Jesse snowden
ArboristSite Operative
Been a while gentlemen!
Quick overview:
Bought my first house. Everett washington, about 20 miles north of Seattle. On craigslist in this area you can buy douglas fir logs fresh from the mountains by the truck load. It's not cheap, but not nearly as much as a lumber package from a saw mill.
My goal- to mill timbers to do a timber-frame covered patio front and back. Timbers will likely be around 8x8 for the posts, 6x6 for the top plate, 4x6 for the rafters + collar ties, and 4x4 for knee braces. So a load of logs no smaller than 12" at any point would be able to give me any of these posts. A little bark inclusion here and there is okay with me stylisticly.
My question- a young douglas fir, ~ 30-40 maybe 50 years old, no doubt planted by Dunn lumber or weyerhaeuser... can I count on these trees to produce quality timbers? I've seen these truck loads. Prefectly straight, few knots. But not anything you would call close growth ring spacing. Am I overthinking this?
Quick overview:
Bought my first house. Everett washington, about 20 miles north of Seattle. On craigslist in this area you can buy douglas fir logs fresh from the mountains by the truck load. It's not cheap, but not nearly as much as a lumber package from a saw mill.
My goal- to mill timbers to do a timber-frame covered patio front and back. Timbers will likely be around 8x8 for the posts, 6x6 for the top plate, 4x6 for the rafters + collar ties, and 4x4 for knee braces. So a load of logs no smaller than 12" at any point would be able to give me any of these posts. A little bark inclusion here and there is okay with me stylisticly.
My question- a young douglas fir, ~ 30-40 maybe 50 years old, no doubt planted by Dunn lumber or weyerhaeuser... can I count on these trees to produce quality timbers? I've seen these truck loads. Prefectly straight, few knots. But not anything you would call close growth ring spacing. Am I overthinking this?