How much balsa wood is needed for each surfboard?
A. A typical height of an 8 year old tree is 75 foot with 20 inch diameter. With a yield of three 6 foot by 10 foot lengths, eight of these lengths are needed, therefore almost three trees to produce one surfboard blank. Balsa seedlings spring up as quickly as grass, much to the annoyance of agricultural farmers, so space left by a fallen tree will naturally re-seed. If not cut after 10 years and 6 foot diameter the balsa tree rots from the inside, even though some giants are 6 foot in diameter and support many vines and forest ecosystems, they are in fact slowly dying.
