Explanations I don't have, but it's well known that locust wood
(commonly known as "ironwood") can be fairly easily cut when green, but
is some of the toughest wood in the world after curing. If you have a
locust tree come down in your yard, you'd be wise to cut it up
immediately. After as little as a few weeks it may be hard enough to
wear out a chain saw. You can hurt yourself, even break a bone, trying
to cut cured locust limbs with a sharp axe (just bounces off). Locust
fence posts commonly last MUCH longer in the ground than will pressure
treated pine or fir. Greatly preferred by farmers, but they ALWAYS cut
the wood while it's green. Otherwise, it's for the landfill.

Mark 'Sporky' Stapleton
Watermark Design, LLC
www.h2omarkdesign.com

Archimedes Plutonium wrote:

This is a question following from several observations of a elm tree.
There was an elm tree that was wind damaged and the limbs finally came
down after several years hanging in the tree. It was old and dry but
very strong and much harder to break than a green limb.

So I am wondering what is the preparation for the strongest wood from a
given tree. Whether the weakest wood is the green alive wood. Whether
cut wood that is dried in a dryer is stronger than green wood. And
finally whether the strongest wood of all is to kill the entire tree and
let it dry for several years and then harvest the wood.

If true, what is the explanation?

Archimedes Plutonium
www.iw.net/~a_plutonium
whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots
of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies