Tree Cracking from Freezing

Reach said:
I wish we here in the states would switch to the metric system. It's a far more sensible system. When I was in elementary school a long time ago they said the switch was coming, but it has not happened yet.
Click to expand...
Back in 1968 I had a course on Chemical Engr’g Principles.
The problems were always presented in English units.
To solve the problems, we converted ALL of the specs to Metric; then did the calculations.
Finally, we would convert the Metric results back to English units ! ! !
 
GregManning said:
Back in 1968 I had a course on Chemical Engr’g Principles.
The problems were always presented in English units.
To solve the problems, we converted ALL of the specs to Metric; then did the calculations.
Finally, we would convert the Metric results back to English units ! ! !
Click to expand...
Wow. That's ridiculous, but it works I guess. I believe I did something similar in my high school AP Chemistry class, but I don't remember, it's been so long. The world is metric, pretty much just the US is still foolish enough use English units.
 
To say that we don't use metric here is just pure exaggeration. We don't use it exclusively, but we use it all the time, just ask anyone in the trades. Doctors and all sorts of research scientists use metric. Schools even teach the conversions between systems to kids in school. What makes it so ridiculous is that we continue to burden ourselves with communicating the information to others in imperial units; that we don't just use it exclusively.
 
GregManning said:
I have several tapes measures w/ both English feet, and Metric feet.
Click to expand...
Years I was helping measure the floors in an open a building with an architect for some rough ideas about where some walls could go. The long tape I had in the truck was a logging tape...with increments of feet and 1/10 of feet. Obviously, not a normal thing - he had never seen one. "Is that because loggers only have 10 fingers?"
 
evo said:
I have no idea if this is accurate or not, but on social media I heard an explanation that the crack/explosion comes from a relatively rapid cooling and temperature differential. Where the outer wood contract rapidly and the inner core is warmer.
One video showed a flash of a spark from the friction of the wood exploding.
Here in temperate PNW I have no idea if any of this is accurate or not as I only come across frost cracks as a kinda, sorta, maybe event.
Click to expand...
that's my understanding of how frost cracks/sun scald works. Spring days here can go from 0 or below in the a.m. to 50 or higher pretty quickly when the sun comes up. Wreaks havoc on thin bark trees, especially when they're young. Or the tops of Norway maples forever. No explosions though.
 
From my nursery and hort learning- exactly what totally not a robot member Data Farm 26 said above- smooth barked juvenile trees with rapid swings in temp will frost crack trees.

Ive never heard an exploding tree, although I've heard mature freezing trees make a crackle/ pop noise on really cold days after a warm stretch.
 
data farm 26 said:
that's my understanding of how frost cracks/sun scald works. Spring days here can go from 0 or below in the a.m. to 50 or higher pretty quickly when the sun comes up. Wreaks havoc on thin bark trees, especially when they're young. Or the tops of Norway maples forever. No explosions though.
Click to expand...
We get quite a bit of sunscald here. That’s kinda different. It’s when daytime temps can warm the cambium above freezing, and it starts activating. Then a hard temp swing into temps below freezing kills it.
Not enough to mess with wood structure just killing tissue.
 
Reach said:
I wish we here in the states would switch to the metric system. It's a far more sensible system. When I was in elementary school a long time ago they said the switch was coming, but it has not happened yet.
Click to expand...
I agree but also understand some issues. Canada still uses a mixed system as most land boundaries are measured in feet and acres etc..
other than the growing pains it makes so much more sense.
Using an engineer scale proves how stupid this all is. Paltry attempts to force the imperial system into something that resembles a metric system should be enough evidence
 
I get bad sunscald here, even in places with fairly mild temps. I have it all over my live oaks that got suddenly exposed after growing in the shade of fairly bushy grey pines all their life. I usually see it most on the topsides of branches, trending a bit more on the western half, and the most susceptible species will suffer on suddenly exposed southern surfaces as well.

I have never seen a frost crack, but if it's a crack into the wood as the name implies, then it would look very different from what I typically see immediately after the cambium dies from sunscald here.

Just what I've seen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom