Pecan Tree Value and Age Guess? ;)

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Just a hypothetical since we're on the subject of trees, logs and values today. Thought I'd post a picture of the pecan tree in my back yard.

Been debating it's age for a while.. If anyone has any guesses as to the age?

It's 13' in circumference at the narrowest part of the trunk within reach. Have noooo idea how tall it is.

This was a pic from during the ice storm here in KY.. Fun stuff..

http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2106/13/13/1460724611/n1460724611_30182911_3472.jpg

For scale, the play fort is roughly 10-11' tall at it's peak.

So, #1 question... How OLD do you think it is?

#2 hypothetical... Not like I'm cutting it down... What would it sell for?

[Jim Rimmer]

No idea on the value but i would guess the age at 60-75 years.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

Really? THAT big around and only 60-75 years old? I'd heard everything from up to 200 years old, so no clue..

Anyone else want to toss two cents on the pile?

[Brent Leonard]

127 years old,
give or take a couple months.


actually (in all seriousness) I've read that a pecan tree will produce a good crop of pecans up to 70 years or so. I'm not sure if a pecan tree will live well beyond the period it produces nuts.

[David Christopher]

I would have to go along with Jim 50- 75...and far as the value, the shade, beauty and fruit is priceless

[Scott Hildenbrand]

The shade, beauty and cooling in my book is priceless. It's always 10 degrees cooler under the pecan in summer and there's ALWAYS a breeze.. Even when the rest of the yard is still.

So it's not as old as I thought then... Guess Pecans are quick growing trees to end up with a 13' circumference that fast.

So how is Pecan to woodwork with? I've got a stack of logs cut down to use in my smoker, but some are pretty good size around.. Been wanting to cut some down and make boxes, but doubt my crappy bandsaw can handle resawing firewood.

[Jim Rimmer]

I was basing my guess on a pecan tree planted by a squirrel in my grandfathers front yard. It came up wen I was a kid and I'm 60 now, so just a guess.

[Donald Hofmann]

Over 100. I have many on this farm that size. We have owned the farm for 70 years and dad says that they were their current size or close when they bought the place. The story has been told that the Indians wintered here along our creek so as to have the pecans for winter food.

Here is a pix of one that the wind blew down. I will have it milled next week for wood. It is 36" in diameter at the base and 24" about 18' up. Probably 60' tall

[Bob Smalser]

The native pecan can grow to 100 feet and live 300 years. Yours may predate the house but most likely from its full-sun characteristics it was planted when the land was cleared at least 50 years ago.

Sorry, but the wood likely isn't worth what it would take to fall it. The first 8' of yard trees are generally hardware logs with no commercial value. The playhouse next to it is ominous to its value. And in a sun-grown tree, the first 8' is often the only section worth milling. The rest is firewood, although yours looks to have one second sawlog above the bottom 8'. Moreover, you don't just fall a tree next to structures and on top of utilities like drainfields, pipes and cables....they generally have to be chunked down by someone experienced as well as licensed, insured and bonded to do arborist work within range of structures. Nor can one drive atop those undergound utilities with a heavy bucket truck to get at the tree.....many yard trees have to be chunked down by climbers. So what the wood is worth, if anything, mostly depends on how expensive it is to get out.

[Donald Hofmann]

Down here in Texas kiln dried pecan is selling for $3.65 bd ft- hardly worthless where I come from

[David Winer]

Down here in Texas kiln dried pecan is selling for $3.65 bd ft- hardly worthless where I come from
Between that standing pecan tree with only one 8' usable log and kiln dried lumber back at the workshop is:
1. Cutting down.
2. Sawing up.
3. Loading on a truck.
4. Driving to a sawmill.
5. Returning from the mill.
6. Unloading and stickering for a year.
7. Loading on a truck.
8. Driving to a kiln.
9. Driving home.
10. Driving back to the kiln.
11. Loading on truck.
12 Driving back to the shop.
13. Loading in dry storage.

For all that work, transportation, and waiting I'd say $3.65/bdft is a better deal.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

uhhh... You're missing the 8 trunks off the main which are around 3-4' in circumference and are around 20-25' in length and straight. This is on top of the 8' of usable trunk which is 13' in circumference.

I can't remember what calculator I used, but it spat out like 14k BF for the trunk alone.

But at any rate, it was a "just for fun" hypothetical.. ;)

Was really more interested in age guesses.

[Bob Smalser]

I can't remember what calculator I used, but it spat out like 14k BF for the trunk alone.



If the lower log is 49" in diameter by 8 feet, it contains between 900 and 1000 bf of lumber, barring any defects which are likely in an overage tree. If you take it to a commercial mill and they handle it, scale it then find hardware....and their metal detector is much better than yours....you donate it to them for free. If you hire someone to mill it on-site, there will be an extra charge for encountering hardware. Plus the bf lost digging it out. These costs can be considerable.

If you have eight upper logs averaging 13" in diameter by 20 feet, combined they contain 1000-1100 bf of recoverable lumber.

So depending on defects and hardware, you can expect anywhere from 50 to 900 bf of select stock and 1000 bf of lower-grade stock.

At $3.50 retail kilned, as green stock before transport it's worth between $.90 to $1.50 a bf...which makes the tree worth a maximum of $2500 if you are fortunate. Depending on how difficult it is to get at, you can expect an arborist will charge anywhere from $1000 to $2000 to chunk it down in a manner that recovers your sawlogs.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/4110272/50978413.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/4110272/51336920.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/4110272/360368230.jpg

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/4110272/51164668.jpg

[Scott Hildenbrand]

LOL.. Well that certainly puts things into perspective.. Thanks... ;)

Good thing it was only hypothetical.. Have no intention of hacking it down.. Was one of the points of the house which convinced us to buy it.. :D

Though between the ice storm and wind storm which followed a few months after, it took alot of damage.. Good thing it grows quickly.

[Julian Nicks]

You can't use the branches for lumber no matter how large they may be due to internal stresses. I don't know what mills you guys are going to, but my guy only charges 25 cents per foot and $6 per blade hitting metal. Even if you trashed 4 blades cutting it, it's well worth it. You'd want to find the small scale mills for the good deals as the larger guys usually only deal in quantity.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

So you can't use limbs at all? Even large ones? Really?

Huh... My hypothetical is turning into quite the educational query.

[Bob Smalser]

So you can't use limbs at all? Even large ones? Really?



If you are doing all this yourself, you can use effectively anything that's big around enough to mill. You just have to plan ahead.

Only 2 sticks out of 10 in cabinets are longer that four feet, and most are less than two feet. The reaction wood in your leaning, 12" boughs will work fine in shorts and panels if you mill the stock short enough and and thick enough to correct after it's thoroughly dry. Dry it outside thoroughly and then again indoors thoroughly, and you can generally machine out any warp and leave it sufficiently stable for most applications. In turn, save your best stock for longs and door stiles.

Reading grain, anticipating movement and selecting and laying out your stock for best use in the cabinet are under-rated skills.

Here's a cabinet's worth of paint-grade 5/4 alder milled from crooked, 14" logs finish drying indoors. After it's dry it'll be flattened, planed to 4/4 and ripped to final dimension before use.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/2594265/374627987.jpg

[Jim McFarland]

<snip> Have noooo idea how tall it is. <snip>

I can tell this tree is important to you! If you're curious re the height...you can estimate the height of the tree using the "stick method" described on this web page...
http://www.americanforests.org/resources/bigtrees/measure.php

[Jacob Reverb]

I'd say 60-70 years. I have one here about the same size that recently died after being whacked hard a couple times with lightning, and I'm friends with the guy who grew up in the house that I now own, and he remembers it as a kid.

Fortunately, I have some of its offspring growing in the yard (Mahan papershell variety, a real nice old cultivar that you can crack the pecans with your hands). They grow fast.

Pecan is a type of hickory. Strong when dried properly, but it also rots surprisingly fast.

[Jacob Reverb]

8. Driving to a kiln.
9. Driving home.
10. Driving back to the kiln.
11. Loading on truck.

What's up with all this kiln business?

Does no one air-dry anymore, for heaven's sake?

I'll take air-dried over kiln-dried all day long, any day of the week.

I guess I'm a snob.

[Danny Hamsley]

The tree is a lot younger than you might think. Growing in an open lawn with no competition, you can get close to an inch of diameter growth per year, especially if the lawn has been regularly fertilized. This tree is about 48 inches in diameter, so I estimate the age at about 60 years or so.

Pecan wood is notoriously bad to cup, and it warps more than many species when cut into lumber. Lumber from straight sections of the tree can be very fine, but lumber from the limbs that grow out at an angle will have a lot on tension in it no matter the size. I had sawn a good bit of pecan, and it can be beautiful. Also, it is harder than hades is hot. Here is a pic of some pecan lumber I sawed last fall that had nice heartwood figure. I sell 4/4 rough cut air-dried pecan for $2.00/bd-ft.