[Charles Martel]

But when it came to this particular tree, Currey ran into a problem. In a 2001 NOVA documentary, the researcher said that it was particularly tricky to sample with the usual method. “The normal approach to coring the tree wasn't working because the largest available increment bores were too small to core even from several angles,” Currey explained.

Wow, nobody thought to contact the tool manufacturer about building a custom length piece for this task? Idiots.

[Freedom4US]

I heard this story many years ago, the tree was called WPN-114 iirc (and I may not); and the claim was the drill “bit” or core drill broke; and they were imported from Switzerland or someplace like that. So let’s cut it down.