Walnut log - firewood or ??

[IllinoisJim]

Dropped a walnut tree recently and was going to cut it up for firewood. It had a number of bad spots and had dropped a few limbs but there is a 9 ft section of trunk that is straight and solid. I know small logs aren't worth a fortune like some might think but I got to thinking perhaps I should find someone who wants to mill it and sell or trade for firewood. It is about 17" on one end and 22" on the other.

I tried to come up with how much firewood was in it and came up with about 1/5 cord. Does that sound right? Any idea what a log like this might be worth? Seems like it should be worth more than 1/5 cord of firewood....

Thoughts?

 

[Dr. Hackemoff]

Black walnut did make a nice backdrop for my family's 2003 Christmas picture (not your average kids in front of the Christmas tree...). Burned a grove full that year.



Seriously, if you know a local craftsman who also mills and processes lumber, you may be in luck. But I'm thinking most won't bother for one small batch of boards.
Good luck tho, it burns decently, but not terrific.

 

[rarefish383]

Someone googled Black Walnut and wound up on our milling forum. He asked a simple question, "How much will someone give me to take down my tree and keep the wood". Someone said he'd give his left doodad for a log like that. Someone else said he milled one up that sized and got over $1200 bucks for it. I said a tree company in my area would charge close to $2000 to take it down and haul away all the debris. I then said if he kept the wood and split it up for firewood he might have 2 cords worth, and recoup some of his money. No one said they would give him a dime to come take it down. I got called all kinds of names, some not so nice and some worse. How could you burn all that beautiful Black Walnut. One of the members who is a pro sawyer, said that if the tree was in his area and safe to drop, he would drop it and pay for the log. So I asked him from the pics and measurements, "how much would he pay". He gave the board feet based on the info and came up with a price of about $300-$350. Not far off of my 2 cords of fire wood price. I came from a fourth generation tree care business. Black Walnut in our area is not rare. We gave up on trying to get mills to come get it. One mill would give decent money if delivered to the mill. We used to cut it up into firewood length and wholesale it to a local market that sold junk wood in the winter. The moral of my long story is, don't feel guilty about burning it. If you want to find it a good home, post it on the milling forum as a trade of mill, and you keep a couple boards. I milled some nice slabs from a BW I took down for a friend and left him 2 or 3 slabs. Now he has the nicest shelves, in his garage, in town, Joe.

 

[UpOnTheHill]

Firewood all day every day. I have bucked and split black walnut many times. Unless you have a bunch and can move it yourself to a mill, its worth about say.... Firewood.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I wished I lived closer, even smaller/short logs make for some NICE lumber!

Offer it to someone with a small personal saw mill to trade for some firewood, I trade for logs that way from time to time...

You just may find someone close by, by visiting the "milling forum" right here on AS.

SR

 

[Whitespider]

A 9 ft log?? It ain't worth much more than cold owl squat.
Example 1: 14" DBH black walnut tree with one 16-ft log contains approx. 50 board feet (Doyle Tree Scale). 50 board feet multiplied by $1.00/ft stumpage value = $50.
Example 2: 18" DBH black walnut tree with one 16-ft log contains approx. 100 board feet. 100 board feet multiplied by $1.00/ft stumpage value = $100.
Example 3: 24" DHB black walnut tree with one 16-ft log contains approx. 220 board feet. 220 board feet multiplied by $1.00/ft stumpage value = $220.

It's firewood... and mediocre firewood at that.
*

 

[Ironworker]

If you live close to an urban area with yuppies you could locate one of those rustic- contemporary furniture place they pay top dollar for stuff like that, but it's gotta be slabed and dried.

 

[rarefish383]

I wished I lived closer, even smaller/short logs make for some NICE lumber!

Offer it to someone with a small personal saw mill to trade for some firewood, I trade for logs that way from time to time...

You just may find someone close by, by visiting the "milling forum" right here on AS.

SR

Rob I cut this one down last year, right after I got my new splitter. I milled up the log, and split all the small stuff. Got 1 full cord out of it. A guy at my neighbors yard sale walked over and said he loved Walnut for fire wood, was it for sale. Yep, $175, dumped in drive.





Then I stuck the fork on my milling stands and my big saw died. The kids have been bugging me for a year to play B-Ball! As soon as I finish my cup of coffee I'm putting the 36" bar on my new 660 and making the kids happy. They will be able to shoot hoops again this afternoon, Joe.

 

[stihlaficionado]

Black walnut did make a nice backdrop for my family's 2003 Christmas picture (not your average kids in front of the Christmas tree...). Burned a grove full that year.

View attachment 360338

Seriously, if you know a local craftsman who also mills and processes lumber, you may be in luck. But I'm thinking most won't bother for one small batch of boards.
Good luck tho, it burns decently, but not terrific.

That isn't Excalibur is it?

 

[woodchuck357]

Use your longest bar and free hand cut a couple of slabs out of the center. Then cut the rest into fire wood. Free hand lumber cutting is not very difficult, but it is more wasteful than using a jig. Dry the noodles that come from milling and use them for fire starters.
I cut a lot of slabs for rifle stock blanks from walnut this way. This spring I cut a 24 foot long one and a half inch thick white oak board free hand to make gunnels for a boat I was rebuilding.
http://wunderwoods.wordpress.com/2013/01/12/log-busting-without-a-chainsaw-guide/

 

[Dr. Hackemoff]

That isn't Excalibur is it?

Yes...my son next to me in the back was holding Excalibur. My daughters were holding Sting and Glamdring from LOTR.
I was holding the sword of the apocalypse riders. The good old days...now they are all grown up and gone.

 

[Jimbo209]

Yes...my son next to me in the back was holding Excalibur. My daughters were holding Sting and Glamdring from LOTR.
I was holding the sword of the apocalypse riders. The good old days...now they are all grown up and gone.

Custom made or bought

Sent from my G526-L22

 

[UpOnTheHill]

Use your longest bar and free hand cut a couple of slabs out of the center. Then cut the rest into fire wood. Free hand lumber cutting is not very difficult, but it is more wasteful than using a jig. Dry the noodles that come from milling and use them for fire starters.
http://wunderwoods.wordpress.com/2013/01/12/log-busting-without-a-chainsaw-guide/

With the wood around here its difficult. Looks like thats what they do for a living (lots of practice) and the wood they're cutting looks like its soft like the banana I ate this morning.

 

[MGoBlue]

My vote goes to milling. Try and find someone local to slice it up. If you don't want it for yourself, it could be used for barter.

 

[Dr. Hackemoff]

Custom made or bought

Sent from my G526-L22

All bought. Decorators of course, non-functional, ranging in price from $150 to $450 each. They still hang on my living room wall. Til the wife makes me take'em down.
Sorry, I don't mean to derail this thread. Have a good weekend all

 

[kingOFgEEEks]

I'm chiming in to vote for finding someone with a mini-mill or chainsaw mill and either trading for some firewood, or even giving them a few $$ to mill it for you.

5 or 6 years ago my Dad found a nice 24" cherry log about 10 feet long in a hedgerow, and I begged him to not burn it. We loaded it up and I paid $100 to have it milled at a local sawmill. I ended up with (if memory serves) a little less than 100 board feet of 4/4 rough cut cherry. I'm still using it to this day for small woodworking projects, and it is just beautiful.

The firewood would have been gone, and now Dad is gone, but the cherry boards are still here, and I have some wonderful reminders of great memories.