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Is it worth it?

Started by itstallion, November 23, 2009, 05:27:18 PM

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itstallion

My family has about 40 acres of land located in NW Louisiana and on this land a pin oak tree has succumb to a disease 'I guess'  It just snapped about 5 feet from the base of the tree and fell over.   Now i'm really interested into getting into wood working and I was wondering if it would be worth the cost of getting a portable sawmill out there to mill some lumber out of it or is Pin oak not worth it.  So i guess my question is two fold.  Is Pin Oak a good wood for making things out of - lack of knowledge about wood - which I hope to learn alot by visiting this site- and if so, is one tree worth renting a portable mill to cut up.  Thanks for the info in advance.   

Itstallion

Ron Wenrich

It depends.  Why did the tree snap off at 5'?  That's an unusual place, and I would be worried that the wood wasn't too good at that point.  Your best quality wood is usually in the butt portion of the log.

Pin oak in my area is prone to shake and has lots of pin knots, hence the name.  But, we have guys here on the forum that have made some pretty cool things from pin oak. 

As for getting one tree cut up, I think access is going to be the big thing.  Can you get it to a place that's convenient to bring in a mill or do you want it sawn in the woods?  I'm not a portable miller, so I'll let them chime in about whether its worthwhile or not.
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Tom

Ron's right, it really does depend.
It depends on the size of the tree.  Too small (10" at breast hight produces no boards, 30" is a lot of log handling that has to be done by hand, usually.

I would think that any tree has the possibility of producing decent wood, and the fact that it came off of your own place is reason enough to harvest it.

If the tree is accessible, you are probably talking about a minimum of $100 to produce the lumber and then you have the stacking/drying time to add to that.

It will take a site visit from a sawyer to determine the actual feasibility, and even then, one will do it and another won't.

Pictures of the site would help sawyers on the forum learn enough to offer an opinion.

For one tree, most will charge an hourly charge in the neighborhood of $50 an hour.

"Wood Working" is a such a varied goal.  You could make ball point pens from samll pieces, bowls from larger pieces, boards from 8' logs and larger dimension stock from 12' lenths and above.

It's a mighty laborious endeavor, but fun and personally rewarding.

WDH

Generally in the South, especially the Western South, the term"pin oak" is used to describe water oak, willow oak, and laurel oak.  The "pin oak flats" that are so famous for duck hunting in Eastern Arkansas are made up of these species.  There are no true pin oaks, Quercus palustris, in that part of the country.  

So, I suspect that the tree is one of the aforementioned species, and the wood is perfectly fine for all woodworking applications.  The bottomland red oaks like water oak, willow oak, or laurel oak are susceptible to bacterial infection due to the anaerobic conditions in certain times of the year.  It does not affect the strength of the wood, but it does impart some nice green and, blue, and gray streaks in the wood.  I actually enjoy those colors, and they make for some interesting projects.  
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

itstallion

Wow thanks for the replies!  It seems like I need to get out there and take some photos and this would help us get to the bottom of things.  I'll try to get some pics up as soon as I am able.  I'm moving into a new house this weekend so it may be a few weeks but I'll get them up.  This tree was quite old and has a hollow place in the bottom of it.  Not sure if that has something to do with the tree falling.  I'd like to get some stock out of it if I could.  The different colors sounds interesting and exciting.

Thanks
Itstallion (mark)

Magicman

Itstallion (Mark), Welcome to FF..... :)
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pineywoods

Only 1 tree, you'd probably be better off hauling the logs to the mill. Even then, it will probably cost more than it's worth. Where are you located ?
NW louisiana is heavily populated with all sorts of small sawmills. There are 4 woodmizers and 3 norwoods within 5 miles of me. Local UPS guy says he has 17 sawmills on his route.
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
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WDH

The hollow place usually means rot, so a good portion of the first and best log may be lost.  A picture would be worth a thousand words  ;D.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

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