What to do with the trees?

[dmccarty]

Last spring we had a wind storm that brought down three oak trees somewhat near the house. One tree is firewood size, roughly 15 inches in diameter. The other two are something else. Some of the largest trees we have. One is close to 34-36 inches DBH and has a good 40-50 feet of straight trunk. The other tree is maybe 32ish inches DBH and has 40-50 feet of trunk. Really sad to see them down.

There was one other HUGE tree and yesterday I finally found the time to see if the tree was still up. And it was not. Looks like the same storm blew it and a couple more trees down. Its either oak or hickory and it is 36 inches DBH with 50-60 feet of straight trunk. Really stinks to see that glorious tree down. It took down another oak in the 30ish DBH size.

We timbered in 2000 but kept the area where these trees are located out of the contract to keep these old trees around.

Anywho they are down. The ones near the house I have been topping and was going to cut up into firewood. Don't like it but what else to do with it? The one tree near the house has to have at least 10 cords of wood in it and there are three trees down. We burn 3-4 cords a year so there is 6-7 years worth of firewood. And that is not even talking about the trees we just found! AND we have four 24ish DBH oaks that have died that need to come down.

So what to do?

The market a few months ago was only $200 per 1000 board feed. The big trees will produce almost 1000 board feet but I have no way to get these trees in long lengths out of the woods. So selling to a mill is out?

Make firewood? What a pain that would be. The rounds would be very heavy and even with the splitter used in the verticle position its a lot of work. And it just seems horrible to turn these into firewood.

Make lumber?

To make lumber I would have to get a sawmill. Went through this calculus years ago and a decent mill is more money that I have or would want to spend if I did have the dollars. PLUS these trees are not easily accessible so even getting portable mills to them is not easy.

Which leaves me with the Alaskan type mills.

But what to do with the wood? The oak is likely stained at this point and even if it is not the wood will have to be dried and then what?

I don't have time to make furniture.

Try to sell the wood?

Or do I make timbers out of this stuff and build a barn? And oak post and beam barn?

What to do? I'm leaning towards making beams and building a barn...

Ideas?

Later,
Dan

 

[Slacker]

Call a close by sawmill and ask them what to do. Most rural sawmills deal with this type of call frequently. They'll probably refer you to a local logger.
Personally I'd be happy with the firewood. For the Alaskan sawmill setups the log needs to be on level ground, and you need a chainsaw with a long bar. You'll also want a "ripping" chain for your saw.
Split seasoned oak is going for a premium around here, I'd sell some wood for a few $.

 

[Highbeam]

"The market a few months ago was only $200 per 1000 board feed. The big trees will produce almost 1000 board feet but I have no way to get these trees in long lengths out of the woods. So selling to a mill is out?"

So if I add my zeros you're looking at 200,000$ worth of timber. You would be a fool to do anything but cash in here. We use helicopters to hoist trees out of the woods in the NW and for just a couple of trees, you could skid them out with a bulldozer or a good logger will have a way. There is no reason that the trees are stuck in the forest. They'll need to be cut down to log truck length and 36" diameter is child's play for a real logger. The log trucks hold an 8' wide load of logs and there have been more than a few "one log trucks".

 

[dmccarty]

Call a close by sawmill and ask them what to do. Most rural sawmills deal with this type of call frequently. They'll probably refer you to a local logger.
Personally I'd be happy with the firewood. For the Alaskan sawmill setups the log needs to be on level ground, and you need a chainsaw with a long bar. You'll also want a "ripping" chain for your saw.
Split seasoned oak is going for a premium around here, I'd sell some wood for a few $.

I split firewood as a summer job once. I ain't doing it again except for my own use. But it is an option.

There is no easy access to the the really big down tree site. I'll have to cut a tractor trail to get in there. I already have a trail to the trees I knew that had fallen. Loggers won't touch a tree like this since there is not money in it onless it was for veneer. The value of the tree would not pay for the cost for the logger to drop off a skidder and cutter much less get the trees. One reason we did not allow logging in this area of wood was due to a wet area. The equipment would just tear that area up and even if the tree was a high doller tree it would not pay for the damage...

Thinking things over, it looks like one or two of these trees would provide enough posts and beams for a good size barn.....

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

"The market a few months ago was only $200 per 1000 board feed. The big trees will produce almost 1000 board feet but I have no way to get these trees in long lengths out of the woods. So selling to a mill is out?"
...
So if I add my zeros you're looking at 200,000$ worth of timber.... ".

Yep, math is off. Its 200*1 = $200. Not 200K. The price is $200 PER 1000 board feet not $200 per foot. To really confuse people in the Information Age the timber business use the old Roman M to mean 1000. So timber is sold as $X per 1M. And M don't mean a Millon much less a Megabyte.

One volume calculator said the really big tree was 1.2Mish aka 1200ish board feet. So its worth is somewhere around $240-480 to a mill. Cut into nice boards at HD its a bit more. Might even be close to 200K.

The thing that idea that hit me this afternoon is that for the price of the mill I could build the structure of the barn we need. One maybe two of these trees would build the barn structure. Which leaves us with a few more trees to use/sell.

I'm wondering if there is a way to sell to woodworkers and such. The hard part in all of this is the selling...

I have looked at Logosol products over the years and reading there website they have a couple mill owners very near me.

It bears repeating, these trees are not real accessible, even getting a small portable band mill to the trees would be times consuming.

Later,
Dan

 

[ToadHill]

Check around in your are for someone with a portable mill, have them come to your site and cut the lumber there. you should be able to sell rough cut Oak for a lot more than $200 per 1000.

 

[tommu56]

i would call loggers we have a guy around here that high lines them out and I've seem mules pull them out
tom

 

[Highbeam]

200$ then. Ah, Big difference. You won't get a helicopter out for those.

Just don't let them go to waste. I hate to see good wood rot. Cottonwood or willow can rot, but nice doug fir, red oak, hickory, or any good wood is a bloody shame.

 

[charlz]

If the lumber route doesn't work out contact a local firewood seller and see if you can work a deal. Maybe a 50/50 split with your half cut/split/stacked at the location of your choosing. That way you get lots of firewood and don't have to do anything but haul it into the house and watch it burn

Charles

 

[sandman2234]

I would ask that question on the forestry board, as there are a bunch of guys that have portable bandsaws. Great bunch of fellows and always willing to help out.
David from jax

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php

 

[dmccarty]

Sandman, I'll check out that link. I'm reading up on the Logosol site and there are some posts from people in my situation.

Charles has a good suggestion as well. Me trying to split these big rounds will take alot of work. I think I'm on the low side to say there are 40-50 cords of wood in these trees. That is 10-14 years worth of wood for us...

My best guess t the moment is that since it looks like the one or two trees would be provide the beams and posts for the barn which would easily cover the cost of the mill, that is the direction we will go. Then see if I can figure out how to see the sawn wood....

Later,
Dan

 

[EddieWalker]

Every area is diferent, but here in East Texas, I called over two dozen loggers to sell my timber after I took it out. They all wanted to know how much I had on the ground, how big was it, and the exact species. I told them what I knew and some were interested. Others said no thanks right off and others said they wanted it. As of today, anf five years of taking out trees, I have not had one logger show up.

I also offered to give away what anybody would come and take. I had one guy show up for some of it, but then he never showed up again. My FIL comes buy and cuts some firewood for himself, but otherwise the only way to get rid of it is to burn it.

I spent allot of time trying to sell it, heard all sorts of stories of how much it's worth, how so many people wanted to buy lumber,and how a friend of a friend is looking for wood. I can burn a hundred trees in a day pretty easily once I get a fire going. It's the only proven method that I've come up with to get rid of the trees.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[BarryinMN]

Here in MN the logging industry fell off a cliff. Old timers sold off & moved on. Even the Amish pallet sawmills are working part time.

One bright spot is grinding & pressing the hardwoods into wood pellets for woodstoves.

 

[Mith]

If it is really as inaccessible as it sounds, and worth as little as $400 then I'd just log it.
Saw it into rounds, and split it there with an axe. Green oak isnt bad to split with an axe.
There is very little handling involved, big rounds can be split into smaller bits without moving them.

 

[Ductape]

Having some experience working on a local farm where we did some logging off the property........ i've gotta warn you. Take your best guess at what your trees will be worth to a lumber yard and knock two thirds off that price. Thats what you'll end up with. Then minus the price it will cost you to get the logs trucked to the mill (and what it cost you to get them out of the woods). By the time the mill down grades your trees for too much flare at the bottom, a knot here, or other defect there, charge YOU because they had to cut three inches off your length....... then add on the fact that construction has slowed waaaaaaaaaaaaaay down. Around here the mills have been regularly refusing loads of logs because they just can't sell the lumber. I think if you ended up with pocket change after all the headache, you'll be lucky. I think you should be prepared to end up in the negative after the expense of getting the logs to the mill. I with the guys who say you should make your own firewood out of it, even if it means buying a splitter or other equipment.

 

[EddieWalker]

You guys reminded me of something I was told last year by a guy that I was talking to, but don't know this for a fact. He said that the lumber mills were only accepting logs with an apointment and turning away those that didn't have one. They have so much lumber that they are limiting what they will accept.

I was also told that Katrina created a surplus of lumber that was causing some of this, but I find that hard to belive. Most of what went down from Katrina was ruined for lumber. I know some guys were making a killing on the hardwoods, but even they got more then they could sell.

Framing studs at Home Depot were $2.09 yesterday. That's the cheapest that I've seen them in years. Even drywall is way down at $5.49 for a 8ft sheet. Prices seem to be droping on building materials right now, but I'm not sure if that's part of the normal winter slowdown, or the housing slowdown? It might also be from the surplus of lumber at the mills, which accounts for it being so hard to sell lumber.

Eddie

 

[blueriver]

You guys reminded me of something I was told last year by a guy that I was talking to, but don't know this for a fact. He said that the lumber mills were only accepting logs with an apointment and turning away those that didn't have one. They have so much lumber that they are limiting what they will accept.

I was also told that Katrina created a surplus of lumber that was causing some of this, but I find that hard to belive. Most of what went down from Katrina was ruined for lumber. I know some guys were making a killing on the hardwoods, but even they got more then they could sell.

Framing studs at Home Depot were $2.09 yesterday. That's the cheapest that I've seen them in years. Even drywall is way down at $5.49 for a 8ft sheet. Prices seem to be droping on building materials right now, but I'm not sure if that's part of the normal winter slowdown, or the housing slowdown? It might also be from the surplus of lumber at the mills, which accounts for it being so hard to sell lumber.

Eddie

Eddie, I am about 3 hrs NW of you just up 69/75. Last week I saw some logging trucks going by, I flagged one down and asked him to have someone stop and talk to me I wanted to clear cut a small area. I knew a logging company wouldn't come for such a small area, so I thought here's my chance.

Long story short, it paid $6 per ton. I didn't do it for the money was simply tired of not acessing that area, they cut them close and I mean real close to the ground, what they left we will cut into fire wood, then pile and burn the balance.

I am thinking I will keep it sprayed this coming year and with time bermuda grass will overtake it.

I quess I got long winded, I wanted you to know its $6 a ton here.

 

[SPIKER]

I say goto the forestry forum, there are highly portable mills (such as the LUCAS and PETERSON) Swing mills that can make short work of logs in hard to reach areas. tere are a lot of millers there that would take the logs at a fair price. but like others said the logging industry is suffering form slow building bad now, lots of these mills are simply setting as the yard is full of already cut wood with few buyers...

Mark M

 

[Mike058]

I found this, Log Volume Calculator at WOODWEB in this site, Timber and Lumber Calculators at WOODWEB This should help you figure out how many board feet your talking about. Once you get some quotes you'll have a better idea of how much it's worth. Then you can decide what you can do with it. Good Luck.

 

[charlz]

Interesting in light of all the 'timber glut' comments that I saw this article today saying timber theft is on the rise due to rising timber prices:

Ax begins to fall on illegal loggers - Yahoo! News