Mother Nature vs load capacity...

[Dirtman]

Copper roofing nails hammered into the trunk do a pretty good job finishing off a tree as well. You need a ton of them though. Copper is the arsenic of the plant world.

 

[RonD]

Copper roofing nails hammered into the trunk do a pretty good job finishing off a tree as well. Copper is the arsenic of the plant world.

That's actually a myth
Yes too much copper is bad for most lifeforms, even us.
Some copper is needed but like most needed minerals too much is bad

But if you used alot of copper nails around the whole trunk you could maybe kill it that way
If you saw off a limb you can put in a few cooper nails and limb will be less likely to re-grow

Trees transport water and nutrients up and down in the area just under the bark/skin of the tree, the center area of a tree or larger branch is just for support
It you cut a 2" wide strip/ring around the trunk the tree will die

The copper nails take advantage of that transport system just under the surface, but because there are so many transport "tubes" one nail would only effect a small part of a tree, so multiple nails, one every inch or so, would be needed to poison most of the tree


Nails in a tree can be dangerous for the next poor bastard who might be cutting the tree down or cutting it up for firewood
Chainsaws and nails don't react well to each other, lol

 

[Dirtman]

I dunno, I've always put a bunch of copper nails in any locust trees I've cut down. If you've ever cut down a locust and left a large stump you know how stubborn they are about dieing. They will just start sprouting new branches right out of the stump, and left alone will become a new tree. Any time I've driven copper into the left over trunk they never sprouted new branches and eventually just rotted away.


And about the nails vs chainsaws.... there's a nifty little museum in Gettysburg and in it there's a story of a guy who went to cut down an old tree on his property and got shot. Not by an angry neighbor, his chainsaw hit a civil war bullet and it flew out and shot him. He became the last known victim of the battle of Gettysburg, 150 years after the war ended.

 

[RonD]

Yes, copper nails in a cut off limb or trunk will inhibit re-grow


Poor bastard, not a "claim to fame" anyone would want

 

[Dirtman]

Poor bastard, not a "claim to fame" anyone would want

I dunno about that, you walk into a bar with a limp "hey buddy what happened to you?" - "I Got shot by a damn yankee's bullet back in Gettysburg!"

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I dunno, I've always put a bunch of copper nails in any locust trees I've cut down. If you've ever cut down a locust and left a large stump you know how stubborn they are about dieing. They will just start sprouting new branches right out of the stump, and left alone will become a new tree. Any time I've driven copper into the left over trunk they never sprouted new branches and eventually just rotted away.


And about the nails vs chainsaws.... there's a nifty little museum in Gettysburg and in it there's a story of a guy who went to cut down an old tree on his property and got shot. Not by an angry neighbor, his chainsaw hit a civil war bullet and it flew out and shot him. He became the last known victim of the battle of Gettysburg, 150 years after the war ended.

Dad tried the cut a ring deal on a locust, it just made it angry... and everybody who has been around a locust knows they are fueled by hate.

A lead ball from the civil war shouldn’t do much. A kid in shop brought in limber from a tree they cut down in their yard in town. It had a fired bullet in it. Teacher was thrilled when it went thru the planer, it dinged up all the new blades.

 

[RonD]

I dunno about that, you walk into a bar with a limp "hey buddy what happened to you?" - "I Got shot by a damn yankee's bullet back in Gettysburg!"

Had to be a Rebel bullet, Yanks won, so Rebels had more missed shots...................in to trees

But I don't think either side "won" at Gettysburg, sad times

 

[Curious Hound]

I could see the chainsaw dislodging the projectile and throwing it at the operator. But what was in the tree should have been just a projectile. Not a live cartridge that would shoot him. Strange story.

 

[Dirtman]

I could see the chainsaw dislodging the projectile and throwing it at the operator. But what was in the tree should have been just a projectile. Not a live cartridge that would shoot him. Strange story.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I could see the chainsaw dislodging the projectile and throwing it at the operator. But what was in the tree should have been just a projectile. Not a live cartridge that would shoot him. Strange story.

Check out “aquachigger” on YouTube. Bullets of the time are inert but there is a surprising number of of undetonated civil war artillery shells out there that could be exciting.

 

[Dirtman]

The cartridge didn't "go off" the chainsaw just flung the previously fired bullet lodged in the tree into him. As far as I know he lived but the bullet did enter his body.

 

[Curious Hound]

The cartridge didn't "go off" the chainsaw just flung the bullet into him. As far as I know he lived but the bullet did enter his body.

That was my point. Your story said it came out and shot him.

 

[Dirtman]

That was my point. Your story said it came out and shot him.

Well unless you eat it, I consider anytime a bullet goes inside your body to mean you've been shot...

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Just dump gas on the sumbitch.

 

[sgtsandman]

Copper roofing nails hammered into the trunk do a pretty good job finishing off a tree as well. You need a ton of them though. Copper is the arsenic of the plant world.

Might as well girdle it. It will be faster and cheaper.