Mesquite Motherlode

[Max Taylor]

[SOne of the members of North Texas Woodturners located a 100 acre tract loaded with mesquite trees slated for development. He asked about harvesting some of the trees. He was given permission with the stipulation we would not leave a mess and also pile up the brush, which we did. The first Saturday of cutting about 10 guys and ladies showed up and one tractor. They harvested about 20000 lbs. of wet trees. The next Sat. about 15 guys and ladies came with chain saws and trailers. This time there were 2 tractors to haul the wood out to the trailers on the only asphalt road. Several of the men guestimated we took about 40,000 lbs. this time. I personally loaded one trailer twice. A good time was had by all. A couple of the guys plan to take at least a trailer and pickup load to the symposium and do some 'hoss tradin' with some club in Michigan who plan to bring some Cherry and Maple, a scarcity here in Tx.
Just thought you folks would like to know.Dustpan

 

[Mark Mandell]

[SOne of the members of North Texas Woodturners located a 100 acre tract loaded with mesquite trees slated for development. He asked about harvesting some of the trees. He was given permission with the stipulation we would not leave a mess and also pile up the brush, which we did. The first Saturday of cutting about 10 guys and ladies showed up and one tractor. They harvested about 20000 lbs. of wet trees. The next Sat. about 15 guys and ladies came with chain saws and trailers. This time there were 2 tractors to haul the wood out to the trailers on the only asphalt road. Several of the men guestimated we took about 40,000 lbs. this time. I personally loaded one trailer twice. A good time was had by all. A couple of the guys plan to take at least a trailer and pickup load to the symposium and do some 'hoss tradin' with some club in Michigan who plan to bring some Cherry and Maple, a scarcity here in Tx.
Just thought you folks would like to know.Dustpan

Well, Hoss,

Since you put it thata way, I might just throw some extree cherry in the back to do a bit of dickerin' with; that is if I can git two men and a boy for some help liftin'em in the truck. Space is at a premium, tho, cause I've got reservations for some walnut for our [friendly neighborhood] Moderators, and I ain't draggin' no trailer to KY.

You boys bringin' round log stuff or them itty-bitty blocks some people like to put in their suitcases?

m

 

[Bill Boehme]

You boys bringin' round log stuff or them itty-bitty blocks some people like to put in their suitcases?

Can you put this in your suitcase?

The big'un in the first picture is 22" on the large diameter and it wasn't the largest one that I got. You gotta' prove that you had relatives die at the Alamo before we let you have one of them. I believe that there was one that was nearly 4' in diameter, but I did not see it (I'm not related to Col. Travis or Davie Crockett).

The second picture is some of the "little chunks" that you talked about stickin' in your suitcase -- most of them are under 30 pounds.

The bed of my truck is now shaped like a bath tub because a couple of the big'uns was dropped from about three feet over the bed by a front end loader.





Bill

 

[Jeff Jilg]

Whoa! Those are some nice clear pieces. Last mesquite (and only mesquite) I got had a bunch of wind-shake cracks.

For airline baggage, the limit on AA is 50 pounds per bag. After that they start charging you. No, how would I know that? My Dad gave me some curly maple last week from Poulsbo, Wa. (Olympic Peninsula). I put 2 pieces in each bag/box and packed clothes around them.

 

[Bill Boehme]

Jeff,

Not only is it clear, but a very large portion of the mesquite is full of birdseye and fiddleback pattern. The birdseye mesquite can usually be identified by the very coarse bark with a very irregular weaving pattern. I don't have a good picture because the handling of these heavy monsters pretty well scuffed the bark up since they had to be handled by machine.

Bill

 

[Jeff Jilg]

Bill - any idea how old some of the older trees were? Could they be 200-300 years old? I am glad you guys saved them from the dump/mulch pile.

Longterm I'm also wondering if there will be much mesquite left in 100 years. The stuff I got was from a similar clearing operation. No one re-plants mesquite to my knowledge.

 

[Bill Boehme]

I tried counting the rings on one that was about 18" in diameter and my rough guess is the age is somewhere between 100 and 120 years old, but that is sort of a rough guess. The rings seem to be between 1/16 and 3/32" thick, but with the highly figured grain, the rings are not very distinct at all. Sometimes I was not sure what was a growth ring and what was not. I tried a magnifying glass, but I needed something with more magnification to separate the rings. I think that there is very little difference between early and late wood.

Bill

 

[Jeff Jilg]

Thanks Bill, I was just curious. That sounds about right. So the real big ones were probably 200 years old. Just glad you guys were able to salvage them.

 

[pyrocasto]

Wow quite beautiful wood, I'll have to look into getting some mesquite. 🙂

 

[Rob Wallace]

Dendrochronology studies of your mesquite....

I tried counting the rings on one that was about 18" in diameter and my rough guess is the age is somewhere between 100 and 120 years old, but that is sort of a rough guess. The rings seem to be between 1/16 and 3/32" thick, but with the highly figured grain, the rings are not very distinct at all. Sometimes I was not sure what was a growth ring and what was not. I tried a magnifying glass, but I needed something with more magnification to separate the rings. I think that there is very little difference between early and late wood.

Bill

Bill:

If you send about 15-20 log cross-sections, in my lab, I can do a statistically valid age determination using the mesquite's tree rings - I'll even dispose of the logs for you after the study is done. ;^)

See you in Louisville!

Rob Wallace
Iowa State Univ., Ames, Iowa

 

[Mark Mandell]

Can you put this in your suitcase?

The big'un in the first picture is 22" on the large diameter and it wasn't the largest one that I got. You gotta' prove that you had relatives die at the Alamo before we let you have one of them. I believe that there was one that was nearly 4' in diameter, but I did not see it (I'm not related to Col. Travis or Davie Crockett).

The second picture is some of the "little chunks" that you talked about stickin' in your suitcase -- most of them are under 30 pounds.

The bed of my truck is now shaped like a bath tub because a couple of the big'uns was dropped from about three feet over the bed by a front end loader.

Bill

Don't need to worry about the suit case as I'm driving. Now what size cherry you looking for and whatcha got fer trade? If y'all want to take this private, that's cool.

m