A Slice Of History: Basking Ridge Oak Tree Is Full Of 'Surprises'

BASKING RIDGE, NJ — Five months after the 600-year-old mighty oak tree in Basking Ridge was cut down, a local craftsman is working tirelessly to preserve the wood. But "surprises" found inside have caused some setbacks.

The enormous trunk and limbs were transported to Pollaro Custom Furniture in Hillside for the owner Frank to treat after it was cut down in April. The plan is eventually turn the wood into a piece for the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church and Bernards Township.

The tree had to be taken down since it died over the summer in 2016 despite efforts of the church to preserve it.

• See Related: Basking Ridge's 600 Year Old Ancient Tree Has Died
• See Related: Tears Flow As 600-Year-Old NJ Tree Is Being Cut Down

Jon Klippel, a church elder and co-chair on the oak tree task force, said design plans for those pieces are anticipated in the next few months. They will then be reviewed by the church board and later shared with the community.

Klippel said Frank Pollaro was chosen because he is a “magnificent craftsman who has created wonderful pieces from various unique pieces of wood.”

However, the process to care for the wood is very “challenging” based on many factors.

Each of the “enormous” pieces of wood needs to be sliced into slabs that are about 4 to 6 feet wide and around 2 and a half to 3 inches thick. Then the wood needs to dry.

Klippel estimates the pieces will need to dry for about one year per inch in thickness. Then the wood needs to rest to let some of warpage work its way out before it can be milled into usable lumber.

“It’s as exciting as watching paint dry but instead watching wood dry,” Klippel said. “It’s in the same category.”

Additionally, Klippel said they have already been experiencing setbacks and delays with slicing the wood due to number of growth rings that are closely spaced, causing a lot of tension to build up in the wood.

And the way the tree was cared for over the 120 years has also shown some surprises.

In 1924, the church found paperwork that indicated that in order to preserve the tree, cement was inserted into rotted areas in not only the trunk but throughout the tree including in the limbs.

“Many of the limbs have little surprises inside, like pieces of cement the size of softballs. This was deemed the appropriate way to care for a tree in 1920s…. They didn’t know the ramifications for when it would be cut down to make furniture from the tree,” Klippel said.

Cables anchored with pieces of metal rods were also inserted into the tree to support the tree’s height. Some of those cables had broken off over the years leaving the metal rods still inside the tree.

“It is a process slicing the wood pieces now as we find the surprises of cement and metal. We are finding them in spots we didn’t anticipate which has caused a saw blade to dull. It took us several weeks to get back to it after that,” Klippel said.

Right now the main concern for the church board is to slice up the wood and then evaluate the quality of it to see if it’s suitable for furniture or for something else.

“We all have to be patient," Klippel said. “It’s a time consuming process and one that we don’t see ways to accelerate it.”

(Image via Jason Hutchings: Wood pieces of the 600-year-old Oak tree after it was cut down in April.)

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