Hello

Greenhorn · February 15, 2008, 11:43:45 AM

Hello,
I just signed up after discovering this site a couple of days ago. I literally spent about five hours a couple of nights ago reading all of this great information that you guys have shared.
My wife once again thinks I have some obsessive tendencies.

I'm located in Southern Iowa and have a property in Madison County that I hope to utilize and improve over the next few decades. Short-term I am hoping to utilize some of the nicer black cherry timber to have milled and used in a few years to have my own cabinets built. I also would like to market some of the walnuts to help with cash flow. So far this fall and winter I have been wearing out the 440 cutting a bunch of hedge (osage orange) corner and line posts for all the fence I need to build this spring.

I'm pretty comfortable with a saw, but it has been limited to cutting posts, firewood and clearing big cottonwoods ( I call them "man-killers") for habitat improvement projects. Actually turning standing timber into milled lumber and/or cash is a new one for me so I apologize in advance if some of my questions don't make sense or are too basic.

Burlkraft · February 15, 2008, 11:46:58 AM

Welcome Greenhorn ;D ;D ;D

At least she calls it obsessive tendencies, I'm living with.......Talking with my wood boyfriends :

:

Mrs. Haytrader · February 15, 2008, 02:39:09 PM

Hello and welcome. I'm fairly new myself. When I first got on the forum I, too, was obsessed in reading everything that I could get my eyes on. :P There's a wealth of knowledge on here from these guys (and gals!).

I had to respond since you stated you were from Madison County. Two or three years ago my husband (Haytrader) and I toured your area. I fell in love with the covered bridges there. I had Haytrader drive to every one of them and I took lots of pictures. It's pretty country in your area. Probably one of the most enjoyable trips we took .... besides taking a load of hay to Noble down those winding roads of Missouri! Will surely never forget that one.

Mrs. Haytrader

Roxie · February 15, 2008, 03:06:29 PM

If you see Clint Eastwood taking pictures of those bridges, send him to Pennsylvania! I've got a few covered bridges too.

Welcome!

Patty · February 15, 2008, 03:11:54 PM

Good to see another Iowan here on the forum.

Welcome!

semologger · February 15, 2008, 04:38:43 PM

Welcome to the forum. Sound like your wife and my wife are alike she said the same thing to me.

Mrs haytrader missouri roads arent to crooked everyone else has to straight of roads. ;D To boring to drive on. They are fun when there is ice also.

isawlogs · February 15, 2008, 04:54:03 PM

Quote from: Greenhorn on February 15, 2008, 11:43:45 AM
I apologize in advance if some of my questions don't make sense or are too basic.

Welcome to the Forestry Forum ,
There is no need to apologize , cause there ain't no question too basic to not ask , and none that don't need an anwer, you ask um , we will answer them wether you like it or not ;D ;)
Now if it don't sound correct , its that I am frozen in the north and snowed in and sunless and........... :-\ cabin fever comes to mind . :D

Ask away . :P

Jeff · February 15, 2008, 05:02:47 PM

If you see Clint Eastwood doing ANYTHING in Iowa, send him to Roxie. :D

thecfarm · February 15, 2008, 05:10:44 PM

greenhorn,welcome to the forum.You talk about turning some of your trees into cashflow.If you have a logger do the cutting make sure you check thier past jobs.We don't need you asking how to clean up a mess on your land or they stole half of your wood. Cabinets,for the house you live in now?Good luck.

Ron Scott · February 15, 2008, 05:39:00 PM

We've visited John Wayne's birthpalce in Winterset as well as the Bridges. Nice area.

Steve · February 15, 2008, 06:02:07 PM

Quote from: Jeff on February 15, 2008, 05:02:47 PM
If you see Clint Eastwood doing ANYTHING in Iowa, send him to Roxie. :D

I've never felt the same way about the kitchen floor since I saw that movie.

Greenhorn · February 15, 2008, 06:34:32 PM

Thanks for the welcomes everyone.

The cabinets would be for a new home - probably in 3-5 years or so that will be built on this property. I currently live a few miles away. I thought I would try to get all the kitchen cabinets and maybe some other stuff made out of existing trees on this farm. I think it's cool when you can incorporate the lumber that was already there, it gives a place more character in my opinion.

Believe me, I'm real gunshy on the cash sales end of it. My thoughts were to fell the selected Walnuts myself, trim them and get them up to a deck in as long as lengths as managable and take bids - once I figure out who to get the bids from. I don't have the eye to buck them to the best lengths so I don't know if that's the best way to handle that or not when the time comes.

It is not typical "big timber" but wooded draws and bottoms so most of it is pretty accessible and I think I could skid most of the logs to a staging area either with my pickup or most likely my 4020 JD.

Besides walnut, cherry and of course my hedge posts are there any other native Iowa trees I should look for to utilize?

This seems like a great group, I'm looking forward to learning from you all.

Greenhorn · February 15, 2008, 06:38:02 PM

Oh, and I agree that Madison County has some great scenery - not to mention being the birthplace The Duke .

Stump Jumper Jr · February 16, 2008, 07:42:31 AM

Welcome to the forum Greenhorn.

oakiemac · February 16, 2008, 08:10:33 AM

Welcome Greenhorn. I've always wondered where millers in Iowa get the timber. When I've been through there, the only thing I saw to cut had corn cobs growing on it and the diameter of it looked pretty skimpy. ;D

Burlcraft-I'm proud to be called one of your wood boyfreinds-I think ;)

Norm · February 16, 2008, 08:56:33 AM

Welcome to the FF greenhorn. One other tree that is common in our area is the burr oak. It is in the white oak family and makes some beautiful q-sawn wood. You may also have honey locust trees, they are the ones with very long thorns growing from the trunk. The wood is nice to work with and has an appearance of red oak but unique in color and grain. I built the surround to the fireplace out of it.

semologger · February 16, 2008, 09:01:09 AM

Nice fireplace. looks good

pigman · February 16, 2008, 09:54:44 AM

Norm, I see you were watching a cooking show.

Nice fireplace surround too. 8) It goes well with the floor.

Norm · February 16, 2008, 10:16:29 AM

Thanks guys.

Bob I have it so bad that my older tv has the foodtv emblem screen burned in the lower right hand corner. :D

Our area of the state is fairly hilly and forested. We have the Iowa river valley just a few miles over and we see quite a bit of logging along it. Corn cobs out number trees by a pretty healthy margin though. :D

semologger · February 16, 2008, 10:44:28 AM

SO you like Racheal Ray, Norm. Is that where you get all your good recipes.

Norm · February 16, 2008, 01:01:39 PM

I think she's a sweetie semo but don't really watch her show much. I used to but they ran it so often I kind of got burned out on it. My favorite place for recipes is epicurious.com, there's some snotty folks on there but they have a nice variety of recipes.

Greenhorn if you get up this way after the weather warms up give me a holler and I'll show you around the sawmill. I'm just a hobby sawyer but can answer basic questions if you have any.

Patty · February 16, 2008, 01:11:31 PM

Trust me Bob, when Rachael was on Norm wasn't watching for her cooking talents.

That is why the FoodTV logo is burnt into the tv! :D

Greenhorn · February 17, 2008, 10:06:50 AM

Thanks Norm, I may have to take you up on that offer sometime - I see you are in Marshall County, my folks are both originally from that area and I still have a lot of relatives up there.

I'll keep my eyes open for some nice honey locust - that fireplace surround looks really good. They are a nasty tree that's for sure. Not many Burr Oaks on my property that I can tell. Most of my oaks are 20' or less - I'm guessing they are pin oaks but I'm not that good at tree ID on a lot of stuff.

Norm · February 17, 2008, 10:40:44 AM

We don't get many pin oaks in our area. The ones we do see are pretty worthless for grade lumber but I think they make some nice mantles because of the character in them. It sounds like you have a nice variety of trees on your place. Ours has mostly black walnut on it but not much of anything else that is merchantable. I keep clearing out the junkier stuff and the 100 red squirrels I hire plant it into the walnuts. And to think I used to eat the little guys. :D

Greenhorn · February 17, 2008, 10:56:26 AM

I was out there yesterday to cut posts, but I got sidetracked quite a bit looking for other trees to use. Seems like the bigger Cherrys end up getting blight or something and rotting. What would you consider the minimum size Cherry to mill? I have quite a few in the 12" bdh range that look to be healthy - too small?.

Norm · February 17, 2008, 11:18:10 AM

I consider a 12" dbh size to be about the minimum for making lumber but have certainly cut 12" ones before for a variety of reasons such as tree health. Some trees like the eastern red cedar are routinely cut at that size so it's not that you can't get good boards from them it's just that they add so much value waiting until they are of larger size. We don't get much black cherry in our area so if we're clearing an area I'll throw just about any size on the mill to see what it will yield.

I'd also keep an eye out for the larger osage orange trees. I think they make nice looking lumber especially for outdoor projects.