height of standing tree?????Hey all you scientists

BLW · Feb 15, 2011

I cut lumber with my grandfather years ago and he had a way to tell the hgt of a tree by measuring the shadow under the tree 2 times a day but I don't remember the time of day and also maybe it makes a diff. what day- does anyone remember this trick we have a lot of pines to cut down and i would like to try this again before we cut them down, then I can check it out this has been a good site for info such as this any old timers out there please help

JML755 · Feb 15, 2011

here's how to do it by comparing your shadow's length to the trees: http://www.wikihow.com/Measure-the-Height-of-a-Tree

Ky Hauler · Feb 15, 2011

The height of a tree is proportional to the amount of damage it does to your truck, divided by the distance your truck is parked from it, and the amount of time for your helper Cletus to say "What wedges?" LOL

paul · Feb 15, 2011

There is a stick for doing that, like a yardstick. I can't think of the name of it. You measure your pace, walk the right number of paces from the tree, and look at the tree with the stick vertical to the tree. The lines on the stick tell you how tall it is.

I'd bet you could find the design & markings on the internet.....

Then you can measure the tree any time of daylight.

--->Paul

NW Ohio Tim · Feb 15, 2011

Take a stick that is the same length as the distance from your eye to your outstreched fingertips. Now hold it in the middle at arms length and back up until it matches the height of the tree from ground to top.

Maesure how far you are from the tree and that will be the height.

No fancy stick needed, you can use a reasonably straight limb or twig. Works evertime.

Hope that made sense. It's kind of hard to describe but easy to do.

Tim

Anonymous-0 · Feb 15, 2011

In a woodlot the tree shadows all get jumbled in together don't they?

buickanddeere · Feb 15, 2011

Take the square of each of the two adjacent sides of a triangle and add them together. Take the square root of that number and that is the length of the hypotenuse.

James Howell · Feb 15, 2011

Measuring the <a href="http://bizarrelabs.com/tree.htm">height</a> of a tree.

glennster · Feb 15, 2011

pythagorean formula wont work trying to measure a tree, you will need two side measurements. you will need to use a trig formula. use a protractor and a tape measure. measure your base distance out from the tree and with a protractor determine the angle from the end of your base measurement to the top of the tree. then plug those values in to the formula at the attached link.

example base lenght 100 feet, angle at A is 65 degrees, your tree height is 214 ft
poke here

Zachary Hoyt · Feb 15, 2011

Now that is the classy way to do it. I will have to remember that, if I can.
Zach

PJH · Feb 15, 2011

In third grade, I learned how to determine the height of the flagpole at the two room school I attended. The teacher demonstrated how to take a stick of known length, measure it's shadow, measure the shadow of the flagpole, then interpolate the known lengths and solve for the unknown. Now when I said "in third grade", I was not the kid doing the math, but every kid in that two room school was aware of what was going on and watching from the windows, and we all learned from it.

Assuming the length of the stick = 6'
Assuming the shadow of the stick = 2'
Assuming the shadow of the flagpole = 20'
Height of the flagpole = X

6 over 2 = X over 20

therefore - 6 times 20 divided by 2 = X or 60' - the length of the flagpole

A lot of variables must be considered, such as - the shadow measurements must be taken horizontally if the ground is not level. The stick must be held plumb. You can't fool around too long measuring the shadows. Intermingled tree shadows would be difficult to seperate.

Kyhayman had the best answer, so far.

Paul

Tech 7 · Feb 15, 2011

Cut it down and measure it....NO! that would give you length you wanted height, Sorry!

Jahaze · Feb 15, 2011

You"re refering to a "Biltmore" stick. We learned how to use those in forestry class, now we use clinometers to estimate height.

Zachary Hoyt · Feb 15, 2011

If the pines are a plantation that was all planted at the same time you could cut one down and that would give you a pretty good idea of the rest. In a plantation any trees that don't keep up in height get shaded out and die pretty soon, in my experience. There is a huge variation in the diameter of the trunks though, of course.
Zach

buickanddeere · Feb 15, 2011

Just sight up the side of the 45 degree line on a level.
Don't even have to do math. The height of the tree will equal the distance from the tree trunk out to where the hypotenuse touches the ground.

JMS/.MN · Feb 15, 2011

Call mothertree at 1-800-TRI-TRIG. LOL

bruster · Feb 15, 2011

This is the way Pop taught me how to do it years ago. Simple for anyone to understand at any age!

LeoinMI · Feb 15, 2011

You can measure by using trig. tables i.e,..making the tree one side of a triangle and a 90 degree angle to the ground. Then measure the distance out from the tree for another side of the triangle. You can then use cosine of 90 degrees to determine heigth.

Owen Aaland · Feb 15, 2011

(quoted from post at 12:28:29 02/15/11) Take a stick that is the same length as the distance from your eye to your outstreched fingertips. Now hold it in the middle at arms length and back up until it matches the height of the tree from ground to top.

Maesure how far you are from the tree and that will be the height.

No fancy stick needed, you can use a reasonably straight limb or twig. Works evertime.

Hope that made sense. It's kind of hard to describe but easy to do.

Tim

This is by far the easiest way to measure the height but you stick need to be about twice as long. You need a stick that is long enough so that you can extend it out from your eye and grab a hold of it at that point with your outstretched arm. That is the part that you will be using to do the measuring but by having a longer stick it will be much easier to hold it vertical.

By holding the stick at the end of your horizontal outstretched arm the stick will extend above your arm the same distance as it is from your eye to the stick. With the stick vertical and your arm horizontal you will have a 90° angle with a 45° at your eye and at the top of the stick. Back away from the tree until the top of the tree is in line with the top of the stick. At that point the height of the tree is equal to the distance you are away from the tree plus the height of your outstretched arm. If you are working on a slope you will also need to take any change in elevation into account.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 15, 2011

Walk away from the tree, bend over and look between your legs, when you can see the top of the tree that is where top will be after you cut it down, don't laugh it works, I tryed it bout 30 years ago, when I cut the tree down the top was within 4 or 5" of being on the line where I had been standing.

GordoSD · Feb 15, 2011

You should be lying down for best accuracy.
This method was used in some merit badge for Eagle Scout.

Gordo

wolfman · Feb 15, 2011

Drive a stake into the ground (straight as the tree). Measure the stake's shadow. Measure the tree's shadow. Write a proportion (equation): stake height/stake shadow= x/ tree shadow. Solve for x. Careful you don't drive stake in shadow of the tree...or in your foot. Even works if you write inches/inches= x/feet.

Jg20601 · Feb 15, 2011

My fathers method is similar to others here. You take a tobacco stick and drive it 6 inches in the ground in an open field. When the shadow gets the same length as the stick you mark were the top of the shadow of the tree is. It should be about a 45 degree angle, as a way of checking it.

BLW · Feb 16, 2011

thanks guys this site is great i appreciate the funny ones too== the shadow and the length of the stick held in the middle was what my grandfather used and it worked well thanks agsin the knowledge out there is beyond belief and I always find my answers

height of standing tree?????Hey all you scientists

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