Oak identification and wood

Have a very large oak that had a green branch break off two weeks ago. Was wonder what species it is and if it would be good to try to make something out of the branch like a table from slabs. Anyone have experience working a large piece of wood or examples of your work? Always found it neat to turn an old tree into something useful for many more years. Any guesses on price of having someone else cut the branch into slabs? Location is close to Crockett. Thanks

My gut reaction right off the bat is Southern Red Oak, but i am doing some further research!

'Don't have those down here by me, but the trunk looks similar to a red oak. I don't think it's that durable of a wood that folks make stuff out of. Very cool pic of your dog though. Rhodesian?

After a little research of the native oaks in your area, i am sticking with Southern Red. Should be able to craft some fine products from it as long as there is no internal rot.

Thanks, was told she was Catahoula when she was a puppy but not entirely sure. Have also taught her to climb round bales, no varmints are safe haha.

Took a picture with a 6' tpost against the branch on the ground for size comparison. The leaves never really turn red in the fall. May have some rot but looks pretty solid.

Yeah, that's no Catahoula, but as long as she's loved, all's good! Beautiful tree, by the way.

Need to take a chainsaw and prune the remainder of that limb off at the branch collar so it can heal up properly. Dont want to allow any rot to spread into the main trunk.

How about some more dog pics, she looks an awful lot like our Mountain Cur!

Pretty tree

100 % southern red oak. It should be possible to get some workable wood out of a limb that size....make sure that you find someone who can cut AND dry oak wood. It is not anything like pine which most people will be more familiar with. You have two options...air dry (long time) or in a kiln (hard to get a large enough lot to do a single job). Good luck!

Cut and split

Chain saw and splitter will turn that into several warm fires in the hearth or in the fire pit....certainly enough to do a few batches of briskets ???

Yep, Red oak is popular with pallet companies. It's everywhere. It used to be used in a lot of hardwood flooring. That small amount would be best cut up as firewood.

Definitely get up there and trim that snag back so it will heal.

Great cooking wood. Makes wonderful briskets.

Will have to start a thread for her.


Thought it was just Catahoula but was informed that she was also said to be mixed with black mouth cur.

Sounds like i will need to get out the ladder and trim the damage.

Dark picture I know, but we had a similar situation last winter on a Post oak. Left the same jagged stob sticking out that you have. Pruned it up, and you can see the new growth taking affect. If you look to the left, you can see another one that broke this summer that will be pruned up this fall.

I have a red oak in my backyard I planted back in ‘95. It’s was a real nice tree, at least til early this year. I trimmed it up back in February, then it got sick. It still has leaves on one large branch from last year. Rest of it didn’t green up very well this spring. Will cut off the big bad limb, and wait for next spring to see if it does any better. If not, it’ll be smoker wood.

Souther Red Oak (Quercus falcata) for sure. Easy way to tell is leaves almost look like a turkey foot, with brissle tips on the lobes and slightly fuzzy on the bottom side of the leaf.

Like stated above get a good clean cut on the branch as close to the main trunk as possible.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Cut round sections with your chainsaw about 1 1/2 inches thick. Buy a gallon or two of Pentacryl. Soak and dry yourself. Make stools. I did one with my son last year and will be doing more.

Red oak have pointed tips to the leaves, so it's a red oak. Limbs, especially those that grow more horizontally tend to have lots of stress in the wood. I doubt you would get good lumber from it. Remember also that air drying wood takes about a year per inch of thickness.

Kowmonger, call around to a couple local wood working shops and ask if they know of any small specialty mills that might be able to mill it. You will probably need to cut it into 6 or 8 foot lengths.
We had to take down a 40 year old red oak at the house in 2015. A friend that does a lot of woodworking took several pieces of it and made a number of things.
Firewood is also an option for some of it.

Big trees like that need regular maintenance trimming.

While I wouldn't expect stable, furniture-quality lumber, you should be able to get some thick live-edge slabs for a bench or maybe a picnic table.
Search the area for custom sawmill and kiln.

Enjoy!
Jeff

That is an old red oak for sure. I like the idea of making campfire stools with that branch. Just cut it so you have a backrest.

Cut that snag off smooth to the trunk, then paint over it with a water based house paint. If you want to help the tree recover faster and not get sick have someone come out and injet it with Mauget Funisol and Vigor 53.

While technically you are correct, there are many trees in the Red Oak group including Shumard, Willow, Cherrybark, Water and Black Oak. All trees in the Red Oak family have the pointed bristles on the tips of leaves, however, this tree specifically is a Southern Red Oak.

Nailed it.

That's fine. I gave my understanding. I never said it wasn't a Southern Red Oak.