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hemlock logs

Started by petefrom bearswamp, July 30, 2012, 06:34:53 PM

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petefrom bearswamp

I have stumbled into a jackpot for my mill.
A friend 3 miles from my location has given me a goodly number of Hemlock trees with the stipulation that i cut all hemlock in the areas of his woods that i cut.
Have spent a day and a half so far and have about 3MBF out on a landing. cutting and skidding with my Kubota M8540 4WD TRACTOR.
Logs ranging from 14" to 18" small end, not humungous but substantial.
WHAT A DEAL.
A local trucker trucks them to my mill yard for $100 per load.
wish he had 100 acres or so of these trees.
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

wormy

here in tennessee alot of the hemlock trees have been killed by some bug or beatle. probably some hybrid lab bug since hemlock is one of the most poisonous trees on earth.

Mark Wentzell

Have you had( or expect to have) many issues with checking or ring shake?

Sounds like a lot of fun.  :)

mikerat

The hemlock trees in Wisconsin aren't poisonous but they do have a problem with ring shake. I have used them to cut siding, Weathers real nice gray. there is also a herbaceous plant called hemlock and that is poisonous, the stuff you read about in mystery books.

Mike
WM LT28 logrite 30,48,60 canthook, huskys and stihls, Logrite Buck Arch I have met the best people on this site!

MHineman

  There's an invasive annual here that is called Posion Hemlock.  It gets about 8 to 10 feet tall most years, but the heat and drought seems to have stopped it at 6 feet this year.
1999 WM LT40, 40 hp 4WD tractor, homemade forks, grapple, Walenstein FX90 skidding winch, Stihl 460 039 saws,  homebuilt kiln, ......

thecfarm

How many hp is that Kubota? I built a horse run in and had very little problems with hemlock off my land. 3-4 years later I'm building a veggie shack for the wife and am having a hard time finding some good ones. But mine are old too. The dead limbs are a dead give away. The wood is kinda brown around the knots. Makes good fodder for the OWB.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

clww

Most all of ours are dying, too. 9 out of 10 on our property are infected.
Many Stihl Saws-16"-60"
"Go Ask The Other Master Chief"
18-Wheeler Driver

captain_crunch

Your Eastern Hemlock must be lots different than Western Hemlock Slivers are very infectious and when exposed to weather last bout as well as paper towles
M-14 Belsaw circle mill,HD-11 Log Loader,TD-14 Crawler,TD-9 Crawler and Ford 2910 Loader Tractor

thecfarm

Hemlock is an old timers wood in this area. They liked it for it's long lasting out in the weather and it's strength. Won't last like cedar,but will last for years on an out building with water being splashed on it.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

petefrom bearswamp

My Kubota is an 85HP 4wd model with a Farmi winch and forks for moving logs as well as a 7'bucket for sawdust and snow handling.
Yes there will be some shake in these logs, but at free it is still a bargain.
There is an insect called the Hemlock wooly adelgid here in NY and I assume in New England states too which kills Hemlock  but so far mainly in the eastern part of the state.
Eastern Hemlock is good for dimension lumber and siding, is fairly durable  and not bad to handle except for the weight when green but is very splintery when dry. I have picked many splinters out of my hands when too dumb or lazy  to put on gloves.
In the old days the trees were stripped of their bark to be used in leather tanning and the logs left to rot.
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

thecfarm

I problay have the bug here, I have some hemlock that are dead and 4 feet away is one that is doing fine. That's a nice size tractor you have.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

laffs

those are nice sized trees to work with. thats about all ive sawed for the last three years. I saw the ones with shake into 6x6x8 for landscape ties and dunage for jacking houses and barns.The rest is dimension lumber or timbers.
timber harvester,tinberjack230,34hp kubota,job ace excavator carpenter tools up the yingyang,

petefrom bearswamp

there is no evidence of ring shake when these trees are fresh cut.
Will shake appear later?
I have about 3 days of logging left which I will do next week or so.
tomorrow I am off with my wife to The NYS Ranger School ,my Alma mater for the 100 year celebration of that venerable institution.

Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

thecfarm

It might. What I cut down looks good until I put the band saw to it.  ;D A little shake,but I
am finding alot of rot from the dead limbs. Most times it's only about a foot or 2 on each side of the knot. But if sawing out 12 foot rafters and find the rot in the middle,kinda makes that one and the one before and after that no good too. I may get 2 that are fine,and then the next 2-3 are no good and than another good one.Not having a lot of luck for this building.I guess I sawed all the good ones last time.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

petefrom bearswamp

My Hemlock  logs are coming tomorrow.
should be about 10 mbf Doyle.
If I can figure out how to do it I will post pics.
Got 6mbf International 1/4" of white pine delivered today.
Some 20 to 24 inch logs
I am going to make as many wide boards as i can
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

petefrom bearswamp

I know this is a redundant question but where do I find out how to post pics?
pete
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

Lud

Hit Search button above and write Posting Pics and hit the Search.  Ought to be there........
Simplicity mill, Ford 1957 Golden Jubilee 841 Powermaster, 40x60 bankbarn, left-handed

slider

go down to behind the forum pete ,it took me a couple of try's but i got it.
al glenn

WDH

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

petefrom bearswamp

Thanks all, I'll try this in a morning when I'm fresh and  haven't been wrestling with 20" pine logs on my mill all day.
Pete
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

cutterboy

Hey Pete, what a nice deal you got. I love logs that size....you can zip right through them. I have a few hemlock on my farm and I've thought about sawing them, but the trees have so many branches. I'd be all day just limbing the DanG thing.   :D
To underestimate old men and old machines is the folly of youth. Frank C.

WDH

Pete,

Call me and I will walk you through it.
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

petefrom bearswamp

Waiting for my help to get here and am going to saw some good size 10' logs into mainly 1x12 stuff.
Already sawed 8- 8' logs and 2 10' ones only had shake in one large 8 footer so far and managed to salvage a good bit of lumber from it.
WDH thanks for the offer I'll  be in touch soon
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

ex-Engineer Wannabe

I would love to read more of your 'shake reports,' Pete.  We've been milling a variety of logs from our property for the past month and, quite honestly, I'd trade all of the beautiful hardwood sawlogs we have for a pile of Eastern Hemlock any time.  The knots are inherently small in our EH logs, and stress is nearly nonexistent ...  and as a timber framer, it's all about stability.  Yes, the grain in our Maple and Black Birch is very pleasing to the eye but the Eastern Hemlock seems to mill out true every time and stays that way.     
"Measure twice, cut once" -- Don't know who coined this one, but he was pretty wise.

petefrom bearswamp

Only sawed 6 logs yesterday, due to servicing customers, a small bit of shake but was able to saw around it.
Made a few 2" and 3" battens where I had to but got a lot of 10" and 12" boards. should finish the 10' logs this AM.
Kubota 8540 tractor, FEL bucket and forks, Farmi winch
Kubota 900 RTV
Polaris 570 Sportsman ATV
3 Huskies 1 gas Echo 1 cordless Echo vintage Homelite super xl12
57 acres of woodland

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