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TOPIC: Pinchot Sycamore & Grandby Oak
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/03151efa930c7a78?hl=en
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ENTS,
During a recent trip to Hartford, Connecticut for training, I was
able to take a short drive to view and measure the majestic Pinchot
Sycamore and Grandby Oak. These two trees are absolutely incredible.
It is the largest of either species I've had the pleasure of
measuring. Bob's excellent directions led me straight to them.
The Grandby Oak is located in Grandby, CT at 41 57.931N x 79
49.548W. It's long ground hugging branches were incredible. You
actually had to walk in amongst the branches to get to the base of
the tree. It actually felt like the tree was hugging you for a
change, instead of the other way around. It was towards the end of
the day and raining at the Grandby Oak, so I couldn't get a real
good height measurement. The best I could find was a vertical shot
from directly underneath. I also taped the bottom section of trunk
for volume, but did not have enough time to attempt a reticle
measurement for the entire tree.
Three Photos of the Granby Oak (More will be added to the
website)
Here's the stats:
20ft CBH x 75.1+ft high
longest measured spread = 135.6ft
longest measured limb = 75.6ft
Height
from Circumference
Base
2
23.7
3
21.2
4.5
20
6
19.4
I came up with a total taped bottom trunk volume of 227ft^3.
I realize other ENTS have heavily measured both these trees in the
past, so maybe they've found better height, limb, and spread
,measurements.
The next day I had the late afternoon to saturate measure the
Pinchot Sycamore located in Simsbury, CT at 41 50.836N x 72 48.406W.
What a monster. The river was up over it's banks. The freezing rain
the night before had now turned all snow in the area to an 8"
hard pack layer of ice. Crampons sure would've saved a lot
"duck walking" that I was about to do for the next couple
hours. I slowly went to work getting sequential girth measurements
and taped limb measurements that were reachable from the ground. I
used the Macroscope 25 as best I could to get a handle on the
vertical limbs, but did not possess the knowledge to properly
measure the angular limbs.
Two Shots of Pinchot Sycamore (More will be added to the website)
This tree is a beast. It has five large upward branching limbs which
start to break away from the trunk around ~6ft up. I was able to
wrap a tape around 3 of them from ground. At the nodes close to
where they joined to the main trunk I recorded the following:
Limb
Distance
from Circumference
main
trunk
south
0.9
12.5
2.6
11.5
7.4
10.9
10.6
11.1
SW
1.4
12.5
6.2
11
NW
.9
14
2.7
13.6
The base of the Pinchot was massive. Here's the sequential tape
measurements:
Height
from base
Circumference
1
30.7
2
29
3
27.7
4.5
27.2
5
27.8
I attempted to get as much volume from the reticle as I could, but
was thwarted by lack of time, concealed portions of limbs from one
vantage point, and lack of knowledge to use the equipment to attain
volumes for sections that were not near vertical or horizontal. I
was able to pull out 1,115ft cubes of wood, but this is a great
underestimate. I wouldn't be surprised if this tree would go over
2,000 cubes if volume measured adequately.
The longest spread I was able to find was 149.5ft long. The longest
limb I measured was 82.9ft. I ended up with an average spread of
143.4ft. The best height I could find for tree was 96.6ft. All in
all, I came up with 27.2ft CBH x 96.6ft high x 143.4ft avg spread
for 459 AF Points. It is an absolute incredible tree, and is a must
see for all Ents if you happen to be in the Hartford area.
 |
Pinchot's Brother
The beauty of this site is that there are more fat sycamores nearby
as well. Another adjacent beauty went to 20.1ft CBH x 99.7ft high!
That second sycamore made the second largest sycamore I'd ever
measured. What a day. Beautiful and sunny too. What a stark
difference from the freezing rain the day before. Now that I think
on it, that particular storm closed the Hartford Airport down for a
time. Heavy rain certainly doesn't drain well off of Hartford area
roads.
Dale Luthringer
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TOPIC: Pinchot Sycamore & Grandby Oak
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/03151efa930c7a78?hl=en
==============================================================================
== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Fri, Apr 4 2008 5:44 am
From: Larry
Dale, ENTS, Wow! Huge trees, Grandby Oak looks like a a White Oak
is that correct? Good photos. If so, how old would it be, 200-250?
Larry
== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Fri, Apr 4 2008 8:39 pm
From: James Parton
Dale,
If I did not know better I would think this is a Live Oak. The limbs
at ground level and the sprawling nature of the tree is reminiscent
of
one. I have never seen another species of oak do this.
James Parton.
==============================================================================
TOPIC: Pinchot Sycamore & Grandby Oak
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/03151efa930c7a78?hl=en
==============================================================================
== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, Apr 5 2008 7:41 am
From: "Will Blozan"
James,
A live oak in Connecticut? ;)
It is a white oak. Here are some shots I took in 2005. Note the
leaves, and
Bob "Burl Belly" Leverett for scale.
And here is the East(?) Granby, CT black oak- I think this is the
current
National Champion. 27 ft cbh or something like that!
== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, Apr 5 2008 8:08 am
From: James Parton
Will,
A live oak in Connecticut would be a surprise! The growth form of
this white oak resembles live oak. It's gotta be old.
Where is Granby in Connecticut? I have a friend who lived near
Hartford Connecticut before moving here.
27' chb? That is damn huge!
Nice pics!
James P.
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