Cull.....Short For Culvert?

This shingle oak was an interesting problem. I was asked if I could take it down because the landowner was unsure about dropping it without having it fall down around his ears. A standard front cut of about 1/3 of the tree's diameter would have left about a three inch hinge on both sides, and releasing the tree by cutting in from the back probably would have caused the tree to split and do bad things. I was able to put an open face in it with almost a foot of hinge on one side, and four inches on the other. I made the hinge three inches thick when I bored in from either side, which was an inch thicker than I normally would have made it, but fiber pull was not an issue, and I was concerned about the integrity of the hinge wood.

Click on the picture to enlarge it. On the right side of the picture you can see where I punched in behind the hinge, and then cut back about one foot. Next, I punched in on the other side, and cut quickly around the circumference to release the tree from the stump. I then made a quick getaway.

I cut the bottom end of the tree off for the owner, who plans to put it in his pond for fish habitat.

I often have kids ask why we can't just cut the trees that die, rather than cut live ones to use. This tree is a good example of why we can't depend on dead trees for our supply of wood. That method makes as much sense as butchering animals for meat only after they die a natural death.