Back to the forks up high... Realize a wide spreading fork does not produce a long feather as the tree grows in at the crotch from both sides, the closer they are to each other the longer they produce the fused look at the junction...
Man that is some lousy description!!!!!!!
Anyway, a 20" trunk below the fork would yield a single 2.5-3" quartersawn slab on each side of center. The remaining slabs from each side would be usable only as more boardsawn pieces as the remaining 7" (at the heavy end) would include sapwood. Some tight crotches like the one shown here will make a number of good slabs, but they start being very different from one side to the other, both from the rapidly diminishing crotch figure and the riftsawn curvature of the annual rings. It takes real size to provide much in the way of options after the first couple cuts...
Immediately paint all highly figured surfaces! I like to use linseed oil mixed into melted beeswax, 3 or 4 to one (75-80% BLO : 20-25% wax)... Anchorseal is very good, though quite a bit more expensive. PVA glue thinned way down is also very good. PVA can be purchased in powder form and mixed as needed.
Lacking those, old latex paint is far better than nothing. The ends need painting when you get a chance, but they can wait a day or so unless it is windy and dry. Tarp them up if is.
Stickering the blanks and keeping them covered will slow the drying process enough to ensure minimal damage and checking. Many do not realize wet air is lighter than dry air and a tarp traps moisture under it which slows things just about the way you want them...
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