My gosh, Spring seems like a lifetime ago now to me! But back in late April, early May, while driving on Emmaus Avenue heading towards the I-78 underpass (I know there are a lot of locals on here) I spotted a TON of Walnut limbs and rounds from several trees that were taken down-there was a lot of wood there. Shortly afterwards there was a sign with the phone number saying "WOOD-CALLS ONLY" so I called it and left a message saying if the were looking to get rid of it call back but if they were selling it forget it 'cause I'm a scrounger that doesn't buy wood. Needless to say I didn't get a call back which is fine, but it is now almost October and when I drive past there it looks the same as it did before except the weeds are higher around the piles; the log lengths aren't big enough probably to mill them, and the other stuff is still laying unsplit in sections. Now I know that they thought they would sell this months ago, and maybe they didn't have the capabilities to cut it to size and split it back in May, but it just seems like a wasted opprotunity just lying there. Or some poor sap will buy it next month and split it and try to burn it and be disappointed.
I know it is none of my business-and it isn't sour grapes that I didn't get any of it 'cause I didn't need it anyway and got better BTU wood, but I guess it's just the "internal" clock and woodburner instinct inside me that looks at that everyday and shakes his head!! :msp_confused:
Well, to tell the truth, the very word "walnut" has gone on my list of swear words. Mention it, and I am likely to either walk away without a word or give serious consideration to providing you with an excuse to stop by the local ER with a severe limp.
Three weeks ago a lady called and said she had a large tree that needed to be removed from their front lawn. They were planning on a remodel and it was in the way, and mentioned twice it was a walnut. So I go out to give em a price.
22 inches at the base, and 9 feet up to the first branch. And three birdhouses and one bird feeder nailed to the tree. You can just bet that for every nail you see there are at least 5426548 more hidden away. Not enough room in the yard to swing a midget around on a rope, so its coming down in pieces. Gave her a price of $1700 to remove and grind the stump, to which she replied, "well, we get a check before you cut anything, right?"
Um, no, thats what you pay
me and my crew to remove it maam.
"But its a walnut tree! Its worth many times that for boards!" Needless to say, I didnt get that job, and last time I drove by that tree was still standing there, right along a big pile of building material.
Then there was the guy this Monday. Called and said he had several piles of logs on his property, and wanted to know if I wanted them. They were dropped and dragged out of the woods by a logging crew, then they got themselves into a jamb when it was discovered that they had wandered over the property line and had sat there for two years while the legal battle went on. Now he just wanted them gone.
As you may have guessed, almost 1/3 of the 23 logs were walnut. The rest were a mix of red oak, poplar,white oak, and one hickory. I gave him a price of $600 after measuring the length and diamters, and he hit the roof. He said that he was told that he could expect to get $4000 to $6000 just for the walnut.
I explained that at no market would he get that kind of money for walnut, even if the trees were fresh cut. But now all he had was a big pile of firewood as the trunks had split a good bit, twisted some, and everything on the bottom was rotted. After paying for a driver and self loader and hauling them to the mill, he would be lucky if the mill gave him anything. Better to cut your losses and bust it into firewood.
Nope, the guy was convinced that big pile of trash was going to fund him a new pickup truck, and nothing I could say was going to change his mind.
