I have a parcel of land about 50 acres. Last winter a storm blew over a massive sugar maple. Right now it’s laying on its side in the woods with half the root ball exposed and it’s still alive. It leafed out etc but I know it’s dead. And I do believe that there is a lot of curly flames figure in the trunk as the barks is twisted and gnarled. I’ve seen this in other maples i had cut up. and they usually had some nice figure in the wood. Any utility in getting a chain saw sawmill and slab cutting it up in place? The tree is massive. Probably 30” in diameter at least maybe closer to 4’ at the very base. There’s limbs 20” in diameter that are 15’ long. A shame. It was a beautiful tree and very old.
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Lumber Question.
- Thread starter Valkyrie
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So IF you do nothing, it will eventually rot.
So I'd say yes, harvesting the wood from a tree that was naturally downed is a very good idea. I am told that the term "windfall" as in "That business deal turned out to be a windfall" comes from folks who were not legally allowed to down trees that were marked for The Royal Navy for masts, BUT... if nature knocked a tree down, then Joe Yoeman was allowed to finish the harvesting and reap the profit.
IF you don't get gunstock blanks out of it, you can likely sell the curly maple to other woodworkers, and then use the cash to get a stock blank that will work.
It will be several years of drying to get to where you can use it. You will need to monitor that bugs don't get to it either.
I have read that when one is drying such wood you need to paint the ends of the wood with oil based paint, as that causes a different drying profile, and the wood is much much less prone to crack while drying.
LD
So I'd say yes, harvesting the wood from a tree that was naturally downed is a very good idea. I am told that the term "windfall" as in "That business deal turned out to be a windfall" comes from folks who were not legally allowed to down trees that were marked for The Royal Navy for masts, BUT... if nature knocked a tree down, then Joe Yoeman was allowed to finish the harvesting and reap the profit.
IF you don't get gunstock blanks out of it, you can likely sell the curly maple to other woodworkers, and then use the cash to get a stock blank that will work.
It will be several years of drying to get to where you can use it. You will need to monitor that bugs don't get to it either.
I have read that when one is drying such wood you need to paint the ends of the wood with oil based paint, as that causes a different drying profile, and the wood is much much less prone to crack while drying.
LD
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there have been instances of a tree like that being up-righted with a crane and living. but those to my knowledge were trees of historical importance.
if your tree has branches 20" around it is a money tree. i had a portable mill for years and made some serious money cutting trees like that on shares.
I would find someone with knowledge of milling for gun stock material and go shares with him.
find someone that looks at the root wad potential also. some of the best figure comes from the root wad. pressure washed it mills just like any other part of the tree.
makes me twitch thinking what the next cut might expose!!!.
if your tree has branches 20" around it is a money tree. i had a portable mill for years and made some serious money cutting trees like that on shares.
I would find someone with knowledge of milling for gun stock material and go shares with him.
find someone that looks at the root wad potential also. some of the best figure comes from the root wad. pressure washed it mills just like any other part of the tree.
makes me twitch thinking what the next cut might expose!!!.
There will be a serious investment in time and money to get this downed tree cut into planks for usable gunstocks/furniture/firewood. If you don't have the means/crew/equipment to do it yourself and need to hire someone. It COULD be a windfall or not. Only you can make that decision.
My father harvested an old walnut tree on a neighbors property that a storm blew down with only a small chainsaw, a pickup truck and me. I will tell you that it took over three weeks of hard work just to get 20 feet of the base of the tree cut into shotgun stock size lengths to our house. He got very few good pieces of gunstock wood out of that tree and ended up selling most of it to a wood turner. Your mileage may vary
My father harvested an old walnut tree on a neighbors property that a storm blew down with only a small chainsaw, a pickup truck and me. I will tell you that it took over three weeks of hard work just to get 20 feet of the base of the tree cut into shotgun stock size lengths to our house. He got very few good pieces of gunstock wood out of that tree and ended up selling most of it to a wood turner. Your mileage may vary
There’s a cabinet maker up the road from me. He has a mill. I might be able to cut it and drag it out with the tractor. It’s massive though. I may see if I can rent a loader with a grapple on it and go that route. I don’t want to let it go to waste or firewood.
My wife wants a slab to make a live edge table to the living room.
My wife wants a slab to make a live edge table to the living room.
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be a crying shame to see that tree go to waste.
I know and I’m trying to avoid that. I had a huge cherry tree two years ago so the same. It was a clear trunk for 28’ almost 2’ in diameter at the base. I let the neighbor Turn it into fire wood. Never again.
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!I milled a walnut in Oregon, 40 odd years ago and sold the lumber then for 6k. and that was green.
a word of caution. don't get in a hurry to dry it if you do mill it. the guy i sold the walnut to had a friend who had a friend with a lumber Kiln. they ended up with 6k worth of watermellon rinds.
i still have one or two blanks i highgraded from that tree.
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I got tired of cutting "good wood" into firewood, so went the chainsaw mill route and have done a bit of slabbing. It takes a lot of displacement to pull the chain through the end grain, and the saw needs to be tuned rich and run extra oil.
Slabs need to be stacked with wooden strips between them to allow air to circulate, and support the slabs. End grain should be sealed to prevent checking on the ends. All crotch wood should be treated as end grain. Keep it dry and allow at least a year per inch of thickness for air drying.
An Alaskan chainsaw mill is "portable" in that it can be carried to where the tree fell, and the tree milled in place. They make a ton of sawdust, so if in a yard. put tarps down to catch the sawdust. Big slabs are heavy. I milled a pin oak that was 11' long, an 28 on the small end. I had to trim the bigger end down to 32" or less so that my 36" Granberg Alaskan would clear, and ran a 42" on bar on the Husqvarna 394xp. Luckily, the trunk was downhill and in a position were we could slide the slabs onto a trailer about 3' away. It was all that 2 of us could do to lift the ends and slide them on top of each other, but the slabs were 2-1/2" thick!
Maple should mill easier than that pin oak did. Those 20" limbs most likely have stress in them, so expect them to split closest to the crotch when drying.
Where is this tree? (city and state)
20' walnut
28" boxelder
Slabs need to be stacked with wooden strips between them to allow air to circulate, and support the slabs. End grain should be sealed to prevent checking on the ends. All crotch wood should be treated as end grain. Keep it dry and allow at least a year per inch of thickness for air drying.
An Alaskan chainsaw mill is "portable" in that it can be carried to where the tree fell, and the tree milled in place. They make a ton of sawdust, so if in a yard. put tarps down to catch the sawdust. Big slabs are heavy. I milled a pin oak that was 11' long, an 28 on the small end. I had to trim the bigger end down to 32" or less so that my 36" Granberg Alaskan would clear, and ran a 42" on bar on the Husqvarna 394xp. Luckily, the trunk was downhill and in a position were we could slide the slabs onto a trailer about 3' away. It was all that 2 of us could do to lift the ends and slide them on top of each other, but the slabs were 2-1/2" thick!
Maple should mill easier than that pin oak did. Those 20" limbs most likely have stress in them, so expect them to split closest to the crotch when drying.
Where is this tree? (city and state)
20' walnut
28" boxelder
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With wood prices what they are it would be good to see it used to make things rather than firewood. I hope you find a local with a mill and a bunch of friends who can get it to the mill.
N.Y. Yankee
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I would do everything I could to see that the wood does not go to waste. Even if it cost me some in the end. My point would be to see the wood used for nice things, not fire wood.
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A Husky 455 would be OK for a trim saw, but it takes serious displacement for milling.
https://www.baileysonline.com/husqv...aws-with-full-wrap-handlebar-hvfp-395xpw.htmlhttps://www.baileysonline.com/granberg-mk-iv-alaskan-chainsaw-mill-with-rails-g778r.html
Add a 42" bar and a couple of loops of milling chain and you see it isn't an inexpensive proposition to start. Besides that, its HARD, physical work.
https://www.baileysonline.com/husqv...aws-with-full-wrap-handlebar-hvfp-395xpw.htmlhttps://www.baileysonline.com/granberg-mk-iv-alaskan-chainsaw-mill-with-rails-g778r.html
Add a 42" bar and a couple of loops of milling chain and you see it isn't an inexpensive proposition to start. Besides that, its HARD, physical work.
Likely, this will be a once in a lifetime experience for you. Be honest with yourself about it. It is difficult work and, particularly for the neophyte, dangerous. Unless you see a future in milling slabs, hire someone who already bought the equipment and has experience. You will have enough to do with setting it up properly for drying.
I live in a rural area and there are three sawmills in the county who would contract to take care of something like this on shares.
I live in a rural area and there are three sawmills in the county who would contract to take care of something like this on shares.
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a commercial mill may be able to put you in contact with a portable operator. if you can get a mill to the tree you eliminate the loading of all the waste. though there are uses for the maple sawdust even. mushroom growers kill for it. i really can see you coming out on the pluss side with a tree like that.
best of luck and let us know how it shakes out. maybe someone here will build a stock from it.
best of luck and let us know how it shakes out. maybe someone here will build a stock from it.
sportster73hp
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I have used a 391 stihl with an alaskan mill setup later a 660 with 36 inch bar . Without the dogs a 32 inch log fits. I recently purchased a used harbor freight mill but it only cuts a 20 inch width
This is from a beatle killed ash
This is from a beatle killed ash
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an alaskan mill is a young mans sport.
sportster73hp
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Definitely for the young or motivated. Did 20 inch maple 8-10 minute per cut . Bar oil, fuel after each cut touch up the chain every other cut. That was a large tree and well worth the experience. Another reason to buy the bandsaw mill. For the right log would do it again. Still have a 6 foot and 10 foot ash log to do that were too big for the bandsaw
Jason Jablonski
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Just curious how the shares generally work out when dealing with the mills? Interesting thread, hope you get some slabs out of that tree. Please keep us updated.
