Milling a Walnut Tree - Help Bob Smalser and Others

[Larry Gelder]

Buddy of my FIL wants this tree felled. Just so happens that one of my buddies has a band-saw-chain-saw (BSCS). It'll slab 14-in wide planks. The tree is about 20-in diameter (My hand-span is about 8-in). Photos are circumspect about the tree.

After felling, I was planning to crosscut below the knothole in the last pic. This'll give me 8-ft long planks.

Next I'll rip (w/chainsaw) the tree in half, since the BSCS is limited to 14-in wide cut. Then I'll slab each half and reassemble the slabs as they lay in the log (bookmatch).

Please advise.

[Pete Brown]

You linked the pic pages instead of the inline images, so they don't show up here.

If you use IE, right-click the image in the page that comes up, choose properties, and paste in the link that appears there.

Pete

[Pete Brown]

BTW, nice tree. Watch out for the nailes from that plank, though!

Pete

[Marci Anderson]

We own the same saw and your plan is the same process we use. Make sure the chain on your chainsaw is sharp so you get a nice straight cut when you split the log. Also, it's helpful to have a straight guide for sawing the log in half with the chainsaw. It's easy to waste alot of wood if you wander with the chainsaw. Good luck!

[Larry Gelder]

Hey Pete! I moved from Severn, MD to SC about 15 years ago. Still have relatives and good friends in that area near New Cut and Gambrills Rd. My kids (3) born in Annapolis too.

[Larry Gelder]

Thanks Marci. If the log lenght is 8-ft, I'm going to try to rip in half horizontally with a 3x3 (ft2) mirror on the opposite side to stay on the line.

[Bob Smalser]

After felling, I was planning to crosscut below the knothole in the last pic. This'll give me 8-ft long planks.

Next I'll rip (w/chainsaw) the tree in half, since the BSCS is limited to 14-in wide cut. Then I'll slab each half and reassemble the slabs as they lay in the log (bookmatch).



A good plan but be prepared to adjust based on what you find when you open the log.

Nobody you know has a Granberg mill or other device to guide the chain saw? You can certainly drop by and borrow one of mine. If not, then halve it vertically like we're doing here:

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/4110272/50978769.jpg

If you try to mill horizontally without a guide, the bar will want to wander upwards in the log producing flitches very difficult to flatten later.

Buy a couple ripping chains for your saw from Baileys-online and bring adequate sharpening gear for both saws, because yard trees that old usually have hardware you'll discover the hard way. Homeowner metal detectors only reach a couple-three inches into the log, and the bar reaches 14.

That pruned limb in Pic #2 looks rotten, and the rot may extend downward a foot or more and inward all the way to the pith. I'd have the log tangentially to that limb so as to keep any rot all in one log half and decide the next cuts based on what I found.

Also don't overlook the remaining "firewood". Any heartwood you can get out larger than 3" square, 18" long and free of pith is a marketable turning square.

[Irvin Cooper]

Be sure to get during and after pics for us.

Irv

[Mick Zelaska]

Before I started cutting on that three, I would look into selling itfor gunstock blanks. Might be worth quite a bit of money. Read an article some years back where a walnut tree sold for $75k. Had some nice grain that shotgun makers wanted for their premium guns.

[David Epperson]

Also (As I recall) the root "ball" will contain as much or just a tad less wood than what you see above ground. Walnut tends to have a larger diameter just below grade and a fairly deep root. And the grain in that section will be full of variations due to the history of all the root "limbs", almost burl.


have a walnut on my land that I'd like to cut down and sell. How should I find a buyer?
There are many buyers and, as walnut timber is in such short supply, the timber is highly sort after. Choose your buyer carefully and remember, never fell a walnut as the most valuable timber is in the root-crown area, where the stem joins the roots. Usually walnut trees are therefore dug up rather than felled with chainsaws. A visit to Woodlots may be useful as it covers the whole country.

[Bob Smalser]

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/4110272/51164668.jpg

Go over to the Forestry Forum and search for walnut rootballs. Mixed reviews. If you think the half dozen nails in that tree will cost you chains, think about the embedded rocks power washing doesn't get. Plus excavator or backhoe rental if you don't happen to have one handy. If you do decide to dig, check the septic/drainfield plan and any underground utility line locations for that yard first.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/3075040/201865025.jpg

Root wood can be either spongy or bulletproof, depending on species and soil. Long ago when I dug 3 acres of DF stumps I thought rather than just burn them I might mill some natural crooks from them to sell as knees to boatbuilders and also provide myself a lifetime supply. That's why you see nothing but laminated knees in all my boats today. ;) And I already have all that heavy equipment.

http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL12/1104763/8408305/113221960.jpg

[Josiah Bartlett]

Harbor freight sells a chain saw guide that clamps to your bar and the other side runs on a 2x4 nailed to the tree. This will keep your bar straight enough for sawing in half. I used one on the last walnut tree I did, a 32" diameter one. Walnut is not rare at all here in Oregon.

I also made a successful ripping chain out of a regular one- I filed out 2 of every 4 teeth (so the teeth still alternate but you are missing one out of every two that go each direction), leaving the rakers, and filed the remaining ones straight across rather than angled.

This works great for one-time use if you don't want to spend big money on a ripping chain.

[Larry Gelder]

Planning to start this Thursday morning, weather permitting.

We do have ripping chains (from Baileys) too, but no guide. Darn... gotta run to Harbor Freight ;)

The owner tried to sell this tree ... no takers. Haven't decided on the root ball yet. It's not going anywhere fast.

Thank y'all for the help.

[Carl Oresick]

Check this link out:

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/pdfs/international_programme/ChainsawMillingManual.pdf

It gives an excellent introduction to milling lumber and diagrams different ways to mill the boards from the log. My personal preference would try to maximize the width of the planks, but dependes on your equipment. I was able to mill a 14" maple log with a 16" bar using an Alaskan mill and ripping chain.

Carl

[Bob Feeser]

With all of the holes from dead branches in that tree, don't be too disappointed if you wind up with a lot of waste, and a little bit of beautiful wood. Those holes are invitations to water invasion, and that spreads throughout areas not directly at the hole locations. Discolorations occur as well in far reaching areas because of water entering, and laying in limb holes.
As others have mentioned, the metal concern is there. That can ruin blades, or dull them severely. The amount of wood that is gotten, compared to sharpening is something to consider.
I do not want to damper your desire for some beautiful walnut, and their may be some good areas with some beautiful wood, but I am hesistant to saw any tree that has obvious defects.
I had 2 experiences. One was with maple logs 8 feet long, and about 30 inches across. They had sat for about 8 months, and the water had wicked into the center of those logs, staining all of the wood, and making it virtually useless, for all but maybe paint grade projects. Another was some hickory, which traditionally is difficult to get much finish wood out of, because it is so barky.
Now I just go the the sawyers barn, and pick out some pre-milled wood, and know what I am getting into, and enjoy the prices as well.
By the time you are done squaring the tree, what is left in the middle is what you are interested in, and if that is rot, and water damaged, you may be doing a lot of work, and mostly getting a bunch of firewood.
A seasoned sawyer will be able to look at your pictures, and tell you what you are in for.

[Larry Gelder]

but it wasn't the Walnut. The FOMFIL wanted the Walnut and a Cedar tree removed. So we took down the Cedar and slabbed it and cut some bowl blanks. Didn't have time (or energy) to start on the Walnut, so we rescheduled for 09Nov.

Please keep the advice coming til then. It's been helpful.

[Larry Gelder]

Here's a bench from cedar tree. We start on the Walnut tomorrow.

[Bob Smalser]

If the cedar is green, I'd keep it outdoors with wax on the end grain for several months.

[Larry Gelder]

The tree was dead, but I don't know for how long. I was surprised the moisture content was <15%. We drenched the plank in Watco (2 coats), then 2 coats of varnish on the top and ends.

The rest of the planks are stickered and stacked in my garage. I sealed the ends with Elmer's white glue.

[Bob Smalser]

If it's under 15%, you should be OK. Cedar is pretty stable. I had 30% in mind.

[Larry Gelder]

Bob Fesser called it - mostly rot.

Will post pictures later today.

[Larry Gelder]

Pic#1 - South side of the tree. We knew we had a rot problem before we felled it. When I cut the largest limb off (see highest stub), the tree shook a little too.

#2 - North side of the tree. Rot extended 2-3-ft into the stump.

#3 - Viewed from the 1st crotch.

#4 - Dan preparing the rip-saw band saw to harvest the only "solid" planks. For those not familiar with the rip-saw, you need a reference for the 1st cut, then it's self registering. The aluminum planks is used to make the reference.

#5 - Lot of punky wood near the right side.

1 more to come...

[Larry Gelder]

#6 This pic represents what most of the slabs look like. We hit this one one more time with the rip saw. We ended up with 4, 2-in slabs, and 1, 1-in slab.

The large limbs were about the only pieces which were not rotted.

We did end up digging a little around the stump, making vertical cuts (rips), then crosscutting in to remove the chunks.