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Thread: spotted gum tree
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10th August 2021, 05:40 PM #16.
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It depends how small the pieces are. A basic rule of thumb is an inch per year for WW use, a bit less for firewood.
A spiraller is not going to be that easy to chop up for firewood either.
Talking about spiralers - here one that we found on a mates farm down south in Jan 2010.
It's a 13m long Jarrah felled about 80 years ago and still very solid despite the termites in the area.
About 1.5m in diam near the base.
bigun2.jpg
The tractor we had available was a long way short of moving is so we settled for one of the two branches I docked off the RHS
Amazing how solid it still was for 80 year old timber
branch.jpg
I slabbed it up for them over teh Oz day long weekend in 2010
Remember this was a branch
slabs.jpg
the mates eventually made the timber into an octagonal gazebo, benches and serious pizza oven table.
The big spiralled turn is still there.
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10th August 2021 05:40 PM # ADSGoogle Adsense Advertisement
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11th August 2021, 12:58 AM #17
I was A little surprised that you expressed such a strong opinion Rustynail, but I have not used enough spotted gum to comment directly. One must ask if there are major regional variances with spotted gum?
In some areas, particularly Melbourne, spotted gum is a preferred material for flooring. I don't know anyone who wants a spirally floor.
Secondly, back in the days when ships were made from wood rather than steel, Tasmania had a major ship building and export business - clipper and cargo ships. The preferred building materials were:
- Framing - spotted gum - eucalyptus maculata (It was eucalyptus then),
- Planking - Tasmanian blue gum - E globulus,
- deck and masts - celery top pine.
I would have thought that ships required quite stable timbers.
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11th August 2021, 08:39 AM #18.
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There are variances but these depends mainly on a number of conditions.
Size and shape depends on water availability. If they get plenty of water (eg a well watered garden) they can grow fast, tall and straight. In lower rainfall areas and if there is limited groundwater they grow slower, stunted and more twisted (but not necessarily spiralled). A good demonstration of this is in Southern California where they were planted in plantations for timber and while they grew OK they did not get enough water so they did not get many millable logs out of that lot. Meanwhile they self seeded and are now a bit of a pest.
Spirallers are another case. I might be partially genetic but it could be a growth response by the tree to a large leaning limb.
There is a pearler of a spiraller by the side of the road on my way to the supermarket. Next time I drive past I will stop and take a photo.
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11th August 2021, 10:01 AM #19
Hi Rustynail
Following Bob's above post I went back and had a good look at the photo in the OP. The spiral grain is abvious, but it had not registered.
It now dawns on me that you were referring to a particular tree and not necessarily to spotted gums in general. My bad.
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12th August 2021, 05:35 PM #20GOLD MEMBER
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Yes, I was refering to that particular tree. I am fond of spotted gum but when it presents with flaws it can be mungrel stuff to both mill and dry. Not only spotty but any of the cross grained Eucs tend to suffer the same problems. Tension in a spiraller is a nightmare.
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