walnut trees

[John Lemke]

A friend at work has some walnut trees he wants to take down and is wondering about their value and any suggestions for how to handle this. Here's his description:

I have at least 4 (and possibly up to 6 depending on price and logistics) that are greater than 25 inches in diameter and are roughly 7 to 8 and a half feet in circumference. The first branch is generally at least 9 feet up the trunk.
I was told that 24” inches and larger in diameter with no branches up to at least 8 feet was most desirable. I would be curious what others said about that.
The buyer would need to cut and fully clean up. I don’t know what time of year is best for cutting and milling etc., but I would prefer to get them out by early next spring as we may be putting the house up for sale then.
I have looked on Craig’s list and seen some companies around Janesville and one just listed as Southern Wisconsin that looked like they buy black walnuts and I may call a couple of those people, but I would like to get at least some basic idea of what they may be worth as I have heard varying accounts of what the minimum size would need to be and wildly wavering estimates of what I could get for the trees.


We're in the Madison, Wisconsin area.

Any advice, thoughts, and what-not would be appreciated.

-- John

[Myk Rian]

Don't go thinking you have a gold mine there.
It costs time and money to cut the trees, remove the branches, clean up, and mill the lumber.

[Todd Burch]

Tree buyers are typically not interested in residential trees.

It sounds like a decent enough tree, but you never know until you cut into it. I personally would not commit to cutting it down and cleaning up the mess, for free, especially when the wood might not be any good. I suspect a fair option would be for your friend to have the tree cut down (he pays) and have the tree service clean up the brush and mess from downing the tree, THEN, once he knows the tree is good, he MIGHT find someone to come collect it FOR FREE.

This is how this works well for everyone (except the homeowner that thinks he has the world's best veneer grade log in his front yard).

[Richard Coers]

Yard trees or forest trees? If yard trees, the value will be greatly reduced and probably only of interest to a guy with a Wood-mizer. (non commercial sawyer) He could call or email Wood-mizer for owners near him for contact info.

[Ronald Blue]

If they are yard trees that scares most away because they tend to be at risk for nails, wire, etc that was left from a tree house, bird feeder, or whatever. They are death on saw blades and that makes most commercial mills gun shy to say the least. I also think the idea that someone will do all the cutting/cleanup and pay for that privilege is a nice idea but not likely to happen. It doesn't hurt to try and good luck with it.

[Ed Labadie]

Around me the Amish have no problem with residential Walnut trees. Even when they have to be taken down by a tree crew, they still buy them.

Ed

[John TenEyck]

I get walnut logs like this now and then - for free, for helping my arborist friend take the tree down, for which he's being paid. Residential trees around here generate no interest with commerical operations. Way too much time and trouble for a log or two of questionable value. The better approach is to just pay to have the trees taken down and pay someone else with a bandsaw mill to saw it into lumber. You might get some very sweet lumber which turns out to be a good deal by the BF. But to think of it as a profit making scheme is not likely to pan out.

John

[Carl Beckett]

A friend of mine had two large, excellent cherry trees. He couldnt find anyone to mill them so they turned into firewood. I am several states over, or would have tried to help (I hated to see these get cut into firewood!).

You might find someone to mill them (wood mizer portable - look on craigslist) who 'might' be willing to do it and split the wood with you. This means you doing the cutting and cleanup, etc, and if they are easily accessible.

You might find someone that would buy them. Un milled... the price will likely be a lot lower than first thought. Im not educated enough to know, but the last batch of fresh milled green cherry I bought was $1/bd ft. I considered a good deal. There was a lot of work that went into getting it milled up. (I have seen milling rent times at $0.50/bd ft - so this would give you an idea. Start with $1.00, take off $0.50 to mill it. Take off another $$ for cleanup work. Markdown for profit of the seller. Maybe $0.10 to $0.20 per bd ft equivalent (you will have to make an estimate of the # of usable board feet you might get... it could vary a lot). Someone here posted a log to bd ft conversion calculation. 4 logs that size maybe 1000 bf?? Would be worth $100 to $200 with you doing all the work to bring them down and clean it all up - assuming you can get a sawyer at $0.50 and assuming you can find a buyer of green wood at $1 bd ft.

Dont know if thats helpful. Likely pretty far off on some of the numbers. The type of project that I would take on, if I were closer and had the time and he would sell them all for $100 to $200 (my guess is he might be expecting much more)

[Brian Tymchak]

Also have your friend consider that the mature trees may have more value left standing as part of the property sale. Maybe a real estate agent could offer an opinion on that.

[Prashun Patel]

I agree with John. However, know that the milling is probably the easiest part of the job. You have to find a place to properly sticker,store, and dry it. That is not (DAMHIKT) a piece of cake.

Another option is to have some one take down the tree and to chainsaw it into turning blanks, then to contact a local turning club or put them on Craigslist or the bay and sell them. The nice thing here is the same person who cuts down the tree can do this for you. Also, they will save on the price of hauling/disposing of the biggest stuff, so it might be cheaper for you. Whatever you don't sell can be easily disposed of in the woods with minimal problem.

[Jim Andrew]

I have a mill, and am not about to go to town and take a tree down in someone's yard. Too much liability. The tree might fall a little wrong and take out someone's property, their dog might run by at the wrong time, or even worse a child. Let the tree service take it down, I might pay something for a good log. But not enough to pay the tree service.

[Anthony Diodati]

let me know if he's gonna be selling any turning blanks.
Thanks,
Tony

[Cody Colston]

Your friend might get them taken down for $1000 each if he's lucky...that's $1000 he has to pay to have them removed. Tree removal services aren't cheap and it would be foolish to use someone who is not bonded and insured. If they cut the tree down on your friend's house and then decide to just leave, too bad.

[Danny Hamsley]

I saw lumber. 4 trees do not have commercial market value. Not nearly enough to justify the expense of logging. I agree that the best thing is to have the trees taken down, then sawn into lumber that you either use or sell. That is how to get the most out of these trees. A sawyer like me might buy them if they are not yard trees.

[Tom Fischer]

I believe best time to cut is winter.
Contact Woodmizer for owners near you.
Those guys are all independents, some hobbyists.
They may have ideas, know of some local demand.

I once cut up two black walnuts (400 bf). It was below 20 degrees F.
The ripped boards turned green as soon as the air hit them. Really neat.
Still have some of it.