Increment Borers

[Burnham]

i have one i got from baileys
while assessing trees at a school some boys took it from my bag a few trees away and were sword fighting with it
lil brats bent the spoon......just a touch....bowed is more like it
now as i try to core a tree it pushes the spoon back and i cant remove the core cleanly like i used to

is it because of the bent spoon or does something else cause that

i used to used it a few times a quarter

If the spoon is bowed so the cupped side is concave, the tip of it will hit the center of the core rather than slide alongside it when you push the spoon in. A bow in the spoon is usually pretty easy to straighten out. Some people actually like to intentionally introduce a very minor amount of bow near the tip, but so that the cupped side is convex...this forces the tip of the spoon hard against the inside of the bit, helping the spoon to slide past the outer end of the core.

 

[DMc]

I don't really care how much is truly hollow, or rotten... knowing the extent of sound wood is what I'm after.

But obviously, if you know how much is sound, you know how much is not.

Those were indeed good answers, Willie. Burnham probably should have elaborated further but he was no doubt finger weary from the previous long and helpful posts. I interpreted his meaning as findings from his coring's and in the immediate area. With an increment borer as well as a resistograph the findings are a small component of the diagnostic process.

This would then be added to knowledge of the subject species, physical characteristics, identification of pathogen involved and any other anamolies to produce a more accurate, comprehensive report.

Our tools can only do so much for us.

Dave

 

[sotc]

Yep. Not sure how deep the larger borers can go but the 400 resistograph is around 15"

 

[Burnham]

You read my mind, Dave...I nearly added paraphrases of your post, but decided that it would be obvious to any who contemplate use of an increment borer that it only tells part of the tale.

 

[Burnham]

Willie, my longest increment borer is 24 inches. As a practical matter, you won't be able to use about the last 3 or 4 inches of bit length...the handle has to turn and your knuckles need room to grasp the handle and clear the bole of the tree.

 

[sotc]

Thats a pretty significant bore

 

[Burnham]

Yes it is...you know it by the time you've driven and removed a few of those, if you really are going that deep in sound wood. But frequently the tree doesn't require use of all the bit length, and having the leverage that the 24 inch handle gives you is a great advantage.

When I was doing stand exams on a regular basis, I preferred an 18 inch borer...much easier to traverse the slopes and brush with that length in it's holster on your belt that the longer one.

I even have a couple of little bitty ones for checking diameter growth rates on young reprod...one is 8 inches and the other little bugger is only 6 inches. That one is more cute than usable .

 

[sotc]

Been reading Shigo the last few days. This seems to fit here a bit.

Multiple Wounds: A central 10-year-old wound with a central column of discolored wood. A 2-year-old wound with a small column of discolored wood did not spread into the older, more central column. (fig. 63)

I swear i'm not on a band wagon, I just find the inner workings interesting

 

[Burnham]

 

[Bounce]

Somebody came into the store a few days ago and was talking about CODIT. He said "Trees and decay are a lot like an old married couple. They can't stand each other anymore, but neither one is going anywhere. So they just build up walls between them and sleep in separate beds."

 

[MasterBlaster]

Ha, perfect.

 

[sotc]

Thats great!