqvarna and give it a shot!! What can you lose but a little time?

[FredP]

the wood may or may not be worth the effort but i think you will find thatmost sawyers dont want to deal with it because it has been standing dead. mills like wet green wood. the moisture in the wood lubricates the blade and lessens the friction so heat buildup doesnt destroy the blades or bands whatever the case may be. at least thats what grand dad told me when i worked at his mill many moons ago. do you have a lathe? how bout a chainsaw? lots of turning blocks in them piles! you could cut project sized boards out of some of it on the bandsaw. be carefull if you deside to cut down dead trees. they do some strange things. when trees are killed in this manner they tend to get stress cracks from the heat and can be quite dangerous to drop. beware of falling branches when you are under them too. you are probly better off to leave em alone.

[NC Scroller]

Glen, to make a long story short in cleaning up after a hurricane I managed to toast an medium size oak with the heat. The tree lived but the toasted side started to rot in about a year. My advise is to cut a couple with the chain saw and see if what you have is any good. Like FredP said it might still be good turning stock.

I am very sorry for the delay in responding.

[Gofor]

I had 1 dead red oak and 2 diseased water oaks overhanging the house when I moved in. (20" trunks, 100' tall)) Had them cut down in May 2006. The sawyers said the mill would not take the dead one (hit by lightning) so I had them leave me three 12' sections. They have been laying on the ground since then, and are infested with borer beatles and grubs (make 1/2" d holes) but I finally started hacking on them this past month.
4" in the wood is still pristine,. As my chainsaw is only a 16", I split one of the lengths using maul and wedges. I looked like a ripe water melon inside and the moisture content was still up around 35%..
So, to answer your question, there is probably some good wood there, but I would let them stand until you are ready to slab them. In the pile, you may have to trim off the outside, but there is probably good wood further in if the diameter is large enough.
A side benefit to me, who likes to watch the wildlife in the evenings from my deck, is that once I debarked the trees, it attracted the pileated woodpecker who lives back in the woods. She is doing a good job getting rid of the bugs, as well as chunking off about 4" of the outside punky wood. For those who have not seen a pileated woodpecker, it is the punk rocker of woodpeckers and stands over a foot tall. (Think one of the members of the band KISS with a bright red red mohawk haircut!!).
If I ever get them slabbed, I'll have pics, but am waiting on my brother to visit, as 300 lb chunks of wood are a bit much for me to push through my HF bandsaw by myself. I hope to get a couple 14"w x 8/4 x 6' quarter-sawn slabs out of the best one, (those will be chainsawed) but should get more 8" out of the rest.
Bottom line, you won't know what you have 'til you start cutting into them, but I would bet there is some good wood there. Whether or not it is worth the effort to get it is your call.

Go

PS: when digging through that neighbors pile, keep on the lookout for copperheads, etc. They love to lay up in places like that, so watch where you reach in to grab brush to get it out of the way. If you start smelling something like fresh cut melon or cucumber, be extra vigilant because you probably have one close by and it is upset.

[jeff...]

My opinion only - but I have been know to buy what they call "heart oak" - that's a standing dead for many years oak tree that all the sap wood has been eat off by bugs or by rot. There are a lot of trees that the heartwood is decay resistant or a natural insecticide - White oak is one of them - red oak on the other hand is not. Last year I purchased a big _ _ _ black walnut heart that had been laying in a old hog pen / swamp and overgrown with moss - it was some of the best walnut I cut yet - had fantastic color. Not that I want to buy any of your trees... Sorry...

Listen to Fred, he is dead on with the fire thing and use caution around those trees, they could really mess you up. Dropping a healthy tree is dangerous enough, let alone one that's been heated up with fire and been standing dead for sometime

Thanks.

[Truefire]

Glenn, the wood inside the heart of the trees is probably beautiful. Most of the times it is instances such as these that true treasures are found. The trees may be dead simply due to the cambium layer of the tree being damaged during the fire. It doesn't necessarily tell you the temperatures created within unless of course other exterior scarring exists. If not, they may be dead simply because that layer was damaged. Some layers are supersensitive and if damaged completely around diameter of trunk would prevent life giving sap from rising. The wood itself may still look pretty as ever.

I would just have a couple more persons to assist me in the event you decided to cut them down. These persons could be your set of eyes or better yet one of them may be somewhat more agile than yourself and may cut it down for you. This manner, in the event a limb above should decide to do something stupid, he/she may be able to get out of the way somewhat quicker. The better part of this plan is that a way he is the expendable subject and you will get to sleep one more night with the ol' wifey. Just a joke. No, no, no. Don't do that.

But do indeed take a look into and plan on obtaining some treasures.

Take care buddy, Chris