Advice for wood harvesting

[matt walson]

Hi folks - I'm looking for some advice regarding trees I recently had to cut down - a walnut and I think some hickory in the Milford Ohio area ( hickory not shown ). I don't have any skills or sufficient tools to work this stuff myself, but if I wanted to save it for a potential buyer/artist, how do you recommend cutting and storing it? Is there a optimal length that people work with? Right now the two largest logs are in the 70' length range. I figured I'd ask experts before I just chopped it up and stacked it like firewood - I don't want to ruin what may be ideal raw material for someone. If I do cut it, it sounds like you need to 'store and dry' it for a period of time? How long?

I think I've also read in some of the posts here that the branches coming off the main trunks really don't have much value because they are hard to work with and tend to warp? It sounds like I can at least go ahead and chop that stuff up without any risk, but it seems to me it would be ideal to use for smaller things like walking sticks, bow staffs, or other simple projects? I've always found the little treasure chest like boxes in gift shops neat - maybe it would work for that? Can someone suggest the most versatile low cost tool I could add to my garage to play with this stuff? Maybe a small band saw? I have a miter already. How did you get started in the hobby? Thanks for any advice.

310487

[Jim Koepke]

Howdy Matt and welcome to the Creek. In a week, month or a year some of us will forget you are in Ohio. Put that in your profile and we won't have to count on our memory.

There are a few other members in Ohio, but not knowing the cities and towns of Ohio, I have no idea who might be close to you and know about local sawyers who could help turn your logs into boards. Most of the time I do not visit this conference. Just following a post that started in Neanderthal Haven and was moved over here.

As far as length is concerned, my thought is it is always easy to make an 8' board out of a 12' or 24' board. It isn't likely one could make a 12' board out of an 8' board.

For the hickory you might consider the thickness of cut and the grain direction as some folks prefer that for tool handles.

As for the branches, it can be twisty, but it can also be used for making small things like knobs, hair spikes and other such.

jtk

[Wes Ramsey]

If they aren't in the way I would paint the cut ends to help reduce checking and leave them where they are until you find them a good home. Green logs are easier to saw and tend to make better lumber, so the quicker you can get them re-homed the better. I've spent a lot of time at my father-in-law's personal sawmill just milling what we plan to use. The last logs we milled sat on the ground for about 2 years before we cut them - a lot of the sapwood was punky and we still got some good lumber out of them, but not as much as if they had been fresh. Mills vary, but for ours the logs have to be at least 8'2" to sit on the headblock and up to a little over 20'.

Experiences will vary, but I wouldn't recommend buying a mill of any type unless you have a personal need for a LOT of lumber or you want to sell it and have a good source for saw logs. I enjoy milling what I want when I want it, but for the work and cost involved, not to mention the land to house the mill and produced lumber, equipment needed to move the saw logs, waste disposal, etc, you can visit a local mill and buy lumber someone else milled for a lot less effort and money.

[Jim Dwight]

There are at least a couple types of mills, ones that you bring to the wood to and ones that bring the mill to you (bandsaw). If you google something like "Portable Bandsaw Mill" you will find companies that provide the sawmills and they have lists of owners around the country with their product. With that contact information, you can (hopefully) find somebody that is willing to cut up your trees. Here's a link that may work for Wood-Mizer sawmills:

http://woodmizer.com/us/Services/Find-a-Local-Sawyer

You need to let wood air dry for about a year for each inch of thickness. If you want 3/4 boards, you have the wood rough cut to 1 inch and wait a year. You can get relatively inexpensive meters that will give you a better idea of the moisture content. You want it to get down to around 8% or less. A tree that is leaning, or branches, will have reaction wood. Wood that wants to move when the load is removed from it. So it warps and moves when you cut it. If you have large limbs, you might try some and see if you think it is worthwhile. Any crotch, place where limbs come off, will have "fancy" grain. More interesting figure in the wood. I would have those cut through at least. The stump also has interesting grain but needs to be cleaned of debris before being cut up. Walnut lumber is worth significantly more than hickory but we just put in a bunch of pre-finished hickory flooring and we really like it. There is quite a bit of variation in the coloring, at least in the flooring. I haven't worked with hickory lumber although I have cut up some of the scraps. The grain seems to be a bit "wild" and the wood is very hard. I'm not sure how easy hickory would be to work with hand tools because of the grain but with power tools it works fine. The hardness is an attribute for some things. It's also quite heavy. Each box of flooring held 22 square feet and weighed 70 lbs. Oak was about 10 lbs less. Walnut is great to work with. It looks nice and machines well with hand or machine tools.

[Brian Tymchak]

Hi folks - I'm looking for some advice regarding trees I recently had to cut down - a walnut and I think some hickory in the Milford Ohio area ( hickory not shown ). I don't have any skills or sufficient tools to work this stuff myself, but if I wanted to save it for a potential buyer/artist, how do you recommend cutting and storing it? Is there a optimal length that people work with? Right now the two largest logs are in the 70' length range. I figured I'd ask experts before I just chopped it up and stacked it like firewood - I don't want to ruin what may be ideal raw material for someone. If I do cut it, it sounds like you need to 'store and dry' it for a period of time? How long?


Hi Matt! Welcome to the Creek!

Time to air dry wood is dependent upon the thickness at which the boards are milled. The old rule of thumb is a year per inch of thickness, but that can vary. 1" (referred to as 4/4 or "four quarter") is one year. 2" is 8/4 and 2 years. You will have to make some decisions about what you want as a final product before you can cut it up. Make sure you sticker and stack the cut boards properly to keep them from turning into potato chips as they dry.

There have been quite a few threads on how to air dry wood here on the Creek that will offer a lot more info. Try a google search like this:

site:sawmillcreek.org air dry lumber

One last thing to consider, is that air dried wood is susceptible to insects. they may already be in the log itself. There are chemical treatments which might be effective and then there is kiln drying the wood which is very effective. Some people air dry for a while and then finish off the boards in the kiln.

Good luck with your wood. I really like that you are trying to use it and not burn it.

[Val Kosmider]

A few random comments.....

I had a local saw mill cut a few hundred feet of white oak, red oak, cherry, and hickory for me. They had the trees, relatively freshly cut, delivered to their mill by a sawyer.

He cut the stuff as I wished...everything from 5/4 up to 10/4. The idea was to have 1" to 2" finished lumber. The lengths run up to about 12 feet.

The water content was about 30% when I got it, and has since dropped, through careful stickering and covered drying, down to about 8-10%. I have started to use some of it after two years.

The hickory...which I have used for a complete set of cabinet frames, doors, and mouldings is HARD. It is gnarly type wood, but makes good edging on a bench or work area surface. When I cut it, some of it warps so bad you can hardly use it. Other of it cuts fine and is very usable. It has made me realize how costly it is for a lumber yard to have a constant supply of high quality kiln dried hardwood.

The cherry is better. The oak is hard as hell, but is less prone to warping when the tensions are released.

I run it through my planer to get it down to thickness. If anything, when I had the mill cut it I should have had them cut 4/4 thick boards so I could get down to 3/4 more easily. With warping, checking, shrinking and twisting you loose easily a quarter inch from rough cut to finished plank.

OP. Preserve it in log form as much as you can. Get it cut as soon as possible--not urgent, but get it done. Cut various thicknesses. My lengths, up to 12' are fine...I have not wanted longer, but someone might if they are looking for something "special". I can tell you that a 12/4 x 12" x 12' piece of hickory is HEAVY and hard to work with--planer, and then sawing it to width. Stack/sticker and let the boards set for a year per inch of thickness. If all goes well, you will have about 75% usable wood. Try some of the bigger branches. In shorter lengths maybe it won't move quite so much. It is definitely a 'project' for those of us who are doing it as a one time thing, but I think....."know"...I saved a LOT of $$$.

[David Utterback]

Hi Neighbor,
I am in the process of retrieving walnut logs in Sharonville and taking them to my friend's Woodmizer in north Clermont County. I hope to have the task completed tomorrow. They were in a yard and were taken down to make room for a full sized basketball court. A neighbor is a close friend and told me about the harvest. Most of the logs have knots so I am interested in the crotch wood. One log was 10' long and over 24" diameter of straight heartwood. The feller cut off the bottom 3' to get a stump grinder in place. It devalued the log substantially. (I would attach a photo but do not know how.)

What is the diameter of your larger logs? That will largely determine what best next steps are. If the heartwood is a foot or less in diameter, I would be less concerned about preserving length. You may be able to locate someone with a portable bandsaw who might cut for so much a board foot or alternatively for a share of the lumber. The site listed above is a good place to start. CL also has sawyers who offer services in SW Ohio. Just search the site for "hardwood lumber" or something similar.

If you have smaller diameter logs, the good news is that they are much easier to handle. On the other hand, they yield less desirable although still quite useable lumber. Do not overlook the crotch wood which has beautiful grain. The most important issue is to sticker the wood properly which will keep it mostly straight. It is best to use the same species for stickers to reduce staining of the lumber. Let me know if you need additional information. I am in your neighborhood just off Beechwood.

Best,
David

[Yonak Hawkins]

Hi matt. The others have pretty much covered it but I just want to reply with my preferences. While it's not imperative that you get the logs sawn immediately, I tend to find it more pressing than some others. I would try to saw it within a couple of weeks or less .. and you would do well to get the logs off the ground, if possible, until that time. Maybe I'm just paranoid about bugs.

Regarding the limbs, as Jim says, as they are much less than vertical members when growing, there's a lot of stress to hold the heavy limb up. That means, when the stress is relieved, the limb will tend to bow to the upward direction based on it's growing orientation. It will do this all through drying. I've never tried it but I wonder what would happen if the limbs were dried whole. It would take awhile and they would tend to split, especially the larger ones but, when dry, they wouldn't move anymore and you may be able to cut some sticks that will stay straight. ..Just a thought.

I'm also a fan of sealing the ends to head off checking.

[Jim Andrew]

I have a small bandmill, and find it is much better to saw the lumber asap. I see in the photo that the logs need to be cut several places. The logs are not straight enough to make long lumber. You have to saw it off at each change in direction, or you do not get the optimum amount of lumber. Your logs are kind of kinky. All logs are, except for the huge pines and fir they make framing lumber from.

[Art Mann]

Here is a suggestion. Go on Craigslist if there is one in your area and offer to split the lumber with someone who owns a portable sawmill. That way, you get something good out of it and no money has to change hands. At least were I live, Walnut is hard to find and is quite expensive. I can't judge the value from the photo but I would think someone may very well be willing to do it.

[Jim Andrew]

I would saw it for half if you brought it to my place.