Advice on these logs/trees

[AndyR]

I'm having these trees removed from our yard in the next week or so (if it dries out enough) and am looking for some advice. I've not milled anything before. I currently have the ripsaw set up and ready to go and I think I can take care of the cherry tree with that alone. I'm probably going to go ahead and bite the bullet and get a new MS660 and Alaskan mill. I tried buying a used 066 and got a big piece of crap and I'm tired of fooling around with it. Used ones on ebay , that look half decent, are selling for ridiculous amounts of money, some of them are almost the cost of a new one. I also have a new OEM top end and extra bars (32" and 25") that came with 066, So that's why I'm leaning in that direction vs. a Husky 395. I know it looks like I'm spending a lot of money just to have these couple of trees milled, I guess I should mention that I plan to do more milling with it than that. I like to work with wood and have a pretty good shop set up now. This is our first house and most of our furniture is odds and ends and leftovers from our college dormroom days.

I guess my questions are...

1. Should I bother trying to mill any of the branch wood out of the top of the walnut? I'm planning to keep the crotch pieces for turning wood if it doesn't look like I can saw it up into lumber. How small of a piece would you bother with-I know walnut has a lot of sapwood.

2. The cherry has quite a bend at the bottom and I'm assuming there's a bit of tension on that section. Should I cut that off and then cut it into shorts or turning blocks again. What would you do?

3. They will be using a crane to take these out so I think they can let them trunks down easy. Is there anything else about the way these are cut that I should request from the tree service that would help me maximize the yield from these trees.

4.They are also removing two kind of small Ailanthus (sp.) or "Tree of heaven" from another corner of the yard. They are not large-maybe 18-20 inches at the base. Has anyone ever milled any of this wood. I know they are considered an invasive species and are banned in a few states, so I thought I would go ahead and have them removed too. My tree service guy says the wood is brittle. So I'm thinking the might end up as firewood...

I know this is a lot of questions but I've really come to respect you all and your vast cumulative knowledge has been a great resource.

I'm attaching some pics so you'll have a better idea of what I'm talking about.

Thanks for any help..
Andy

 

[AndyR]

Here's one more... I'm going to be kind of sad to see the walnut come down but it's damaged and I don't want it coming down on the house...

 

[tomtrees58]

the cherry has a good bend in lit it sit walnut has a lot of water this time of year tom trees

 

[Nikko]

The trunk wood on both trees is definitely millable. Get the arborist to cut just above the bell and you'll have some very nice pieces of wood.

Branches - don't bother milling them. Unless a leader has gone vertical, it's going to be loaded with reaction wood and will pretzel when you dry it. And if you manage to weigh the stuff down hard enough to get it to dry straight, it'll pretzel when you try to turn it into furniture. I guess you may be able to get small pieces out of it (2' long or less), and you have to decide if it's worth it. I still tend to mill big branches, but I expect WAY less yield and often times toss the lot. I'm just not mature enough yet to pass them up completely (but but but - it's WOOD!!)

However- cut every crotch you can get, then rip them in half (line up all three piths) to see what you have and if you like what you seem rough cut it round with the saw before waxing them up. If there's too many, call the local turners club and donate them - they'll love you for it!

The rest - firewood. Watch for metal in those too - they look like they've belonged to a herd of kids over the years - there's bound to be tree fort steps and clothes line anchors in there somewhere...

Awesome trees - would love to get my hands on those

Nikko

 

[woodshop]

...They are also removing two kind of small Ailanthus (sp.) or "Tree of heaven" from another corner of the yard. They are not large-maybe 18-20 inches at the base. Has anyone ever milled any of this wood. I know they are considered an invasive species and are banned in a few states, so I thought I would go ahead and have them removed too. My tree service guy says the wood is brittle. So I'm thinking the might end up as firewood...

Nice trees, I'll echo almost all of what Nikko says, good advice. I have milled ailanthus, and the wood is beautiful, not brittle at all in the woodshop. Kind of looks like ash, but a white creamy color. Nice hardwood in my opinion. I would not turn down a nice ailanthus log.

 

[AndyR]

Ok, thanks for the good advice.
I think I'll use the Ailanthus logs for practice and then once I'm used to using the ripsaw I'll move on to the cherry and walnut.

 

[Backwoods]

As was stated, the sap is up. Do not get in a hurry to mill them. This fall would be a much better time to remove them when the sap is down. If you take them out now let the cherry sit at least 2 months and the walnut I would wait until next spring to mill it, as the color will spread to the sap wood if left for about a year. I got 15 ton of cherry that I am sitting on now because it was removed with sap up. I milled a few logs and anything over an inch went crack happy on me. The 1” stock could not have enough weight stacked on it. I keep a deck of walnut logs for 12-18 months before opening them up. For example I had a 48” log that was only colored in the 18” center. I tucked it in a new deck 18 months later when I dug that log out it had 42” of color. That is why I continue to deck black walnut.

 

[AndyR]

Hey thanks,

Thats going to be tough, I don't know if I want the logs laying in my driveway for x-months to a year, but I don't want to screw up the wood either. I'll have to see what solution I can come up with. Although that would give me more time to buy a bigger saw...

I remember as a kid that my grandfather used to let his walnut logs lay for a year or so before taking them to be milled. I also remember helping to wrestle a couple of big old logs into the back of his F-150. He never sealed the ends on his though. I'll do that at least.

Thanks again for the advice, that was something I was wondering about.

 

[MJR]

Steam the walnut and collect the run off. Helps the sapwood and the juice works great on weeds. Run a metal detector over the logs before you do anything. Good luck to you.

 

[big daddio]

i'll cover the domestic part. buy all the good stuff you need to get started millin' them logs. tell your wife what nice furniture you'll make for her [believe you got that covered] have a blast at it and enjoy. one shot at some of that reaction wood will stick with ya'. wish i had some of these dudes to talk to when i started, but, like they say in that one picture and 1000 words thing.

 

[Tree Bones]

Lots of good info above. I like the walnut limb wood if you keep it in large cants until it dries and has finished moving and then re saw it. My experience cutting material with sap up is it makes long lasting hard lumber with cedar and pine and this may be different with other species.

 

[AndyR]

They're down

I'll attach a few pics of these trees being removed and of the logs that came from them. The arborist I hired (and his crew) did a great job with the only damage being a few ruts in the grass. My neighbors all think I'm crazy, and looking at that pile of work out there I think they might be right.

All of the logs were good and solid, (and pretty wet). There are a few areas that will need to be trimmed and worked around, but all in all, I should get some pretty nice lumber (assuming I can get the hang of using this Ripsaw).

I need to trim the split piece of the one walnut log back to solid wood and paint and second coat the ends of all of the logs today. I also need to get the cherry log off the ground in the yard.

I don't know how long I can leave these logs laying around. I may have to mill them kind of thick and resaw later.

If the ends are sealed pretty well will these be ok sitting out in the sun/rain?

I'll post follow-up pics of any milling I do.

 

[AndyR]

a few more

a few more pics

 

[woodshop]

There are a few areas that will need to be trimmed and worked around, but all in all, I should get some pretty nice lumber (assuming I can get the hang of using this Ripsaw).

I don't know how long I can leave these logs laying around. I may have to mill them kind of thick and resaw later.

If the ends are sealed pretty well will these be ok sitting out in the sun/rain?

If you have any questions of problems using that Ripsaw, I'd be glad to help. Make sure you keep enough tension on the blade, and change it out or sharpen as soon as it starts to get dull. If you can, use a csm to mill the logs into cants with no bark and THEN fire up the Ripsaw. Keeping that blade out of bark will double (or more) it's life.

As long as the logs are off the ground, they will be fine sitting there for a long while. I've milled logs that have been sitting for several years even. Make sure they don't get full of beetles though, the main problem with letting them sit.

Do you have a place to sticker and stack your lumber for drying? If you plan on milling in the future (in other words, this ain't a flash in the pan for ya...) you'd be ahead of the game building a small flat sturdy drying deck similar to the one I built here.

 

[Bushler]

That's a good pic of properly stacked and stickered lumber. Seems like the end check will stop (ususally) at the first sticker, so do like the pic shows, and put your first sticker close to the ends of the boards.

Keep your sticker lined up like in the pic too. That makes the weight bear on teh stickers clear through the stack.

Nice.

 

[AndyR]

Woodshop,
I picked up a used 36" alaskan mill on ebay for $72.00 and that should be on its way. I may have to take you up on that ripsaw advice. The little bit that I have tried to use it was a little discouraging. It seems to want to pull off to one side as I start the cut. I know there is a guide that bolts on the plate, that I don't have installed-maybe that will help. I understand they have a video that ships with the new saws that might give me some basic info and a demo of sorts. They said it was five dollars, I think I'll go ahead and order that along with a few spare parts... I am going to practice a little next weekend on the smaller ailanthus logs, the ends of those are wanting to check pretty badly. Yes, I definitely see a drying shed or platform going up in the near fture...

A little more advice please:
I was out painting the ends of the logs yesterday, when the man two doors down came by. He watched these trees being removed and is going to have his three walnuts in his yard removed. He asked me if I wanted the wood. If I can't get these milled and stickered in the the next couple of months, I'll have to pass on those. You can see them in the "cherrytop" pic in the first post of this thread. They are a little smaller than the one I have (which I finally measured at 36") but are all straighter and don't branch out quite as low. There should be at least two to three clear logs from each of those trees as opposed to the one that I got.
It's raining walnut logs! I probably sound greedy, I think I mostly just hate to see such nice wood chipped-up...

Am I going to be sorry if I go ahead and mill this stuff that I have? (the walnut, not the cherry, that can sit a while)

Too many irons in the fire...
Andy

 

[woodshop]

... I may have to take you up on that ripsaw advice. The little bit that I have tried to use it was a little discouraging. It seems to want to pull off to one side as I start the cut. I know there is a guide that bolts on the plate, that I don't have installed-maybe that will help...

Yes that is your problem... that blade will pull that Ripsaw to the right (as you're facing the Ripsaw in front of you), in towards the log as soon as it starts to grab wood. It's the same deal as the way a chainsaw wants to pull the saw in towards the log as it's cutting. Anyway, that is the purpose of that little tang you said you don't have attached to the guide plate. Once you get good at it, you might find that you don't need that little tang (I took mine off years ago) as you can anticipate the pull and counter it using your body weight and by placing your hand on the guide and that knob on it, with your fingers against the guide bar acting sortof as that tang would. Once the saw gets going down the log, it still grabs but again you can counter it the way you hold and push the saw. That's an acquired skill though, I was running my Ripsaw for a good while before I got to that point. For now attach that tang, and adjust it so it rides on the side of that aluminum guide bar. It will keep the Ripsaw from pulling to the right as it's milling.

Make sure you take the tension off of the blade when not using the Ripsaw. I've gotten into the habit of turning the tension screw the same number or times every time I UN tension it, so that way I always turn it that many times to tension it, and thus it's always the right tension.

If it were me, I'd take care of the neighbors walnut trees first... you can always come back to yours if they are not blocking your driveway or such. Sounds like a great score there... big tall strait walnut trees. Mccurdy and I just picked up a 24" strait walnut blowdown on Craigs list also, we're going to go get it next weekend if weather holds.

You will find once you start milling, and friends and neighbors get to know you as the guy who will take logs, that you will often be way backed up with logs to mill and no time to do it. I've gotten to where I just pick the good stuff... and even though there might be some great wood in that 13" oak offered me, that law of diminishing returns kicks in, and I just thank them for asking but say no thanks, but tell them to not stop asking me in the future.

 

[AndyR]

The bad news...
The neighbors trees are down and I wasn't able to do much about it. The arborist said he would take the logs to his yard and I could snag them from there. All I have is a Subaru station wagon, but I might give it a try. His place is only about 10 miles or so from here, and I guess I could cut it over there and make a few trips for the boards. I think he has some other stuff over there too.

The extremely good news...
Thanks to my tax rebate and a recent freelance job. I picked up my birthday present to myself today. I got a 395xp with a 36" husky bar in .063 gauge. I only made about 6 cuts with it today on the upper, branchy, walnut log. I needed to trim back some rotten stuff. I'm going to end up losing about one whole side of that log to rot. The other half looks good and solid the whole way down. That saw has power, but it's smooth and easy to use at the same time. I don't have a lot of experience with chainsaws, but I felt quite comfortable with it. I can't wait to get my old 066 back together and compare the two.

My Ebay Alaskan mill came in the mail and it was missing a couple of bolts and the handle. I might just make a handle, the ones that come with it look a little flimsy anyway.

I'm planning to put an order together for Bailey's and am looking for a chain recommendation. Having a planer, I think I'm going to go for speed over smoothness right now. The chain that came with it is quite fast. In fact it (the whole package) is incredible. So far, I couldn't be happier.


Andy

 

[Burlhunter13]

Woodshop,
I picked up a used 36" alaskan mill on ebay for $72.00 and that should be on its way. I may have to take you up on that ripsaw advice. The little bit that I have tried to use it was a little discouraging. It seems to want to pull off to one side as I start the cut. I know there is a guide that bolts on the plate, that I don't have installed-maybe that will help. I understand they have a video that ships with the new saws that might give me some basic info and a demo of sorts. They said it was five dollars, I think I'll go ahead and order that along with a few spare parts... I am going to practice a little next weekend on the smaller ailanthus logs, the ends of those are wanting to check pretty badly. Yes, I definitely see a drying shed or platform going up in the near fture...

A little more advice please:
I was out painting the ends of the logs yesterday, when the man two doors down came by. He watched these trees being removed and is going to have his three walnuts in his yard removed. He asked me if I wanted the wood. If I can't get these milled and stickered in the the next couple of months, I'll have to pass on those. You can see them in the "cherrytop" pic in the first post of this thread. They are a little smaller than the one I have (which I finally measured at 36") but are all straighter and don't branch out quite as low. There should be at least two to three clear logs from each of those trees as opposed to the one that I got.
It's raining walnut logs! I probably sound greedy, I think I mostly just hate to see such nice wood chipped-up...

Am I going to be sorry if I go ahead and mill this stuff that I have? (the walnut, not the cherry, that can sit a while)

Too many irons in the fire...
Andy

lol.....walnut is my favorite wood! The logs you have are excellent! If your neighbor doesn't want his logs and you cant take them then let me know! I live just 30 min north of Chicago and heck I'll pick em up lol

 

[BobL]

My Ebay Alaskan mill came in the mail and it was missing a couple of bolts and the handle. I might just make a handle, the ones that come with it look a little flimsy anyway.

Alloy bicycle handle bar stems make very handy mill/saw handles.