Mesquite Root Pictures

[Kathy Marshall]

Picked up some of the mesquite and roots today.
I left the stump/root ball there since the guys had left and there was no way to load it (it took 4 of them to load and unload it from their truck), they think it's about 600 lbs :eek: . I left my trailer there and they're going to load it up in the morning, but I did take some pics before I left.


This view shows the bottom. There was absolutely no tap root and the bottom of the root ball, which is completely intact, was only about 12-14" deep. The cut up at the top is from one of the roots.
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This is the top view and the large cut section is from the trunk. The cut section right above it is another root.
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This is a side view and I rotated it so the pic is oriented as the tree would have been standing. The cut section on the left is a BIG root (the actual root is pic 4). Ground level would have been just below the top of the big root, so the top of the root would have been above the surface.
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This is the root from the section in pic 3. Looks pretty good to me! Can't wait to get into it!. All of the root pieces had a lot of heartwood and some interesting coloring. This one looks to have pretty wide growth rings (the owner thought the tree was about 11 years old based on the age of the house). Even the smaller root pieces had plenty of heartwood.
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Come on weekend, hurry up and get here! :D

[Alan Trout]

Kathy, I would turn it. Good luck and I look forward to see what you come up with.

Alan

[Chris Burgess]

ohh this is going to be good. I cant wait.

[Cathy Schaewe]

cool .... looks like fun!

[Fred Belknap]

Looks like a lot of hard work to me. I'm sure it will be worth it.

[David E Keller]

I'm anxious to see what the figure is like in that main root ball... I'm expecting great things!

[charlie knighton]

thanks for sharing, looking forward to next installment, enjoy

[Bernie Weishapl]

Holy cow can't wait to see the turnings from that piece.

[Kathy Marshall]

Thanks guys! Got it home tonight.

I'm anxious to see what the figure is like in that main root ball... I'm expecting great things!
Looks like you might get to see sooner than later. Got it home in the 5' x 8' trailer and no way to unload it where I want it go :eek: so looks like I may have to cut it up in to more manageable sizes in the trailer. I really tried, but I couldn't budge it an inch!

The other option would be to drop it out in the open where I can unhitch the trailer, then use the truck to yank it off. I'm leaning more towards this option since I really don't relish the thought of using the chainsaw in the trailer. Not a lot of room and if something happened and I needed to move quick I wouldn't have anywhere to go.

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[Steve Schlumpf]

Congrats on the wood! Looks like it will be some beautiful stuff!

Any problems removing the large chunk from your trailer?

[Baxter Smith]

Very intersting Kathy. I dragged a couple of Spruce roots home a few days ago. I am looking forward to some good ideas!;):D

[Kathy Marshall]

Congrats on the wood! Looks like it will be some beautiful stuff!Any problems removing the large chunk from your trailer?Nope, no problems because its still sitting in the trailer! lol

[Jon Nuckles]

If you can drive backwards with the trailer attached and get it up to about 45 mph then hit the breaks hard, I bet it slides right out! Or this might be a good time to buy that chain hoist.

[Kathy Marshall]

Drove the trailer around to the front of the wood pile, blocked the wheels, unhitched then jacked the hitch up so the stump could be dragged downhill, set a big block of wood under the hitch so I could pull the jack out. Wrapped a very heavy duty tow strap around the stump, then hooked the other end to the truck's hitch ball, then very carefully and slowly pulled the stump off. When it got past the trailer axles I inched it forward so the trailer tipped backwards very slowly. Once the stump was mostly on the ground, I inched slowly forward again until the trailer released and righted itself with minimal banging.
Hopefully the hose will reach the stump so I can start washing out the dirt. There are plenty of rocks that I've already dug out (you can see a little pile of them between the stump and trailer), some as big as a double fist.


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[charlie knighton]

under control, might want a pressure washer instead of hose, good luck, thanks for update

[Jon Nuckles]

I still think my plan would have worked. Congrats on getting it off the trailer and good luck cutting it up without ruining the chain. Seeing all that wood in the background shows why you turn so quickly: you have to stay ahead of the incoming flow!

[Tom Winship]

Kathy, whenever you decide to retire from turning, do you realize the firewood you have stored up. They say invest in gold, but you invest in turning wood. Sounds better to me.
What is the wood behind the mesquite root but in front of the other mesquite?

[Kathy Marshall]

Tom you'd be amazed at how quickly those piles dwindle lol. The pile behind the stump is ash.