hickory tree coming down

[david hines]

Hi all , I am looking to go from tree to lumber, I have never done this before. The tree is between 36 and 24 inches diameter up to about 30 feet. the tree guy says the first 30 40 feet is usable for milling.Is there a local sawyer that will come to site or is this not enough to justify the expense? I would also like to get this kiln dried, can anyone give me an idea of the costs involved and the board feet of wood i can hope to end up with? thanks all for any and all replies
david hines

[Kevin Post]

You can find listings of WoodMizer portable sawmill operators on their web site. I've sent you a PM with information.

-Kevin

[Alden Miller]

David, use what you can for wood but I know that anybody that barbecues ought to be interested in anything over 4" - 5" in diameter.

If you have any larger leftovers that can be used for barbecuing, drop them off at Larry's house (he's in LaPlata also) and I'll arrange to pick them up.

As for getting it sawn up, do like Kevin says about the woodmizer site or see if any of the amish sawmills in your area can handle it.

-Alden

[Ian Abraham]

By my maths there should be over 750 bd ft in that log. (that assumes a log 24" x 30ft) You should recover a little more than that as the butt log is going to be slightly bigger and a band mill should recover a little more than 'scale'. You may need to pay an extra setup fee or a some minimum charge for a sawyer to come in for one tree, but it's probabably still worth doing.

Cheers

Ian

[Brad Smith]

Rates vary over geographical areas as well as between sawyers, depending on the sophistication of the mill they use, so quoting prices is difficult when we don't know the going rate in your area. To help you out though, here is a rough guess.
Normally, you can expect to pay around 20-35 cents per board foot for sawing and double that for drying. As mentioned, the sawyer may have a minimum fee to come set up, which will push your bdft cost up. Ian's 750 bdft. number is correct based on your input, therefore you can figure on paying out roughly $450-600 for sawing and drying, give or take.
As the car dealers say, "Your mileage may vary!":rolleyes:
Hickory is very prone to checking and splitting. End coat the logs ASAP to slow the drying process.
BTW, the costs involved in milling and drying lumber are fairly consistent, so it will cost as much to recover this hickory as it would cherry or walnut. If you foresee an opportunity to get a higher value species, you may wish to save your money here and wait for a better deal. Just my 2 cents.
Best of luck.

[Bill Lewis]

David, use what you can for wood but I know that anybody that barbecues ought to be interested in anything over 4" - 5" in diameter.

If you have any larger leftovers that can be used for barbecuing, drop them off at Larry's house (he's in LaPlata also) and I'll arrange to pick them up.

-Alden

Hey, I'll take some sticks for BBQ too. Alden, maybe we should get together on this. That is, if David doesn't mind. I'll PM you.

I have a friend with an LT15 woodmizer in his back yard. You'd probably have to bring the logs to him, or have hime haul them for a fee. Though the LT15 has trailering wheels, it really isn't designed for portable milling. At the very least, I can check with him to see if he's interested.

[david hines]

well the tree guys cut it down when i was at work this week and i have a 50 foot log in my yard. I guess i will have to cut it into sections to take to a mill. I dont think the money factor will work having someone come to my house.They chipped up all the branches but i have some scraps for you local guys. Any one know of a mill down this way that doesnt cost an arm and a leg?

[Nick Mitchell]

David, be forewarned that hickory is a female canine to mill, even if it is dried correctly. It's still worth getting this much lumber from your tree, but when the wood starts tearing out and chipping when you're trying to make something with it, just be patient and say " I knew this would happen, I can deal with it". Hickory is worth the effort, but just be ready for it.

[David Klug]

This summer I was at my BIL'S when he had a sawmill come out to his place to saw up a couple of large oaks. The guy with the mill charged $50 an hour plus $50 for any blades that broke while he was cutting up the trees. He broke 2 of them while he was sawing up the tree. It defintely was interesting to see the machine work. I don't remember what the total for the sawing was.

DK

[Jimmy Walker]

David I'm not trying to rain on your party, but if it were me I would have it cut up and air dry it. Need to seal the ends of the logs you cut to lengh, ASAP.

I had 1500bt of Hickory cut sawn up a few years ago. Summer time. Bad time. With the sap being "up" the log has ALOT of water in it. Had mine kiln dried and lost close to half of it to severe checking and cupping. Dried too fast.

With the heat you guys got going on it would get a better start IMHO, just stacking it well and weighting it down good. With the cost to saw it up you may be able to come out better on your cost per BF. You will lose some of it.

Sometimes I still do it in the summer if it comes around, but I way perfer to wait for winter time.

Another 2 cents