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Dale Stillman
06-23-2003, 9:03 AM
We just had an old maple tree taken down & sawed into 5/4 lumber. Approx. 4500 B/F. We have to haul it to a Mill to have it kiln dried. I need help in calculating the weight of this green lumber. Would 2 lbs. per board foot be close? We live near Seattle, Wa. if this makes a diff.
TIA for the help.
Glenn Clabo
06-23-2003, 9:35 AM
I know this because I just asked my wood supplier how much I could carry in my wagon...
Dried cherry weighs around 250lbs/100bf.
So I'd say green maple is much more than 2 lbs/bf.
Rob Russell
06-23-2003, 11:22 AM
We just had an old maple tree taken down & sawed into 5/4 lumber. Approx. 4500 B/F. We have to haul it to a Mill to have it kiln dried. I need help in calculating the weight of this green lumber. Would 2 lbs. per board foot be close? We live near Seattle, Wa. if this makes a diff.
TIA for the help.

From the USDA Forest Service's Dry Kiln Operator's Guide, maple with 60% moisture weighs from 3600 to 4600 lbs/1000 bf, depending on species. You're probably looking in the ballpark of 10 tons of wood.

If you're planning to transport that, you need to build some skids for stacking and transport purposes. If it isn't already, you need to get the wood stickered or it will take a set of twist and curl that you'll never get out.

Rob
Ted Shrader
06-23-2003, 11:27 AM
We just had an old maple tree taken down & sawed into 5/4 lumber. Approx. 4500 B/F. We have to haul it to a Mill to have it kiln dried. I need help in calculating the weight of this green lumber. Would 2 lbs. per board foot be close? We live near Seattle, Wa. if this makes a diff.
TIA for the help.
Based on the calculation I found <a href="http://www.csgnetwork.com/lumberweight.html"> here</a>, you are at almost 4 lbs/ bd-ft.

Do you have it stacked and stickered and the ends sealed?

Ted
Mike Mastin
06-23-2003, 1:07 PM
Is this soft or hard Maple? I would say that it is going to be closer to 6-7 lbs per bf, if it is fresh green. If it has been down for a while, maybe more like 5 lbs/bf.
Hard Maple is around 4 to 4.5 lbs per bf KD, soft Maple around 3 lbs per bf KD. Wood density varies even in the same log to a great extent.