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Sassafras logs

Started by Kirk_Allen, February 04, 2004, 07:59:12 AM

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Kirk_Allen

What are the biggest Sassafras logs you have seen?

Our farmer called today and told me that he is clearing a right-away for a Fiber Optics company just north of us and there are 4 or  5 Sassafras trees that he will have to cut down and wanted to know if I want them.  OF COURSE I DO  8) 8)

He said two of them measure over 40" dbi. Nothing wrong with them at all except they are in the way of the planned fiber optics lines.

Just curious as to what a typical size is for Sassafras.  I always thought they were much smaller.  I cant wait to cut into these.  Its to bad he wont be able to save the root system to make tea with. apparently they wanted the trees removed and they will grind the stumps and treat it with a poison to ensure no regrowth occurs.

OneWithWood

I have the largest sassafrass tree in the county growing in my woods.  It measeures 30" dbh if I remember correctly.  It is large for this county because of the soil composition and the tendency for sassafrass to develop cankers or get pecked to death by the pileated woodpeckers.  A couple of counties to the west where the soil is more conducive to sassafrass my tree would be just one of many medium sized trees.  I have seen a number of trees over there that go to 40" dbh.  I hope to side my saw barn with sassafrass - just not my county record tree.
One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

Mark M

I ain't never seen a sassyfrass tree but my grandma used to make me some sassayfrass tea and I really liked it. That was about 35 years ago. About 20 years ago I went to a heath food store to get some of that tea and they made me sign a disclaimer that warned you could get cancer from sassafras if you had any ulcers or certain stomach problems. I still bought some and enjoyed as much as I had when I was a kid but haven't had any since.

Mark

Sorry to get off topic but I couldn't resist the chance to talk about food/drink.

Kirk_Allen

Mark, My first question to the farmer was can you save the roots?  I grew up on Sassafras tea but have never heard any relations to cancer from drinking it.  

Onewithwood: Our farm is located about 20 miles west of Terre Haute, IN. (Kansas, IL). Looks like your in the same neck of the woods, relativly speaking.

Farmer called back a couple of minutes ago and said that one of the trees is straight for at least 20 feet with the first branch at about 10 feet.  He also said he may have underestimated the size. 8) 8) 8)

I will be down there Friday and Saturday so I will be able to get a look at them.   8)

I feel like a kid in the candy store 8) 8)

There is nothing like getting free logs!.  Over the last two months locals have dropped off 10 Hickorys, 2 walnuts and now the sasafrass and all for free.

I cant wait to get all my woodworking tools moved so I can start building stuff as gifts to pay back the locals who have given me so much free wood.  
Aint livin in da country great ;D

I HATE THE SUBURBS!!!!! >:(


sawyerkirk

I think you would be better off to let me get rid of them, they are horribly canceous, let alone addictive. Don't touch em, smell em and especially don't try to use them for woodworking. It will ruin any other woods for you! Most of the sass we get in is 12" or smaller, and every board goes into my private stock for future woodworking projects.
ONEWITHWOOD: please don't side your building with sassafrass, Luke probably won't let you either!!

shopteacher

I cut some 24 t0 30" logs about a year and a half ago.  Got some beautiful boards aout of it , all clear. Haven't used any of it yet and it should just be about right for building now.  I'd like to kiln it before using it in cabinetry though. Hope to get some type of kiln going this summer so maybe next fal I can start to use it.  It has some really nice grain to it and should make some beautiful furniture.
Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

J_T

Knew a guy that panneled every room in his house with a differnt wood .One was sass it was sompthing to see! 8)
Jim Holloway

Norm

I've never seen sassafras before, how about one of you guys show something you've made out of it or even an unfinished board.

Kevin_H.

Sawed up a bunch of Sass for my logger a couple of years ago, He used it to panel a new room on his house, he ran it all in a diagional. Looked really good.
Got my WM lt40g24, Setworks and debarker in oct. '97, been sawing part time ever since, Moving logs with a bobcat.

Ron Wenrich

The largest I've seen is 36" dbh, but it was dead.  I once had a sale with 8 Mbf that averaged 20".  The logger didn't cut it.  

At one time, sassafras got sold along with black ash.  Pretty much has the grain of ash or chestnut.  Now, it gets sold on its own and usually fetches red oak prices.  

We generally cut it up and put it on sticks.  Cuts great.  We've had logs lay for over a year before we got around to cutting them.  No problem with bugs.  
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Kirk_Allen

Ron, thanks for the input.  I plan on saving some for personal projects and sell the rest.  I probably wont get to them until March so its good to know even after a year there should not be a problem.


OneWithWood

Kirk, you got to admit it would make beautiful siding.  When UV works on sassafrass it turns a wonderful brown - similar to walnut.  But, if it fetches red oak prices, like Ron says, I think I will side the barn with poplar!  I need to pay for this building somehow!
One With Wood
LT40HDG25, Woodmizer DH4000 Kiln

sawyerkirk

Onewithwood: Poplar wood be my choice. Although the Sass is "suposedly' very rot resistent. On our shed we have probably got at least one board of everyspecies known to this area. We were cutting a bunch of ties when we built it, and just cut 1" stock off every log till we had enough. Iby the way, I've got a chicken pen with a roof made out of walnut. The floor joists in my hayroom are 3x6 walnut. I get ALOT of junk walnut logs in here! So, I'm nobody to tell you what to use!

shopteacher

Norm F.  I found a small piece of Sass in the shop about 4" X 36" if you want it I'll mail it to ya, you got to provide the stamp though. ;D
Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

Frickman

Around here the sassafrass usually don't get over 12" dbh, though you occasionally find one larger. My grandpa still has some 16" wide boards in his shop from a tree he cut on his farm. I didn't know they got bigger in other parts.

Two years ago a friend bought some 6" and 8" wide sassafrass boards off me to rewood his manure spreader. It worked well, though it did seem to be a waste of good sassafrass. I'm guilty too though, as we have run low-grade walnut into mine blocking and pallet lumber.
If you're not broke down once in a while, you're not working hard enough

I'm not a hillbilly. I'm an "Appalachian American"

Retired  Conventional hand-felling logging operation with cable skidder and forwarder, Frick 01 handset sawmill

Pretend farmer when I have the time

WV_hillbilly

  Norm                                                                                           this slab is sas with golden oak stain .


The old fellow that I  get my sasafrass from has some in the 18 " to 20 '' width  . He builds custom cabinets out of it . I have tried to get some but he will only let me have some that is under 12"   :(

Hillbilly
Hillbilly

Norm

Thanks for the offer shopteacher but Patty says I cant' get any more wood until I use up what I've got.  :D

Nice looking piece WV, wish I had your talent. Hey I could just kidnap you and tell everybody I did it.....nah your wife would probably notice after a couple of weeks.  ;D

WV_hillbilly

   Norm  
    Thanks .  I could use a vacation . I' ve never been to Iowa  .  My wife says you probably couldn't afford to feed me.   :D
Hillbilly

shopteacher

Wv: What type of pieces are you looking for? I have one large sassafras log in my wood pile and might be able to hook you up with some pieces (Some as spring comes that is)
Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

WV_hillbilly

  shopteacher
         I' m looking for some in the 13 "   to 15" range at least 24 '' to  30 " long.  As a matter of fact  I'm looking for any that size in red oak ,  white oak ,  cherry,  walnut , ash ,  1/4 sawn  sycamore or beech . It can even have a live edge all around.   I ' ve got some neat wildlife patterns that I need them for.
Hillbilly

etat

I am NOT happy.  Nope.  When I bought this place there were only two trees left close to the barn.  One on each side.  Now the house I'm building is close to  the trees, and the old barn has been torn down so I could replace it with a metal shop in a different location.  When I moved here rebuilding the fences I nailed wire into the trees. First bobwire, and then making some corrals, cattle panels.  I always just figured these trees would just finally grow around the wire, or if they died I'd plant something else.  They weren't very big, only about 8 or 10 inches.  Now the worst part, these trees are sassafras, the only one's I know of around here.  My grandfather got them somewhere and planted them, I never knew the reason.  
Old Age and Treachery will outperform Youth and Inexperence. The thing is, getting older is starting to be painful.

shopteacher

WV:  I can probably fix you up with a good bit of that. The sassafras, cherry, pin oak, maple, sycamore, blk. locust, pine & elm I probably have in my log pile now.  I probably won't be cutting till spring though. Right now everything is covered in ice and a little snow from last night.  Mark me down on you calendar and contact me.  
Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

WV_hillbilly

   I 'll do that Shopteacher . When the weather gets better we can get togather and make some sawdust. Will I have to bring my own can of peas and spoon though .  :D
Hillbilly

shopteacher

Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

WV_hillbilly

  Yea we have 2 of them . We eat in shifts at supper time cause theres 4 of us so we have to share .  :D
Hillbilly

shopteacher

Tell me, do you have them new fangled metal ones or the homemade wooden ones?  I'm still pooking at my food with a stick!
   I seen some of your work displayed here and must say you sure do some nice work. :)
Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

Tom

Charlie can make a spoon. :D

shopteacher

Well DanG it Tom, you been holding out on me. You think he has a set of plans for um? ;D
Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

Tom


shopteacher

Aw, that's a nice one. Just about the right size for my mouth. :o
Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

WV_hillbilly

 Thanks Shopteacher . I still learn new tricks everyday on that saw. I' ve got some new ones in the works right now but I gotta keep em under wraps for another week .   

   If I remember correctly we got a complete set of them metal ones when we married. The have been disappearing and we're down to 2 . I think them youngins are taken them outside for excavation work in the sand/dirt box .  :D  

  Tom are you saving that one for posterity or marketing purposes  ?
Hillbilly

Tom

That's Charlie's Pea Spoon.  He has it in MinniHaHa hanging on a wall. ;D

Kirk_Allen

Its amazing how things work in this world.  The farmer who called me about the Sassafras logs was mad as heck when I got to the farm.  He had delivered the log below which was 15 feet long and 34" on the small end.

I asked him what was wrong with it and he said nothing, other than the the other 5 that he was supposed to pick up, that were bigger, had been cut up by a local for firewood.  

He pulled up as this joker was making the last cross cut on the biggest of them all.  I told Charlie, our farmer, if he needed it bad enough to come on private property and risk the rath of Charlie, then he must have needed it pretty bad.  

Unfortunate to loose such nice logs to fire wood but I guess I cant complain since it was free.  I think the farmer was more *pithed than I was.  







Well before the day was out, I get a phone call from our farmer who went to a land sale.  Turns out the guy that bought 200 acres of land needs 80 acres of it cleared.  Our farmer got the contract the same day of the sale and the land is filled with White Oak, Walnut and Cherry.  He assured me he will be dropping of truck loads of wood to make up for the Sassafras that was cut into firewood.

What blows me away isn't all the free wood as much as the fact that the guy who owns the land would rather give it to our farmer than hire loggers to come in and buy it.  Turns out the last time he did that he got burned and he vowed to never deal with another Timber buyer again.  

OK by me 8)







shopteacher

Kirk it appears you loose some and others you win really big time. Hope you get it all. Happy sawing.
Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

Ron Scott

Clearing 80 acres of that kinda wood is a "big" project. The farmer must be well equipped to handle it properly.
~Ron

WV_hillbilly

 Kirk  thats a shame  to lose those sassafras logs.  it is a nice wood to work with .  On the other side of the coin it seems that you might make out in the end run .

   I learned a few years ago that I couldn 't leave logs lay around like that either .  I had cut and skidded them to a landing  on a nice dry day  and it was going to rain before I could load them up the next afternoon . Well while I was at work the next day some thief came and took them . They were cut up for firewood just like yours . So now If I skid it to that landing  I load it and take it home that day .  
Hillbilly

shopteacher

What kind of mill you thinking of getting WV?  I looked at your  profile and your not too far away.  Going to Washington, Pa. last night for dinner seen the sign to Wheeling is 51 mile. You ever go to the woodworking show in Columbus?  I've didn't go this year, but have gone many times.  You see some interesting things on the market and can get some pretty good show specials.
Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

Kirk_Allen

Ron,
Yes, he is very well equipped.  He also runs a field tile operation and is probably the best in the state in that regards.  He has several dozer's, earth movers, tile layers, backhoes etc.

He clears fence rows, woods, creeks etc for the state as well as he is the only one in the area with the equipment to get the job done in a timely manner.

He just purchased 150 acres of woods 4 miles east of us and we are discussing a joint venture on the wood that needs to be harvested.  I think we can come up with a profitable agreement without any problems.


Ron Scott

It sounds like he can well handle the job and bigger than the  farmer or logger I was thinking of. He's really equipped for land clearing.

He or the landowner clients might even have use for a consulting forester to maximize those timber values. ;)  
~Ron

WV_hillbilly

   Shopteacher  
Yep I'm just down the raod a bit .
                    Yes I have been to the woodworking Show in Colmbus for 3 years now . I  am looking at one of the smaller manual  mills . At the Show this year the had a Logosol electric mill and it looked like something I could use . I like  it cause  it could give me the kind of slabs for my scroll sawing with out to much hassle .   I almost bought one but didn't cause I  wanted to research alittle more . If I got one of them I would get the chainsaw driven one though . It looked like it is a lot easier on you than an Alaskan mill.
Hillbilly

shopteacher

I don't know much about the chain saw mills. they look to me to be quite labor intensive, but its all in what works best for you. No mill is better than the one that suits "you" best.  We kid back and forth here on the forum, but I really think everyone is pretty satisified with what they have. I'm sure some would like to upgrade to a different model or try a different style ( I'd like to try a mobile dimension or swing blade) and some would probably like to have one of each type. All in all it still boils dow to what suits you best and what makes you happy.  
   I think I'll be heading to the Furniture Expo in Greensboro, NC. on the 18th of this month.  Were going to begin a complete renovation of the school next June and I'm looking to add a couple CNC machines into the new shop. I'd like to get a CNC lathe and a Laser cutter.  I've been talking to our vendor about trading in our current CNC machine before it loses to much of it value.  Not looking forward to the drive there, but those shows really bring you in touch with the working world and whats going on in it.  I think that one of the problem with public education, most teachers went to college after high school and have been teaching ever since. They need to get out and see what happening on the other side of the school house walls.
   Well good luck on what ever you decide. It can be a lot of fun.
Proud owner of a LT40HDSE25, Corley Circle mill, JD 450C, JD 8875, MF 1240E
Tilt Bed Truck  and well equipted wood shop.

WV_hillbilly

   Thats great that your school is getting new woodworking equipment .  Most of the schools around  here are auctioning off  all the woodworking and metal working equipment and installing computer related classes .  :(    Those shows have great displays of the newest technology . I want one of those laser cutters/engravers too . Haven't been able to get that much dough together for one though . :(

  For the slabs that I use  I would need something with a slabbing capabilities . So a Logosol would fit the bill nicely  with out the bending over of the other chainsaw mills .  If I want a great quantity  regular boards I would get someone with a bandmill to do that for me . Or maybe I could but  a bandmill  myself  ;)
Hillbilly

J_T

WV hillbilly afore you wake up or that crock runs out of gold I saw a nice used circle mill at sawmill exchange just 19,500 has a air cab 5 presets the works. Thanks  ;D
Jim Holloway

WV_hillbilly

  J T    thats a little more than my weekly allowance will cover . :(
Hillbilly

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