Re-purposing a tree trunk
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (325321)
Rockingham, Australia
February 7, 2018 10:58pm CST
I have been transcribing my father’s old diary. He started it in April 1937 when he purchased his first farm. There are many fascinating entries but several tell where he found a suitable tree trunk and set about making wooden troughs either for pig feeders or for mangers for horses.
The trunks had to be quite a size to enable the middle to be taken out to create a hollow which would take feed. There were no chainsaws then so I guess the trunk was attacked with an axe at first and maybe a chisel. I can’t see it being a quick task. Or maybe he chose a hollow log to start with.
The trough in the photo is at my sister’s old farm. It is filled with dirt and was once a very attractive container for plants. Another example of re-purposing of items no longer needed for their original purpose.
30 people like this
27 responses
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
8 Feb 18
Troughs like that made from Philippine hard wood are being sold here in antique shops and turned to decor, I have a smaller version made from molave wood and it's there in my garden, they are called " sabsaban" in our language.
4 people like this
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
8 Feb 18
@JudyEv it's just a small one where you can put small pots inside so you do not plant directly into it to prevent the wood from rotting.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (325321)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Feb 18
@louievill Eventually the wood would rot depending on the type of timber. Some rot a lot quicker than others.
@kaka135 (14916)
• Malaysia
8 Feb 18
That's a great idea! I always think it's good to reuse the tree trunk, like making it a table or stool, or a balancing beam for kids. Making it as a feeder is good , and I especially like making it a planter.
It's so nice that your father kept a diary and you are learning something from him through the diary too.
3 people like this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16517)
• China
8 Feb 18
What a thick tree trunk ! It must have taken some doing and time to hollow it out at those days.
3 people like this
@andriaperry (116860)
• Anniston, Alabama
8 Feb 18
I would love a tree made into something else.
4 people like this
@JudyEv (325321)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Feb 18
@LovelyxOdd The bedside tables were just stumps from trees. A very eco-friendly house. 
1 person likes this
@allknowing (130067)
• India
8 Feb 18
When my husband's ancestral house was sold we too got a few items from there. They were neat little pieces I gave some away to his brother's family. They are containers. Too lazy to take a picture to show you (lol)
2 people like this
@allknowing (130067)
• India
9 Feb 18
@JudyEv Can you not organise a garage sale. We do not have anything like that here.
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@JudyEv (325321)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Feb 18
@allknowing My sister and I are having a joint garage sale soon so I might sell some of the items there.
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@toniganzon (72285)
• Philippines
8 Feb 18
One has just to be creative and you can do many things with a tree trunk.
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
8 Feb 18
Oh, my! Chopping into a tree trunk that big would have been several days work, Judy! (I wouldn't have wanted to tackle it!)
I bet it did look good when it was filled with green and growing plants!
Dad made feeding boxes from lumber. Not as much work as what your dad made, but the lumber wasn't laying around free, either.
Hmmm.... but then again, it might have been free, after all. Dad did have a sawmill blade set up with sawhorses and an old tractor motor to run it. I don't remember ever seeing him or my brothers cutting lumber with it but there was always a big pile of sawmill slats behind it, so somebody used it for something.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137145)
• United States
9 Feb 18
@JudyEv As far as I can remember, my older brothers used chainsaws to fell trees and then dragged them to the house with the tractor. Then left them in a lot beside the barn to dry out and then cut them up the next winter for firewood.
The younger brothers (me included) split the larger pieces to fit our stove. That was not one of my favorite jobs!
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (325321)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Feb 18
@DaddyEvil We don't have a bench saw, not for wood like this anyway. We cut it into the right length pieces with the chainsaw while it's green then it is stacked to dry out. If it's too big to go in the tile fire, Vince splits them when we're ready to use them.
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109857)
• Los Angeles, California
8 Feb 18
There was a day when everything needed to be used or recycled.
2 people like this
@FayeHazel (40248)
• United States
8 Feb 18
I can imagine how those trunks would make nice feeders
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@JudyEv (325321)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Feb 18
@FayeHazel Here is Trixie, the half-draught I learnt to ride on. I might have put it before. I can never resist putting up her photo. She was such a lovely mare - and a great child-sitter.
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@FayeHazel (40248)
• United States
9 Feb 18
@JudyEv Wow, I always did love the big draft horses
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@Gita17112016 (3611)
• Trinidad And Tobago
8 Feb 18
Early Amerindians used this same technology to make canoes. Except they used fire to burn the inside, light it, douse it and scrape the inside until it was hollowed enough. I supposed you Day used hammer and wood chisel. My father was good with his hands too.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (325321)
• Rockingham, Australia
8 Feb 18
Yes, Dad would have used a hammer and chisel. I'm sure they didn't burn out the log.
@JudyEv (325321)
• Rockingham, Australia
9 Feb 18
@LovelyxOdd We were taken to a similar village in the Black Forest in Germany. It was really interesting to see how they managed their daily lives.
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
8 Feb 18
great way to use a fallen tree
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (45002)
• Preston, England
9 Feb 18
@JudyEv always a good way to save money
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@teamfreak16 (43421)
• Denver, Colorado
10 Feb 18
That had to be a lot of hard work. Time consuming, too.
1 person likes this
