Wood gloat in progress.

[Hayes Rutherford]

This piece of silver maple is about 12' long by 4'6 diameter. The excitement of getting this was way over shadowed by the feeling it was too heavy to haul in one piece. My guess is 10,500 lbs. By the end of the trip, about 55 miles, I was hitting highway speeds. I still have to get it off the trailer and haul the rest of the tree which will be two more loads. At that point I should actually be smiling.

That's not me falling the tree, I prefer to wear a hard hat.

[Bob Bergstrom]

Hope you like turning maple because you are going to be waist deep in curls for awhile. Great score and hope the lathe holds up.

[Bill Walsh]

Wow thats a huge tree to fell!!! I picked up the first load of Sugar Maple today on the way home from work. The tree was very healthy but growing into the power lines so power company had it taken down. Lucky for me it was a co-workers in laws. The tree is about 3' across, good & solid and just taken down last week. Going back Friday night for another load.
Looks like we'll both be roughing out bowl blanks for a while!!!!

[David E Keller]

You suck!:D

There's bound to be some great figure in a trunk that size! Congrats!

[Dan Hintz]

Looks similar to the Maple Mike C. and I took to the sawyer a month ago... sucker was above my belly button.


That's not me falling the tree, I prefer to wear a hard hat.
I'm not sure it really matters... if that puppy falls on you, I think it will laugh at the hard hat. ;)

[Chris Burgess]

Oh wow. I would be overwhelmed and divorced if I showed up with that.

[Donny Lawson]

Looks like the tree was in good shape. Any idea why it was cut down? I bet it was pretty old. You should get a nice 30" bowl from that piece.

[David DeCristoforo]

ummm.... gonna need a bigger lathe.... definitely a bigger lathe...

[Greg Just]

You hit a homerun with this haul. Silver maple is great for spalting and I think you have enough to experiment with a little.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Now that is a haul. Should make a pile of curlies.

[Russell Eaton]

I'm with Dan on the hard hat...it won't even slow that tree down. Nice haul, and I too think you need a BIG lathe.

[Paul Heely]

Nice haul. I'm still trying to figure out how I would get it off the trailer. Something tells me my little Kubota would cower in fear if I showed up with something like that, and my wife would just shrug and sigh :)

[Steve Vaughan]

WOW! That is a lot of wood right there. Getting it off the trailer would be fun to watch, but my question is how in the world did you get it ON THE TRAILER? And when you get it off the trailer, I think a pic or two would be great!

[Randy Gleckler]

Now THAT"S a GLoat

[Rich Greinert]

Nice score Hayes! And a great gloat.

[bob svoboda]

Nice score Hayes!! I'm with you on the hard hat. If the tree falls on you, you're toast anyway, but if there is a diseased limb that vibrates off when you are sawing, it just might save your bacon.

[Hayes Rutherford]

Well it's still on the trailer. I have a telescopic forklift (that might not lift it) but the battery was too low to fire it up this morning. So tomorrow I will see what happens. Hopefully I can raise it slightly and drive out from underneath it. About the hardhat, a small limb or piece of wood can sure ruin your day.

I don't have much luck selling bowls bigger than 16" but it looks like there is potential there. If anyone has a need for some large blanks, just let me know.

[Ian Jeffcock]

Hayes, Great score. Ive been getting some big box elder, but don't have any silvers over here.
Ian @ Glacier Woodturners.

[Hayes Rutherford]

Getting this out of my trailer ended up being fairly easy. My lift was able to pick it up and then I drove out from under it.

[Baxter Smith]

Oh my goodness!!!! I don't know if my old Farmall with its trip bucket loader could have handled that!:D

[David DeCristoforo]

You are totally gonna need a bigger lathe...

[Steve Vaughan]

What David said...and a tad larger chainsaw, maybe bandsaw supersized too...and a 5 gallon bucket of sealer. I see upgrade all over that piece of tree! I'm thinking a pic or two of just how in the world you're gonna go about cutting it would be in order.

[Hayes Rutherford]

I promise to post some pictures working up this wood. Meanwhile, as time permits, I'm trying to bring in some good size paper birch before the snow arrives.

David and Steve, I don't anticipate any upgrades in the near future. Other than a new motor, my 3520 has been reliable through thick and thin.

[David DeCristoforo]

Hey Hayes... I found a motor for that lathe you are going to need. You can probably save a bundle by ordering the lathe without a motor and then scabbing this baaad boy in. 100HP oughta handle that log....

210447

sorry... the drill driver doesn't come with it.... just there to give you an idea of the size.