any use for tree stumps?

[daugen]

duplicate

 

[daugen]

any use for tree bottoms? Full of dirt which is seriously bad on the saw chain.
Into the woods for a critter habitat?
thanks
Drew

 

[gwiley]

Solid tree stumps make a good base for an anvil - but you have to cut them flat.

 

[daugen]

Solid tree stumps make a good base for an anvil - but you have to cut them flat.

good idea. Have some other humongous pieces cut flat luckily. I was wondering what to do with about six of them, what a pain to split.
How about a modern stonehenge style seating area around a bonfire/fire pit? That's my best idea so far.
almost makes we want to get an anvil... have a big vise with one, but not a real one, something at least a hundred pounds.

Working with this wood makes me more interested in a portable saw mill. We have more firewood than we can use. Some of these downed trees could be nice in furniture, hate to just burn them all.
Like the walnut. Split walnut looks like a beaver's chocolate ice cream cone, almost good enough to eat.

 

[Biggreenavalanche]

What kind of stumps are they ? Walnut and maple can be rough cut into about a 6" X 6" X 3' and sold for rifle stock blanks...really high quality with lots of pattern and distinctive grain patterning can command top dollar...just a thought...

Rich

 

[daugen]

What kind of stumps are they ? Walnut and maple can be rough cut into about a 6" X 6" X 3' and sold for rifle stock blanks...really high quality with lots of pattern and distinctive grain patterning can command top dollar...just a thought...

the really big stuff is white oak, then it's a mix of poplar, evergreens, locust, walnut, not much maple I can see in these woods. Sometimes some cherry and apple but not here. Used to be a lot of dogwoods, that certainly makes nice firewood.
But it's the larger pieces that can be sawed with my 24 bar in some kind of simple jig.
I guess it would be best to wash/pressure wash the trunk before trying to cut it, lot of grit everywhere.

 

[creekbend]

Pine stumps are excellent sources for "Fat Lighter".

 

[daugen]

Pine stumps are excellent sources for "Fat Lighter".

good idea.
Fatwood, Fatwood Firestarter - Plow & Hearth

buck to a buck fifty per pound. Hmmmm.

I grew up two properties away from a reknown furniture maker, George Nakashima. Don't know how many of you ever heard of him, but I'm sure if you Google the name, his furniture will come up.
I have his book, Soul of a Tree, and his ways of connecting to the tree from which the wood planks came. And an interesting vision and capability to design furniture with those unusual slabs of wood. Very expensive furniture, more
like wooden artwork.

My father always wanted his dining room table and chairs, but could never afford it. More important to send his kids to college, though George and his wife were quite sociable, getting invited to many local
cocktail parties of the 50's and 60's, a far cry from when they were interred as Japanese Americans at the start of WWII.

But what Nakashima taught me was that trees and lumber were a lot more than just sawdust and board feet. That board came from a tree with a soul. Or so Nakashima felt. Interesting guy.
I think I'd better start on something easy like a straight tree trunk of moderate size vs. a stump. Now if I had a 48" bandsaw with a blade that never got dull and had arms like Paul Bunyan...only in my dreams.

 

[BuzzardA91]

Always been a fan of Nakashima. I would have loved to have the chance to meet him. Very interesting person and life he led. Love his benches. A true craftsman. And yes, you have to be very wealthy to afford his work. Good for him.

 

[BuzzardA91]

Sorry DAUGEN, not trying to hijack. My favorite use for stumps is dig a hole and push them in. Gives me a great excuse to use tractor and backhoe and gives me a bunch of dirt to play around with. Can also line them up and make a type of burm. Animals love it.

 

[daugen]

make a type of berm. Animals love it.

sounds like an underwater reef that's not underwater...
Or where Brer Rabbit goes to hide from Mr. Hawk or Mrs Fox.

 

[daugen]

maybe I should ask some of the local woodworkers, and there are many, but some I know well, for a long time.
Not so much for the stumps but for the log itself, and whether they want to dry their own wood. Not sure where the closest planing mill is,
but even if I have to drive to Lancaster, and hopefully much closer, it's a one day deal. Though I'm not going to do that for a poplar tree, better be a variety in high demand.

And after I have tantalized these serious craftsmen with my tales of walnut tree trunks, then maybe I'll slip in the stump, or two.

 

[yellowdogsvc]

stumps are excellent for erosion control. Putting them on contour on the where a property slopes off will help slow erosion and create, over time, natural berms and terraces. We do that with a lot of wood that I don't chip or mulch. Adding organic matter back to your property can't hurt.

Big stumps can be cut if they are the right type of wood. They then can become table bases with some pressure washing to get the dirt out.

 

[daugen]

stumps are excellent for erosion control.
this got me thinking and I have several places where lining up some stumps would work nicely. Thanks.

I'm thinking I need to keep one chain just for stumps. I have to cut up several logs that are hollow, including the stump, and there's
all kinds of rotted material inside, and in places mud on the outside. I mean, who ever heard of a clean stump...

 

[JerryK]

I dug up a bunch of stumps last summer and placed them in various spots on the perimeter of my property... Don't have an ATV or snowmobile problem, and with the stumps there.... it's extra insurance... Will be doing the same next summer...