Shag bark Hickory

[porta mill]

I got a few shag bark hickory trees that had to come down because of a new gas pipelines going in . I was thinking of milling them up with my band mill, I have never milled shag bark . While cutting the logs to length with a chain saw I was amazed at how hard the wood is . is was wondering how it mills and is there any value in milled hickory .Other options are send it to the local big saw mill and may be get 20 to 30 $ or fire wood (dam is this wood hard) If I turn it in to fire wood I might get 150.00 for a cord of wood . one last thing what is shag bark going currently per board foot green . thanks for any info .

 

[Cliffhanger9]

There's a bunch of Shagbark in the preserve I hike daily in - respectable trees. Hickory is used for lots of things because of its combination of hardness and shock resistance - I don't have any data or numbers for you but I'd suspect it would be valuable for much more than firewood - though it burns well when seasoned - often used for smoking meats. More common uses are things like axe and hammer handles, drumsticks, and a buddy of mine has a real nice hardwood floor made out of the stuff. Maybe someone else can give you accurate idea of monetary value. Let us know (w/pics of course!) what you end up doing with it either way! would love to see what it looks like milled up

 

[Burlhunter13]

I love shagbark. Beautiful stuff. If you wanna go with the current trend then look up "Calico Hickory". Its lumber cut so both sapwood and heartwood are in each board. There are guidelines for how "calico" hickory is graded. Take a peek......nice look when projects are put together. I mill most of mine into 2 1/2 slabs for the rustic look.

 

[chaikwa]

I milled some of this stuff about a year ago and it was the hardest stuff I have ever had on my mill. I swore I was trying to saw a piece of steel!

I think the biggest issue besides sawing is drying. I believe you have to be very careful with the drying process because all of mine warped and split. Granted, I was air drying it, so maybe kiln drying will yield better results.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Good luck with getting lumber from the hickory around my neck of the woods. Full of Banded Hickory Borers. It seems I have more hickory sawdust in my woodshed that I have solid hickory. They are wicked bad this year for some reason. Holes all through my billets. Maybe its just the wood my brother and I got into last winter,but I am not real pleased about it. I think if I had milled those logs into lumber for sale, or a project, I would be sick about now. :frown:

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I really don't find shagbark any big deal to mill,

I use Norwood bands, and they slice right through it, no problem at all,

I don't have any problem drying it either, but i ALWAYS sticker it properly and put it just above the bottom of a stack, so it has plenty of weight on it. Here's a load of 5/4 headed to the stickers,

I don't get a lot of shagbark, but i wish i did.

SR