Betty Crocker cake mix would not sell. The house wife thought she was not doing her job. The doctors realized, through some study, that if the cake mix required mixing in an egg then the house wife would feel better about making the cake from a box, and they would be doing real work. In other words we are manipulated on many fronts. Hope I didn't go to far with that one.

Tim

Did the notch close while the tree was off the ground? If that happens it's a battle between the long fibers in the hinge, (pretty strong) and the splitting strength of the wood (not very strong). If that happened, a more open face notch that lets the tree hit the ground before closing would help.

Pre-loading a tree, either by pulling with a rope, or pushing with an excavator etc., creates a situation much like a heavy head leaner. That is when barber chairing is most likely to happen. Boring the back allows you to cut almost all the wood before tripping the tree by cutting the little bit of back cut remaining, from the outside.

Don! exactly what happened. I didn't preload the tree, just hooked up a rope in anticipation of it hangin' up halfway down after which I applied the load. Yes. I need a more open face notch. I've actually surveyed some of my prior stumps and realized that I simply forgot what I already knew... Tim, still confused! If adding the egg helped the housewife, then shouldn't adding the tree help me? We did get a mailing from a guy who sends a whole timber frame "kit" for 70K dollars, but I like to do things myself....Is that like the cake mix w/o the egg? Ok trying to attach a picture now.
[image]https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B_oPh1A...xMGYx&hl=en[image]

I am thinking the $70K frame would be the cake mix and you only have to add the egg. The egg would be you finishing the frame after it is up. The modular home where the man/woman of the house would not lay a hand on it, would be like going to the pastry shop and picking up the cake. What you are doing is making the cake from scratch, possibly even growing the grain for the flour. I know I am really doing something after I put a frame up and finish it out.

The cake mix thing is real, it really happened that way. It is not just an analogy. I could find the google video if you want to see advertising for what it really is.

I wouldn't say the tree is wasted by the photo. Saw it out and use it for a smaller piece or maybe you can squeeze by with a little blemish on the timber, put it on a face which will get covered up.

Tim

I had a clause in my contract (when I cut and designed) - the clause was a 'greens fee' - for every stick in the frame the owner and myself purchased saplings of a compatible variety from the local ag extension. 150 sticks in the frame so we did 300+ saplings in a day back in 2005. 150 on the owner's property, 150 on my parents (as I didn't live in a place conducive to the planting). We invited friends to help and the owner's daughters (middle school age at the time) helped out.

The owner cut the first softwood one this year for a holiday tree, which went in his house, which also has reclaimed timber work I did as part of a farmhouse renovation (reclaimed). It was a nice way to close the circle - and the trees and the barn and interior work will give a long long time. The smaller is to the greater, as the greater is to the whole.


Mo - rammed earth?
What about the worms?

William James said something like, "horny hands reflect the greatest virtue." Yes. I prefer to do everything from scratch leaving all my family and friends baffled at how "difficult you make things for yourself". Yes. I can turn the post towards the wall or maybe it will work as a short queen post or something.

I haven't much luck with native plantings on my property. The climate is HARSH. I plant and plant and most die. Others in the hood have similar experiences, but continue planting to get the tax right-offs. It seems that the native ecosystem knows how to reseed itself the best. We have quite a tree farm growing that is all volunteer. A local researcher at OSU presented evidence that high input tree planting actually caused the forest to grow back slower than just letting it alone! (referring to industrial forestry) The Oaks grow is copses here. Each tree seems to be connected to a common root system. Former owners cut down whole copses which are now sending up shoots from the root system. I have a tenuous theory that the rare giant Oak is actually several smaller trees which merged at the trunk. Anyway, I try to keep a hands off approach as I don't think the science is really very solid in this area of forestry. If I see a sapling, I surround it with small stones which condense moisture and help the tree through our long hot summers (an old native american trick), but I don't know if I need to plant oaks. Last year was a HUGE acorn year many of which are now sprouting. It seems like the Oaks are takin' care of business. Ironically, with fire suppression, it looks like pine trees are the greatest threat to the oak forests. I have often wondered about doing a controlled burn on the property. Here is a picture of the copses: [image]https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B_oPh1A...1Y2Qx&hl=en[image]
and one of the pine tree volunteers taking over the meadow:
[image]https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B_oPh1A...5NzI2&hl=en[image]
Click on image to enlarge.

Mother nature has nothing better to do than to do what she does, for sure.

I was commenting on the emotional issues you raised, and what I tried and like with a particular client...