Cherry Lumber Harvesting

[Jim Baker]

Last weekend, I had a cherry tree fall across my fence. This weekend, I cut off all the branches and drug the trunk up to the barn. It is 33 feet long. The large end is 16" in diameter and the smaller end is 12". It is not overly straight, although if I cut it into 3 sections, I think each one will be relatively straight.

Would you expect a log of this size to yield enough useful lumber to justify the trouble of taking it to a sawmill?

I have no experience with timber harvesting, so any help will be appreciated.

[Jim Becker]

That's a nice score in the lumber department, Jim. And yes, that log is worth milling. You can find someone with a portable mill by going to the Woodmizer web site. There is a section that points to owners with contact information for the same. That might be more practical than schlepping the logs yourself to a mill, although that's certainly an option if you have the means.

[Rob Russell]

Jim/Jim,

Not to be a wet blanket - but let's take a closer look at how much lumber is really there and what the likely quality is.

You'll probably get about 200 board board feet of lumber out of those logs. How'd I come up with that?

There are several scales used to measure the number of board feet in a log. You typically measure inside the bark, on the small end of the log. I made some gross assumptions on your log and said - chop it into (4) 8' sections, each log with about 1" of taper. You'd have an 8' log that's 16" on the big end, 15" on the small end; a log that's 15" on the big end and 14" on the small end - and so on. I subtracted 1" from the diameters to allow for bark. Given that, you get - based on the International scale:

(1) 8' log, 14" diameter on small end - 65 board feet.
(1) 8' log, 13" diameter on small end - 55 board feet.
(1) 8' log, 12" diameter on small end - 45 board feet.
(1) 8' log, 11" diameter on small end - 35 board feet.

That's a total of 200 bf of lumber.

If you choose to chop the log into smaller sections to get straighter/wider boards, your milling cost will increase. I'd guess that a sawyer will want to charge you by the hour for that work and not by the board foot. Short logs are a pain to saw on a Woodmizer, because they're too short to hit both hydraulic rollers. Before you cut your log up - talk with a sawyer.

It could cost you $200 to get the logs sawed. If the cherry is worth $1/bd ft to you - go for it. Understand that this isn't like going to the local lumber yard and picking out FAS boards. Understand that the heartwood is what you want and smaller logs won't have as much. You can get an idea of how much is heartwood vs. sapwood just by looking at the end of your log. I'd ask a local sawyer what they'd charge and what they'd expect to see from cherry trees that size in your area. In Connecticut, cherry frequently has a lot of pitch pockets, unlike the Pensylvania cherry that's much nicer.

I've been working with a ocal Woodmizer sawyer dude, mostly doing oak. We have a major retrim project I'm getting lumber for and have learned a lot about sawing over the past 6 months.

Bottom line - find a sawyer and ask for their opinions.

Rob

[Jim Becker]

Three ten footers should be fine on the Woodmizer...they were when I had my trees milled. In another thread, Jim also asked about harvesting some other trees and I suggested he combine the milling for better economy.

But at $50/hr (what my guy charges) those three (or four) log sections would be cut fairly quickly. To me, the satisfaction of working with wood harvested on the property or from nearby can be quite nice. IMHO, of course! (And cherry sells for $5-6 bd ft KD and about $3 bd ft AD around here...so a buck a foot is a pretty good deal)

The bottom line is if Jim wants to put out the money and have the experience of getting that tree milled, he should at least investigate the cost. I'm glad I did a couple of years ago.

[Rob Russell]

Milling 10' sections is "a-no-bigga-deal" on any of the Woodmizers - the problemn's come in when You have a section that's too short. You have to manually roll it (been there done that).

Jim's description of his log was that he'd cut it up into 3' sections to keep them straight. That makes me think the tree grew pretty twisted and crooked - so the average width o hte boards isn't going to be lesss. Of course - twisted and "curly" cherry would be a really sweet surprise.

My whole point was to find out the facts and be careful of expectations. You never know what's inside a log until you open it up.

[Dennis McDonaugh]

Rob, I think Jim said a 33' log cut into three sections, not 3' sections. Anyway, do you have to cut it with a woodmizer or at a mill, couldn't you cut it into smaller sections ( say 6') and use a bandsaw and sled to cut it up?

[Jim Baker]

Thanks, everyone for your input.

The log is still 33 feet long. I can cut it into whatever size sections seem appropriate.

[Jim Becker]

Originally posted by Dennis McDonaugh
Anyway, do you have to cut it with a woodmizer or at a mill, couldn't you cut it into smaller sections ( say 6') and use a bandsaw and sled to cut it up?

You'd need a monster bandsaw and several very strong friends to process even a 6' log! This is one case where using the right tool is probably a good idea...