I wanted a new caber for our competition this October and felled another red maple (this is not sounding very enviro friendly, is it?) back in March. The section we removed form the woods was about 24 feet long and was a 'bear' to lift. Two of my sons helped me haul it out. What I was looking for was a final length between 15 and 16 ft.
About two weeks ago I stripped the bark off and have the throwing end rounded and sanded; the finished product is 15 ft 9 in and weighs 81 pounds. This will be a reasonable step up from our 12 ft caber from last year's novice competition.
I could't resist and began training with the new caber over the last two weekends. Haven't flipped it yet but it's just a matter of time.