Do you even bother with Red Cedar?

[farmerboybill]

Hey Fellas,

I took down a Red Cedar in my yard yesterday. It was a bigger one at 24 or so inches across at the base and maybe 30 feet tall. I lumped it up into chunks for my gasification OWB. Limbing the stuff was a PITA. Then, I looked on Sweeps library and see it's about the 5th worst in terms of BTUs per cord...

I'm gonna burn it, but is it even worth it? I got 90 acres of woods, but this was close and I had to stick a saw in it anyway.

 

[Hedgerow]

Hey Fellas,

I took down a Red Cedar in my yard yesterday. It was a bigger one at 24 or so inches across at the base and maybe 30 feet tall. I lumped it up into chunks for my gasification OWB. Limbing the stuff was a PITA. Then, I looked on Sweeps library and see it's about the 5th worst in terms of BTUs per cord...

I'm gonna burn it, but is it even worth it? I got 90 acres of woods, but this was close and I had to stick a saw in it anyway.

Yes... I burn it...
The wife loves it...

 

[ShaneLogs]

That is a pretty good sized Cedar, Burn it! I love it too.

 

[Mac88]

Yes... I burn it...
The wife loves it...

That is a pretty good sized Cedar, Burn it! I love it too.

You got the labor in it already. Put it in the stove. Mix it with hardwood. It'll all make an ash.

 

[Currently]

Great kindling and never rots ... in other words you have kindling for the next twenty years.

Sawdust irritates the heck out of my airways, try to avoid cutting it when I can.

 

[danrclem]

Yep, it makes great kindling and campfire wood.

 

[STLfirewood]

Use it in the fall and spring when it's not so cold. It burns great it just doesn't last that long. It's not worth limbing unless they are really big limbs.

Scott

 

[D&B Mack]

You got the labor in it already. Put it in the stove. Mix it with hardwood. It'll all make an ash.

What if I burn it with Ash?

Does:

Cedar + Ash = Ash?

:msp_biggrin:

 

[KiwiBro]

What if I burn it with Ash?

Does:

Cedar + Ash = Ash?

:msp_biggrin:

hard case?
a dek rash?

 

[Mac88]

What if I burn it with Ash?

Does:

Cedar + Ash = Ash?

:msp_biggrin:

Yes, unless your ash is wet. Then it makes steam.

 

[rancher2]

We pile the cedars on the brush piles. They sure make good brush starters.

 

[homemade]

if it was me i would have try'd to save as much log as i could. they make good lumber and last forever. Maybe even built the wife a nice quilt chest or something. Then she wouldn't feel so bad about her nice tree coming down. But yeah as far as btu's... its good for kindling not much bigger.

 

[homemade]

if it was me i would have try'd to save as much log as i could. they make good lumber and last forever. Maybe even built the wife a nice quilt chest or something. Then she wouldn't feel so bad about her nice tree coming down. But yeah as far as btu's... its good for kindling not much bigger.

 

[lone wolf]

Red Cedar and some spruce.

 

[ShaneLogs]

Red Cedar and some spruce.

That's pretty neat! Never done that myself, Might have to give that a try

 

[ckliff]

Save your cedar logs and read the SWEDISH CANDLE thread.

 

[lone wolf]

That's pretty neat! Never done that myself, Might have to give that a try

It is nice to make your own lumber.

 

[zogger]

I wish I had more of it here. I would like to make some seriously heavy and stout "log cabin" doghouses.

 

[farmerboybill]

It is nice to make your own lumber.

No go on this one. It was hollow the first 4 feet. Ants didn't seem to like me sawing in their home... Before I knew it was hollow, I posted it on craigslist to see if anyone was interested in it for lumber. I offered to take it down, limb it, and load it on the buyer's trailer. No bites.

There are two more cedar trees in the "front" yard she wants gone as well. I'm delaying her with the fact that they're to the west of the house and are effective windbreaks in the winter. She wants to plant saplings underneath and take down the cedars as soon as the saplings get some height. You don't often see cedars as big as these around here.

But guys, these are yard trees. Don't you all drill it into everyone's head that yard trees do not lumber make???

 

[slowp]

There's another use for Western Red Cedar. Chainsaw carvers like to use it. I talked to a guy. He sometimes pays for the wood by doing a carving in exchange for the wood. I do not know if they pay $$ or how much.

If there's enough and the right quality, there is a cedar sawmill down the road about 12 miles.

You could also make little bags of it to use in dresser drawers.

Local tribes wove baskets and also made clothing out of it. They still strip cedars for basket material.

You could turn it into a canoe.

You could split it into fence rails. Cedar is rot resistant.

It makes good kindling and is supposed to keep your chimney clean.

The boughs can be harvested for holiday wreaths.

You can noodle cedar to make air fresheners.

It makes good shingles.

I'm sure there are other uses. We like our cedar. Unfortunately, so do the elk and deer.