Do I want this 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.

sawmill_gordon_jake_2_3_18.jpg blocks_from_sawmill.jpg

sawmill_blanks.jpg sawmill_blocks.jpg

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.