Big Tree Lost

[220 maple]

The second biggest tree in the bush I'm leasing was toppled by a recent storm. The landowners wife said it probably ran 200 gallons of water itself. I would not be surprised if it ran 40 gallons, very good looking tree. The questions I have before I cut it out of the way since it is blocking the access road to the rest of the trees in that hollow. I will be surprised if this tree is hollow and I need a section where I can count the rings for display. Is a three to four inch thick section called a tab? How do I perserve the section so the bark does not come off? Do I use regular varnish? Any suggestion on how to save and display a section of tree would be greatly appreciated.

Mark 220 Maple

[Brokermike]

You will need to cut a "cookie" and band it to prevent splitting. I use super heavy duty rachet straps with pretty good success. Put it somewhere it can dry slowly, basement or garage out of the sun. As it gets dry you can begin sanding the face of it that you want to display and applying a nice clear varnish

[jasonl6]

You can seal the "cookie" with paraffin wax or a wax based wood sealer to help slow down the drying process. It will still dry but at a much slower rate that will help keep it from cracking as much. I have seen banding strap such as used for securing items for shipping used to wrap and secure a piece from splitting and cracking.

[C.Wilcox]

Keeping the bark on is pretty difficult for trees cut in the summer. Generally, if you cut it in the summer when the sap is in the tree the bark will fall off. If you cut it in the winter the bark will stay on. In your case you may have to just keep the bark if it falls off and glue it back on. As for preventing the disk from cracking Google "Pentacryl". It's a product that's specifically made to prevent wet wood from cracking as it dries out. They don't give it away, but it really does work.

[maple flats]

End grain sealer would also work. I use it for hardwood to stop end checking on hardwood logs that will be sawn into cabinet lumber or other top shelf uses. It is a wax based very thick paint. Available from United Coatings or Baileysonlin.com Apply as soon as the cookie is cut and then plain it off after the cookie has fully dried which will be a rather long time because thew drying will only happen out thru the bark as the grains will be sealed. I buy the sealer in 5 gal pails, don't know if smaller sizes are available. It is applied by brush, roller or sprayer, any way will work. Make the cookie a little thicker than you want to finish with because the sealer will soak in up to 1/8' and more at any check marks. Yes some sheck marks are there even with fresh cut logs (or cookies)

[SapZilla]

What does it mean for a tree to run 200 gallons of water???

The second biggest tree in the bush I'm leasing was toppled by a recent storm. The landowners wife said it probably ran 200 gallons of water itself. I would not be surprised if it ran 40 gallons, very good looking tree. The questions I have before I cut it out of the way since it is blocking the access road to the rest of the trees in that hollow. I will be surprised if this tree is hollow and I need a section where I can count the rings for display. Is a three to four inch thick section called a tab? How do I perserve the section so the bark does not come off? Do I use regular varnish? Any suggestion on how to save and display a section of tree would be greatly appreciated.

Mark 220 Maple

[maple flats]

I have no idea. Only guessing but they might be estimating the sap lost. If that is it I doubt the guess is very accurate.

[brookledge]

He must be talking the amount of sap from the tree in a season. If it was the second largest tree. Lets say 4 taps and it gives 2 gal per tap per day it would need 25 good days at that rate. I doubt if it does give 200 gal of sap but it might be close to use the number as an estimate
Keith

[220 maple]

Landowners wife guessed the 200 hundred gallon figure. At best case it may have ran 40 gallon of sap, I only had two taps in it because it was on a high vac. tubing system with and avg. of 22 pounds of vacuum. I avgeraged over 13 gallons of sap per tap from the 864 taps in the system. Since it was the second largest tree in the bush I guessed high on the potential amount of sap that it may have produced in the 4 week season. That is the one disadvantage of tubing vs. buckets or sap saks. Even Dr. Perkins and his gang can't get 200 gallons of sap from a tree. I feel sure they are working towards that goal!!! Lol.

Mark 220 Maple

[White Barn Farm]

I tap a tree at the neighbors with 3 four gallon buckets that will fill those pails day in and day out. Most days at least two of the three will be overflowing. It starts early and when I pull taps it is still filling buckets.I wish I had about 200 of these. It sits out in the open and has a huge crown. I plan to check the sugar content next year, maybe it is all water!!!!