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5' diameter Burr Oak; oldest in South Dakota?
I own a large burr oak, in fact a cluster of about 5 burr oak trees. The
largest of which is approx. 5' in diameter trunk. I hate to cut it down if this tree is the oldest burr oak in South Dakota. Anyone in South Dakota have a larger Burr Oak than this? Question: I know oak is hard wood. And from looking at the growth patterns of oak versus hickory. I am wondering how is it that hickory wood can withstand shock and heavy use in tool handles. Oak trees generally can put out limbs that are almost parallel to the ground. But hickory cannot do that. Cannot bear the weight of parallelism to the ground. So, somewhere in the evolution of trees, the oak wood was able to evolve a wood that is so strong it can parallel the ground but the hickory wood never was able to parallel the ground. So, is hickory wood really the best wood for tool handles or is oak wood better? There maybe a difference in tensile strength and supporting strength. Question: does hickory grow in England? I am remembering that the trebuchet was built with oak timbers. If hickory grows in England, why did they not use hickory timbers for their trebuchets. I seem to be detecting a contradiction here. We are come to believe that hickory is the strongest wood for shock and tool handles. But is that really true. Since hickory trees cannot grow limbs parallel with the ground, suggests that the hickory wood is really not as strong as the oak wood. My guess is that oak is the strongest wood because it can grow limbs parallel to the ground with much ease. But that oak is more difficult to work with in crafting a tool handle whereas the hickory is so much easier for a craftsman to fashion into a tool handle. So that the endconclusion is that oak is the superior hard wood and that hickory is just easier to work with. P.S. Can I trim some limbs off of this 5' oak without killing the tree. One limb runs clear across my yard and is parallel to the ground and so unsightly. Do Burr Oak like being trimmed or do they hate it? Archimedes Plutonium, whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies |
#2
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5' diameter Burr Oak; oldest in South Dakota?
Archimedes Plutonium schreef
I own a large burr oak, in fact a cluster of about 5 burr oak trees. The largest of which is approx. 5' in diameter trunk. I hate to cut it down if this tree is the oldest burr oak in South Dakota. Anyone in South Dakota have a larger Burr Oak than this? + + + The biggest oak and the oldest oak may well be two different things + + + Question: I know oak is a hard wood. And from looking at the growth patterns of oak versus hickory I am wondering how is it that hickory wood can withstand shock and heavy use in tool handles. Oak trees generally can put out limbs that are almost parallel to the ground. But hickory cannot do that. Cannot bear the weight of parallelism to the ground. So, is hickory wood really the best wood for tool handles or is oak wood better? There maybe a difference in tensile strength and supporting strength. + + + The properties of wood are measured from clear trunk wood. Hickory is the superior wood for tool handles which have to stand impact (read hammer & axe handles). It will take more strength to break a hickory handle than an oak handle of identical dimensions Oak is a pretty strong wood too. IIRC it was one of the woods medieval knights used for lances in tournaments However the weight of branches is not directly supported by trunk wood but by special wood around the base of a branch. + + + Question: does hickory grow in England? + + + These days it does but mostly in Arboreta: these become big trees and they canot be transplanted. So to grow a hickory tree you need to really plan ahead. Also they do not grow really fast + + + I am remembering that the trebuchet was built with oak timbers. If hickory grows in England, why did they not use hickory timbers for their trebuchets. I seem to be detecting a contradiction here. We are come to believe that hickory is the strongest wood for shock and tool handles. But is that really true? + + + Yes it is. Matter of measuring + + + Since hickory trees cannot grow limbs parallel with the ground, suggests that the hickory wood is really not as strong as the oak wood. My guess is that oak is the strongest wood because it can grow limbs parallel to the ground with much ease. + + + In the golden age of wooden warships special pieces of oak, with a natural bend in them (a branch with trunk wood) were used for the frame of warships. + + + But that oak is more difficult to work with in crafting a tool handle whereas the hickory is so much easier for a craftsman to fashion into a tool handle. + + + This proves not to be the case + + + So that the endconclusion is that oak is the superior hard wood and that hickory is just easier to work with. + + + Oak is more durable and therefor for most purposes a hardwood superior to hickory, but not in strength. + + + P.S. Can I trim some limbs off of this 5' oak without killing the tree. One limb runs clear across my yard and is parallel to the ground and so unsightly. Do Burr Oak like being trimmed or do they hate it? Archimedes Plutonium, whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies + + + All trees hate it when big limbs are trimmed off (the trick is to do it when they are little). Some trees can stand it fairly well. Oaks do not seem to be among them. I don't know about Burr Oak PvR |
#3
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5' diameter Burr Oak; oldest in South Dakota?
On Fri, 03 Jan 2003 12:47:50 -0600, Archimedes Plutonium
wrote: [snip] Question: does hickory grow in England? I am remembering that the trebuchet was built with oak timbers. If hickory grows in England, why did they not use hickory timbers for their trebuchets. No native Hickory in England. Half a dozen species have been planted in parks and collections, introduced at various times since the 17th century. They are all uncommon; probably the commonest is Bitternut (Carya cordiformis). On the other hand, one species of Walnut (Juglans regia) is quite commonly planted at least in the South. BTW Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) was traditionally often used here for tool handles. Machine parts were often made of Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) where it was available, for reasons made obvious by its name. -- Martin (off-duty) Chandlers Ford, Hampshire |
#4
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5' diameter Burr Oak; oldest in South Dakota?
Sat, 04 Jan 2003 06:40:24 +0000 Martin Rand wrote: On Fri, 03 Jan 2003 12:47:50 -0600, Archimedes Plutonium wrote: [snip] Question: does hickory grow in England? I am remembering that the trebuchet was built with oak timbers. If hickory grows in England, why did they not use hickory timbers for their trebuchets. No native Hickory in England. Half a dozen species have been planted in parks and collections, introduced at various times since the 17th century. They are all uncommon; probably the commonest is Bitternut (Carya cordiformis). On the other hand, one species of Walnut (Juglans regia) is quite commonly planted at least in the South. BTW Ash (Fraxinus excelsior) was traditionally often used here for tool handles. Machine parts were often made of Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) where it was available, for reasons made obvious by its name. -- Martin (off-duty) Chandlers Ford, Hampshire Yes, what I am trying to communicate to PvR, is that evolution had to have played some major role as to why hickory wood and ash wood are more shock resistant than oak. Something environmental must have played some major role in the fashioning of a wood that is superior to shock. Ash wood also seems to be shock resistant to a high degree and both ash and hickory seem to form the same "physics of weight bearing" for their trunks and limbs. Now elm is a tough wood in that it has cross-threading to enable it to spread out as a pitcher silhouette. But oak takes the prize in that its limbs can run parrallel to the ground for long distances. I do not see anything of the environment of Southern USA that would Evolutionarily Select for a highly shock resistant tree wood of hickory and ash. Except for one possibility. That Oaks and elms were so dominant that the only selective gain the ash and hickory could muster was to grow taller and skinner than oak and elm. But to grow tall and skinny they had to have a wood more shock resistant to the winds than their crowding out neighbors of oak and elm. Hickory and ash superior shock resistance does not form from a fluke of nature but has to have some sort of competitive environmental answer as to why create a wood genetics that possess superior shock. Archimedes Plutonium, whole entire Universe is just one big atom where dots of the electron-dot-cloud are galaxies |
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