Large area fire damage, buying saw mill for community? Mendocino fires

[schmauster]

I live in Mendocino county where there is a ton of fire damage. The fires are about half contained and we are safe. A lot of our friends live in rural areas and have lost homes. We keep a fairly tight knit community and would love to help. I also have no idea what I would be getting into, but i do have time on my side.


A lot of the fire damage is oak driven by dry grass. If there are a lot of dead trees will it be feasable to harvest oak? The community might come together with hauling the wood in a larger truck/trailer.

As far as my abilities I have a 220v wire feed welder and generators, a 4wd 4runner, decent mechanical knowledge, I feel like its something i could handle in general.

 

[Cease232]

I'm not sure I understand the intention behind this sawmill.
Milling is a lot of work and will require large equipment to move those tress around. Also oak is not terribly desirable or valuable if your doing this to raise money.
Sorry to hear about the community. Good luck and keep us posted.


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[lfnh]

cutting in burn over takes a heavy toll on people and equipment. seems permit process can be more paper and bureacractic than it used to. might want to ask around to get a feel first.

 

[schmauster]

I guess im asking how feasible it is for a regular joe to buy and operate a saw mill to provide wood for people that have lost their houses. Finding properties with straight wood and a willing owner, manpower etc i realize there are a lot of obstacles to overcome, im hoping other people from the community would rotate in to help. Im just trying to make a feasible plan if its possible.

Of course im open to other ideas like getting help from a large mill etc. It might just be a crazy idea.

 

[Mike Van]

For a long time houses have been framed with softwoods [fir, spruce, ect] and sheathed in plywood. Oak is about the last thing i'd recommend, unless for a special timber frame building. Someone that's lost their home & needs a replacement just won't have the time or want to do the work involved in logging & milling lumber. I'd look else where if you wish to help out.

 

[schmauster]

Yeah, maybe a good idea but hard to actually get traction and help. Ill think about other ways

 

[Ryan'smilling]

For a long time houses have been framed with softwoods [fir, spruce, ect] and sheathed in plywood. Oak is about the last thing i'd recommend, unless for a special timber frame building. Someone that's lost their home & needs a replacement just won't have the time or want to do the work involved in logging & milling lumber. I'd look else where if you wish to help out.

^^^^ This.

Oak is terrible framing material. Makes nice floors, but either way, milling lumber to rebuild houses doesn't sound practical. The sawmill is only a part of the equation to get boards. Need equipment to handle logs and logging, need an industrial planer, need a kiln, place to stack boards, and all the tools associated with all of that stuff. Even if you had a bunch of pine or fir, you'd be hard pressed to make boards for less than you can buy them for.

Maybe look into a medium sized telehandler if you want to buy a helpful machine.

 

[Rick Hammer]

I live in Mendocino county where there is a ton of fire damage. The fires are about half contained and we are safe. A lot of our friends live in rural areas and have lost homes. We keep a fairly tight knit community and would love to help. I also have no idea what I would be getting into, but i do have time on my side.


A lot of the fire damage is oak driven by dry grass. If there are a lot of dead trees will it be feasable to harvest oak? The community might come together with hauling the wood in a larger truck/trailer.

As far as my abilities I have a 220v wire feed welder and generators, a 4wd 4runner, decent mechanical knowledge, I feel like its something i could handle in general.

You must live in the Redwood valley area.I think you would be best just bucking up the wood for fire wood.You could maybe mill a few pieces for some nice trim wood,but for rebuilding ,you need fir.Maybe if you have some good straight fir,and that Ponderosa pine down there.Sure sorry about the fire.I lived in Mendocino County,in Manchester on the coast and in Ukiah,over on Redemeyer Road.I was a tree trimmer. Blessings

 

[schmauster]

Ive come to realize other ways to help friends that have lost homes, this was a half baked idea once I realized the actual milling was only a small part of it.

Yeah im in Potter Valley, more towards hwy 20 that didnt get hit. We were evacuated but didnt loose anything luckily. Manchester is really nice. I moved from a small town in the southern cali mountains. California just gets nicer and nicer as you go north. I wouldnt mind getting in on some of the tree cleanup around here somehow

 

[Rick Hammer]

Ive come to realize other ways to help friends that have lost homes, this was a half baked idea once I realized the actual milling was only a small part of it.

Yeah im in Potter Valley, more towards hwy 20 that didnt get hit. We were evacuated but didnt loose anything luckily. Manchester is really nice. I moved from a small town in the southern cali mountains. California just gets nicer and nicer as you go north. I wouldnt mind getting in on some of the tree cleanup around here somehow

Yea PV is a nice area,use to take my kids out past to the river there years back.I think your idea was fine,you were trying to help others who were less fortunate. blessings 2 u