Ring shake?

dstimber

TreeHouser
Joined
Jul 5, 2015
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590
Location
NW Tennessee
I got into a discussion with my grandfather yesterday about ring shake. We mainly see it in some of your hickorys, sweetgum, and sycamore is by far the worst. Occasionally we will see some oak saw logs with that problem.
I've always assumed the wind causes it by twisting the trees. I started a heated argument when I said improper harvesting techniques was the culprit.
I told him that by cutting out the oaks, walnuts, poplars, ash, etc etc. and leaving the sycamores gums and hickorys (lesser value timber). They allowed those species to take off and grow faster. And without the help of all the other trees there to help fight off the wind it allowed the trees to twist enough for the rings to separate.
We only see shake in heartwood. It's very rare that we see any in the living tissue of the trees we cut.
Anyway he seems to think it's a disease of some type. But I've never seen any evidence of it while sawing the logs.

My theory.... after a select cut. The remaining trees take off and grow faster, resulting in wider more flexible rings? Then the wind comes in and the earlier growth is tighter, and brittle and doesn't flex with the newer growth. So the rings begin to shear apart?
Sometimes it isn't noticeable until the logs sit on the yard for a few weeks. And is always worse when it's hot in the summer months.
I could be completely wrong but it made for a good argument lol. Anyone else have any input?
 
It's often bacterial. Assuming it's the same thing we get here, I'm not sure I've seen it in hardwoods though
 
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  • #4
Looks like I'm going to have to do a study. If it was something in the soil you would think most of the trees would in the stand of timber would have it to some extent or another. At least the ones in close proximity. Bacteria does make since but you would think it would show signs of it in the sawn lumber.
I did read an article where a guy study and blamed the weather on it. Something about long hot droughts followed by a lot of rain causing the wood to expand rapidly and separate.
We tag and inventory all of our logs so I may start keeping up with it.
 
Only species here that gets shakey (IME) are Hemlock. People say a combination of age and soil. So they say , hard to get the big ones on the log truck , dang shake
 
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  • #7
I've googled it and went back through my kiln manuals and all of my old woodworking books. Lots of different opinions and theory's but I haven't found any specific studies on the subject.

Around here I've seen shake in just about every specie we cut. Some it's extremely rare and some it's always a problem. Sycamore is horrible about it in the summer. Lumber just falls apart coming off the saw

I guess I'm looking for specific causes name of the actual bacteria that causes it. Etc. no luck yet
 
You occasionally see it in the Douglas fir here. More so in the old-growth, I recall. The seams can literally hold gallons of pitch and make a mess. I've had to pull the saw out of the cut and wait for it to quit draining. Gurgling and sucking air all the while.
 
I learned to cut slightly uphill on old, old trees (not really old growth) on the back-cut. Allows pitch pockets to drain out better.
 
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