Green Redwood is Heeeaaaaaaavvvvyyyy!!!!

Roger_Barnett

Roger_Barnett

Participating member
Location
Seattle, in the PNWet
Any of you who rig or crane out redwood, read this surprising data.

Years ago, I removed some young sequoia, another time a young redwood. I noticed how heavy the wood was....once ot twice I cut an appx cubic foot piece and weighed it. I did it again yesterday. I'd just cut down a 21 yr old redwood (a beautiful tree, thin and airy, perfect form, but in the wrong place) I didn't bother to cut a cube, but a cylinder. I just now estimated the volume, and realized that what I'd cut was only about 0.88 of a cubic foot...This section included the bark, which is lighter than the wood. It weighed 30.5kg, or 67 pounds!!! Which equates to 76 pounds per cubic foot, bark included!!!!! That's what live oak weighs!!! I think my calc's are accurate, but....I recall that the other times I weighed redwood, I came up with 66 lb per cubic foot--or so....

Hooooollllllyyyyyy mackerallllll!!!

I've been too busy to put up the pics and vid of another tree service that was removing the largest redwood in Seattle recently. They were butt hitching a piece which, based on the above parameters, weighed not the appx 1800-2400 pounds that I estimated, but 3200 or more!!! It broke the sling, bounced and landed 18 inches from Scott Baker's ex-wifes home!!! (Scott is a seldom poster here, and a premier consulting arbo )...But, going by a wood weight chart, the weight would have been only 1400 pounds.

Woodweb's chart shows old growth redwood being 10-15% heavier than second growth.....and both their numbers are way way low!!

Moral of the story..know your wood weights, and what your gear can handle!
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Roger, I have a 'green weight log chart' that lists coastal redwood as weighing 50 lbs. per cu. ft. I do remove the occasional redwood when I'm working with our Bay area crews. That's good info to know. Thanks
 
What do you mean by 'static line'? You talkin Puget Sound DS or something else? I really like the 9/16" Polyester/Dyneema double braid. For static lifting and non shockloading applications, it's the BEST.

You going to St. Louis?
 
I wish.....

Eli wants to fly there just to watch the comp. I don't think I'm gonna go.

Yes, DSComp....9/16th....

I have 600 feet of 24k tensile 1/2 inch hollow braid spectra....bought it for a job or two after the windstorm. Have little use for it. I'd sell 300 feet of it. For what I paid, $1.50 a foot, which is super cheap.

I reckon I oughta get off my duff, and make some loopies with some of it, eh?!
 
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I reckon I oughta get off my duff, and make some loopies with some of it, eh?!

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If you do choose to make loopies, bury the 'crossover' 2 full fid lengths. Because dyneema is such a slippery fiber, I have found a longer bury is in need to "hold" the fibers under load.
 
The weight of redwood is quite variable actually. Some just hold more water than others. As a rule the river bottom redwoods will hold more H2O than their hillside brothers. But it's not a strict rule.
 
That's interesting and makes sense as well, Ger. And, I'm sure, redwood is heavier in spring and summer than winter..though probably not as much variation as with cottonwood or other prolific growers.
 
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