A Burl Hunting We Will Go.......

[Mike Svoma]

I gave Jeff Nicol a call the other day to see if he would help me with a small burl that I found when I was turkey hunting. Okay maybe not so little, see pics. The boot is my size 13 hunting boot for size comparison. We are going to extract it from the woods on Saturday morning. Should be fun. Not really sure what kind of tree this is.:D:D:D

Mike

[Steve Frederick]

Not really sure what kind of tree this is.:D:D:D
Mike
Probably a "shoe tree".:eek::D

[Steve Frederick]

Is that one burl with two trunks? That could have some very wild grain!
Great find!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Wow great burl. That should be some nice turning.

[Seth Poorman]

Hey Mike
Send me a chunk about 12"x12"12" and Ill tell you what kind of wood it is!!:D:D:D:D:D:D

[Mark Norman]

see if he would help me with a small burl


Yeah, what do you consider a 'large" burl?

Great score Mike!! Can't wait to see what hides inside....

[Scott Conners]

Any idea how old it is? Those stumps look pretty weathered on the top, I wonder what condition the burl is in...probably big enough that there's some real solid nice wood in there no matter what!

[alex carey]

wow, big burl, gl with the haul.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Looks like that will be quite the beast to struggle with! Take your time figuring it out and be safe! Hope the wood is breathtaking!

[Ted Evans]

Booooooo! I know, I have no sense of humor.

[charlie knighton]

i like turkey, i like burl better

[Mark Versprille]

Now you post pics of each step. I'm looking forward to seeing this story unfold.

[Mike Svoma]

We will have lots of pics of this retrieval. I'll keep you posted.

Mike

[Jeff Nicol]

Mike, Should I bring the tripod for you so you can get my good side? I have the trailer, saws and the winch and chain fall ready to get at the burl! I think they are either white oak or red oak by the looks of them. It could be maple also but where they are filled with oaks. We will savor the rewards of our labor! I think the woodmizer will have to come into play on the slicing of the burl! See you Saturday morning Mr. Svoma, bring donuts!!! I love donuts!!!!!!

Jeff

[Mark Norman]

Cant wait to see whats inside that piece...

Get many pics of the extrication. and bring a shovel!

[Adam Grills]

Nice sized burl but I think you will find that its too far gone. But with that said I have been surprised before.
Adam

[Mike Svoma]

Well folks, the burl is dead.....long live the burl. Jeff Nicol, his buddy Bill, and myself went down and retrieved the big burl yesterday. Wow, this thing is big. It measured 6 feet long x 4 feet wide x 3 feet tall. Jeff is the saw master in the pictures. I am the goofy looking guy in the brown coat. We had to cut it in half to move it. Then we were able to pull the two halves to the road with Jeff's truck. I'll put the first few pictures here and more in next post.

Mike

[Mike Svoma]

Thanks to Jeff and his trailer and gantry system, loading the burls was relatively easy. Even I could do it. After they were both on the trailer it was time to chain them down for the 1 1/2 hour drive home. Big sigh.

Once we got them back to Jeff's house it was time to get them cleaned up with the pressure washer. This took a couple of house but there was quite a bit of sand, dirt, and limestone that needed to come out of these burls. The last picture is the burls all clened up and ready to go to Jeff's sawmill for cutting into blanks of all kinds. This is getting exciting.

More to follow.

Mike

[Todd Burch]

Looks like you had a fun day!!! When should we expect our first turning post? Did you decide what flavor wood? Oak?

[Mike Svoma]

It looks to be red oak. I am not sure when we will get some to turn. We probably will not cu tit up until next weekend. That's up to jeff and when he can get time to cut it. I found a picture of the burl from 2003 and attached it here. Back then I didn't know, or care, what a burl was.

I hope that I don't offend anyone with this photo. These porcupines were chewing on my friends cabin. There are hundreds of them on his property, they are considered pests up here.

Mike

[Mark Norman]

Handy trailor!!

Looks to be some nice size burls, I take it the rot wasn't too bad or ya wouldnt bother bringing em home?

Can't wait to see em all sliced up.

[Steve Schlumpf]

That's quite the haul! I got sore just looking at the pictures! Hope the wood turns out to be amazing!

[Jeff Nicol]

Mike, I held these back a bit to post the pics myself, a little surprise for you! Here are some of the blanks I cut out of the smaller half of the burl clump. I am only half done with it and there is some of the best wood left to cut up. I wet the blanks down so you can see the grain better, there are some punky spots here and there but mostly hard as a rock! More to come!

Thanks Mike for letting me get involved in the recovery and finding the tresures within!

Jeff

[Mark Norman]

Thats purdy!

Great score guys!

[charlie knighton]

very nice, thanks for sharing, that is some trailer, i take it that is not the first time you have had large wood to haul :D

[Mike Svoma]

Those look great Jeff. Keep them coming.

Mike

[Jeff Nicol]

very nice, thanks for sharing, that is some trailer, i take it that is not the first time you have had large wood to haul :D
Charlie, I have a connection with a tree service guy in town and he calls me when he gets some good wood for me to cut up. The first few times it was all by hand and that got old fast! So now I can lift a 1200lb log on by myself with the chain fall. The beauty of the trailer is that I built the whole thing and I have only about $400 in it, and it has paid for itself many times over!

Jeff

[Reid Strand]

I hope that I don't offend anyone with this photo. These porcupines were chewing on my friends cabin. There are hundreds of them on his property, they are considered pests up here.

Mike[/QUOTE]

Mike- Why would we be offended by a picture of 3 sleeping porcupines. Am I missing something?

[Steve Bistritz]

I hope that I don't offend anyone with this photo. These porcupines were chewing on my friends cabin. There are hundreds of them on his property, they are considered pests up here.

Mike

Mike- Why would we be offended by a picture of 3 sleeping porcupines. Am I missing something?[/QUOTE]

They look very comfortable to me......:D......

[David Gendron]

And porcupines are good to eat! Realy good!

[Wade Smith]

Well, What happened to the "slicing" of the burls? We want to see what the wood looks like please. Was it a bust? Or did you strike Gold??? Thanks and Great Story.