Do I want this tree?

[Todd Hurlburt]

A friend has a black walnut tree that blew onto an abandoned building 3 years ago. The tree is largely intact, with dirt still on the root ball. The stump is about 18-20 inches in diameter. There appears to be about 20 feet of usable trunk. The tree has no leaves, hence I assume it is dead.

I live in South Central Washington. Humidity is 10-15% much of the year. We get less than 10 inches of rain annually.

Is this tree likely to make good lumber? I will address harvest and milling if the answer is yes.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Todd

[Mike Henderson]

If you can handle it and get it sawn, I'd recommend doing so. But I'm not an expert in this area. Maybe others will point out some problems.

Mike

[Rob Luter]

Dad had one taken down at his house years ago (Northern Michigan). The tree guy slabbed it up and I got a couple boards that I air dried. It made for nice project wood.

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[Tom M King]

I built our kitchen cabinets from a dead standing Walnut tree. It had been standing dead so long, that the sapwood had rotted off of it. Most of it was still good, and I still have some lumber left from it 40 years later.

[Jim Dwight]

Walnut is great wood, I would definitely want it. If you can find somebody who will do it, the stump wood, including that underground, will have great figure. It is highly prized for gun stocks. But you run into rocks when you try to use the part underground. Figured wood is also unstable wood. On a gun stock, you want the part with figure between your trigger hand and your shoulder, not out where it supports the action. It would also be good for a table top but not so much for doors or legs.

Anyway, I would want as much of the trunk as possible. Limbs will not be stable and are probably better for firewood.

[Alan Lightstone]

I built our kitchen cabinets from a dead standing Walnut tree. It had been standing dead so long, that the sapwood had rotted off of it. Most of it was still good, and I still have some lumber left from it 40 years later.

40 years - nice air-drying job, Tom.

I think it's dry. :D

[Phillip Mitchell]

Based on what you’ve said, I would say it’s worth pursuing. It’s not too much effort or money to hire a portable Sawyer with a wood mizer for a day to get it milled into whatever you want. Wood mizer has a database of portable sawyers on their website, IIRC.

Have you priced Walnut lately? $$$

Working with nice quality, air dried Walnut is a really treat for the woodworker.

[Steve Demuth]

How does one get a Black Walnut to even grow on 10 inches of rain a year? Is it next to a septic system drain field or something similar?

I'd definitely want the tree, but it might be rather expensive to get it sawn. One tree, growing in a yard next to buildings isn't going to a priority job for any sawyers, and they may expect you to cover the cost if (probably when), they saw into some iron. On the other hand, if it really grew on 10" of rain a year, it could be spectacularly close grained, beautiful walnut, and having aged in the tree, will if air-dried, have the potential for great color.

[Bradley Gray]

I would go for it. Portable band saw mill blades cost around $25 so that cost risk is low.

[John C Bush]

Hi Todd,
A friend has a bandsaw mill at Lake Wenatchee and got several English walnut logs from old orchards that lost trees in the 2015? fires around Wenatchee-the town 20+ mi, from the lake, The trees were left standing for several years before he was given the logs and the milled lumber was really nice-no decay or infestations at all. You could get a lot of nice stock from a log that size and I imagine there are bandsaw mill owners close to you that would be happy to mill it for you at a reasonable cost. Stacked and stickered it would dry fast in your neck of the wood. Try not to spill any of your Leonetti's Cab on that beautiful wood!! If there is a turners club near you I'm sure their members would love to have the leftovers for bowls. I am in Seattle and can hook you up with the Lake Wenatchee guys if you have ??? or can't find a mill closer. Sounds like a fun and rewarding adventure--Good luck.

[John K Jordan]

Todd, I've sawn walnut that was on the ground fir 5 years. The heartwood was still great.

I'd saw that in a heartbeat. With low rainfall the tree is likely to have grown slowly with tight rings and little sapwood. If it was near a building keep in mind that it might be a "yard" tree with metal in it, especially in the first 4-5 feet from the ground. A metal detector can help.

One thing you can do before you decide is chainsaw the trunk just above the root ball. Cut at again below the major branching if you can get to it. If you can't get to the upper part safely perhaps you can pull the tree off the building onto the ground.

Saw the log into lengths as desired and look at the ends where you've sawn. If they look good, the logs will likely be good.


JKJ

[David Utterback]

When I did this several years ago, my main problem was getting the logs from the ground onto the trailer. Did not have any power equipment except for a winch mounted on the trailer. A friend had a bandsaw mill that I used to cut the slabs and most of it is still stacked under cover.

A couple of things to consider. Look at the bark to see if the trunk is twisted. Unless severe, it may still be used for a lot of projects but runout may reduce the quality of the lumber. Another thought is to harvest crotch lumber since it can be beautiful. However, the minimum length of the log for the bandsaw I used was 4' and the crotch logs I cut were well short of that length. I have yet to mill those pieces but have considered a jig to fit the bandsaw. Good luck!

[Zachary Hoyt]

Walnut and cherry and black locust are all quite rot resistant, other species too but those are the ones around here. I sawed a cherry log that had been on the ground for 3 years before we got our mill, the heartwood was as good as new.

[Ben Grefe]

Todd,

There’s a guy in Rochester, WA with a saw mill that you might be able to work a deal with for getting some of that wood milled. He’ll also know if the tree is useful or not - he mills some Walnut from WA/OR/North CA, though mainly he does local Maple. Look for a guy on Craigslist selling Maple. He’s a nice older guy who knows his stuff.

I’ll say, if you don’t want this tree, then I’d be very interested in going out there with my chain saw to make as many bowl blanks that I can!

[Mike Kees]

Yes,you want that tree.

[John K Jordan]

...Another thought is to harvest crotch lumber since it can be beautiful. However, the minimum length of the log for the bandsaw I used was 4' and the crotch logs I cut were well short of that length. I have yet to mill those pieces but have considered a jig to fit the bandsaw. Good luck!

David, I cut short lengths on my woodmizer by constructing a sacrificial fence from 2x lumber bolted into a "L" shape with lag screws. I put the fence against the supports on the sawmill, put the short piece against the fence (shimming if necessary) and clamp the short piece to the fence. As the wooden fence is degraded with cuts I move the blanks further down the saw until I finally need to replace the fence.

This makes it easy to either cut nice rectangular blanks for drying or blanks for turning bowls from green wood.

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JKJ

[Jay Michaels]

I'll echo others who said yes, you want that tree.

I had a nearly identical circumstance a few years ago. I bought a new house in early 2017 that had a large walnut (~20" diameter at base) that had blown down at least a couple years earlier. I could tell from satellite images that the tree had come down in at least 2015. The root ball was still intact, as you've described - a big ball of dirt and roots. The crown of the tree, however, was dead. It had a lot of vines that were taking over by the time I got to it in 2017. In late summer 2017, I bucked it into three or four good 8'-long chunks and dragged them parallel to a long driveway. I then had a guy with a portable sawmill come and mill it into boards. It was more than worth the few hundred dollars I paid the sawyer.

The wood was still in great shape; only a few small indications of rot at some branch nubs. I had it mostly milled into 8/4 slabs that dried beautifully. Of all the varieties of wood I've had milled (walnut, maple, ash, and elm -- yes, elm), walnut came out on top as the easiest to dry without warping, twisting, cupping, etc...

So yes - you want that tree.

[Todd Hurlburt]

WOW!!!!

What great help. I have been on SMC a number of times, joined awhile back, but this my first post. Thanks to all that responded.

Doing this project is a first for me, so I have MUCH to learn.

Clarification, because we get so little rainfall we depend on supplement irrigation. Otherwise all we would grow is sagebrush and weeds.

Thanks again

[Ira Matheny]

The sawyer in Rochester WA. [south of Olympia] is Bill Betts. Easy to find him on line. Nice guy, knowledgeable, fair. Give him a call.

[Jim Matthews]

https://woodmizer.com/us/Find-a-Local-Sawyer

Might be one or two closer.

[Rod Sheridan]

I would go for it. Portable band saw mill blades cost around $25 so that cost risk is low.

Agreed, I saw the occasional urban log because most commercial sawyers don't want to do it.

I always tell the customer that I'll saw concrete blocks if they want because they pay for the blades.

Even if I ruin a couple of blades it's still really worth it for the value of the wood.....Rod.