Walnut tree fell over today

[CalG]

It had some help ;-) It's been shadowing the raspberries for too long, and the wife said it's got to go. Heck, I remember when the kids used to jump over it....;-)
I was in a rush and made a sloppy back cut. Got the saw bar stuck in a spring/ Barber chair. A bar can BEND a lot before it takes a kink! ;-)

Pulled out the old Mac 10-10 and freed it all up , putting the tree on the ground. (I'm in the forest, so hang ups are common, But I don't like it when they split up. Two saws are the MINIMUM! (I could have got out the tractor. loader and lifted and pushed I suppose. )

Any way.

It was not a big tree, and the dark heartwood is only about a foot diameter, with 4 inches of sap wood around.
I'm thinking of cutting the trunk into 54 inch bolts and tuck 'em away to dry for a "someday project .

Two questions.

1) Is the sap wood good for anything? (I've made a sewing box for my wife, 30 years ago now. It's from walnut that shows some sap wood. Seems sound...It's sitting just near by. 'came out nice!)

2) If I chip up the tops, are the chips as deadly to plants as the sap is? Mulch that kills the flowers would really get my wife in a huff!

TIA for comments

 

[s219]

If you let the walnut log sit for 12-18 months, the heartwood and sapwood will equalize in color. Commercial mills do this, or steam the wood to get the same effect, because it increases their yield of valuable dark wood quite a bit.

The last walnut logs I milled, the sapwood was about 30% of the diameter when the tree was cut. Chocolate and vanilla colors. After seasoning for a couple years, it was uniform color throughout. Somewhere I probably have pictures if you want to see what it looks like.

 

[CalG]

If you let the walnut log sit for 12-18 months, the heartwood and sapwood will equalize in color. Commercial mills do this, or steam the wood to get the same effect, because it increases their yield of valuable dark wood quite a bit.

The last walnut logs I milled, the sapwood was about 30% of the diameter when the tree was cut. Chocolate and vanilla colors. After seasoning for a couple years, it was uniform color throughout. Somewhere I probably have pictures if you want to see what it looks like.

No pictures needed! THANKS!

As mentioned, I was just going to lop them off into useful bolts, Peel the bark and wax the ends. Put them away with the other "good wood" in covered storage.

I'll give 'em a couple of years. Who knows. They will be down there with the 1000+ bf of ash and maple stickered in 5 quarter rwl. ;-)

The cut turned purple so quickly on air exposure, I was wondering ......

I'm leaving the top on until the leaves wilt. That always pulls water out. It's amazing how long the leaves stay fresh after the tree is down. I read a grown maple transpires over 100 gallons of water a day. Walnut must be more...

Next is a 25 year old pear. It's diseased now.. but once put out some mighty sweet fruit.

7 foot to the branches, 8 inch ABH

 

[dragoneggs]

Another thing you can do with the sap wood to darken it is to 'Aluminum Fume it. Might not get a perfect match but then apply a walnut oil stain. Check out this video for a how to:

How to Create a Dark Wood Finish Using Ammonia Fuming - YouTube