Mike, 

There are a number of white pines in MTSF that we'll see on Wednesday that we 
in ENTS have modeled to between 400 and 600 cubic feet of trunk volume. 
Additionally, there are 5 pines in Mohawk in the 700+ cubic feet class. 


I don't have a good handle on how total trunk volume can be converted to board 
feet. However, I assume that a 600-cube pine that theoretically yields 7,200 
board feet will actually yield about 3,600 in lumber - a 50% wastage factor. I 
think Russ gave me some realistic factors in the past, but I've forgotten what 
he said. I'm curious as to what you will see in the largest trees. BTW, the 
single largest pine we'll visit is the Tecumseh Tree in the Elders Grove. Its 
dimensions are: DBH=45 inches, height = 163.3 feet, and average crown spread 
approximately 45 feet, maybe a little more. 


I once asked Karl Davies how many board feet he thought was in the Tecumseh 
Pine. To the eye, it didn't look much different then than now. He said he 
thought about 5,000 board feet. If we take the ENTS modeled volume of 779 cubic 
feet of trunk volume and run it through the calculation 779 x 12 x 0.5 = 4,674, 
that isn't far off Karl's estimate of 5,000. I wish I'd asked him what the 
waste factor he was assuming. 


By way of comparison, the largest pine we've modeled in Massachusetts is the 
Grandfather Tree in Monroe State Forest. Will Blozan climbed and modeled the 
tree to 967 cubic feet. The Ice Glen pine, also climbed and modeled by Will, is 
second with 933 cubes. I presume that a typical pine grown for lumber is 
between 100 and 120 feet in height and around 2 feet in diameter. If the tree 
is under 100 years old, its form factor is likely to be between 0.33 and 0.36. 
Taking a pine that is 110 feet in height and 2 feet in diameter and assuming a 
form factor of 0.35, the expected trunk volume calculates to 120 cubic feet. 
Tecumseh is 6.5 times that volume. No small tree. I think you'll enjoy seeing 
it. 


Bob 


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mike Leonard" <[email protected]> 
To: [email protected] 
Sent: Sunday, August 9, 2009 2:01:00 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern 
Subject: [ENTS] Re: Back to Mike Leonard about Wednesday 



Bob, Joe ; 

OK we ’ ll see you guys at the Charlemont Inn for breakfast this Wed. at 8:30. 

How big i s the big Algonquin tree? 2, 000 board feet? Wow we could fill half a 
log truck with that! OK I promise not to mark that tree! 

It will be interesting to look at some of these monster pines and think hey we 
should be growing more of these! 

Mike 






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