Lumber Harvesting Question

[Rick Cox]

A friend just moved into a new house in an older Columbus Ohio subdivision.

The property has 2 trees that she needs removed. One is a 3-4' dia Shag bark Hickory and the other is an 4-5' dia oak.

She is going to pay a company to remove the trees unless I want the lumber and I would have to get the trees out of there with little or no cost to her, (and in a hurry too!)

My question is would it be better to contact a local lumber company and see if they may want the lumber and work out a deal for my friend, or would it be worth taking on the project myself and keep the lumber?

These trees are very close to the house (and neighboring houses) and I would not feel comfortable cutting them down. Is the lumber from these trees worth hiring the felling of the trees and getting someone with a portable sawmill there to cut it up?

Thanks. Rick

rcox at sandsdecker dot com

[robo hippy]

Rick, You need to get someone who knows wood very well to come out and look at the trees. They can then tell you if it is worth the effort. If you can find a local mill, they may be interested. DON'T try to take them down by your self unless you are a professional logger. If the wood isn't good for lumber, it may still be good for turning. Find the local woodturners club. We then to be like flys on manure when it comes to downed trees. Unfortunately, you are too far away for me to get there. robo hippy

[fredfighter]

Unless the trees are rotten inside (not uncommon) or have too many branches too low on the trunks, or some other problem the answer is certainly yes. Those trees are big enough to yield useful cabinet lumber. Many sawyers hesitate to process Urban trees because of the high rate of foreign inclusions (nails, tacks, bullets etc) in them.

One fellow here on rec.woodorking found a fellow with a portable bandsaw who was happy to saw his trees and split the wood with him so long as the tree owner agreed to pay for any broken bandsaw blades. As it was, none were broken.

One of the protable bandsaw companies mainains a directory of people who do that. A portable bandsawyer in your area may also be competent (and bonded!) to fell trees or know someone who is.

[bob]

Rick,

I recently harvested 3 white oak trees from my church's property. They were coming down due to a building expansion. The trees were 15-18" in diameter and 12 to 18 feet of useful trunk and free. The contractor knocked them down for free. A buddy with a tilt bed flat bed hauled them to the sawyer for free. The sawyer charged 80 cents a board foot to cut them up. I had it all cut to 4/4. I ended up with over 400BF of white oak, mostly clear, a few knots on the upper section, for $325 to the sawyer. I hauled it home in my pickup. I do have to let it air dry for a year. So, IMO, it is worth it to harvest desirable trees. As another poster mentioned, there is a network of sawyers that will bring the sawmill on site. I think Wood Miser has such a directory on their website. I've heard that hickory checks very easily, so you might check that out before taking that tree. I sealed the ends of my oak with Green Wood Sealer from Woodcraft. A quart bottle for under ten bucks did all of the white oak plus another 100 BF of black walnut that was given to me a while back.

Good luck!

Bob

[robo hippy]

Personally, I would want some of it milled at 8/4. This is the stock that I use for table legs. robo hippy

[bf]

It would probably be worthwhile if she'd still pay to get the trees cut down. It's going to be very expensive to get those cut down.

Keep in mind, you'll need a lot of space to stack and sticker them to airdry, unless the guy with the woodmizer has a kiln or knows someone with one (again, this is kind of expensive).

But if all you have to do is pay the Woodmizer guy, and you're willing to let it air dry, and you're willing to accept the fact that it won't all be FAS grade hardwood, it's worth a shot. I'd recommend having the guy cut the wood extra thick, as it will shrink as it dries. If you want 4/4, have him cut it thicker than 1 inch, just to be safe (allow for bowing, etc as it dries too).