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More Free Logs

Started by Magicman, August 24, 2010, 09:18:00 PM

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Magicman

Did I mention that I like free logs. I picked up two trees this week. Well not actually picked them up, because they are still standing. A 30" DBH White Oak yesterday, and then a 26" DBH SYP today. Lightning got both trees, and actually cut the top out of the pine. The pine top is in the foreground. Both are easily 50' trees.

I'll saw framing lumber from the SYP and 1X12 siding from the White Oak. My Son and I have a couple of building projects that we discussed Saturday and didn't know where we were going to get the lumber from.

Driving home this afternoon, I spotted another even larger lightning struck SYP, and I know the landowner.  ;)




Lightning cut the top (lying in the foreground) out of this 26" DBH, SYP.



A very nice 30" DBH, White Oak.

Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

WDH

I see some quartersawing in your future  :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

redbeard

Magic do you do your own felling on the big ones?
Whidbey Woodworks and Custom Milling  2019 Cooks AC 3662T High production band mill and a Hud-son 60 Diesel wide cut bandmill  JD 2240 50hp Tractor with 145 loader IR 1044 all terrain fork lift  Cooks sharp

Magicman

Quote from: WDH on August 24, 2010, 09:43:13 PM
I see some quartersawing in your future  :D. 

Actually, I plan to just flat saw 1X12's for board and batten to cover a building.

Quote from: redbeard on August 24, 2010, 09:49:55 PM
Magic do you do your own felling on the big ones? 

Oh yes, I'll fell them.  Sadly, there is really no place to saw the SYP, so I'll have to load and haul it out on my trailer.  I'm thinking that I can saw the White Oak on site, but I'll have to clean up.  The landowner wants the tops sawed into firewood, and I'll carry the slabs to my "meat smoking man".   I'll burn the small stuff around the stump.  Cleaning up is what the oak is costing me.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

paul case

free is THE best price. pc
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
2013 LT40SHE25 and Riehl edger,  WM 94 LT40 hd E15. Cut my sawing ''teeth'' on an EZ Boardwalk
sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

Chuck White

Yup!  Free is good most of the time!
~Chuck~  Cooks Cat Claw sharpener and single tooth setter.  2018 Chevy Silverado and 2021 Subaru Ascent.
With basic mechanical skills and the ability to read you can maintain a Woodmizer  LT40!

paul case

i have turned down some of that ''free'' stuff when i get the condition'' if you cut up the firewood for me and clean up the brush''   pc
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
2013 LT40SHE25 and Riehl edger,  WM 94 LT40 hd E15. Cut my sawing ''teeth'' on an EZ Boardwalk
sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

wannasaw

Hey if you aint on PM shutdown, all woodsawing and clean-up is reeelax'in as far as I'm concerned. My 2%. Wait...cept when it's 100^ degrees...then it's all work....Nice Majicman! I love the free ones too. I've had to turn down some since I started sawing in May cause I can't move em yet. bought an old backhoe loader and when I get the hoe valvebody and the flat slow leaky back tire repaired at least I'll be able to unload at home. Need the trailer next. - "Maybe after the new year" He said, with fingers crossed.
LT28 70something Int'l Backhoe loader  Kubota L285, Husky 55, F-250 7.3, 12'x6' single axle trailer, Kubota RTV900 w/remote hyd. Iron will...

bandmiller2

Free logs just got me thinking I've never paid a cent for logs or for that matter firewood all they've ever cost me is the labor to cut and or handle them.The tree guys around here chip everything they can because its hard for them to dispose of larger pine logs,few commercial mills here and they don't like road/yard trees.Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

paul case

frank, you have a sweeeeeet deal. dont forget it. pc
life is too short to be too serious. (some idiot)
2013 LT40SHE25 and Riehl edger,  WM 94 LT40 hd E15. Cut my sawing ''teeth'' on an EZ Boardwalk
sawing oak.hickory,ERC,walnut and almost anything else that shows up.
Don't get phylosophical with me. you will loose me for sure.
pc

bandmiller2

Yea Paul I feel like yogi bear,of course if I had to make a living doing this it may be a different story. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

StephenRice

Hello, everybody.  I am just a newbie around here, so, "Hello!"

Anyways, I live in NW Florida and I noticed something that really bothers me... 

I LOVE the quality of the hardwoods up north (I grew up in central Michigan), but it seems that there is a lot of competition for the wood.  I could be wrong, but there seems to be a lot more timber men up north than there is down here where I live.  Not only that, but because of the colder climate, whatever timber is not cut up for lumber is most definitely cut up for burning in wood stoves or furnaces.  So, it seems that, while a lot of the best wood is up north (or at least away from here), there is too much competition for it and it seems like it might be harder to make a profit up there since you have to pay for most of the wood.  (I would love to go back to Michigan and enjoy some cooler weather to cut lumber in and fill my folk's pole barn.)

Now, for the part that really bothers me...

Here in Florida, I constantly see tons of wood being wasted.  In fact, we have entire dumps dedicated just to taking in timber, mostly from tree services.  After Hurricane Ivan, MOUNTAINS of good timber was ground up and hauled off, oak and pine and whatever else you could imagine.Much of it was ground into mulch or chips, but it still seemed like such a waste.  Whenever I have seen a new super Walmart or Lowes or Home Depot being built around here, it invariably is being built on at least 40 acres of the best oak timber around.  And, when it is not during a time of hurricane cleanup, where do you think it all goes?  In dumpsters and dump trucks that head straight to the dump where all of that good wood is buried.  (They used to burn it at some dumps, but I think that has pretty much ceased due to air pollution.)

All of that waste sickens me.  If only that wood were utilized for something... maybe the southern yellow pines could be cut up into lumber to build homes for the poor or homeless, or maybe even for affordable assisted living facilities.  The oak, well, if they are not grandiose and statuesque red oaks that are soaring into the heavens, so what?  At least they could be cut up for flooring or firewood at the very least.

Have any of the rest of you noticed this disparity in availability of lumber between southern areas and northern ones and the mindsets that go along with it?

"Pure gold fears no fire!" - (Ancient Chinese proverb)  What do you fear?

bandmiller2

Stephen,up here in the northeast alot of the chips go to power plants to generate power.Some gets ground up for mulch.I'am surprised that more of your southern wood waste is not processed into products like chipboard.Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

StephenRice

Frank,

If the timber is owned by one of the paper companies, it will be used up.  There is a paper mill nearby that grinds up their trees and makes paper, of course.  Other companies do use their timber to make OSB, but I don't think they do that much around here anymore.  There used to be a LP plant that did that on down the road in Holt, FL, but they closed their doors years ago.  Actually, they are selling a lot of their land to the state now.  I think Weyerhauser is over in MS using a lot of chips, but it seems that I am sitting in a hole that used to be all big timber companies that have been selling off their land and closing plants around here.  Mybe it is due to cheap imports we are getting now.  I don't know.

As far as power plants are concerned, the only one that we have around here is the Gulf Power plant on the Escambia River in Cantonment (or north of Pensacola), but all they want to burn is coal.  I would not be so sick if I knew that the wood was at least being used for something rather than being buried in the ground.
"Pure gold fears no fire!" - (Ancient Chinese proverb)  What do you fear?

bandmiller2

Stephen,those tree service folks that dump those logs in the landfill would be a good supply for your milling,talk to them most will drop the logs at your mill free if you cut some stuff for them when they need it.Just tell them no crap just millable logs,most have to pay to dispose of logs they can't chip.Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

StephenRice

Quote from: bandmiller2 on September 06, 2010, 07:11:48 AM
Stephen,those tree service folks that dump those logs in the landfill would be a good supply for your milling,talk to them most will drop the logs at your mill free if you cut some stuff for them when they need it.Just tell them no crap just millable logs,most have to pay to dispose of logs they can't chip.Frank C.

I agree.  I have already talked to some of them and they would love to drop off the wood as long as it was not too far out of their way because it costs them money at the landfill.  Also, the landfill is a little drive away, so that helps a lot.  I will just have to be careful about metal in the trees.

People also frequently give away trees around here.  Sometimes they ask you to haul everything away, sometimes they only ask you to haul off the logs.  Not too long ago, a fellow on Craigslist offered 10-30 acres of mature southern yellow pine for free if someone would just haul them off.  Another guy had 30-40  20" average logs that a tree service cut down and piled up by the road.  He just asked someone to take the logs.  He would take care of the stumps and tops.  It is like that all of the time down here, especially with SYP.  Tree services love to get rid of heavy oak logs and SYP.

Now, I just have to get that big WM sawmill and a place to put the wood.  Then I will be all set.  LOL...
"Pure gold fears no fire!" - (Ancient Chinese proverb)  What do you fear?

Meadows Miller

Gday

Magic you will get some nice looking timber out of those two for sure Mate  ;) ;D ;D 8) 8) 8)

And welcome to the Forum Stephen  ;) ;D 8) 8) I know what your saying about the timber wastage its going on all around the world Mate  :o :) ::) ::) :( :'( that being said salvageing timber has a bit of a knack to it andif your looking to get into salvaging timber from tree loppers esp  ;) you have to set down some guidelines as to what makes a sawlog log and what you will take for your operation as some of them tend to push the friendship sometimes as ive had 36' end dumps arrive that had nothing but crap apart from one or two good logs dumped ontop down in melbourne  when i was managing a mill there I use to look each load before it got dumped if it was any more than 30% of the load that was useless to us id pull the good ones out with the crane  and tell them to take the rest back to the job then do a load to the tip  ;)as sometimes they where just trying to save on tip fees  Mate ;)  :D :D :D

If  you can find afew good ones to work with and they bring you good stuff on a regular basis that  you can make money out off its only fair to either pay them or give them some timber in return too Mate

Regards Chris
4TH Generation Timbergetter

Burlkraft

You guys and your free straight trees  ::)  ::)  ::)

Every free tree I have gotten around here would make bad firewood  :D  :D  :D
Why not just 1 pain free day?

StephenRice

Quote from: Burlkraft on September 06, 2010, 09:30:53 AM
You guys and your free straight trees  ::)  ::)  ::)

Every free tree I have gotten around here would make bad firewood  :D  :D  :D

I hear ya'.  I know folks do not have such a tendency to waste wood up north there.  It is too cold and too many people can burn wood.

As far as the free logs go, I would have to talk to the tree guys for sure to make sure I was getting good quality.  Otherwise, I figure I might be able to hire some young guys with strong backs to cut the wood either into smaller pieces that could be sawn into flooring, or split it and wrap it to sell in those little bundles of crap they sell every winter at all a lot of the gas stations and grocery stores around here for bonfire or fireplace wood.  They sell those little 3/4 cu. ft. bundles for $3.50 to $5.00 now and they usually have nothing more than cut up slab wood in them. 

I don;t know if I could find any young men that want to work hard anymore.  It seems like the breed died out with my generation and older, but maybe I can.  If so, then firewood processing might give them a job, generate a little cash, and save the wood from the dump.
"Pure gold fears no fire!" - (Ancient Chinese proverb)  What do you fear?

DanG

Quote from: StephenRice on September 06, 2010, 10:26:53 AM


I don;t know if I could find any young men that want to work hard anymore.  It seems like the breed died out with my generation and older.

They ain't extinct, but they should be on the endangered species list! :D  I have a 10 year old Great Nephew who already has one job and is looking for another one.  I wish he live a little closer.
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

StephenRice

Quote from: DanG on September 06, 2010, 12:23:26 PM
Quote from: StephenRice on September 06, 2010, 10:26:53 AM


I don;t know if I could find any young men that want to work hard anymore.  It seems like the breed died out with my generation and older.

They ain't extinct, but they should be on the endangered species list! :D  I have a 10 year old Great Nephew who already has one job and is looking for another one.  I wish he live a little closer.

It is really sad, but I have to agree.  It used to be that men were proud to say that they gave a hard day's work for a full days wage and that they worked with their hands and their heads, but nowadays that has become scorned by people who look down upon any physical work.  I tell you, America is losing it's sense of productivity.
"Pure gold fears no fire!" - (Ancient Chinese proverb)  What do you fear?

Meadows Miller

Gday

We are getting abit thin on the ground here too fellas and the ones who don't mind getting their hands dirty are looking for $20 to $30 an hr on wages which isn't bad if they are worth it  ;)
it dose not help that all kids are taught in school that require any effort and  manual jobs are beneath them  ;)  Why don't you want to get good grade's so you can go to uni and get a good job was what i heard every bloody day while i was in school ;) ;D 8) The funny thing is that there's not enough of those cushy jobs to go around for all the slack ones and I see  a Reality Check coming pretty soon for em all   ;) :D :D :D ;D 8)

Regards Chris
4TH Generation Timbergetter

Qweaver

Chris,  when I was teaching high school in NSW during the early 70s,  students that wanted to go to higher education completed 12 years of public school.  Those that wanted to go into the trades left school in the 10th year (forth form) and went into an apprenticeship.  Is that not done now?  It seemed like a good system.
Quinton
So Many Toys...So Little Time  WM LT28 , 15 trailers, Case 450 Dozer, John Deere 110 TLB, Peterson WPF 10",  AIM Grapple, Kubota 2501 :D

Meadows Miller

Gday Quinton hows things Mate ?

I think we have 70 or 80% of kids go on to get passes to uni level here but there isn't enough places for them  ;) :D the old system worked better not everyone has to be a doctor or teacher or rocket scientist Mate  ;)  :D ;D I was a qualified Carpenter at 18yo too and there was nothing like rubbing the kids noses in it that had called you dumb for years  ::) while  they where still stuck at school for the next 2 to 10years  :o :) while you where already earning up $700+  clear a week when you 16 Mate  ;) :D ;D 8) 8)

I never had a good time at school just a square peg being forced into a round hole Mate  ;) :D :D :D ;D ;D 8)

Regards Chris

4TH Generation Timbergetter

Magicman

I took an opportunity between sawing jobs and collected that White oak.  I got three 10' logs.  The largest was 31" butt and the smallest was 30" little end.  Just no taper at all.  I cut all of the "non-split" limbs for firewood for the customer.  My helper got all of the limbs that needed splitting.  No money changed hands and everyone was happy.



Dead 30"+ White Oak.



It's now on the ground.  Widow maker lying close to the first 10' mark !!!



Notice the "widow maker" that came down out of another tree several minutes later.  Scared me....yeah.



Unloading three 10' logs with Fat Albert.



Cleanup complete and customer's firewood stacked.


Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

ljmathias

Beautiful, Magic- I love cutting white oak and using it to make furniture and such... You sure lucked out on this one.  8)

Lj
LT40, Long tractor with FEL and backhoe, lots of TF tools, beautiful wife of 50 years plus 4 kids, 5 grandsons AND TWO GRANDDAUGHTERS all healthy plus too many ideas and plans and not enough time and energy

StephenRice

That should make some nice lumber.
"Pure gold fears no fire!" - (Ancient Chinese proverb)  What do you fear?

WDH

I was in a furniture store today for the first time in many years.  I was shocked to see so little real solid wood.  99% of the stuff was MDF with a veneer outer layer or even a plastic faux wood outer layer.  This is sad.  I saw no oak stuff at all ( an I mean none).  I saw almost zero native hardwood in the furniture.  All of the "real" wood looked like tropical woods.  I will not buy that crap.

So, that beautiful white oak represents what used to be in the furniture business.  Thankfully, there are still woodworkers making nice furniture out of real native North American wood.  I take my hat off to them.  
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

Meadows Miller

Gday

Nice work you will get some great looking timber out of those few logs Magic  ;) ;D 8) 8) how long did it take you to do the job from go to wo Mate  ???

WDH Im with you on that one and the ones that still do also do alot better job than any production line will and sell direct now days  Mate  ;) ;D ;D 8) 8)    looks like i will be supplying one of them on a regualr basis now as i got a phone call the other day from a furniture maker wanting me to do about 2 days worth of remilling for him in recycled ironbark a month down in melbourne for him told him $220 for me to travel the 1.5 hrs down to him and $110 per hour for Louie and Myself  ;) ;D ;D 8) 8) 8)

Regards Chris
4TH Generation Timbergetter

WDH

Chris,

That sounds like a good opportunity.  Is ironbark a preferred furniture wood in Australia?
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

Meadows Miller

Gday

Wdh  Ironbarks a nice timber but bloody hard to work along with all the other dry land species like Spotted gum ,Redgum and its up there on the preference list but the most popular species Down here for furniture making would be Mountain Ash or Tassie or Victorian Oak depending which state your in  ;) :D as it is the most economical and easy to work timber to get hold off in Kd Qs and B sawn for the larger funiture makers so its the main one they push along with Messmate and afew other Mountain species Mate  ;)

Regards Chris
4TH Generation Timbergetter

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