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Willy Nelson
11th June 2017, 09:58 AM
Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen

Gained access to a new property, 2 hours NE from Perth.

Loaded up two DRZ400s, 2 dogs, a good mate and my daughter into Terry Triton for an early morning drive to the farm of 1500 acres. The farmer manages 6000 in the area, so there will be scope for more hunting in the future.

Met the farmer, had a cup of tea and he gave me a mud map of the property and where he recommended I go.

On the drive to the farm, burls everywhere, chest height and good size, so frustrating.

Anyhoo, unloaded then bikes, unleashed the dogs and away we went burl hunting. Ignored all the burls on the fence lines as I prefer to take burls in the bushy areas so the farmer doesn't see scars on the trees. If the tree is covered in burls, I only take 1 or 2 so as not to ringbark the tree. We entered a bushy paddock and it was obvious, there were burls everywhere. The noses of the burl dogs were twitching, the dogs, who are trained burl hunters were like kids in a candy shop, as was I. We rounded up the first 4 burls and I quickly dispatched them with a mighty swipe of the Stihl 660. Four in the bag (well in the tray), looking good. A quick walk and I found burls on just about every second tree. I could afford to be choosy, so only took ones of a good size, shape and easy access. I even found a dead tree with some burls on it. The trees are York Gums, very hard cutting burls, even harder when the tree is dead. I hate to cut them with anything less than a 660.

Whilst I was smiting burls, my daughter, mate and the burl dogs were off exploring. Great country, dry creek beds, granite boulders, burls everywhere, kangaroos and challenging tracks. A lunch of bacon, cheese and avacado sandwiches between hunts.

Got back late last night, will clean out the ute, seal and mark the burls and take a mass kill shot photo and post it later.

Thanks for reading
Sincerely
Willy
Jarrahland

Uncle Al
11th June 2017, 11:15 AM
Sounds like a fun day. It is great being able to get well into the bush where few people have been apart from the farmers. Certainly not a place to go by yourself when burl hunting, safety in numbers as they say.

Alan...

Nubsnstubs
11th June 2017, 01:50 PM
Willie, that's what I would call a productive day. Looks like my kind of country.. Beautiful. ............. Jerry (in Tucson)

Willy Nelson
11th June 2017, 05:18 PM
All burls are now labelled, sealed and stored for future reference, will leave them dry for at least 3-4 years.
Cheers
Willy
Jarrahland

artful bodger
11th June 2017, 08:57 PM
Nice work!
What sort of timber are they?.
Regards
Seething with jealousy.

WOODbTURNER
11th June 2017, 10:01 PM
Willy would you know what this tree is up at Kings Park in Perth? I was up there two days ago413981

WOODbTURNER
11th June 2017, 10:04 PM
Here's the foliage413982413982413982

Wood Collector
11th June 2017, 10:47 PM
Peppercorn Schinus areira they can often be supper hollow with only 8% sound timber and still not fail. only remove burls from dead of trees being removed as the large cuts can introduce decay into the tree

Willy Nelson
11th June 2017, 11:36 PM
Yes, I agree with Peppercorn

Have turned a fair amount of it, light coloured timber and quite a light timber, nice to turn. Can have some rot in the trunk

Artful Dodger
The trees, I believe are York Gum. Very, very hard. The timber will not float it is so dense. Having said that, there are slight variations in the burls, some have pink tinges and different colouring. They be subtly different species, eg Concinna etc I call them all York Gum Burls, OKAY!!!!!
Cheers
Willy

Willy Nelson
11th June 2017, 11:38 PM
There is a giant Camphor Laurel in the centre of the roundabout near Fraser's restaurant I would love to get my chainsaw into, it is massive.
I should write to them and demand they remove as it is a weed, not from WA, and that I am willing to assist
Willy

dai sensei
12th June 2017, 01:39 PM
Got some real variation in colour there Willy. Your first photo looks like the York burl I have, one with 4 burls and chainsaws, but the others look almost like different species. Should turn up once mate, just remember to keep those offcuts in MY wheelie bin :U. By the time I get back there they should be dry :2tsup:

NeilS
14th June 2017, 09:51 AM
There is a giant Camphor Laurel in the centre of the roundabout near Fraser's restaurant I would love to get my chainsaw into, it is massive.
I should write to them and demand they remove as it is a weed, not from WA, and that I am willing to assist
Willy
Yes, Willy, not only is it not from WA, it is not from Australia, sort of. I understand that it is a hybrid of two closely related introduced 'species' that interbred near my home town of Alstonville on the far Nth Coast of NSW. As a hybrid it is virulent and it literally covered the district before they attempted to control it.

Interesting wood but a curse of a weed tree.

Neil

Nubsnstubs
14th June 2017, 11:30 AM
Yes, Willy, not only is it not from WA, it is not from Australia, sort of. I understand that it is a hybrid of two closely related introduced 'species' that interbred near my home town of Alstonville on the far Nth Coast of NSW. As a hybrid it is virulent and it literally covered the district before they attempted to control it.

Interesting wood but a curse of a weed tree.

Neil

Neil, is that like the rabbits we learned about in grade school? There were so many, they would stack up against fences so high that you could walk over it instead of going under? Is it a myth or the real deal? You hear stuff, but since you don't live in the area, how are you gonna know if it's true?? ............... Jerry (in Tucson)

Willy Nelson
14th June 2017, 08:23 PM
Yes, Willy, not only is it not from WA, it is not from Australia, sort of. I understand that it is a hybrid of two closely related introduced 'species' that interbred near my home town of Alstonville on the far Nth Coast of NSW. As a hybrid it is virulent and it literally covered the district before they attempted to control it.

Interesting wood but a curse of a weed tree.

Neil
Ahhhhhhhhhh, lots of interbreeding it THAT area :o:o:o

NeilS
15th June 2017, 10:48 AM
Ahhhhhhhhhh, lots of interbreeding it THAT area :o:o:o
Yeah, we are a hybridized lot!

Sent from my ZTE T84 using Tapatalk

NeilS
16th June 2017, 08:28 AM
Neil, is that like the rabbits we learned about in grade school? There were so many, they would stack up against fences so high that you could walk over it instead of going under? Is it a myth or the real deal? You hear stuff, but since you don't live in the area, how are you gonna know if it's true?? ............... Jerry (in Tucson)

Hi Jerry.

Apologies, not sure why my previous reply didn't post. Trying again.

No exaggeration, the rabbit plague in Australia was extreme at one stage in our history, particularly in our arid areas. Successive biological controls repress them for a time, but they inevitably build up resistance to those.

They have been so plentiful that our most famous hat, the akubra, is made from their fur.

https://www.akubra.com.au

Anyway, apologies to Willy for going off topic, and back to burls. You sure could make some large hats from that lot!

chambezio
16th June 2017, 09:29 AM
As bad as these these animals were, during the depression especially, they fed many families doing it hard. There was also a number of blokes who were able to buy farms paid for by them trapping and selling the meat and the fur.

The name of the family who first imported 13 rabbits from England is documented somewhere as well

Nubsnstubs
16th June 2017, 12:01 PM
Sorry Willy, but Neil and Chambezio gave me to much information. I have to respond. Neil, how about this hat? Pictures below. It's rarer than hen's teeth. Probably only one in the world in a humans possession. It's plant scar tissue from a Saguaro Cactus. Found it on a friends property about 4 years ago. It's from a section of the main trunk of the cactus that had broken off earlier in life. It healed, and after a bunch of time, upwards of 50-100 years, it protected the cactus's innards. When a Saguaro dies, the insides turn to a liquid, most of the skin just slides down the cactus ribs. Any boots or things like the hat might stay with the ribs until they decide to take a break from standing, and lay down to biodegrade into the soil. If you are lucky, and stumble onto something like that, you have a treasure. Luckily, I was on private property, but if I had found this on state or federal land, I would still have taken it before it got destroyed.

Chambezio, has that family been forgiven for that mistake?? ............ Jerry (in Tucson)414270414271414272

chambezio
16th June 2017, 01:13 PM
I have wondered why some clever person may take that family to court. In this day and age when the lawyers get called in before people might settle a problem them selves.

One of those early pioneers also brought foxes over to chase on horse back and be fed by eating the rabbits. Between cats, foxes, cane toads, and the list goes on nature has been buggered up and its only in recent times that through research and other study that some thing is being done to bring back the balance