How old is that bur oak?

[SD51555]

Thinking about that lightning strike oak and how long it might live, I got to wondering how old the burs are in my plots. I've had my property almost ten years, and it seems like they haven't grown at all. So I wondered, how old are they, and how long do they live?

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_quma2.pdf

So then I got to wondering, has someone figured out a range to convert DBH to years? Apparently so. I've got a few burs that are pushing 20 inches thick. The quick math is to multiply the diameter times the species factor. So a 20" diameter tree times the bur oak factor of 6.5 = 130 years old. That suddenly changes how I view those trees. They've seen a lot. I kinda feel like I need to be the steward of those big old trees and make sure they continue to stand.

Tree Age Calculation

 

[KY wild]

Thinking about that lightning strike oak and how long it might live, I got to wondering how old the burs are in my plots. I've had my property almost ten years, and it seems like they haven't grown at all. So I wondered, how old are they, and how long do they live?

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_quma2.pdf

View attachment 77457

So then I got to wondering, has someone figured out a range to convert DBH to years? Apparently so. I've got a few burs that are pushing 20 inches thick. The quick math is to multiply the diameter times the species factor. So a 20" diameter tree times the bur oak factor of 6.5 = 130 years old. That suddenly changes how I view those trees. They've seen a lot. I kinda feel like I need to be the steward of those big old trees and make sure they continue to stand.

Tree Age Calculation

Thank you, I find this info very interesting and plan to share it with a logging buddy

 

[SwampCat]

There is a big old bur oak about 100 yards off my property line probably about 30” dbh - but it is in a bottomland habitat where its growth was probably quicker than normal

 

[hillrunner]

Thinking about that lightning strike oak and how long it might live, I got to wondering how old the burs are in my plots. I've had my property almost ten years, and it seems like they haven't grown at all. So I wondered, how old are they, and how long do they live?

https://plants.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_quma2.pdf

View attachment 77457

So then I got to wondering, has someone figured out a range to convert DBH to years? Apparently so. I've got a few burs that are pushing 20 inches thick. The quick math is to multiply the diameter times the species factor. So a 20" diameter tree times the bur oak factor of 6.5 = 130 years old. That suddenly changes how I view those trees. They've seen a lot. I kinda feel like I need to be the steward of those big old trees and make sure they continue to stand.

Tree Age Calculation

I have the same feelings towards old oak trees. I have some that were likely growing around the time of the revolutionary War. I'm not going to be the one to cut those down.

 

[Mortenson]

I have the same feelings towards old oak trees. I have some that were likely growing around the time of the revolutionary War. I'm not going to be the one to cut those down.

Same. Not cutting any of them.

 

[KY wild]

Now that SD has pointed out this info, if you google..... "Tree Age Calculator" , many sites will allow you to pick any tree with any diameter and it will do the math and tell you the age. So walk up to any tree in the woods and put in data and see estimated age

 

[rocksnstumps]

A bit humbling when you find some of these gnarly old relics. Was on a property where the land owner had some white cedars were aged over 400 yrs old. Some of the really old ones over 1000 yrs old are not that impressive as they grow out of basically rocky cliff faces. Nutrients so poor they grow very very slowly.

But if they were super big they would get zapped by lightning or wind storms over the centuries so the little guys persevere.

The oldest known white cedar is up in Canada and over 1600 yrs old

 

[Cool Hand Luke]

Man oh man if that’s the case….This one is close to 8’ in diameter. It’s almost like 3 trees growing out of one stump. It actually has other breeds of trees growing in one of the crotches. This must be older than 200??

 

[hillrunner]

Now that SD has pointed out this info, if you google..... "Tree Age Calculator" , many sites will allow you to pick any tree with any diameter and it will do the math and tell you the age. So walk up to any tree in the woods and put in data and see estimated age

Grok is really good for this. It can even factor for growth rates by location.

 

[Turkey Creek]

We have some massive Cottonwoods on our farm in Nebraska. Granted Cottonwoods grow decently quick, but as a kid I wished I could have seen all the things those trees have seen.

 

[T-Max]

We call em dinosaurs here. A couple have bottom limbs that might be 20” DBH. Love em.


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[Teeder]

Interesting. I did a quick look for age factors and the one I found listed SWO as having the lowest factor "2", compared to white and bur were both "5". Does that mean a SWO grows 2.5x's faster?

 

[bwoods11]

Interesting. I did a quick look for age factors and the one I found listed SWO as having the lowest factor "2", compared to white and bur were both "5". Does that mean a SWO grows 2.5x's faster?

Good question… I’m not fully understanding this chart ?

 

[jsasker007]

The 35 years to produce seed is the thing that gets me. They are quickly filling in any areas like the dreaded popple around here. I love the look of those big burr's.

 

[KY wild]

I don't know about the math as twice as fast or just a certain percentage faster but I can speak of Shag bark hickory. It is one of the highest numbers and I can testify that is is incredibly slow grower, I have one in my side yard and out in full sun it seems to be the same size for 30 years when I decided to leave it when I built my house. So those 25- 30 inch shagbarks trees in my woods are 200-250 years old. I have a grove of very large Beech trees that have been left the last 4 time of logging probably because they were not worth enough to cut. Now I realize from doing the math that a Civil War troop may have rested under their shade 160 years ago while marching to a battle. I wish one of the soldiers would of left his initials in the tree, but they did not

 

[Foggy47]

I've got about 6 Burr Oak trees on my property here on the lake. Some of them have become pretty busted up over time from tornado's, lightning strikes and high winds that come across the lake. We had one taken down two years ago by a tree crew with overhead bucket as some are close to my home. They told me that the tree cut down was likely 200 years old......and the others here are about that same size. Very dense wood.....and lots of close rings on the stump we looked at.

These trees are starting to look pretty tough......due to all the storm damage over time......but they keep coming back and put out enough acorns to keep our squirrels well fed. Tho they look rough....I kinda like 'em for the character they add.

 

[bwoods11]

Bur Oaks produce acorns much faster than some predict. If you baby them in the right location… 5-10 years.

 

[Mortenson]

Love hanging a cam over these 3 burs. One of my best cam sites over the years. Great early season spot when I can't hunt.

 

[Lucky_P]

I'm not buying that Tree Age Calculator, or its multiplier numbers. Not even a close estimator, in my experience.
First two bur oaks planted here (Christian Co., KY), were brought from mid-Missouri as 1-yr seedlings I started in a seedling bed, lifted, and imprisoned in a 44-oz cup for a year, when we were moving. They went in the ground in 1995 as 2 yr-old seedlings, about 12" tall. 30 years later they are 70" circumference at 4.5 ft... so a hair less than 23" dbh. 32 years old, not 130. No fertilizer, no supplemental watering; just a good clay soil. Began producing good crops of acorns at about 8 yrs after placement in their permanent location, have not missed a crop in the 20 years since they started bearing.
Have a couple of TX-origin(Houston & Ladonia localities) bur oak seedlings down in a CRP riparian bufferstrip planting that were planted in 2000 that are taller and have greater dbh than the two yard trees above, though they are only 25-26 y.o.

KyWild... the 'Simpson #1' shellbark hickory, located in Lincoln Co., KY , was first noted in 1780 by Thomas Tinsley. Core borings & resistograph measurements of the trunk in 2004 placed its age at 600+ years. A large, hollow, lower limb, removed around 2010, had over 200 growth rings in the wood outside the large central hollow.

 

[T-Max]

Bur Oaks produce acorns much faster than some predict. If you baby them in the right location… 5-10 years.

Here is a 5 year old bur oak from 2023 that was caged but not particularly babied. Last year it had about 8 total acorns, but I can't find the pic. Curious what it does this year.