Anyone ever saw Tulip??

[twostroke_blood]

My brother is visiting me from connecticut, and he said he has alot of Tulip trees. Are Tulips = Yellow Poplar? Im wondering what kind of boards they'd make.

[Frank_Pender]

Gee, inquiring minds want to know.  I have one in the log yard as well.  I grought in it with a 16' West Coast Redwood.   The Tulip log is 16' as well .  I have another coming in a  week or so.

[Ianab]

I've not sawn any, or ever seen one.. but it looks OK.
Everything you ever needed to know about it.

http://wildwnc.org/trees/Liriodendron_tulipifera.html

The wood has high commercial value because of its versatility and as a substitute for increasingly scarce softwoods in furniture and framing construction.

Yellow-poplar is an extremely versatile wood with a multitude of uses. Most important recent uses of the wood have been for lumber for unexposed furniture parts and core stock, rotary-cut veneer for use as crossbands in construction of furniture parts, in plywood for backs and interior parts, and as pulpwood. Considerable attention is being given to its use as structural framing material and for veneers in structural plywood as a substitute for increasingly scarce softwoods.

So yes... they make usefull boards 

Ian

[brdmkr]

I've never sawn any, but tulip, tulip poplar and yellow poplar are the same tree (at least to me).  I have seen old barns in TN that were made using YP beams.   It is supposedly a very tough wood.  HD sells it to woodworkers for a permium.  When I was looking at the old barns in TN, I was told that the YP was nailed green.  They said that when the wood dried with the nails in place that it was virtually impossible to pull the nails.  Don't know if that is true or not, but I have remembered this for about 20 years.  It must have made an impression on me.

[Brad_S.]

I've sawn a whole lot of it. It saws and machines easily with a spicy sort of smell and it's a steady mover, often hard to keep it on the shelves. It's most often used as a secondary wood, i.e. drawer sides, cabinet backs, etc. It takes paint well and is often used for painted furniture and trim, but with the right stain it can mimic other woods, such as cherry. It's soft and fairly light, much like pine, which it's often used in place of since it doesn't have sap like pine. I have a canoe paddle maker who uses thousands of feet of it a year. The sapwood is very white when first sawn (hence it's nickname 'whitewood') with the heartwood being a light green which turns brown in the sun. It sometimes has a purple/black color if it has suffered injury, which the woodworkers go gaga over but the color is transient. The trees grow to good diameter and usually straight and clear with little tension. Good stuff to have around.

[fstedy]

I agree with Brad it cuts great and is a good money maker. Good diameter logs mostly clear and very straight.

[mike_van]

Don't let Tulip logs lay for long, it gets spalted fast, rots fast.

[Ron Wenrich]

I saw well over 1 MMbf per year.   The uppers are the things that move very well.  A lot of the clear stuff is used for mouldings.  The 1 & 2 Com I produce ends up in jewelry boxes and casket lumber.

When I first started in the lumber industry, tulip poplar was worth more than red oak. 

[Rod]

ron,when was tulip poplar was worth more than red oak?

[twostroke_blood]

Thank you'all very much! as always I appreciate the information. I guess I'll be taking a road trip to connecticut to cut some tulip  My brother is always telling me how much money his wife makes, wait till they see my bill 

[DonE911]

I built my wifes cat house out of it.  Cuts nice. Haven't sold any. I'll be building a horse barn and shop this winter and I'm sure there will be lots of poplar in it. I've got about 25 poplar trees on my place, every one is at least 50 ft to the first limb and straight as an arrow most are to big to get on my logosol, but hopefully a swinger is comming soon.

I did find out it needs to be nailed up green.  I used an air nailer to put the siding on and the boards I let airdry for a few days split over half the time.  The stuff I put up right off the mill was fine and still is. Its painted now and looks good, very little shrink'n.

[mike_van]

Don, i've air dried mine without any problems, at least no more than any other wood.  I used a lot for the ceiling boards in my addition,  it glues well, takes stain well, and you don't have the pitch problems of air dried pine.  It makes a good paint grade cabinet wood as well. 

[DonE911]

I didn't have any problems hand nailing it when dry or with the finish nailer.... It only split with the framing nailer. No big deal really.

[jph]

I use a lot of Tulip or poplar in the workshop, it machines beautifully and paints well. I use it to make face frames for kitchen cupboards, it is also great for  trim. Over here in the UK we pay £16 to £18 per cubic foot.

[oakiemac]

As others have said, tulip poplar is a great wood. The trees grow the straightest in the woods. You seldom see a crooked TP. It also sells fast, although not for a lot of money.

For you guys that are selling it kiln dried, how much do you get for the upper grades?

[Brad_S.]

I sell 4/4 KD FAS for $1.70 and am about mid-range for the region. I can buy very nice logs for $400 per K, drying costs are low for TP because it gives up moisture easily, so it is among my highest profit margin woods.

[Ron Wenrich]

Rod

Red oak wasn't worth much until the recession of 1974-75.  When I first started buying timber, I was told not to buy red oak.  It was considered a junk wood.

After that recession, the open grained woods became more popular.  Poplar prices have remained the same ever since, and the oak shot past it.

Oak is now sitting pretty still and maple has shot past that.  The maple boom will last for about another 5-10 yrs than remain steady with periodic spikes in demand.  I don't see oak moving up anytime soon.

The hardwood markets make periodic swings between open porous and diffuse pourous woods.  It takes about 30 years to make a cycle.  Oak stopped moving up about 5-7 years ago. 

My theory is that it depends on who's building a house.  The boomers didn't want the maple and pine that they grew up with, and turned to the oak like the grandparents had.  It seems to skip every generation.

I have an order right now for 5/4 FAS poplar with a price of $730 green.  I'll saw a trailerload in about 2 days plus have blocking, casket and pallet lumber as well.  Production is about 25-50% better for poplar vs oak.  Bigger logs, longer logs and softer wood.

[Captain]

Yup

[Rod]

  thats one big poplar captain.Here in West Virginia we cut them down long before they get that big.

ron,thats interesting

[dail_h]

   Poplars 50 ft to the first limb might be worth more for veneer,I'de check around before I cut 'um