Hi possibly OT but anyone have any experiences/pointers?
Due to come down in next few weeks is a large mature beech with a good sized (4 ft diameter by say 25ft tall) straight trunk. I was planning to get it logged/ringed as part of the felling deal and then I'd split & season and into the woodburner.
However a friend suggested it may be worth checking what it's worth as potential timber ? either standing or felled?
Any thoughts?
thanks Jim
George might want it to make biscuits from :-)
LOL!
Best bet is to phone a local sawmill and see if they're interested.
only if it is beach
mark
yeah had considered that but I can see them being tempted to offer me a paltry price .... I'm hoping to get an idea of what it's worth before I start any negotiations!
Ask these guys
In message , jim writes
You could get it milled on site and sell green lumber.
Around 300ukp/ day but they might be able to fell it and convert it in one day. You will still have the branches to burn.
Is it likely to contain any metal? Fencing nails, clothes line hooks etc.
AJH will be along shortly to tell us the correct time of year to fell for optimum quality:-)
regards
Interesting thanks! - where should I look to find these "converter" outfits?
As it's UK DIY - I seem to recall a few "roller mill chainsaw attachments" over the years - anyone dared to have a go?!
Thanks Jim
Probably! A mill will only be interested in timber delivered in and then only the grades they mill, so if it's all furniture grade then they will offer a decent price for a lorry load. If it's got a decent butt followed by some knotty timber suitable only for chockwood then the furniture mill won't be interested and the mill dealing in lower quality wood will offer their lower price for the lot. Sorting and grading parcels into marketable lots was our job.
The cost of transport is often a major part of the delivered price and a grab lorry will be looking for over GBP400 for a trip.
Limited uses for beech planks, too perishable for outside use.
I bit.
I saw the query earlier but it was a "how long is a piece of string".
It's very seldom I've managed to get rid of a single tree from a garden to a sawmill, though we did mill quite a few when my mate had a woodmizer, even then I don't think much of the wood found a useful home.
The only woods likely to be saleable as single trees will be Yew, oak and walnut plus, maybe, pear, cherry, elm and ash if exceptional.
The last time I sold beech sawlogs will be 10 years ago and the price was about GBP2/Hft. Jim's tree measures 78Hft by his reckoning.
My mate still has one with a Stihl chainsaw on each end, the output is low and the set up time is high, it's a frightening beast.
Mobile sawmilling outfits will have Lucas, trekkasaw and woodmizers which each have different niches in the market dictated by their limitations.
AJH
In message , jim writes
4' is a bit extreme for chainsaw slabbing!Google on portable saw mills (UK pages only) you should get hits on Wood-mizer, Log-logic etc.
I think 4'0" is too large for the Wood-mizer which slabs using a very thin horizontal bandsaw.
The other types use a swinging circular saw which travels along height adjustable rails mounted on a frame set up around your log.
Because the saw blade diameter restricts the depth of cut achievable, you end up with a maximum of 6" x 6" or so.
Buried iron work is a serious problem. Anything growing along a boundary is suspect as generations of financially challenged farmers will have saved themselves a few coppers by nailing directly into the trunk.
regards
This will be quite a small number of generations, timber was a very valuable commodity, peaking at around 1860, and was protected by the land agent.
AJH
In message , AJH writes
Ah. Pity. I suppose Jim could hawk it round the group for long term furniture building projects:-)
I see new Oak 8" x 4" sleepers are 20ukp each!
regards
If the trunk is twisted in any way (google heliotrophism) it probably won't be much good as timber.
cheers, Pete.
In message , AJH writes
The last Oak butt I had converted included a telephone insulator mounting bracket taking a connection to a large house on the neighbouring estate! Elsewhere was an agricultural fencing staple.
regards
When did telephones come into the scene?
What I was saying that using trees as utility poles or posts is a relatively recent thing because it reduces their value. Land owners would be sensitive to farmers degrading their trees when they saw them as capital.
It's only as timber values have fallen, a fairly straight line from
1860 to 1978 and then a few big bumps down, that they have become neglected.I calculated the value of a parcel of oak I bought standing and presented for sale at roadside in Hampshire,in 1995 and related it back to 1860 values.
It sold for GBP2000, comparing it to values in a study of woodland products from 1860 indicated a value of GBP250k would have been realised then but with current money. AJH
many thanks for biting!
The cost of the grab lorry alone seems to kill it stone dead - shame!
Thanks to all for your comments, I shall split it without regret!
cheers Jim
You may be lucky and get one to call in as he is passing, it'll still cost you 50quid for his trouble. It all depends where you are, if near the chilterns or a whitewood mill or the hauliers yard you could get lucky, picking the whole stem saves a lot of sawing (and sweeping up). AJH
I bought a few to do some rustic joinery. Mine were 10" x 5" x 8 feet. All deal sections, very green and prone to substantial warping and splitting as they dried. I managed to resaw half of mine into 2.5" thick boards, but was pushing my bandsaw to it's (well, honestly, beyond it's) limits.
Dang hard work unless you've got some very substantial machinery, and a fair bit of unusable timber - but you can with patience get quite reasonable rustic joinery out of them at a very reasonable price.
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