Logging the worlds largest trees in the high Sierra Nevada Mountains

[Robert W]

Until you have been in the groves of the super giant trees in California, called the Sequoia Redwoods, you have not seen giant trees. Larger in diameter than the Redwoods of the Coast of Ca, these giants have trunks of over 35 feet diameter. Redwoods are normally up to around 21 feet in diameter. To help posters understand, this link will take you to see photos of these giants and how they logged them and shipped them. They no longer log the Sequoias as they really are not good lumber.

The 19th‑Century Rush to Log Thousands of California's Giant Sequoias | HISTORY

A single giant sequoia could supply 500,000 board feet of lumber, a bonanza for profit‑hungry logging companies—or so it was thought.

www.history.com

 

[marvin martian]

Until you have been in the groves of the super giant trees in California, called the Sequoia Redwoods, you have not seen giant trees. Larger in diameter than the Redwoods of the Coast of Ca, these giants have trunks of over 35 feet diameter. Redwoods are normally up to around 21 feet in diameter. To help posters understand, this link will take you to see photos of these giants and how they logged them and shipped them. They no longer log the Sequoias as they really are not good lumber.

The 19th‑Century Rush to Log Thousands of California's Giant Sequoias | HISTORY

A single giant sequoia could supply 500,000 board feet of lumber, a bonanza for profit‑hungry logging companies—or so it was thought.

www.history.com

I grew up in a house in California that was built in the early 1920s with old-growth Sequoia. Straight, strong lumber that lasted a century with no problem, and will probably last another century.

 

[Robert W]

I grew up in a house in California that was built in the early 1920s with old-growth Sequoia. Straight, strong lumber that lasted a century with no problem, and will probably last another century.

That makes the lumber seem excellent. I wonder why it is claimed that this lumber is not good. They speak of felling trees and those shattered as they fell down on the ground.

 

[marvin martian]

That makes the lumber seem excellent. I wonder why it is claimed that this lumber is not good. They speak of felling trees and those shattered as they fell down on the ground.

The trees weigh thousands of tons. I could see them shattering under that force.

 

[Robert W]

The trees weigh thousands of tons. I could see them shattering under that force.

They do not compare to any other tree. Even much larger than the Coastal Redwoods that are very huge.

Here is some lumber from those giant trees.

 

[Robert W]

Kings River and other lumber companies logged the Converse Basin from 1892 through the early 1920s. They felled thousands of sequoias, but only a fraction of them ever made it to the mill. Sequoia wood is much more brittle than redwood, and many of the biggest trees smashed into unusable pieces on contact, even with the felling beds.

“There was a huge amount of loss in the felling,” says Tweed. “Estimates from the 1930s were that half or more of the wood was still on the ground; it simply wasn't worth picking up. That’s how wasteful it was.”

The logging companies and their investors sunk so much money into the mills, railroads and flumes that they tried to squeeze every last penny out of the Converse Basin.

“Business being business, once you’ve invested that much money, you have to keep trying,” says Tweed. “So they cut down pretty much the entire grove trying to find a way to make money cutting down the grove.”

When the slaughter was over, only one truly grand giant sequoia was left standing. Known as the Boole Tree, it was named after Frank Boole, a supervisor with Sanger Lumber. The story goes that Boole spared the tree as a reminder of what once stood in Converse Basin, but it’s more likely that the tree was simply too big and too awkwardly situated to chop down.

Eventually the federal government bought back Converse Basin and all of California’s giant sequoia groves to create Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Visitors to Converse Basin can still see reminders of the destructive logging—massive stumps and rotting logs—but also “young” stands of century-old sequoias reaching for the skies.

“We sold the forest for the good of the country and bought it back for the good of the country,” says Tweed.

 

[marvin martian]

They do not compare to any other tree. Even much larger than the Coastal Redwoods that are very huge.

Here is some lumber from those giant trees.

That aqueduct visible on the right sent the lumber down river from the forests to rail lines that carried it further south to feed the building booms in central and southern California in the 1900s.

 

[Robert W]

That aqueduct visible on the right sent the lumber down river from the forests to rail lines that carried it further south to feed the building booms in central and southern California in the 1900s.

Have you been to see the Sequoias?

 

[Crepitus]

Until you have been in the groves of the super giant trees in California, called the Sequoia Redwoods, you have not seen giant trees. Larger in diameter than the Redwoods of the Coast of Ca, these giants have trunks of over 35 feet diameter. Redwoods are normally up to around 21 feet in diameter. To help posters understand, this link will take you to see photos of these giants and how they logged them and shipped them. They no longer log the Sequoias as they really are not good lumber.

The 19th‑Century Rush to Log Thousands of California's Giant Sequoias | HISTORY

A single giant sequoia could supply 500,000 board feet of lumber, a bonanza for profit‑hungry logging companies—or so it was thought.

www.history.com

what a waste

 

[Unkotare]

Sequoia was my professional name when I was an exotic dancer. Y'know, because of the huge wood.

 

[jackflash]

Until you have been in the groves of the super giant trees in California, called the Sequoia Redwoods, you have not seen giant trees. Larger in diameter than the Redwoods of the Coast of Ca, these giants have trunks of over 35 feet diameter. Redwoods are normally up to around 21 feet in diameter. To help posters understand, this link will take you to see photos of these giants and how they logged them and shipped them. They no longer log the Sequoias as they really are not good lumber.

The 19th‑Century Rush to Log Thousands of California's Giant Sequoias | HISTORY

A single giant sequoia could supply 500,000 board feet of lumber, a bonanza for profit‑hungry logging companies—or so it was thought.

www.history.com

The Sugar Pines get pretty tall & those cones are are massive in size & HEAVY when wet!

 

[Thunk]

“So they cut down pretty much the entire grove trying to find a way to make money cutting down the grove.”

You would think they could leave a few just to reseed the area.

 

[whitehall]

Biden is in charge where ever the fuk he is. Don't try to lay it on Trump.

 

[shockedcanadian]

Dangerous work. Some of the most dangerous. Far more dangerous than being a cop for instance.

 

[Concerned American]

I grew up in a house in California that was built in the early 1920s with old-growth Sequoia. Straight, strong lumber that lasted a century with no problem, and will probably last another century.

Redwood is naturally disease/pest/rot resistant. It is good wood.

 

[yidnar]

Until you have been in the groves of the super giant trees in California, called the Sequoia Redwoods, you have not seen giant trees. Larger in diameter than the Redwoods of the Coast of Ca, these giants have trunks of over 35 feet diameter. Redwoods are normally up to around 21 feet in diameter. To help posters understand, this link will take you to see photos of these giants and how they logged them and shipped them. They no longer log the Sequoias as they really are not good lumber.

The 19th‑Century Rush to Log Thousands of California's Giant Sequoias | HISTORY

A single giant sequoia could supply 500,000 board feet of lumber, a bonanza for profit‑hungry logging companies—or so it was thought.

www.history.com

i'm glad they are protected .. its sad that they used to cut them down .. respect should be giving to something that has lived for centuries ..

 

[Robert W]

i'm glad they are protected .. its sad that they used to cut them down .. respect should be giving to something that has lived for centuries ..

To compare the Sequoia to the coastal Redwood is easy. The tallest Coastal Redwood was around 380 feet tall. Sequoias that are the giants are around 275 feet tall.

• Height: 380.8 ft (116.07 m)
  
  
  
• Age: Estimated to be between 600 and 800 years old
  
  
  
• Location: In a remote area of the park, not on a trail, and surrounded by dense vegetation