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robinson46176
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Post by robinson46176 »

dgale wrote:They did mention in the video that the frozen bark was full of dirt and rocks and this played a part in dulling the blade…other than that I'd think cottonwood would cut just this side of balsa wood.


It is a lot tougher than that. I once cut two 24' long runners out of it to move a historic smallish (about 20' x 24') former post office about a quarter mile down the road ( I used to take on all manner of odd stuff :rolleyes: :) ) and it was plastered on the inside (made it heavy). I pulled it with a 100 HP class tractor down dry blacktop and it was all the tractor wanted to pull. The wear on the runners was very minimal.

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dgale
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Post by dgale »

In regard to how large various trees species get, here's a great website that summarizes all the largest recorded specimens by species in the US:
http://www.americanforests.org/our-programs/bigtree/

According to this site, here is the largest entry for black cottonwood...unfortunately no picture included - it's easy for me to visualize one getting to 154' in height but I can't visualize 348" in circumference - assuming it's round, that would equate to 9.23 feet in diameter (!!):

Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa Black COTTONWOOD (Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa)
Tree Circumference:348
Height:154
Crown Spread:93
Total Points:525
Location:Marion, OR
Nominated By:Maynard C. Drawson
Year Nominated:1982
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bffulgham
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Post by bffulgham »

Definitely a different species of cottonwood than what we have in my part of the world. The stuff we have here is useless for just about anything other than they make a great shade tree. I take that back....the old-time saddle-makers used to make the saddle tree from cottonwood and wrap it in rawhide. Cottonwood was used because it was light weight when dry and the twisted grain worked well with the way the saddle-tree is shaped.

Think we have mostly Plains Cottonwood (Populous deltoides). And a sub-species of that commonly called the Rio Grande Cottonwood that is along the Rio Grande and Pecos rivers in New Mexico. If you see a stand of cottonwood trees in this part of the world where there are no rivers, it's a pretty sure bet there is a spring near by.

My Dad and I tried to cut up a dead cottonwood for firewood. The grain was so twisted and interlocked, there was no way to make a straight cut with a chainsaw. When we tried to split it with wedges and a sledge, it would just swallow the wedges like they were a 16d nail. We could cut and split it if the tree was green.... But, when it dried, it was about like a big piece of balsa. Generated very little heat and lots and lots of ash when it burned.

The do get huge....the NM Big Tree Database says the state champion Rio Grande Cottonwood had a trunk circumference of 379", 111.5' crown spread, and 64' tall. and a Fremont Cottonwood with 452" circumference....
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charlese
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Post by charlese »

If you live in Western part of the US. You can find Cottonwood pretty easily. Just look at the core of Fir Plywood.
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BuckeyeDennis
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Post by BuckeyeDennis »

Check out this big boy.

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Eastern Cottonwood, 375" circumference, 136' high. Just a few miles from my house. Viewed from Alum Creek Lake, it towers over the surrounding woods. This is especially impressive considering that it is actually well down in a ravine. You can see the trunk from the road when you drive by.

It's across the street from a hot-dog and ice cream stand. During "cotton" season, their parking lot always looks like the aftermath of some gigantic pillow fight.
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dgale
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Post by dgale »

BuckeyeDennis wrote:Check out this big boy.

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Eastern Cottonwood, 375" circumference, 136' high. Just a few miles from my house. Viewed from Alum Creek Lake, it towers over the surrounding woods. This is especially impressive considering that it is actually well down in a ravine. You can see the trunk from the road when you drive by.

It's across the street from a hot-dog and ice cream stand. During "cotton" season, their parking lot always looks like the aftermath of some gigantic pillow fight.
That is impressive!
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alaskanexile
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Post by alaskanexile »

Based on the dimensions he was cutting it to, it was probably destined for trailer decking. Have no experience with it myself, but from what I've been told, cottonwood's long fibers make it popular choice for decking in heavy equipment trailers.
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JPG
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Post by JPG »

alaskanexile wrote:Based on the dimensions he was cutting it to, it was probably destined for trailer decking. Have no experience with it myself, but from what I've been told, cottonwood's long fibers make it popular choice for decking in heavy equipment trailers.
Roger
Twenty posts back, they were short.

Another referred to straight growth(as well as the original video), but that pix above is hardly 'straight'.

Conclusion: Different species of 'cottonwood'.
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dgale
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Post by dgale »

JPG40504 wrote:Twenty posts back, they were short.

Another referred to straight growth(as well as the original video), but that pix above is hardly 'straight'.

Conclusion: Different species of 'cottonwood'.
I can't speak to the species in the picture but out this way black cottonwood grow tall and straight with primarily a single stem. They do eventually put out a lot of suckers so perhaps when they get really big and old they eventually have lots of stems originating from a single root mass but primarily around here you see them as a single stem.
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alaskanexile
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Post by alaskanexile »

JPG,
You are quite right, 12" would be a tad short for trailer decking. Something got changed between the 1st post and the 7th. In the 1st post the length was 20'.

Roger
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