irishcountry
ArboristSite Guru
Ok I am new to this forum and I have been reading posts for awhile seems like a bunch of knowledgeable and motivated people here that love milling and someday I hope to be one of them. I have a question about milling beams for a timberframe first can you really do this with just a simple setup like a 2x8 lumbermaker like you see for sale on ebay or is this somthing that would be better to plan and save for and get a bandsaw sawmill? Second how in the world could you figure out how many trees it would take to frame out a 1800 to 2000 sq. ft. house or cabin. A little background I have about 3 to 4 really big pines way too close to my house, just guessing but about 60 to 70 ft. tall along with some (3) very large diameter Maples (probrobly soft) and at least one huge old oak that one day or another are going to need to be dropped I really hate to burn them at least all of them when they could make some nice wood for either a cabin or wood or that could eventually be used for a remodel at least. I know that there are many variables to all of these questions but any information would be greatly appreciated. Currently I have no way to mill any of this stuff and so far all the stuff we have dropped we turned into firewood (tree of heaven, various pines ect.) but all the trees are old and going to go for one reason or another, we have alot of large willows next to a pond but I know that most people say its really useless except for instrument building but would be kinda neat to make something with it because its been growing on this property for years back to the previous owner and from stories I hear he took great pride in this place and I want to keep the tradition.