The Giant Silver Maple
Over the summer of 2017, my colleague Joan asked if I would be interested in a big log. A tree had fallen at her house and needed to be cleaned up. What I didn't realize was the largest sections where 56 inches wide and 12 feet long. While we originally talked about just one massive log, it soon turned into everything that had fallen or was damaged in the fall.
60+ “ wide silver maple
The original tree had been a three trunked monster, some nine feet wide at the base. Only one trunk was still standing; the other two came crashing down in a wind storm and smashed a second smaller Silver Maple growing in its shadow. I knew I would never be able to get all of this lumber out on my own, so I did what everyone else does, phone-a-friend. I called my good friend Glenn over at The Gardens of Castle Rock, now if you're asking yourself why the hell would he call a wedding venue (follow the link) for help with a tree? Well because Glenn is also the proprietor of Switzer's Nursery and Landscaping. I helped Glenn with a project a few years back setting up axes and hewing a few timber beams, while he was building the Garden Pavilion. Yes, you need to click on that link and behold the beautiful hand hewn timber frame. So I had a feeling Glenn would go down this rabbit hole with me, and what a hole it was; we ended up hauling close to 10,000 board feet of logs home.
Because of the sheer quantity of timber, and how infrequently Glenn's and my schedule lined up it took us three months to get all the timber moved. Now everything is sitting in our log yard at The Gardens. Some Pine and White Elm have been mixed in, and hopefully a big Walnut tree will be added to the pile soon. The goal is to get it all cut by spring, before wedding season kicks back in for Glenn, so far we've had two full days of milling over the winter holidays in some frigid -14 degree air temps, but the work keeps you warm. We've gotten through five logs so far, the largest being 44 inches wide and 6 feet long. The monsters are still waiting for their chance.
Check out this link to get a quick aerial preview of the log yard and the project ahead
