Trying to make lemonade

[Mike Waddell]

Hello folks -

I have not posted in ages, but have been lurking and watching!

The storms that rolled through our area yesterday were devastating. Bad news: a very large (VERY large), old, beautiful oak tree fell and crushed a small corner of our home. The good news: nobody hurt, insurance will cover everything, and I now have a supply of really nice wood from a very large (VERY large), old, beautiful oak tree.

Do any of you know a good person or company to talk with here in Northern Virginia (very close to Maryland) that can cut the wood up into usable board feet?

Thanks, everyone!

Mike

[Keith Starosta]

Mike, I'm glad that you and yours are all OK. We had some nasty stuff roll through Fredericksburg, too, but not to the extent that you folks got.

Good luck getting your oak milled up. Be safe!!

- Keith

[Jim Becker]

Bummer on the house damage, but it's good no one was hurt. I can imagine that tree was a nice one, however....Professor Dr. SWMBO grew up in Falls Church and the trees in that neighborhood (Executive Drive) are very tall and mature.

The Woodmizer site should have a sawyer listing somewhere that might get you a local resource. That's how I found the fellow I use here.

[Rob Russell]

Mike,

Ditto on good thing noone was hurt.

When you go looking for a sawyer, be prepared for blade charges and to have sawyers refust to slice up a "yard" tree. The problem with really big, old trees that are so close to houses is that they invariably have metal in them. Cut off the very base of the tree and look for "blue stain" which is what happens when embedded metal rusts and the sap carries the stain up and down the tree.

Rob

[Craig Summers]

Mike

I would see if Carl Middleton of B&K Portable Sawmill Services is available
703 929 4310 (you might try calling a couple times, if he's running machinery he won't hear the phone)
He is located in Lovetsville VA, 5 miles above Leesburg.

FYI, he also sells air dried lumber at good prices

Craig

[Mike Waddell]

Thanks, guys. I'll give the website a quick review and call the sawyer!

Have a great one,

Mike

[Chris Padilla]

Good luck, Mike! Post some pics, aye?! ;)

[Mike Waddell]

Hi folks -

I contacted the sawyer mentioned above and believe that we'll be able to help each other out well. Attached please find a couple of pics of the tree and one of the (now damaged) house.

Our insurance company is continuing to do a fantastic job, and the power is now back on in the house. More importantly, so is the power in the shop!!

God Bless,

Mike

[Mike Waddell]

Once more with pics...

Mike

[Anthony Whitesell]

That's looks like it's going to be a lot of lemonade.

[Mike Waddell]

Hi Anthony -

Ooooohh, yeah. Lots of lemonade!

The list of projects is already growing! We were thinking about holding on to some of our old furniture before the accident, but now... not only do I have the wood to complete the project, I have the need!

All the best,

Mike

[Prashun Patel]

How about using the tree to rebuild the corner of your house ;)

I had a similarly sized tree fall in my yard (away from my house). You don't notice how huge those trees are until they've fallen.

The irony was that since there was no house damage, I had to foot the whole $2000 cleanup bill myself. If it had fallen on the house, insurance woulda covered it ALL (um, minus a $2000 deductible - heehee)

[Mark Kosmowski]

Remove the bark before storing it to dry. Critters mostly live between the bark and the wood.

[Peter Quinn]

Whooooooooooo. Timber!!!!!! It would be very ironic if you used some of that lumber to make a lemonade stand!

Glad all are safe and good luck. Big tree sir.

[George Sanders]

Sorry about your misfortune. Try www.woodfinder.com They have a nation wide listing of sawyers.

[jim oakes]

Thank God it didn't fall on your shop!

[Ben Cadotte]

For a tree that big, I would find a way to buy my own bandsaw mill and cut it up myself. Also maybe look into doing a solar kiln. Not sure how much land or room you have though. But once you have the equipment. You can go around and relieve people of a similar problem as yours in the future. :D:D

[Anthony Whitesell]

It's funny how that works. I've had a few trees fall and have taken down a few more. Just eastern white pine, nothing to gloat about. Each time I've said it's just one or two trees, no big deal. These puppy's are 100-120 feet tall. Cut into 3' pieces, that still makes 35-40 logs to move...plus all the branches.

[Eric DeSilva]

Sure its not a small tree and a tiny, tiny wife?

Seriously, that is a monster. In the vein of lemonade from lemons, finally caught up with a next door neighbor who had a tree come down in the same storm (I'm in Arlington)... Expressed my condolences, since it wrecked part of their screened porch. Much to my surprise, he was kind of happy about it... Turns out they had some renovations planned and he was going to have to pay to have the tree removed (expensive, 'cos it was next to the house) and the porch demo'd. Following the storm, his insurance company picked up the tab...

Glad no one got hurt.

[Mike Waddell]

All -

You guys are awesome! I love the sense of humor that runs through this thread! :D

Yeah, the wife isn't too tall at all, but the wood looks beautiful now that it is being cut up. I hadn't thought of the lemonade stand, but that is a GREAT idea. Maybe one of the kids in the neighborhood needs a nice new stand this summer from which to serve their lemonny concoction!

I also hadn't thought of a solar kiln. We have some land nearby that is just BEGGING for something like that. It sounds like I've got another project to tend to, folks.

Have a great one,

Mike

[Keith Starosta]

Can't wait to see the haul, Mike! I may just have to come by on my lunch hour....and relieve you of some of that burden.... ;) :D

- Keith

[Craig Summers]

Mike

The guy I reccomended is also thinking of building a solar kiln too out in his neck of the woods ....
You might swap ideas there

Craig

[Mark Ball]

That certainly is a large oak. Can't wait to see some of the lumber.

[Homer Faucett]

If your sawyer is using an LT-40, a good chunk of that base log may be too big for him to saw up (36" diameter is the biggest a Woodmizer LT-40 can handle) without ripping it in half. However, the rest should be more than doable, and there is a lot of good lumber there.

If you saw up the logs and have them ready, you'd be surprised how fast your sawyer can burn through them if you help . . . saving you money if your sawyer charges by the 20 minute clock like mine did. Good luck!