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Author Topic: Removing Hackberry bark  (Read 6220 times)

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Offline Marks

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Removing Hackberry bark
« on: July 10, 2013, 12:21:35 pm »
I asked recently when the best time to cut hackberry was and was told if I do it now the bark will peel off with my fingers. Well I cut some yesterday (6-8"dia) and that didn't happen. I wound up taking it off carefully with a drawknife but the outer rings are thin and I think I may have a few violations. My lighting isn't great at night.  Is there a trick??  Also I think I like cutting wood in wintertime better. This Alabama humidity is a booger.  I kind of wonder if we have had a few rough years as far as trees go. The osage I cut back in Dec. had 5-6 thin outer rings as well.
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Removing Hackberry bark
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2013, 12:43:47 pm »
Something is fishy if that bark didn't fall right off. It should have been wet, literally, between bark/cambium and early growth wood. Was it alive and healthy?
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Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline PrimitiveTim

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Re: Removing Hackberry bark
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2013, 01:00:58 pm »
That's bizarre.  I usually split it with the bark on and after I split it parts of the bark are already coming off.  Maybe start it off with a dull hatchet or something to to pry it up, then it usually peels right off in nice long strips.
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Offline osage outlaw

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Re: Removing Hackberry bark
« Reply #3 on: July 10, 2013, 01:02:56 pm »
Has it been very dry in your area?
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Offline tom sawyer

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Re: Removing Hackberry bark
« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2013, 01:28:51 pm »
Yeah, bark will slip in the spring but if its dry in the summer it can stick.  I wouldn't worry too much about a few minor violations though, the thing rings mean you have backup fibers near the outer surface.  Should be just fine.

I still have an old piece of hackberry I scavenged from a city tree limb lot.  Bark was stuck and I drawknifed some off, never finished the job though.  That piece has to be at least ten years old.
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Lennie
Hannibal, MO

Offline Marks

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Re: Removing Hackberry bark
« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2013, 02:19:34 pm »
Quote from: osage outlaw on July 10, 2013, 01:02:56 pm
Has it been very dry in your area?



Not extremely dry but we could use a rain and it was on a hill. I may wait till a good rain and find a low land tree.  The wood was wet underneath but the bark certainly didn't come off easy.  I'll try again after I sharpen my saw. Took me forever to get that thing down. Havent sharpened in a while.
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Removing Hackberry bark
« Reply #6 on: July 10, 2013, 02:24:04 pm »
This sounds crazy, but you aren't trying to peel bark from cambium are you?
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Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Removing Hackberry bark
« Reply #7 on: July 10, 2013, 02:38:02 pm »
The bark is probably starting to stick already... I haven't even cut one stave this year... oh well, I guess when I do I gotta just get the draw knife out and play surgeon...  ;D
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"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair

Offline Marks

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Re: Removing Hackberry bark
« Reply #8 on: July 10, 2013, 04:04:43 pm »
Quote from: PEARL DRUMS on July 10, 2013, 02:24:04 pm
This sounds crazy, but you aren't trying to peel bark from cambium are you?

Man I was was trying to peel off anything that would peel  :o . lol. The cambium layer was the problem. The bark would scrap off fairly easily and it was green just under the bark. The cambium wasn't moist. It was hard and spongy. It felt kind of like the early wood ring on an osage then the wood was moist/wet. I'll take a few pics tonight. I split it in half and got the bark off one half and left in on the other half because I was wore out by the time I finished. I guess I'm just lucky. The tree had plenty of leaves and looked healthy.
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Offline Pat B

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Re: Removing Hackberry bark
« Reply #9 on: July 10, 2013, 04:17:40 pm »
As long as the tree is in growing mode the bark should slip. Only after the leaves fall in the autumn or shortly before the cambium begin to harden off making the bark stick.
  Was the tree alive when you cut it?
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Offline PEARL DRUMS

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Re: Removing Hackberry bark
« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2013, 04:19:04 pm »
Seems odd? But hey, anything can happen. Sometimes you gotta get a hatchet or knife under an end to get it started, then peel off chunks.
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Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught will we realize we cannot eat money.

Offline Marks

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Re: Removing Hackberry bark
« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2013, 04:26:44 pm »
Quote from: Pat B on July 10, 2013, 04:17:40 pm
As long as the tree is in growing mode the bark should slip. Only after the leaves fall in the autumn or shortly before the cambium begin to harden off making the bark stick.
  Was the tree alive when you cut it?

The leaves were green. I'll take a pic or 2 tonight. I'm 97.5% sure it was hackberry. I'll try again on another tree soon. I was in a hurry and ended up hacking the thing up pretty good. Now it a hackedberry
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Offline okie64

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Re: Removing Hackberry bark
« Reply #12 on: July 10, 2013, 04:46:13 pm »
I ran into that problem with some hickory I cut last year about this time. We were in a pretty bad drought at the time but I never would have imagined the bark would have been stuck down already but it was. I ended up using it for smoking wood. To me the only advantage of whitewoods is that you dont have to chase rings. If I have to chase a ring its gonna be on osage or black locust. 
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Offline Marks

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Re: Removing Hackberry bark
« Reply #13 on: July 10, 2013, 08:25:05 pm »
Looks like hackberry to me.





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blackhawk

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Re: Removing Hackberry bark
« Reply #14 on: July 10, 2013, 08:29:08 pm »
It sure is...;)    that stinks the bark won't slip....never had that before with hackberry
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