Good trade?

[MJR]

I may have the opportunity to mill some hemlock. It is on a farm not far from my house. It has been marked by a forester, logging roads already in place, can mill on site, 18-22”, 30 tree”ish”. I have not seen the trees yet. I will be falling, skidding, and milling all myself. What would you consider a fair trade – lumber for trees? Also, keep in mind I am not a big fan of hemlock. Each time I work with it I get it gets in my hands regardless what I do. I will be able to see the trees next weekend after deer season closes. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[woodshop]

Of all the woods I've milled Hemlock is probably about the least favorite. It often has ring shake and thus some of the boards are only good for burning, and it's not even good for that. As a softwood in the shop it underperforms most pines, spruces and larches.

As for what would be a good or fair deal for your milling them... sheeesh that depends on so many factors... what do YOU want to get out of it?

 

[MJR]

I agree with everything stated above. Also my storage is getting filled up as well. I need framing lumber for a barn project. I am biding on a red pine and Norway spruce sale. If I win I will not need any other projects till next year. If I lose I was thinking about the hemlock.

 

[Brmorgan]

Of all the woods I've milled Hemlock is probably about the least favorite. It often has ring shake and thus some of the boards are only good for burning, and it's not even good for that. As a softwood in the shop it underperforms most pines, spruces and larches.

I guess I'm not as familiar with Eastern Hemlock, but Western Hemlock is about the hardest softwood there is. It makes great flooring and stair treads, and a lot of moldings and doors/jambs get made out of it too. The only real downside to working with it is that the hardness dulls sawblades a lot faster than even Douglas Fir, such that a lot of mills don't want to deal with it at all.

 

[MJR]

I have also seen (eastern) to warp bad and dries hard, hard to get a nail into, not great framing lumber. The planner didn’t like much either, but if the price is right….

 

[Mike Van]

As far as native [new england] framing lumber, hemlock is about the best I've sawn/used. Larch holds nails better, but it's kind of rare here. White pine is too soft, red is usually dead around me, spruce will mostly be a yard tree here, zillions of HUGE knots. I've bought hemlock delivered for 20 to 30 cents/bf. As far as a trade, with you doing all the work, I'd say 75% for you, 25% for the owner.

 

[woodshop]

As is often the case, different people have different experiences with the same (or maybe not the same) kinds of trees all over the states. Logs do vary a lot even between same species depending on where they've grown etc. I've actually only milled about 500 ft of eastern hemlock from two trees. Could have both been bad logs since some of us here seem to like the stuff. I just remember that both my logs, and they were from different areas, had wind shake in them. As they dried many of the boards just started to fall apart along ring lines. And yes they splintered up in the planer. So I just didn't have good experience with the stuff, whereas most pines and spruces I have. I had the same experience with Chinese Chesnut... two different trees from different parts of the state, but both of them had lots of ring shake and in the one, I lost more than a third of the boards to that. Again, could have been a fluke. Sawyers who mill this stuff all day over years are the ones to ask.

 

[MotorSeven]

Hmmmm, very interesting. I was thinking Hemlock for my rafters because of the 2-3' exposure on the overhang. ERC walls. I may have to get one locally & mill it as a test. If it doesn't work out, what do y'all suggest for rafters that are rot/bug resistant?

RD

 

[Mike Van]

I wouldn't worry about the Hemlock for rafters, even the overhang as it's up where it won't get wet, and will dry right out if it ever did. The cedar's a good choice for siding. There's gotta be thousands of buildings around with hemlock rafters hoding up the roofs.

 

[woodshop]

...If it doesn't work out, what do y'all suggest for rafters that are rot/bug resistant?
RD

Truth is, for all practical purposes, there really is no rot/bug resistant wood. Some are far better than others, but its still just a matter of degree. I agree with Mike Van, there are umpteen thousands of structures with hemlock rafters, including the 100+ yr old house I live in here as well as my 16x20 two story shed full of wood which is older than the house even... so hemlock is structurally sound for building and there must have been a ton of it in the area around the turn of the century. I just don't like it in the woodshop, prefer almost any other softwood, as it just doesn't work or machine very well. Carpenter ants and rot from leaky roof can destroy them, but unless you have black locust beams, that can happen to almost any wood. Nature of the beast.

 

[MJR]

Thanks Mike Van I was thinking 75/25 as well.

 

[EPA]

Here in NH Hemlock is about the standard for Dem. lumber from local mills// I find it saws about as good as Pine but a lot heavier also its best to use it BEFORE it dries so you can get a nail in it/// EPA

 

[MotorSeven]

Well, i could use cedar, but i think cedar is a little light for rafter duty. If i can find 26 or so Hemlocks locally i will go with them. Thanks.......

RD

 

[TNMIKE]

Woolly Adelgid

In western NC hemlock is cheap and easy to find. There is a lot of what I call preventative loss logging because of the woolly adelgid infestation problems we have here. The experts are saying that the hemlock is going the way of the American Chestnut. The tree can be treated and survive but it has to be a repeat treatment. There is going to be a severe environmental impact to the forests here. The hemlock is a predominant shade tree on a lot of prime trout stream.

Get it while you can. The stuff Ive seen and worked with is really good framing lumber.