iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Why is cottonwood ignored?

Started by jrokusek, May 02, 2007, 12:48:30 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

TexasTimbers

Hey we got two South Dakotans! I heard there is actually a couple of trees there somewhere. A tree for each of ya! ;D
The oil is all in Texas, but the dipsticks are in D.C.

Don P

Depends on where kevjay, I've worked in a million acre woods there  ;D

jrokusek

Guess that explains where all the trees went!   :D

LeeB

Is two trees considered a "woods" :D :D
'98 LT40HDD/Lombardini, Case 580L, Cat D4C, JD 3032 tractor, JD 5410 tractor, Husky 346, 372 and 562XP's. Stihl MS180 and MS361, 1998 and 2006 3/4 Ton 5.9 Cummins 4x4's, 1989 Dodge D100 w/ 318, and a 1966 Chevy C60 w/ dump bed.

Walnut Beast

Quote from: Larry on May 02, 2007, 04:25:54 AM
I don't ignore cottonwood...never have found a wood yet that couldn't be used.  An old thread with a pic of where I used cottonwood in kitchen cabinets.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=7990.0

I have some cottonwood stashed away that has some of the prettiest and tightest curl ya ever saw.
Are you still doing stuff with cottonwood Larry

Larry

I haven't sawn any cottonwood in a very long time.  It was common at my location in north Missouri but since moving to northwest Arkansas I never see it for some reason.
Larry, making useful and beautiful things out of the most environmental friendly material on the planet.

We need to insure our customers understand the importance of our craft.

Walnut Beast

Those cabinets were fantastic Larry. I took a friend a burger earlier this evening where he took a whole tree line of some massive cottonwood trees out with the dozer. Nice and straight but massive. Might have to get some 

handhewn

I mostly to cut cottonwood for trailer beds as this wood tends to hold together even when cracks develop. You don't loose chunks flying off the bed into the roadway.

alan gage

I've been happy with straight cottonwood logs with centered piths. Less happy with logs with sweep or off center pith. I use it mainly has 2x lumber since we don't have softwoods to speak of. I've heard that it doesn't hold nails as good as commercial framing lumber and after using it would agree with that. Doesn't take as much effort to withdraw a nail, which is nice when you nail something in the wrong place.

It's hard to find logs. Plenty of it around here but many of them are either gigantic, leaners, or both. Plenty of nice straight ones that would make good lumber too but no one is cutting them down as they usually grow where people don't want to build. That's about the only reason trees get cut down here.

Sure does saw easy.

Alan
Timberking B-16, a few chainsaws from small to large, and a Bobcat 873 Skidloader.

doc henderson

I have removed 9 from my 3 acre yard.  they only live about 100 years, and then you have to worry about falling limbs.  we get a few storms here as you may have heard.  if a limb falls across a drive way, it is not a 5 minute job to clear.  i make pallets with mine.  but the wood is pretty, like elm.  it is under appreciated as it is not commercially available.  I have read it is used for coffin making.  light weight, and easily stained with aniline water based dye.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

doc henderson

I cut some for a trailer bed, and a piece left over is still outside on a stack of lumber 6 years later.  does not rot from just moisture, but will if in contact with soil.  I have some flitches to make some benches with.  I will add pics to this thread then.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

moodnacreek

It is not ignored if that's what you can get. When I started out that and buttonball was all we had so the barn and sawmill shed got built with those woods.  The fact is in most areas there is plenty of better wood to saw and the conifers don't attract the ppb like those white hardwood do.

farmfromkansas

I had 2 big cottonwood fall across a pond dam.  They cut off my access across there.  We get these big wind storms that knock trees down, especially cottonwood, and will turn a hedge tree off to the side, even if it still hangs onto the ground.  Well these cottonwoods have been down for several years and I still don't have all of it cut up, been using it for firewood.  The wood is still solid if it does not touch the ground.  I cut and split a bunch, still a pile there, got so wet i could not back up there, cause water was standing in the spillway. Seems like we either have floods or drought in Kansas. More wind forecast for tomorrow.
Most everything I enjoy doing turns out to be work

Lyndaker

I recently cleared a bunch of Balsam Poplar (cottonwood) for a new garden. Much of it looked good but when I started milling it, almost all of it had checks in it from winter and wind. Here in Northwestern Ontario, -40 is common. Apparently the trees crack internally in the extreme cold which made mine worthless for lumber. 

terrifictimbersllc

This cottonwood is hard to ignore!

Near Firestone rubber plant between Monrovia and Buchanan, Liberia.

Place is called "Cottonwood"!!!



 


DJ Hoover, Terrific Timbers LLC,  Mystic CT Woodmizer Million Board Foot Club member. 2019 LT70 Super Wide 55 Yanmar,  LogRite fetching arch, WM BMS250 sharpener/BMT250 setter.  2001 F350 7.3L PSD 6 spd manual ZF 4x4 Crew Cab Long Bed

D6c

Not sure what variety we have in iowa but it's pretty white or a little yellowish.  I sawed some into 2x4's and stack dried it.  About 1/4 of it was useable because it twisted/crooked so bad.  
I did quarter saw one log and cut it for decking on a pallet rack.... worked great for that.
Mostly the cottonwood here gets used for pallet lumber.

justallan1

The last ranch that I worked for hired a guy to saw bunches of cottonwood corral planks 2x8x16 and they were horrible!
If you used them green on 8' oc posts they would sag to the point that you thought they were still growing. If you used them dry they were so hard you had to predrill holes or it would split.
Just my opinion, but being that the cottonwood in Montana doesn't have pitch, is why it snaps and breaks so easily where you attach it to your posts. It just doesn't have any give to it.
The stuff up here is real fast growing with wide growth rings. It has a huge base, then the first limbs are low and big enough that you can't saw a board longer than that distance.
Again, just my opinion....
I'd bet if you had two guys running the same saws, equipment and mills and put one logging and milling pine and the other logging and milling cottonwood, the guy doing the pine would run circles around the other with production. Cottonwood has such a huge amount of waste for what you'd get out of it.
Hopefully it's better in other areas.

moodnacreek

Quote from: justallan1 on April 19, 2021, 02:27:44 PM
The last ranch that I worked for hired a guy to saw bunches of cottonwood corral planks 2x8x16 and they were horrible!
If you used them green on 8' oc posts they would sag to the point that you thought they were still growing. If you used them dry they were so hard you had to predrill holes or it would split.
Just my opinion, but being that the cottonwood in Montana doesn't have pitch, is why it snaps and breaks so easily where you attach it to your posts. It just doesn't have any give to it.
The stuff up here is real fast growing with wide growth rings. It has a huge base, then the first limbs are low and big enough that you can't saw a board longer than that distance.
Again, just my opinion....
I'd bet if you had two guys running the same saws, equipment and mills and put one logging and milling pine and the other logging and milling cottonwood, the guy doing the pine would run circles around the other with production. Cottonwood has such a huge amount of waste for what you'd get out of it.
Hopefully it's better in other areas.
Montana is different from the east. It's not likely those boards would dry enough to be hard here but they will still split on the ends. It is a poor wood for sure. Some places specify it for pallets and boxes as it does not stain their product.

alan gage

I've heard other people say it's hard to nail as well but I've never had a problem hand nailing it air dried down to 12%. I bend over a lot more nails in good yellow pine.

Alan
Timberking B-16, a few chainsaws from small to large, and a Bobcat 873 Skidloader.

doc henderson

for my pallets I use glue and pneumatic staples.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

LongLogSmith

At least here in my area of Western Montana, Cottonwood is legendary for trailer decking, barn flooring etc. Absorbent enough to soak up oil, tough enough to support that backhoe, tractor, loader. I see a lot of farm trailers with 3" cottonwood decking. Bolts though, so everything is predrilled.

Most of the chainsaw carvers I've known here like it too; they soak in antifreeze for a good while. Supposedly helps with checking on the porch in winter.

Mostly structural uses here in my experience; now you've got me curious to mill some myself. There's  plenty of it...

Walnut Beast

Quote from: LongLogSmith on April 19, 2021, 06:44:18 PM
At least here in my area of Western Montana, Cottonwood is legendary for trailer decking, barn flooring etc. Absorbent enough to soak up oil, tough enough to support that backhoe, tractor, loader. I see a lot of farm trailers with 3" cottonwood decking. Bolts though, so everything is predrilled.

Most of the chainsaw carvers I've known here like it too; they soak in antifreeze for a good while. Supposedly helps with checking on the porch in winter.

Mostly structural uses here in my experience; now you've got me curious to mill some myself. There's  plenty of it...
That's what my friend has on his Trail King detachable neck lowboy that hauls the dozer and excavator 

moodnacreek

They say you can use it for frictions on the old sawmill feeds.

farmfromkansas

I picked up some of the firewood that was piled a year and a half ago, for the cold nights we are having, and the stuff was still sound.  Thought cottonwood was supposed to rot easily.  Must be if it gets dried before going on the ground has resistance to rot? Some pieces I picked up were right on the dirt.  Think I will cut some to put on my flatbed trailer, the treated isn't doing so well.
Most everything I enjoy doing turns out to be work

Lyndaker

I cut some on our land last winter and saved it as practise wood for my new mill. I'm in Northwestern Ontario and its called balsam poplar here. Almost all of it has cracks in the heart from the cold winter temps. I believe what happens is in our -40 winter temps it cracks as it moves in the wind. I also cut black ash years ago and it had the same issue. Unless it is a very big tree it makes the lumber worthless. A few of the smaller trees were ok but all the bigger ones were cracked. 

Thank You Sponsors!