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Bob Coleman
03-06-2014, 4:13 PM
Hi All,

I have three black walnut trees in my yard (downtown Denver, on the fenceline with neighbor) that have succombed to the 1000 cankers disease. I hate to lose the trees, but at least now I won't have to deal with the nuts, and maybe I can get some grass to grow!

Anyway, the city has a contract with an arborist who will take the trees down and the city then bills me. I had also thought to perhaps get some lumber out of them. One has a nice straight trunk ~10 feet up and ~30 inches in diameter. Pictures of the trees are below.

Having never even considered this before, naturally I have some questions! (I know this will be difficult, expensive, probably not worth it compared to just going to a yard, etc, but I'm going for the neato factor here)

Has anyone ever had logs sawn in an urban setting? (half acre lot, fences, neighbor right there) Any pitfalls, helpful advice, etc? Is this a really dumb idea?

Will the tree company want anything to do with this?

How do I indicate to the tree company what I'm going for?

Is any of the wood after the trees fork of any use? How vertical do the trunks need to be? It may be hard to tell from the pictures, but after the fork, two of the trees have fairly, not perfectly vertical trunks. The third tree forks basically immediately at the ground.

Can't remember if it was here or somewhere else, but I found good things said about TC Woods in Fort Lupton that will bring a bandsaw to me to do the work.

Thanks for the help, etc in advance!
-Bob


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Lee Schierer
03-06-2014, 4:19 PM
There are people with portable sawmills that do this sort of thing. I think they have a website that tells locations of people owning portable mills. Maybe someone else will chime in with the website location. Be warned that some sawyers will not touch a tree taken out of a residential yard since it may contain nails or other objects that could damage their saw.

Myk Rian
03-06-2014, 4:42 PM
Anything leaning is reaction wood. Pretty much firewood.
Some sawyers will mill them, but may have you pay for any damaged blades.

Mark Bolton
03-06-2014, 5:11 PM
Myk and Lee are spot on. That said, forked/brushy parts of the tree close to the main stem can make for some very interesting wood if your not looking for clear lumber. Its basically a scratch ticket, your left with the issues of metal in the tree. It may cost you a bit more to saw the tree given you have to find someone who is going to go over every cut with a metal detector unless your willing to pay open ended for blades (likely 20-30 bucks a shot).

The larger logs may in deed be worth trying to get something out of. You have to remember that walnut has a ton of sap wood so you will lose a lot of diameter to sap but if they are in fact 30" it may be worth it.

If you cant find a sawyer willing to metal detect the logs it may be worth investing in one yourself if you find someone willing to let you scan the logs while they are cutting.

It wont be cheap but it could pay off if your willing to invest the time and money.

Erik Loza
03-06-2014, 5:19 PM
My wife had a diseased tree in our front yard felled many years ago. The arborist destroyed a chainsaw blade in the process because at one point, a previous owner of the house must have thought it was a good idea to try to "stabilize" the tree by pouring concrete down into the hollow trunk. I had the same folks out a few years ago, to do some trimming on our big pecan and he told me that they are very wary of embedded debris these days.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

Mark Bolton
03-06-2014, 5:27 PM
My wife had a diseased tree in our front yard felled many years ago. The arborist destroyed a chainsaw blade in the process because at one point, a previous owner of the house must have thought it was a good idea to try to "stabilize" the tree by pouring concrete down into the hollow trunk. I had the same folks out a few years ago, to do some trimming on our big pecan and he told me that they are very wary of embedded debris these days.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA


WOW.. thats a prize winner. I hope the guy was smart enough to shove a couple hunks of rebar in there too!

Erik Loza
03-06-2014, 5:37 PM
Hahaha, I am not sure. She said the guys were really angry, though.

When I did the trade show circuit with an MM16, I always kept some nice blocks of wood in the show crate for demos but also would ask local customers to bring me some wood to demo the saw with. Any kind of wood, it didn't matter. Firewood was fine, I'd make it work. Sometimes, I would even stop on the side of road if I saw a chunk of wood that looked useable. For the nice wood, I used the Tri-master. On the wood the guys would bring me or that I found? No way! Only the El-Cheapo 1" steel blade. I would find screws, nails, lengths of barbed wire, even bullets in that stuff. You just never knew.

Erik Loza
Minimax USA

Ed Aumiller
03-06-2014, 7:10 PM
Woodweb has a listing of sawmills in your area...

http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/directories/sdd.cgi

Most sawyers do NOT like yard trees... they almost always hit metal in the first 15 feet or so of logs...
The ones that will saw them, normally insist you pay for any blades ruined and at about $25 each
it can add up real fast...

A good alternative is to let a tree company take them down, save the logs, the ones above the fork
may be usable also..
Then buy an Alaska sawmill and a chain saw and mill them up yourself... lot of work, but if sentimental
may be worth it..
Also, if you turn bowls, etc you can take the chainsaw and get some good turning blanks out of them..

Put anchorseal on any ends of logs asap and on any turning blocks you cut...

Bill Bukovec
03-06-2014, 9:04 PM
My neighbor had a couple of walnut trees taken down last year. I asked if I could have the trunks, but not have the trunks cut up. I ended up saving my neighbor $400 because the tree company didn't have to deal with the trunks.

I cut the trunks into four foot sections. Then used a Granberg attachment on my chain saw to square up the logs. Once I got the logs square, I slabbed them up on my bandsaw. The biggest trunk was about 30 " diameter.

There was a lot of waste but, dang, it was fun.

Doug W Swanson
03-06-2014, 9:05 PM
Also, if you turn bowls, etc you can take the chainsaw and get some good turning blanks out of them..

Put anchorseal on any ends of logs asap and on any turning blocks you cut...

Definitely look up some turning clubs in your area. If there aren't any sawyers that will take the wood, I'm sure a turning club would love to have it. We turners love wood that has figure in it so we are usually looking for crotch wood, burls, etc.
Sometimes when I get wood like this, I will turn a bowl or two out of the wood and give it to the person who gave me the wood. Maybe you can make a deal like that!

Jim Koepke
03-07-2014, 4:40 AM
My recollection with walnut is more than one person has told me to not cut it less than 6 feet from the ground. (we have a black walnut tree in our California home's back yard.) The reasoning was this is where the wood has the best figure between the base and the roots. This is the part most valued by people who want custom rifle stocks.

You might want to inquire about that. It could just be an urban legend.

jtk

Jim Matthews
03-07-2014, 7:18 AM
Around here, the local sawyers won't mill anything below the standing ten foot line.
That's where you'll find the most useful lumber, and embedded metal.

If you're willing to replace any damaged blades, in addition to the milling cost - perhaps you could convince a proper sawyer to take the job.
http://www.suffolkmachinery.com/mill-resaw-blade-pricing.html

Stephen Musial
03-07-2014, 7:38 AM
We have a guy here in St. Louis and that's all he does. The tree companies leave the trunk as big as they can for him, he sends out his boom truck, brings it back, mills it, dries it and sells it. Look on woodfinder and see if you have anyone similar.

Here are some of his prices: (letter is grade, price is per bd. ft.)




Maple, Figured

A




4.00





Cherry

A




4.95






Walnut Crotch


B




4.00











Walnut


A



3.50























Red Oak, Qtr Sawn

A




3.15














Sycamore, Quarter Sawn



A+



4.25

Jim Matthews
03-08-2014, 7:30 AM
These are bargain prices.

The Downes and Reader website in nearby Stoughton, MA list prices nearly double these.
I wonder if this sawyer is provided with these large logs at no cost?

I tried to get the local tree service to give me several "burly" logs from a neighbor's yard.
I got the typical "Masshole" response.

There's no way they milled any of it; it all goes into mulch.

*sigh*

Stephen Musial
03-08-2014, 9:46 AM
Yes, the tree companies call him and let him know what they dropped and where it is located. It's a win-win because they don't have to deal with the big 36-48 diameter trunks and he gets them for free. His only cost is sending his guy out on the boom truck to load them. After that they mill them and put them in the kiln. They also have an area about twice the size of the indoor warehouse that's just under roof (no walls) and is all air dried stock.

Bob Coleman
03-08-2014, 10:06 PM
Thanks for all the info everyone! Many thanks.

Myk, is this one leaning too much. It does lean a little. The tree forks about a foot from the ground.

284187284188

Thanks again
-Bob

Tom Fischer
03-09-2014, 6:46 AM
That's what these guys do.

http://www.woodmizer.com/us/ResourceCenter/FindaCustomSawyer.aspx

The wood is probably OK, but may have hardware in it from clotheslines, years past.
I have cut several trees. Can get some interesting stuff, curly grain, etc.

Mark Bolton
03-09-2014, 9:24 AM
These are bargain prices.

The Downes and Reader website in nearby Stoughton, MA list prices nearly double these.
I wonder if this sawyer is provided with these large logs at no cost?

I tried to get the local tree service to give me several "burly" logs from a neighbor's yard.
I got the typical "Masshole" response.

There's no way they milled any of it; it all goes into mulch.

*sigh*

I would say air dried is why. Those prices are noth that low in my opiniom. May have missed it but didt see if his prices were for KD. If they are for air dried they are in line or even high for me. I can buy green walnut for around a buck a foot. Dont know why I would. But air drying isnt worth much over green to me.

Curt Harms
03-09-2014, 11:10 AM
I would say air dried is why. Those prices are noth that low in my opiniom. May have missed it but didt see if his prices were for KD. If they are for air dried they are in line or even high for me. I can buy green walnut for around a buck a foot. Dont know why I would. But air drying isnt worth much over green to me.

I kinda thought air drying was desireable for Walnut, though. Better color?

Rod Sheridan
03-09-2014, 12:26 PM
Bob, last year we had 17 ash trees taken down due to the Emerald Ash Borer.

I contacted several local portable sawmill owners and they all said the same thing, "if we hit a nail, you pay for the blade"

No big deal.

However I decided to build a sawmill and milled them myself.............It was well worth it........Rod.

Jim Matthews
03-09-2014, 5:41 PM
Rick Hearne (http://woodtreks.com/how-to-air-dry-lumber-stack-it-and-check-for-moisture/336/) prefers air dried lumber for it's stability.
I suppose he knows more about the process than I.

Very little of what's available to me, outside the large lumber yards is kiln dried.
I'm not sure why kiln drying would be superior - the process can induce problems in otherwise stable boards.
That's particularly true if it's rushed.

The are certainly parts of the country with better prices for a given species,
but anything less than $4/board foot for anything other than Pine or Poplar is cheap in the North East.

Most lumber advertised for less in my little corner of the world is S2S at best, and not realistic about waste in the evaluations.

http://www.kolteslumber.com/lumber_grades