Would this be considered large for a Walnut tree?

[Richard McComas]

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o159/rmccomas0043/walnuttree-1.jpg

[Ray Scheller]

Ya think!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Larry Fox]

Nah - my yard is full of those things - that one is just a sapling. :)

[Glenn Clabo]

Yup...if you're only 1 foot tall.

[Matt Day]

Holy smokes! Is that a photochop? If not, I'd like to see the machine that sliced that log!

[Mark Engel]

I'll bet you can turn a real nice bowl from one of those.

[James Stokes]

What would you use to cut something like that?

[Russ Sears]

Where'd you get the leprechaun?

[Brian Kent]

Seriously, is it real, or is it photoshop?

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Yup...if you're only 1 foot tall.
__________________

Touche!!

The thing that I find more amazing than the size of the tree is that it all appears to be solid wood. Make a heckuva pair of matched bookends.

[Scott Vigder]

Yes, but small for a Sequoia.

[Peter Quinn]

Not in 1823, just average...but today? WOW. What are you going to do with it?

[Richard McComas]

Seriously, is it real, or is it photoshop?I really don't know. Just a pic I found on another forum.

[Joe Chritz]

If it is a photshop it is a good one. See how his hand is cupped correctly, the dirt is disturbed in the correct locations for something that size and weight. Even under the left piece has stuff in there that should be.

I'll take a couple, although I'm not sure what to do with them.

Joe

[Mark Rios]

I think we're gonna need a bigger planer.

[Greg Hines, MD]

Why didn't you get the big one?

Doc

[Jack Briggs]

http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o159/rmccomas0043/walnuttree-1.jpg


The fact that the curls on the outside edges of the left slab are about as wide as my forearm is daunting!

[Jake Helmboldt]

2-4' diameter is typicall according to my field guide. This would be an exceptionally large walnut; it would have to be seriously old growth.

[Bob Durgin]

WOW that's one large piece of wood. But it is unfortunate with this day in age with technology you don't know if you are looking at real photo or a photoshop photo.

[Jack Hutchinson]

I want some of that soil for the garden. If a walnut can grow to a 20 foot girth in what, 40 years?, how would my tomatoes do?

(Photoshop)

[Peter Quadarella]

This one is about that big:
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/506487/cutting_down_the_largest_walnut_tree_in_the_world_ for_fine_furni/

[Keith Cope]

It looks to be the real deal--

http://www.hardtofindwood.com/

[nick kaplan]

it might have been cut with this:

http://www.toolcenter.com/ALASKAN_MKIII_CHAIN_SAW_MILL.html

with wider rails and bar you can cut extremely wide logs. i can't think of how else it could have been done. i cut lumber with one; my 36" bar can cut 30" wide slabs.

wow, that color is amazing!!!!

[Jim Becker]

I think it's safe to say that these slabs are from one of the, um...more mature...walnut trees! Yum!

[Kevin Godshall]

I had a tree that big one day that I cut down. I managed to make a nice cutting board and one or two nice shelves out of it.........................

[Tim Thomas]

Awesome! Now I can build a new dining room table without having to glue up boards for the top. Oh wait, info in one of the links about the tree says that "small" slabs will be selling for $5000. So I guess it's back to glue, pipe clamps and normal sized boards for me...

[Scott Loven]

All you need is a big saw.....
http://static.flickr.com/60/167660902_a82da51a9c_o.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/stardog-champion/167660902/)

[Kyle Kraft]

The guy probably cut it up into firewood 'cuz nobody wants anything that big or dark.

[Gary Breckenridge]

:DI'm not sure of your plans for this wood but I would get some professional advice on how to maximize the value of this wood. Slabs that wide and figured like that could go to the high end market.:D

[Brook Duerr]

Yes that is the real deal. Those flitches are from the world's largest walnut tree (supposedly) that was growing next to a road in Oregon (I believe). I can't get the page to load but if you go to www.metacafe.com (http://www.metacafe.com) and search "largest walnut" you will see a series of pictures about this beast and how the tree was cut down. Josh has a lot of money tied up in just getting that tree on the ground and hauled back to his farm in Iowa. He does have customers that plunk down some serious $$$ for wood like that. Disclaimer: I am a casual customer of Josh's lumber.

[Chris Yarish]

My local supply store has 3 slabs of Bubinga that are about 8' tall by 6' wide. Impressive to see them like that....

[Bob Feeser]

Ok, It came to me as a rush. Think about it. How old is the tree? How do you tell how old the tree is? Simple you count the rings. Take the clear area without all of the swirlies, and count from the rings from the center out. I only got about 40 growth rings. That is a rough guesstimate from the photo, but it is surpising just how well you can count them from this photo. So someone took a split piece, blew it up real large in Photoshop, and placed a person, with a convenient hand postion in the center.
Check it out, count the rings. A tree of this size would need to be older then about 40 years old.

[Jon Lanier]

Already cut for a matched book project.:D

[Brook Duerr]

As I said it is not fake, that is the real deal. Go to the www.metacafe.com (http://www.metacafe.com) and search "largest walnut" and you will get the video of this tree being cut down. This tree was indeed over 7' across, it is totally not fake.

[Bob Feeser]

I stand corrected. You are right it is not fake. From looking at the video, and pausing it, then taking the run arrow to see still images, it becomes apparent that the tree started out as a multi-trunk tree if I could call it that. It almost seemed as if it was 2 trees that graphed themselves together before splitting their trunks off in different directions, because the growth rings do not show more than about 40 years of age. Seriously, start from the pith (center) and count outwards and what do you see?

[Brook Duerr]

I can't find the article (at this moment) about the tree but somewhere I saw a newpaper article about the tree being cut down and the associated flack about that. It was certified and one of the largest and oldest trees in the state at the time. It was planted around 1850 along some trail and it was pretty well documented in the newspaper article. The growth "rings" you are seeing are swirls in the wood and there are actually much smaller growth rings of about 1/8" wide in the wood. If you have ever seen this type of walnut up close you will know that the grain pattern is much more convoluted than a normal walnut tree.

You can send Josh at www.hardtofindwood.com (http://www.hardtofindwood.com) (his email will be on his web site) an email and he will tell you the full scoop and send you the information about the tree. It was on various historic registers and it caused a huge flack when it was cut down. I'm not trying to be difficult here, but the tree is far, far more than 40 years old. Counting rings is not accurate when looking at a photo that was taken 20' feet from a tree. Do some digging on line and you will find that 40 years old is a gross underestimate of this monster's age.

[Bob Feeser]

I just picked up a piece of walnut, and once again, you are right. I noticed the growth rings are thicker towards the outer rings, then compress as they get closer to the center, and quickly so. I guess the aged rings compress with a few years of age. Maybe that is one of the ways the tree increases its strength. About 1/8" is correct in the more compressed state.
I am enjoying talking about this. I am in no way offended, and also appreciate the way you have rebutted my assumptions without getting bent out of shape, and making it personal. You should run for office. ;) Thank you.

[Brook Duerr]

No offense taken. I am a bit of a walnut freak and have been around it a lot of my life. I have a ~24" log drying in my brother's barn in upstate NY that is from tree I planted (from a nut) when I was ~5 yrs old. That tree was in a warm place so it grew pretty well, but I am painfully aware of how slow walnuts trees grow. That darn log reminds me how old I am. :mad:

[Bob Feeser]

I have a maple tree that I started from a shoot when I was in the early teens. It is now a giant.



No offense taken. I am a bit of a walnut freak and have been around it a lot of my life. I have a ~24" log drying in my brother's barn in upstate NY that is from tree I planted (from a nut) when I was ~5 yrs old. That tree was in a warm place so it grew pretty well, but I am painfully aware of how slow walnuts trees grow. That darn log reminds me how old I am. :mad: