Red Hickory (Pignut Hickory) value?

[jbburd]

I have a Pignut Hickory Tree that just died, it has been on the family farm forever. I plan on taking it down & make flooring out of it for the old homestead house that i am remodeling (in family for 4 generations).   I was just wondering what kind of $$ value it has (i dont plan on selling it , to much sentimental value), just curious.  I been shooting around the idea of a small sawmill, but haven't got one yet, doesn't matter cause the small sawmill wouldn't be big enough for this log.  Here it is....

Red Hickory (Pignut Hickory), 40" across @ waist high, aproximately 20-25' of log length.  It died cause i built up the lane next to it, evidently compacted the soil around the roots.

Thanks in advance

[Tom]

Pignut is a tough tree.  Expect to be frequently sharpening blades and tools.   The wood is really pretty though and the wood in the crotches, if cut properly and you are lucky, is downright gorgeous.

Rough cut and air dried hickory around here would  bring a dollar to a dollar and half a board foot

The more it is machined, the more is demanded.  S4S (surfaced 4 sides) may bring $3 to $5 a Board foot.

Because it is your tree, you will benefit by being able to make lumber from parts of the tree that a commercial mill might throw away. 

Keep in mind that the longer you let it sit to dry, the harder it becomes to saw.  Forty inches in diameter is too  big for most mills.  You will probably have to split the log to saw it.  If the size of the log is the only thing stopping you from getting a small mill, bite the bullet and get the mill.  Now, that is only my opinion, based on the fact that I have gone to great lengths to open up a log in the past.  It's a passion that you can't put a price upon.

Maybe you can find a custom sawyer in your locality that will do the work and let you help. That would help to keep you out of the initial purchase of mill.  Personally, I would be looking for an excuse to get one.

[Greg Cook]

The Toolbox says that's over 1,000 board-feet of lumber, so probably around 1200 square feet of flooring. IF you could get it, what would it cost you? Don't forget the value of it being a "family tree" going into the old homestead.  You can't buy that at the Depot!  Sounds like justification for a mill to me!

Greg

[Part_Timer]

Sounds like a good excuse to get a mill to me.  Either quarter it with a chain saw so it will fit on a smaller mill or find someone close with a swinger to cut it up for you.  Either way it is to nice for firewood

[dad2nine]

Pignut is a tough tree.  Expect to be frequently sharpening blades and tools.   The wood is really pretty though and the wood in the crotches, if cut properly and you are lucky, is downright gorgeous.

Rough cut and air dried hickory around here would  bring a dollar to a dollar and half a board foot

The more it is machined, the more is demanded.  S4S (surfaced 4 sides) may bring $3 to $5 a Board foot.

Because it is your tree, you will benefit by being able to make lumber from parts of the tree that a commercial mill might throw away. 

Keep in mind that the longer you let it sit to dry, the harder it becomes to saw.  Forty inches in diameter is too  big for most mills.  You will probably have to split the log to saw it.  If the size of the log is the only thing stopping you from getting a small mill, bite the bullet and get the mill.  Now, that is only my opinion, based on the fact that I have gone to great lengths to open up a log in the past.  It's a passion that you can't put a price upon.

Maybe you can find a custom sawyer in your locality that will do the work and let you help. That would help to keep you out of the initial purchase of mill.  Personally, I would be looking for an excuse to get one.

Very well put I would like to strongly recommend to get it sawed as soon as possible, dry hickory will set a blade on fire right quick. The best time to saw it is fresh off the stump.

[WDH]

Jbburd,

Saw up that tree and use that lumber to create a legacy for the family farm.  How can you put a price on that? 

[getoverit]

I sawed up a pignut hickory a couple of years ago with my Peterson Swinger that was about the same size you mentioned and I had the idea of turning it into flooring also. Now that it is cut up and dry, I dont have a planer that will plane it to size. It is like trying to plane a piece of steel because it is so hard.

If you do decide to use it for flooring, My suggestion would be to cut it at 7/8" thick to give you a final 3/4" thick flooring. It shrinks very little when drying but is prone to severe twisting and warping if not stickered properly.
I cut all of mine at 4/4 (just over an inch) and it is just plain too thick to try to plane off that much material with anything I have. Is is some beautiful wood though! I have been thinking of turning mine into furniture instead of flooring.

[woodmills1]

By all means try to get some lumber sawn.  However, hicory is tough at each and every step in the process.  Very hard to saw on my LT 40 with much wavyness.  Some say that blades with less tooth front angle and less set make it easier.  Also prone to warp of all kinds due to the parallel grain and tension, both as cut and when drying.  It must also be well dried before machining, I have seen pieces move(warp, cup, etc) after planing.

Due to the above I would not reccomend a cut thickness of  7/8, there might not be enough material to remove cup, wavyness or tooth marks, and wider boards could have sever cup if thinner.  Here is a general idea of yield for flooring from my experience.  Lets say I have a log that scales at 200 bd ft.  I will probably cut some over run, maybe 220 to 240.  After drying there will be some loss, to severe warp or twist, checks, cracks  or....!  So maybe 200 or 220 bd ft.  During initial machining each board will be jointed and ripped, this is why a 1 by 6 is really only 5.5.  This will cause a loss in area of between 5 and 10 %, so say 180 to 200.  Then the boards will be cross cut to square ends and remove bad areas and knots so say 170 to 190.  Then a 1/4" tounge and groove will further shrink the area.  This loss, like the jointing and ripping is larger for less wide boards.  Also, there will be further end trimming during instalation.  Final coverage would probably be 140 to 180.

So, now that I have scared ya

cut that homstead tree into lumber

cut some 4/4   5/4 and maybe even thicker  ya never know what you will make down the road.

[flip]

I would have to charge about $1000 to saw that up for ya.  $500 for the blades and $500 for the time to change blades and cuss the hickory gods.   Oh, by the way, I have not had good experiences with hickory...it's along the line of sawing concrete with iron in it.

[WDH]

When I work with hickory, I see sparks and get a lot of practice sharpening planer and jointer knives .

[jbburd]

Thanks everyone for the info.