Hemlock question

[MJR]

I started dropping some Hemlock Saturday for framing material. The closest thing that I have done to this is Red Pine. I didn’t enjoy the limbing or the wind. I ended up getting 22-23 logs (9’) with most being 20” on the but. The Forester wanted me to thin this stand back in 1996. I wished I had now. I thought I could have done more. It was much slower going then I thought. I would have taken pictures but the batteries in the camera were dead. I brought home five logs to play with after work; my trailer is only rated to 2900 Lbs. Any words of wisdom before I start milling (2"by4"by8')? Thanks for help.

 

[trax]

I'm a little light on wisdom, but where are you located in upstate NY?

 

[PA Plumber]

I can appreciate your situation. In the middle of a Hemlock logging job myself. 2 loads sold and 1 more waiting for pickup at the landing. I am felling anything 14" DBH and bigger. Leaving the little stuff hoping some of it makes it through the Woolley Adelgid bug. The trees aren't looking to well though.

 

[MJR]

Hello Trax - I live outside of Syracuse. My land where the trees are is located SW of Watertown.

 

[tawilson]

Hey neighbor. Good luck with them hemlocks. I've milled a few of mine back when I had a sawmill onsite. Only wisdom I have to offer is when the blade starts wandering, put a sharp one on.

 

[Adkpk]

Definitely get those ends painted. Stack and sticker them right away and weight it down. Hemlock was a bit of a disappointment for me. My wood turned out to be a little punky. After it dried it was useless. It split down the whole length of the boards. But don't let it get you down like I said my wood was a punky to begin with. It's hard at the knots. It will twist and turn on you so weight it down good.
The floors in my house are hemlock. I sanded them this winter and they came out real nice. Also being real grainy it makes great kindling.

 

[Forest Steward]

The dimensional lumber we saw is almost exclusively hemlock. It isn't really a very tricky wood to saw. The biggest issue with it is ring shake. It's basically a separation of the growth rings. You can see it in the end of the log. It actually looks like there are some growth rings missing. It's just a very common defect in them. Basically you have to keep turning the log and try to saw around it at first, then when you start cutting through the center, it will keep the shake to the outside of the boards. That way you can just edge them to straighten them out. That might be the splitting Adrpk was seeing. When it happens, the surface of where it split is almost as smooth as glass. Other than that, pretty straight forward. Good luck and try and have some fun with it.

Ooh, and whatever you do, when your handling it, don't let it slide across your bare hands. That stuff will give you some pretty mean splinters. I suppose wearing gloves would help keep that from happening. I'm still picking a few out from the other day.

 

[PA Plumber]

I've fallen quite a few trees now and just not seeing the ring shake. Some of the trees had splits/cracks in the center, but no missing growth rings.

 

[MJR]

Thanks for the info. I still haven't milled the logs at my mill. Tonight I have to finish the u-joints on the truck before dark. I think I gave enough blood to the black fly gods to keep them happy the rest of the spring. (Happy thought)
Well the dinner is done and it is time to get back to work. Hope all is well.

 

[Forest Steward]

I've fallen quite a few trees now and just not seeing the ring shake. Some of the trees had splits/cracks in the center, but no missing growth rings.

If your cutting a lot of hemlock without any shake, consider yourself lucky. It happens quite often, so I'd try to make use of that good commodity.

 

[tawilson]

Just speaking from the few hemlocks I have milled, I couldn't tell they had shake until I milled them.

 

[PA Plumber]

If your cutting a lot of hemlock without any shake, consider yourself lucky. It happens quite often, so I'd try to make use of that good commodity.

I tried to market them that way, but folks just aren't willing to pay much for Hemlock. I'm getting between $600 and $700 per triaxle load. The company I'm cutting for now will take 16 footers down to 9" on the small end and are not charging me freight. I have to buck to length, cut off root flares and stage.