The 20 in Farm Boss really likes the H51 super cutting Blade. Old motorcycle helmets with face shields come in handy.
Time to get up the Ikea trees.
- Thread starter Coyote Chris
- Start date
If memory serves, the Coyote has been dealing with dying trees for some time now. I don't recall the cause but I'm sure he will chime in.
Mike
My guess is drought and bark beetles in combination causing mortality.
Yes, the chisel tooth chains cut quicker than the chipper tooth but they also become dull much faster. They work best on larger displacement saws (70cc+).
Yes, the chisel tooth chains cut quicker than the chipper tooth but they also become dull much faster. They work best on larger displacement saws (70cc+).
OP
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Yesterday, it was 90. a New record for that day and the latest 90 day on record, after a record hot summer. Trees use lots of water....they make sap to push out the pine bark beatles.,..no sap and the beatles eat the tree skin under the bark. Six months ago, this tree was still alive...bark is actually coming off the rounds......the area 100 yards to the south west of this tree was a swamp in the spring 30 years ago....too many years of drought. I have to keep thinning every year...central oregon looks terrible, as does the Helena area.
Last year, I dropped 15 trees. This year, its only 4 so far but some trees are really showing the stress. I cant remember how many months its been since rain but we are about .6 in below average.
Not much, right? But instead of 19 days of 90 degree weather, we had 33...hottest July aug sept on record...and more above normal temps to come....
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Exactly. The extreame heat sucks out the water and stresses the trees so they cant defend themselves.......
Western gall rust doesnt help...its a fungus that integrates itself with the wood and kills everything down stream of the gall. Here are the galls from the tree. They died too with lack of water.
Normally, they would be making pretty colored fungal spores now and spreading their filth. But they were all dead.
OP
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The drought has been an issue for a while (20 years) but the big thing is the massive heat dome that shattered all the records this summer. It was 90 yesterday and the daylight is shorter than the nighttime. The key is to watch where the wood peakers peal off the bark to get to the pine bark beetles that eat the layer of the tree skin under the bark, killing it. All next week will be 10 plus degrees above normal
It barely made 55 on our lunch ride yesterday with pals and it made me think about getting my electric vest ready to go! This weekend it will soar to 70 but our temps are mostly on a gradual downward trend.
Eons ago, I recall riding through CO and seeing entire hillsides of dead & dying fir trees caused by some sort of insect infestation.
Eons ago, I recall riding through CO and seeing entire hillsides of dead & dying fir trees caused by some sort of insect infestation.
ST1100Y
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Any plans on reforesting?
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Normal high today. 67. 64 in a week
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OP
It is a valid question but a sad one.
I live right on the edge where trees are possible...where the desert meets the green, tree covered mountains.....I live in the rain shadow of the cascade mountains...14 inches of melted snow and rain a year. 10-15 miles to the west and you are into channeled scabland. East is all green. Every year, my trees produce 20,000 to 60,000 pine cones that make little trees.....trees I have to wack and mow cause the changing climate wont allow them enough water to live.......I shot this pic 10 minutes ago.
They will all have to be killed so that the others can live....I have had the fire dept out, and the power company arborist out. They teach me how to thin and trim...but the climate keeps changing.
This was shot in 1991 by me at the foot of my house. My trees were much smaller then....obviously, at some point in history, fire had gone through......note shake roof. They arent allowed anymore.
Fast forward to 2005. Here I am flying over my land. Looking south east. My house can be seen above the red 2005. Look for blue tarps. Those trees...the ones I let live....are now all 20 ft taller. I dont know what tree rings mean, but the distance between them is getting smaller and smaller. My neightbors dont take care of their trees. In 1996, we had to evacuate my state Patrol vehicle through the flames from about a quarter mile to the upper right of the intersection (south). The aquafir is very complex on the west plains...
Keep in mind we bought the house circa 1990. Barb didnt want it cause there were few trees.....
Feb, 2001. Things were growing up
2002, May
2015...time to thin
And then the 2015 fires hit...but I was ready and so was our fire base
Coming back from dinner....two miles from my house
To the west of me. Grass fires are a real possibility but no trees.....
The bottom line is I take care of my land. Most dont...its only a matter of when the next fire occurs....The fire dept told me they will park a vehicle on my land and save my house if at all possible. The other idiots who watch football instead of weed wack and thin and chip? Let them burn......Mw? Timber!!!!!!
Me...thin, trim, wack to the dirt...repeat...still lots of work to do this fall.....
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Our land at the turn of the century after 10 years of tree growth. Note you could see mountains
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Ikea tree number 5.
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Note my neighbor does nothing
ST1100Y
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Dead trees & bushes are a fire hazard, no doubt, but exposed soil will dry out further hence erode quickly...
Some non invasive, climate resistant bushes avail which roots keep the ground together?
Some non invasive, climate resistant bushes avail which roots keep the ground together?
I lost three 100+ year old oaks last year. The weather is not making my trees happy either on the other side of the country.
OP
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Not looking good. 10 plus degrees over normal. No rain in sight
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Errosion in an semi arid land with little rain fall isn't an issue. Today, the sun clawed its way to 39 degrees above the horizon. Much of my land is volcanic rock. I must do what the power company arborist and wildland fire fighters say.