Cutting down some oaks...

[sediener]

My parents are cutting down 3 - 30+ year old oaks in their backyard in N Raleigh.

What size or other qualities are necessary to take these trees for lumber?

If they are quality logs, is it possible to get someone to slice them up and dry them for me for a percentage of the take? Or what is the usual fee for such service?

These are trees from the house I grew up in and I'd love to make some furniture from them for myself and to pass on to my siblings.

thanks,
Steve

 

[Kyle]

Highly unlikely anyone would saw them for shares. Be aware there may be metal in them although you may not remember the metal being inserted into the tree

anything over 10" wide and clear should make some decent lumber if metal/insulator/crescent wrench/coke bottle free..

Most mid sized bandmills are capable of handling stuff up to 36" diameter and up to 16 feet long although the ideal is 8-10 long and 20-24" in diameter.


good luck.

 

[sediener]

Thanks for the info. Can you recommend anyone in the Raleigh area and give me an idea of what the service to mill would cost?

- Steve

 

[bman]

Steve

I own a chainsaw mill we might be able to work something out :eusa_thin

www.logosol.com

barry

 

[jeff...]

I'm not in Raleigh but if you bring me the bucked and de-limbed logs I would be more than happy to saw them for you. My saw rates are .30 a BF plain sawn or .50 a BF quarter sawn. Rates assume log length of 8 ~ 20' and diameter of at least 12" little end and not to exceed 36" diameter big end. Logs larger than 36" diameter on the big end get an additional hourly fee for excessive handling because they require special equipment to move them I'll have to bust them open with a chainsaw or a stick of dynamite in order to get them to fit on the mill. I try and make it a habit not to saw any logs less than 10" diameter small end, unless it's unusual species like dogwood, momissa, red bud, etc... When I do, those logs also get the same hourly fee for excessive handling.

Forgot to add $20.00 blade replacement free if your logs contain trash as Kyle mentioned above. Being yard trees there is a high chance they have trash. Most common in forest trees are lead bullets which are soft and usally don't damage the blade to the point where the can be re-sharpened. But in yard trees it's nails and all kinds of stuff that usally will destroy a blade in a heart beat.

Please feel free to contact me, I'm listed in the NC Sawyers page (Mills Custom Sawing)

Thanks

 

[DIYGUY]

Jeff,
I don't know if you caught it on the FWW site or not, but this month they are visiting a mill in PA. Fella there had the usual stories to tell about things he found in logs but the funniest of all was a brick! He saved the part of the log he cut a brick in half and pulled the brick out to prove it - perfectly encased in wood. Guess it didn't ding up his blade too badly as it was fairly soft. Still, all in all it makes one marvel at what can be found when mining trees ...

 

[saw4you]

Steve, I have a portable mill and I live in Rolesville which is not far from North Raleigh. I would be glad to bring it to the house and saw the lumber for you.

Thanks Jack

 

[clowman]

I try and make it a habit not to saw any logs less than 10" diameter small end

Going to show more of my sawmill operation skills ( or lack thereof ) but why this rule of thumb?

 

[Kyle]

10" or less is immature wood and generally doesn't dry well. The boards are quite small if you box the heart and leave only the good wood.

 

[jeff...]

Kyle is right, small little baby 10" diameter and less trees need to be left to mature. Although the make good firewood, they are not good for lumber.

 

[clowman]

Well, I learned something today. Thanks guys!

 

[newtonc]

Funny thing about "stuff" you find in yard trees.
When I was a kid our yard in the northeast was full of old oaks.A few had some knotty holes around the base of them.And bees made their nests in them.Well,being the good dad he was with kids running around the yard with bee sting allergies....one day while mixing some cement,my father filled in those holes with the leftover and those bees were history.
Flash forward 32 years...
The oaks grew over the cement and not a hint could be found of bees or cement.
My father had the trees cut down a few years ago and they tore through a couple chainsaw blades when they hit cement.My father called me up to tell me about the oddest thing they found in those old oaks and did I know anything about it!He's not getting any younger you know!But it's funny trying to make him recall that day.I will never forget the day I filled the oaks up with cement with my dad and having bees swarm us.
And that is what you find in yard trees.

 

[jeff...]

The strangest things I have hit in logs is a coke bottle in a cedar, a horse shoe and a old starter in the crotch of a walnut, which put a new meaning to the phrase shade tree mechanic. I'm still waiting for the day when I hit a $20.00 gold piece :lol:. Like I said there is a high probability of yard trees containing trash. This is the main reason I try and buy logs from logging companies, I may hit an occasional bullet which doesn't do much if any blade damage. You guys be careful milling up yard trees the trash they can contain may surprise you let alone damage your machinery. I personally witnessed a band mill hitting a RR spike in a walnut, the blade caught it just right. The force of the blade stopping dead in it's tracks snapped the drive shaft right in two. Thankfully there was no personal injury but that was on costly repair not to mention downtime.

 

[saw4you]

Hey Jeff, I was sawing for my church on Saturday on some pine logs a lady had donated. We are building a storage shed out back a pretty big one. The logs were nice and straight, the first three on my mill I hit 7 nails, that will make your day.

 

[jeff...]

nails in logs will almost make you want to curse and shout obscenities, perhaps not a good thing to do in a church environment hu?