# Manzanita wood collecting



## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

This is a recent wood haul from up near where I live.



































Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## cah925 (May 18, 2007)

:eek5::eek5::eek5:

Holy smokes, that is some fantastic looking wood!


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## ddtran46 (Jul 8, 2008)

wow. Nice looking driftwoods.


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## suebe333 (Feb 17, 2009)

Very nice ,, and are you going to be sharing with the rest of us


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

You live in Florida, no excuse, go out and collect some of that Cedar, Cypress etc.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Tom,

Where exactly did you collect this from? 

Maybe it's time for a trip of my own.


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## Sounguru (Jul 14, 2008)

Ehh I've seen better......:flick:

*starts to saunter away then takes off at a dead run..*


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

epicfish said:


> Tom,
> 
> Where exactly did you collect this from?
> 
> Maybe it's time for a trip of my own.


I don't know where you're located but it shouldn't be too hard to find manzanita. 
I'm lucky to take a walk without tripping over the stuff...lol...and I've burnt enough in the last few years to fill a gymnasium.


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## ddtran46 (Jul 8, 2008)

jinx© said:


> I don't know where you're located but it shouldn't be too hard to find manzanita.
> I'm lucky to take a walk without tripping over the stuff...lol...and I've burnt enough in the last few years to fill a gymnasium.


Where do you find your manzanitas at?


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

jinx© said:


> I don't know where you're located but it shouldn't be too hard to find manzanita.
> I'm lucky to take a walk without tripping over the stuff...lol...and I've burnt enough in the last few years to fill a gymnasium.


Most of us here laugh at folks that pay top dollar for it.
Mouth of the Eel river is good for wood, Yuba pass off HYW 49 is good for manzy. Depends on what you are looking for, smaller branchy trees: 5500-7000ft is good. Largest pieces, any rocky soils south side exposure, few hundred ft to about 3000-4000ft most of the Foothils and mountains along the coast as well in pockets.

It's a fire hazard, many small country roads often are littered with the brush left over cuttings.

You find your own special collecting spot, I've mentioned a few. You need to get out and explore "nature"... ......then you find cool stuff.

Some more:










I hike by it, I mountain bike by it, ski by it etc.
Most of the nice stuff is a long way from the road, but not always.

I'm getting some for a client, but I've known where nice stuff is for a long time. I just wanted different wood at the time. 

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Pulls some up with a lot of rot, but " saw " a nice hollow log under neath:










Then some cleaning and brushing:










Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## bigpow (May 24, 2004)

That's quite amazing, Dude!

Makes me want to go out and do some hiking. Get some exercise, lose my winter fat coat and score some manzanita 
Not sure if I could get any around here though. (Sonoma County)


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

ddtran46 said:


> Where do you find your manzanitas at?


I'm in the Auburn area, but as Tom stated, anywhere from the foothills on up you shouldn't have any trouble finding some. Also if you can find any areas of construction, there will likely be a brush pile building up as they're clearing the land.

Those are some nice looking pieces Tom. I'm still trying to take the time to hit the Eel river after reading one of your posts in another thread. I tend to like that type of wood better than Manzanita. 

I agree with you on the "paying top dollar" comment...lol...I'm not saying nice Manzanita isn't something worth paying for, but when I think that people will actually pay you to come cut the stuff down off their property and haul it away or burn it, it does have some irony.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

I think the point I'm making is that One person's poison is another person's gold.
If you look for the larger trees and breaking them up, or hollowed logs, then you find much more than those, cough cough, "beaver sticks".

But........at least some folks have bothered to sell it and charge what they think is fair for their time and trouble(crap, I do not wanna do that personally, even if it was top dollar). I do not mind for some projects etc, but I'm not one to do it "on going".

I think the supply in CA is such that most anyone living in the Central Valley or foothills, mountains could easily do this and find more than enough, burls, roots, nice larger trees etc. Those cost more to ship, but the wood itself in not that heavy compared to most wood.

Also, nabbing tropical rainforest wood vs a fire hazard locally seems more appropriate. Mopani is use for fuel and many other uses in Africa, not sure about the Malayiasian wood. Amazon old black wood, not sure either. There's many types etc, but this one I know is a weed/fire hazard here, and it's local. 

Like produce, Glass tanks, stands etc buy, DIY and obtain local when you can.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

bigpow said:


> That's quite amazing, Dude!
> 
> Makes me want to go out and do some hiking. Get some exercise, lose my winter fat coat and score some manzanita
> Not sure if I could get any around here though. (Sonoma County)


Sonoma is loaded with Manzy. North and East. The higher up, the better.
To get an ideal of the habitat, take a hike to the top of Mt St Helena. Not that interesting of a trail(mostly fire road), but the 4 mile hike will give you a killer view, and what to look for. Russian River is a good place(take boat/canoe ride etc). Jenner is loaded with wood, beach driftwood though. You might try Mark West Rd, north side of Santa Rosa, anywhere up towards HB and Geyersville way, you can see the trees all over. Also, out towards lake Sonoma etc.

Crap, it's everywhere there. Redwood, oak and Manzy, might need to drive 1-2 hours, but you should be able to find plenty.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

jinx© said:


> I don't know where you're located but it shouldn't be too hard to find manzanita.
> I'm lucky to take a walk without tripping over the stuff...lol...and I've burnt enough in the last few years to fill a gymnasium.


With today's demand for manzanita for aquariums that was the equivalent of burning dollar bills!:redface:


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## suebe333 (Feb 17, 2009)

plantbrain said:


> You live in Florida, no excuse, go out and collect some of that Cedar, Cypress etc.
> 
> Regards,
> Tom Barr


 ppfffttttttttt ,, LOL , I did go hunting along the coast of our lake , only found like 3 pieces and they were small , stunk really bad , floated , and formed some kind of milky white stuff all over , even after boiling and scrubing :icon_redf " shrugs shoulders"


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

Beautiful find Tom. Ray Lucas of King Fish services says Hi. Our club brought him in to judge our local Spring Show as they have the past many years. I was talking to him and mentioned your name and he had soem nice things to say.

Craig


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

suebe333 said:


> ppfffttttttttt ,, LOL , I did go hunting along the coast of our lake , only found like 3 pieces and they were small , stunk really bad , floated , and formed some kind of milky white stuff all over , even after boiling and scrubing :icon_redf " shrugs shoulders"


I found a lot out by Cedar Key.
You can always go to Tom's Driftwood there in Waldo if you strike out elsewhere. If you own a boat, hit some lakes, there's plenty in Rodman Reservoir etc. Plenty of cypress etc.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Craigthor said:


> I was talking to him and mentioned your name and he had some nice things to say.
> 
> Craig


Keep it quiet, there are always a few outliers:redface:
He s' a nice guy and good for the hobby.










Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Craigthor (Sep 9, 2007)

plantbrain said:


> Keep it quiet, there are always a few outliers:redface:
> He s' a nice guy and good for the hobby.
> 
> 
> ...


Tell me you took that entire piece to use a center piece for a huge tank.  Oh yeah he had a couple of other words also but they aren't allowed on the forum, says many people say that.

Craig


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## gogreen (Sep 18, 2008)

wait...are these for sale or what?? i want some!


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Craigthor said:


> Tell me you took that entire piece to use a center piece for a huge tank.  Oh yeah he had a couple of other words also but they aren't allowed on the forum, says many people say that.
> 
> Craig


No, this is just an example, this is still alive(you can see a thin ribbon of living bark on the sides and the leaves.

This is at the top of Mt St Helena, you can hike there and see plenty all the way up and back for 4 miles each way, tons of nice Volcanic rock formations, the mountain is an old volcano. It erupted and petrified a lot of Sequoia several million years ago. Poor soil, fire prone habitat, hot dry summers, cool wet winters= great place for Manzy.

You cannot collect anything from here, it's a state park.
Even if you could, 3-4 miles is a long way to carry wood
Plenty of country roads to look around for more that are low picked fruit.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## purplecity (Jul 28, 2008)

where in this piece of **** land Canada can i find beautiful wood like that,
im in Ontario, canada i walk by a beach and i see dead things and garbage

the only wood i see looks nothing like that, you guys have the branchy and scattered out wood
i bought a package actually and spent like 40 bucks 

wow tom barr can u send some of that kush these ways


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## requiem (Oct 25, 2008)

Ha I'm in the same boat purplecity *waves from Montreal*. Every summer when I go camping I promise myself to bring back interesting stumps or even just branches for the tanks. I always come back empty handed =p The interesting stumps are always rotted away, and the rest is just straight sticks.

Someone mentioned Cedar? I thought any evergreen wood would be too sappy or acidic for a tank?


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## hydrophyte (Mar 1, 2009)

i once lost the trail on Mt Lemmon near Tucson and i had to bushwack probably 1 1/2 miles through manzanita--transecting the whole altitudinal band that it occupied in that spot. it was murder. manzanita branches don't bend at all and there were about as many dead, pointy, eye-poking branches (which are even stiffer) as there were live ones. i had many little cuts all over.

don't get lost in a manzanita patch.

...but that is really nice wood that you got Tom.


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## Jag1980 (Sep 19, 2008)

I think the problem with most people is not being able to identify the tree or tree branches that they find. Branches are found all over, but knowing which one can be aquarium safe is very hard. Some people might say it's ok to use, some other will same it can leach toxins and kill your fish.. Who's to know?

Any decent looking piece of wood for a smaller tank normally cost $20+ Then after a while you get tired of looking at it and what a different piece.. :confused1:

Driving out to where the manzanita wood is a filling up a U-Haul doesn't sound like a too bad of an idea :icon_roll


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

hydrophyte said:


> i once lost the trail on Mt Lemmon near Tucson and i had to bushwack probably 1 1/2 miles through manzanita--transecting the whole altitudinal band that it occupied in that spot. it was murder. manzanita branches don't bend at all and there were about as many dead, pointy, eye-poking branches (which are even stiffer) as there were live ones. i had many little cuts all over.
> 
> don't get lost in a manzanita patch.
> 
> ...but that is really nice wood that you got Tom.


Better than having to hike through Opuntia(terry bear cactus) thickets. 


I think the point of this thread is hardly not to point out what I have here and you do not...........rather, to go out and look around nature and see what ideas you come up with wherever you live.

Get away from the computer and wander out in nature..........

Most dense wood will work fine, Manzanita is not that dense itself, but soaks up water like a sponge. Most tough hard desert type woods work very well.
Mopani wood is a C4 tree all over Africa, pretty much a desert fire adapted weed tree. Some hardwoods work well after the center core has rotted out.

Lakes are good also if man made in the last 20-100 years with the old left over stumps. 

Point is, folks might want to get out and see what's there.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## suebe333 (Feb 17, 2009)

but how do you tell what is what ??


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## kotoeloncat (Apr 12, 2006)

mm me wants to move down there now ! 

amazing wood, I can think of so many things to do with that hollow log


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

I wonder how much one could carry on a MTB ride with wood in a B.O.B Trailer

-O


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## goatdemon (Apr 13, 2009)

*questions about hunting wood*

I just recently picked up a nice piece of wood but since I have I have seen little things about "treating" wood. does anyone know anything about this and how to tell if it is necessary? Also tips on picking the good wood from the bad would also be appreciated.
:fish:thanks


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## bigpow (May 24, 2004)

Tom,

I took your advice and went out today.
It was such a great day to be out at Lake Sonoma.
Got some exercise, away from the computer, and some manzanita branches.
I need to do this more often (getting out enjoying nature more, not collecting wood).

A sound advice, thanks!


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## funkyfish (Mar 16, 2009)

Can someone tell me who is familiar with Florida if I could score some manzanita around Madeira Beach, St. Johns Pass. My aunt in law has a condo down there and I might be going down there soon, and after seeing what you can find I will make it my mission to get some wood before I leave.


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## looking4roselines (Mar 28, 2008)

Just some FYI:

For those SoCal members who are down for a strenuous hike (the trail is rated 6/10 but its more like 8/10 for me), there is a trail in the Uplands at Mount Baldy/Ice house canyon. Its about an 8 mile hike (round trip) and there are quite a few manzanita bushes beyond the midpoint (Cucamonga wilderness) of the hike. I had a good work out and picked up some nice pieces (dried/dead) on my way back.


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## resowner92 (Jul 23, 2007)

looking4roselines said:


> Just some FYI:
> 
> For those SoCal members who are down for a strenuous hike (the trail is rated 6/10 but its more like 8/10 for me), there is a trail in the Uplands at Mount Baldy/Ice house canyon. Its about an 8 mile hike (round trip) and there are quite a few manzanita bushes beyond the midpoint (Cucamonga wilderness) of the hike. I had a good work out and picked up some nice pieces (dried/dead) on my way back.


You got to be kidding me I was just down there like 2 months ago.

*starts looking through photos*


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

oh the wonders of California


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

bigpow said:


> Tom,
> 
> I took your advice and went out today.
> It was such a great day to be out at Lake Sonoma.
> ...


Good!

Now you are learning about nature, being a part of it...... instead of this glass box stuff

I found this while looking today:










Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

looking4roselines said:


> Just some FYI:
> 
> For those SoCal members who are down for a strenuous hike (the trail is rated 6/10 but its more like 8/10 for me), there is a trail in the Uplands at Mount Baldy/Ice house canyon. Its about an 8 mile hike (round trip) and there are quite a few manzanita bushes beyond the midpoint (Cucamonga wilderness) of the hike. I had a good work out and picked up some nice pieces (dried/dead) on my way back.


BTW, you can get a permit from the national forest to collect wood(up to 2 cords, which is a lot of Manzy) for about 20$ to make any downed wood collecting legal. 

FYI...........

State parks forget it.

No touch.......

But the higher rocky poor soil locations are best.
I found some good places today as well as the moss and just a nice day's drive.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

resowner92 said:


> You got to be kidding me I was just down there like 2 months ago.
> 
> *starts looking through photos*


If this stuff was a snake, you'd all be bitten:redface:

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## resowner92 (Jul 23, 2007)

plantbrain said:


> If this stuff was a snake, you'd all be bitten:redface:
> 
> Regards,
> Tom Barr


Hey I was looking for lady bugs to take pics of not wood :tongue:


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Orlando said:


> I wonder how much one could carry on a MTB ride with wood in a B.O.B Trailer
> 
> -O


If you can ride the trails I collect from, you da Man!
the next victim of the meat grinder, looks much easier in this pic.


















You have to use the hands and back to remove the wood.

What are you crying about? You have tons of wood locally that's very similar.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## vonjager (Mar 7, 2008)

*really old cedar wood from humanmade lake*



> Lakes are good also if man made in the last 20-100 years with the old left over stumps.


Tom,

I have a nice cedar stump from a humanmade lake (called Table Rock Lake in MO). This lake is about 50 yrs old. It WAS a valley full of cedar and other trees. I am a tree person so I know the stump is cedar. Anyway, all of the cedar trees from 50 yrs ago are still standing under water. They are nice to tie your boat to or lose your anchor in. They don't rot. But I did hear about the phenols in cedar that are toxic. Do you think this is null and void if this stump has been under water for 50 yrs? I did find the stump on shore but I know it is a recent wash up. However, it is leaking tannins in the water I am soaking it in.....


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

vonjager said:


> Tom,
> 
> I have a nice cedar stump from a humanmade lake (called Table Rock Lake in MO). This lake is about 50 yrs old. It WAS a valley full of cedar and other trees. I am a tree person so I know the stump is cedar. Anyway, all of the cedar trees from 50 yrs ago are still standing under water. They are nice to tie your boat to or lose your anchor in. They don't rot. But I did hear about the phenols in cedar that are toxic. Do you think this is null and void if this stump has been under water for 50 yrs? I did find the stump on shore but I know it is a recent wash up. However, it is leaking tannins in the water I am soaking it in.....


50 years and you do water changes as well?

At least there's no moths on your wood

I have cedar, that 180 Gal is ceder, the Swamp cedar is used at Tampa Aquarium etc etc.........just make sure it's long dead and weathered, and then soak it good, 50 years should be plenty of time...........

Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## Green Leaf Aquariums (Feb 26, 2007)

plantbrain said:


> If you can ride the trails I collect from, you da Man!
> the next victim of the meat grinder, looks much easier in this pic.
> 
> 
> ...




Those are some great pictures Tom

I raced downhill MTB for years with my Kona Stab and a ragged out Turner

My special skills were mainly huge doubles back to back (8 packs)  It was fun touring with CTS camps on the side for work and on the off days we would drive over to the MNTS from Solvang. Frequent trips to Durango and Crested Butte.

Collecting is fun, but going to Toms is just to easy and almost as fun.

"Live to Ride, ride to live" 

-Orlando


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## mountaindew (Dec 10, 2008)

Orlando said:


> Frequent trips to Durango and Crested Butte.
> 
> 
> -Orlando


 
Nice to see you guys play in my yard


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