Brought Down by a Derecho but will Live on | Iowa's Biggest Cherry Tree?

Scott Carlson, teacher of Iowa arborists and proponent of the Big Tree initiative, will receive this video to make his day because these monster cherry slabs are destined for history and admiration for generations to come.

You got to love this guy and his work ethic. Taking a tree no one would touch. Turning it into thousands of dollars of usable lumber. On a sawmill he built himself. This is impressive!

It was such a privilege watching you mill this beautiful old tree - I can't even imagine what it was like in person, being able to touch and smell the wood. This probably sounds pompous but I love that you can honor this tree by ensuring that its wood will endure - the pieces made from this will last centuries. It makes me really sad that so many old trees are wasted because the expense of hauling and milling them is prohibitive. Kudos to the home owners in Iowa for reaching out to you - I'm sure it was a huge help to them to have large parts of the tree removed from their property, and now that wood will be treated the way it deserves to be treated - trees like this rotting in a landfill certainly isn't the worst thing that can happen, but what you and Josh will create out of it will be timeless and beautiful in the extreme. Thanks for this channel and thanks for sharing your passion!

Who needs college football or the marvel cinematic universe when we have Splash Cam...lol.

Josh, your State Department of Natural Resources would probably love one of those slabs to commemorate the largest tree of its kind!

After a long year of very hard work on the house and the barn-thing, its great to see so much excitement. A great way to cap off so much hard work.

I think Iowa has now grabbed the crown from Pennsylvania for producing the best Cherry Trees. That tree has some crazy good figure and grain in it.

Matt: Watching you and listening to you is a education in itself. Excellent information here.

That is an INSANE log...wow...cherry is my favorite and that clearly is a "once in a lifetime or three" log!

That is the most beautiful cherry wood I have seen in a very long time thank you both for sharing it with us

👍Massive cherry tree! Oh the true beauty of cherry wood. I built a cherry clock for my mother in 1982 school wood shop & it’s still a beauty hanging in moms hallway. Thx Matt 👍🇺🇸

When you stand next that log …. OMG … huge

That is the Dune tree the color of spice and trees within trees. Magnificent tree.

That's the biggest and best pile of slabs I have ever seen from one tree. They are so solid with very few cracks.

After seeing how useful and versatile your skid steer and telehandler are, I am glad you did not waste time and money on hydraulic handlers for your sawmill.

As both a woodworker and resident here in Cedar Rapids, I was watching this video in awe of the beauty that this tree held beneath its exterior. This is definitely going to be some very beautiful, very unique wood for the ages and will be a true gem to work with.

Incredible, l hope at least one slab becomes a dining table or boardroom table. It would be criminal if this does not happen. Just magnificent.

It was a very crotchiety old tree!

Did not know how much I missed your skills as a sawer , not to mention the commentary as a videographer ; then the wood presented all of it’s hidden Grandeur over , and over with each cut . Thank you for Sharing !!!

That second cut would make a great coffee table