Jared Lockwood and I went to Simsbury CT yesterday to plan for our modeling of the Pinchot Sycamore on May 6-7. We will be put up at the Gifford Pinchot Inn in Simsbury, where Pinchot was born. This could be a pretty big deal for many folks in Simsbury. Here's a look at Pinchot with Jared in for scale.
Modeling this beast will be a challenge. Preliminary calculations indicate a volume of exceeding 2,000 ft^3. We'll focus on each of the five major limb structures, measuring the biggest limbs first. The lower trunk is no problem, but the section where the major limbs extend from the trunk will be a challenge. There's no regularity that we can get see for about 4 vertical feet. Will have to put the pieces together.
We did take the usual height and DBH measurements, plus the diameters of the major limbs at their bases. Pinchot's height is 98.5 feet and girth is 28.7 feet at 4.5 feet. Limb diameters are 4.07, 4.7, 4.2, 4.2, 3.0. One limb is between 91 and 93 feet long. It is the longest limb I've ever measured. This is a hypotenuse length, not horizontal distance. The hypotenuse path doesn't follow the curvature of the limb, so the true length is a little more.
On our return trip, we swung by Easthampton, and re-measured the state's champion sycamore of height. It is now 141 feet! It's DBH is 13.65 feet. More on this tree to come.
Bob
